Zechariah 6:2

2 In the first four-horsed cart were red horses, and in the second four-horsed cart were black horses; (The first four-horsed cart, or chariot, had red horses, and the second four-horsed cart, or chariot, had black horses;)

Zechariah 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 6:2

In the first chariot [were] red horses
If these are to be understood of the apostles of Christ, and ministers of the Gospel, they may be compared to "horses", for bearing the name of Christ, and drawing the chariot of the Gospel; for their strength to labour in the word and doctrine; for their courage in the cause of Christ; and for their swiftness in doing his work; and to "red" ones, for their flaming zeal for the honour of the Redeemer, and their bloody sufferings for his sake: and if of angels, they may be compared to "horses", because strong and swift to do the will of God; and to "red" ones, because they are the executioners of his wrath and vengeance on wicked men: but if by "the chariots" are meant the monarchies, then by these "red horses" must be designed the Babylonians and Chaldeans, so called because their soldiers were clothed in red, and their chariots were like flaming torches; and they were sanguinary, cruel, and bloody in their tempers, and in their actions to the Jews; and were signified by Nebuchadnezzar's head of gold in his image; see ( Nahum 2:3 Nahum 2:4 ) ( Habakkuk 1:6-8 ) : and in the second chariot black horses;
which, applied to the apostles and ministers of the Gospel, may denote their mean and abject appearance outwardly, and their knowledge in the mysteries of grace, which are dark and obscure to others; and, if understood of angels, is applicable to them, when messengers of ill tidings, or executioners of judgment: but if the monarchies are meant, which seems best, the Medes and Persians are intended; and their "black" colour is expressive of the sorrowful estate of the Jews under them, especially in the time of Haman, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe: black horses were reckoned strong, well made, and fit for labour; and the Ethiopians and Moors chose to have their horses they used in war all of this colour, to strike the greater horror and terror into their enemies; and to see black horses in a dream was accounted a bad omen ^F19. The Medes and Persians were a strong and warlike people, and were very terrible to their enemies, under Cyrus; and very troublesome and distressing to the Jews, under Cambyses and Ahasuerus.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 7. col. 106, 107.

Zechariah 6:2 In-Context

1 And I was converted, and raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! four [four-]horsed carts going out of the middle of twain hills, and the hills were hills of brass. (And I turned, and raised up my eyes, and saw, and lo! four four-horsed carts, or four chariots, going out from the midst of, or between, two bronze hills.)

2 In the first four-horsed cart were red horses, and in the second four-horsed cart were black horses; (The first four-horsed cart, or chariot, had red horses, and the second four-horsed cart, or chariot, had black horses;)

3 and in the third four-horsed cart were white horses, and in the fourth four-horsed cart were diverse horses, and strong. (and the third four-horsed cart, or chariot, had white horses, and the fourth four-horsed cart, or chariot, had dappled horses.)

4 And I answered, and said to the angel that spake in me, What be these things, my lord? (And I said to the angel, who spoke to me, What be these things, my lord?)

5 And the angel answered, and said to me, These be four winds of heaven, which go out, that they stand before the lordshipper of all earth. (And the angel answered, and said to me, These be the four winds of the heavens, which go out from before the Lord, who ruleth over all the earth.)