Zechariah 1:20, Zechariah 1:21 ESV

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Zechariah 1:7-21

THE SECOND VISION: THE FOUR HORNS AND THE FOUR SMITHS{Zechariah 2:1-4}The Second Vision supplies what is lacking in the First, the destruction of the tyrants who have oppressed Israel. The prophet sees four horns, which, he is told by his interpreting angel, are the powers that have scattered Judah. The many attempts to identify these with four heathen nations are ingenious but futile. "Four horns were seen as representing the totality of Israel’s enemies-her enemies from all quarters." And to... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Zechariah 1:1-21

Analysis and Annotations 1. THE NIGHT VISIONS CHAPTER 1 1. The introduction (Zechariah 1:1-6 ) 2. The first night vision (Zechariah 1:7-17 ) 3. The second night vision (Zechariah 1:18-21 ) Zechariah 1:1-6 . The first utterance of Zechariah concerns the past. “The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.” They were a disobedient, stiff-necked people. The pre-exilic prophets had called them to repentance, but they did not hearken. Then he gives the message to turn to the Lord,... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Zechariah 1:20

1:20 And the LORD showed me four {s} craftsmen.(s) These craftsmen or smiths are God’s instruments, who with their mallets and hammers break these hard and strong horns which would overthrow the Church, and declare that no enemies’ horn is so strong, but God has a hammer to break it in pieces. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 1:1-21

God's Call to Return to Him (vv. 1-6) Zechariah's name means "Jehovah remembers." He was the son of Berechiah ("Jehovah blesses") who was the son of Iddo ("the appointed time"). Israel had long been in a depressed state. It seemed as though God had forgotten them, but He remembers, and in His own appointed time He returns to them in blessing. But the measure of revival and blessing in Zechariah's day was very limited, and Israel lapsed again into a depressed condition that was still seen... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Zechariah 1:1-21

THE PROPHET ’S OWN TIME Zechariah, like Haggai, had a twofold mission, to strengthen the hands of Israel for the rebuilding of the temple, and to quicken their hope as the earlier prophets had done, by painting in glowing colors the coming time of triumph over every foe. This mission is set before us in a two-fold division of the book. Chapters 1-8 give us a series of prophetic visions bearing primarily, upon the prophet’s own time, while chapters 9-14 deal chiefly with the events... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Zechariah 1:1-21

The Spiritual Jerusalem Zechariah 2:0 The prophet Zechariah is so apocalyptic in his way of seeing everything, and stating what he does see, that it is next to impossible to give a final literal interpretation of his prophecy. His book in the Old Testament takes some such place as the revelation of John the Divine in the New Testament It should always be remembered that apocalyptic writing cannot be literally interpreted, and therefore readers should be very careful how they build large and... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Zechariah 1:20-21

"And the LORD showed me four carpenters. (21) Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it." It is possible, (though here again I only venture to enquire, not to decide,) by these four carpenters, may be intended, in a special allusion, the four Evangelists, whose... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Zechariah 1:18-20

Four horns,...four smiths. The four horns represent the empires, or kingdoms, that persecute and oppress the people of God: the four smiths or carpenters (for faber may signify either) represent those whom God makes his instruments in bringing to nothing the power of persecutors. (Challoner) --- The Ammonites, &c., on the east, the Philistines on the west, the Idumeans and Egyptians on the south, and the Assyrians and Chaldeans on the north, had much molested God's people, and were... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 1:18-21

18-21 The enemies of the church threaten to cut off the name of Israel. They are horns, emblems of power, strength, and violence. The prophet saw them so formidable that he began to despair of the safety of every good man, and the success of every good work; but the Lord showed him four workmen empowered to cut off these horns. With an eye of sense we see the power of the enemies of the church; look which way we will, the world shows us that; but it is only with an eye of faith that we see it... read more

Frank Binford Hole

F. B. Hole's Old and New Testament Commentary - Zechariah 1:1-99

Zech 1 AS WE COMMENCE to read Zechariah we note that, just as with Haggai, definite dates are given for the messages that God gave through him; and the first verse reveals that his first message Zech 1.2-1.6 was uttered between Haggai's word of encouragement, in the early part of his second chapter, and the word of warning, recorded later in that chapter. We think we may term Zechariah's first message, a word of exhortation. We may wonder perhaps, why such a word at that juncture was needed?... read more