Zechariah 6:1-13

1 And I lifted up mine eyes again, and saw, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

2 In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;

3 and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled, strong horses.

4 And I spoke and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?

5 And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

6 That in which are the black horses goeth forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth towards the south country;

7 and the strong go forth, and seek to go that they may walk to and fro through the earth. And he said, Go, walk to and fro through the earth. And they walked to and fro through the earth.

8 And he cried unto me, and spoke unto me, saying, See, these that go forth towards the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

9 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

10 Take [gifts] of them of the captivity, of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, and come thou the same day, and enter into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they are come from Babylon;

11 yea, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set [them] upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;

12 and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is [the] Branch; and he shall grow up from his own place, and he shall build the temple of Jehovah:

13 even he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Zechariah 6:1-13 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'vigorous;' others 'red;' so ver 7.
• [b]. Or 'presenting themselves,' as Job. 1.6.
• [c]. Or 'have satisfied mine anger.'
• [d]. A tiara, composed of many crowns, as Isa. 62.3; Ezek. 16.12.
• [e]. Strictly, 'Sprout,' as ch. 3.8; from the same root as 'grow up,' in this verse.