Zechariah 6:2-12

2 The first chariot had ¹red horses, the second ²black horses,

3 the third ³white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses--all of them strong.^[a]

4 Then I answered and said to ⁴the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?"

5 And the angel answered and said to me, ⁵"These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after ⁶presenting themselves before ⁷the LORD of all the earth.

6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward ⁸the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward ⁹the south country."

7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ¹⁰patrol the earth. And he said, "Go, ¹¹patrol the earth."¹²So they patrolled the earth.

8 Then he cried to me, "Behold, those who go toward ¹³the north country have set my Spirit at rest in ¹⁴the north country."

The Crown and the Temple

9 And the word of the LORD came to me:

10 "Take from the exiles ¹⁵Heldai, Tobijah, and ¹⁶Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of ¹⁷Zephaniah.

11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, ¹⁸and set it on the head of ¹⁹Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

12 And say to him, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is ²⁰the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and ²¹he shall build the temple of the LORD.

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Zechariah 6:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 6

This chapter contains a vision of four chariots, and the explanation of it; and an order to make crowns of gold and silver for certain uses mentioned; and a famous prophecy concerning the Messiah as the builder of the temple, the church. The chariots are described by their number, four; by the place, the mountains, from whence they came out; and by the different colour of the horses in each of them, Zec 6:1-3 upon the prophets inquiry what these were, an explanation is given of them; and they are said to be the four spirits of the heavens; and are described by their situation, standing before the Lord of the whole earth; by their mission from him; by each of the places to which they were sent; and by their success, or by the good effects produced, at least by some of them, Zec 6:4-8 then follows the order to make the crowns; and it is declared what they should be made of, gold and silver; from whom they were to be had, and who were to be concerned herein; and what was to be done with them; they were to be put upon the head of Joshua the high priest, Zec 6:9-11 who, being an eminent type of Christ, a prophecy concerning him is ordered to be delivered to him; who is described by his name, the man, the Branch; by the place he should grow up from; by the work he should do, building the temple of the Lord; by the glory he should have on account of it; and by the offices of King, Priest, and Prophet, he should execute, Zec 6:12,13 and after this was done, then the crowns were to be laid up in the temple of the Lord for a memorial, by the four men above mentioned, Zec 6:14 and though the Messiah is the chief builder of the temple, the church, yet it is suggested that others, and even Gentiles, should come and build in it; and which when done, it would be evident that the prophet had his mission to the Jews of the Lord; and the chapter is closed with a promise of the accomplishment of all this, should they diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord, Zec 6:15.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 21

1. Zechariah 1:8; Revelation 6:4
2. Revelation 6:5
3. Zechariah 1:8; Revelation 6:2
4. Zechariah 1:9
5. Psalms 104:4; Hebrews 1:7
6. Zechariah 3:4
7. Zechariah 4:14
8. ver. 8; Zechariah 2:6; Jeremiah 1:13
9. [Zechariah 9:14]
10. [Zechariah 1:10]
11. [Zechariah 1:10]
12. [Zechariah 1:10]
13. [See ver. 6 above]
14. [See ver. 6 above]
15. [ver. 14]
16. Nehemiah 7:39
17. 2 Kings 25:18
18. [Zechariah 3:5]
19. Zechariah 3:1
20. See Zechariah 3:8
21. [Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 3:3]; See Ephesians 2:20-22

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or and the fourth chariot strong dappled horses

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.