Zechariah - 1:21



21 Then I asked, "What are these coming to do?" He said, "These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Zechariah 1:21.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
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.
Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
And I said: What come these to do? and he spoke, saying: These are the horns which have scattered Juda every man apart, and none of them lifted up his head: and these are come to fray them, to cast down the horns of the nations, that have lifted up the horn upon the land of Juda to scatter it.
And I said, What come these to do? And he spoke, saying, Those are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these are come to affright them, to cast out the horns of the nations, which lifted up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
Then said I, What come these to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head: but these are come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.
And I say, 'What are these coming in to do?' And He speaketh, saying: 'These are the horns that have scattered Judah, so that no one hath lifted up his head, and these come in to trouble them, to cast down the horns of the nations who are lifting up a horn against the land of Judah, to scatter it.'
Then said I, What come these to do? And he spoke, 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.
Then I said, What have these come to do? And he said, These are the horns which sent Judah in flight, and kept him from lifting up his head: but these men have come to send fear on them and to put down the nations who are lifting up their horns against the land of Judah to send it in flight.
Then said I: 'What come these to do?' And he spoke, saying: 'These-the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head-these then are come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.'
And I said, "What have these come to do?" He spoke, saying, "These are the horns that have winnowed Judah, through every single man, and none of them lifted up his head. And these have come to frighten them away, so as to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which have lifted up a horn over the land of Judah, so as to scatter it."
Et dixi, Cur isti? quid isti veniunt ad faciendum? (ad verbum, hoc est, Quorsum isti veniunt ut faciant?) et dixit dicendo, Haec sunt cornua quae ventilarunt Iehudah, ita ut nemo tolleret caput suum: et veniunti isti (fabri scilicet) ad terrendum (addo, cornua, quoniam relativum ['vtm] obscurum per se esset,) ut projiciant cornua gentium, quae sustulerunt cornu terram Iehudah, ut ventilarent eam.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

These are come to fray them - To break, pound, and reduce them to powder. Fray, from the French, frayer, to rub. חרשים charashim signifies either carpenters or smiths; probably the latter are here intended, who came with hammers, files, and such like, to destroy these horns, which no doubt seemed to be of iron.
From a sensible correspondent I have received the following note: -
"The word we translate carpenters, חרשים charashim, is a root which, according to Mr. Parkhurst, denotes silent thought or attention; and in kal and hiphil, to contrive, devise secretly, or in silence; hence applied as a noun to an artificer of any kind, and to any work which disposes to silent attention. Thus, to potters' ware, Leviticus 6:28; Job 2:8; and in many other places. So also to ploughing, Deuteronomy 22:10; Proverbs 20:4, which requires constant attention to make 'the right-lined furrow.' Let it be remembered that in ancient times such works were more esteemed than the useless ones we have learned to admire. So again, in Genesis 24:21, and elsewhere, it implies to be silent, as in deep thought or great attention.
"Now it is evident that the purport of this vision is the same with the gracious declarations which precede it, viz., to express the return of the protecting mercies of God to his people, delivering them from their enemies. I should therefore be inclined to render חרשים charashim here, watchers or inspectors, in the sense which our translators have rendered the Chaldee עיר ir, a watcher, in the fourth chapter of Daniel, Daniel 4:13; understanding thereby 'spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth,' Zac 6:6, and are described in the first vision as 'sent to walk to and fro through the earth.' This gives to the whole narrative a sublime and important sense, affording us some glimpse of the Divine government by the ministration of angels, such as Jacob was favored with in his vision at Beth-el, and which our Savior himself informed Nathanael constituted part of the glory of his mediatorial kingdom." - M. A. B.

Then said I, What come these to do?.... That is, these four carpenters; for, being artificers or workmen, as the Targum renders the word, the prophet concluded there was some work for them to do:
And he spake, saying; meaning the angel that talked with him, and interpreted the visions to him:
These are the horns which have scattered Judah; not that the carpenters were the horns, for these two are distinct from, and opposite to, one another. The words should rather be rendered, "these horns which have scattered Judah", as before said, Zac 1:19,
so that no man did lift up his head; or, as the Targum paraphrases it, "did not suffer" (a man) "to go with an erect stature"; but, through oppression, sorrow, and misery, was obliged to stoop, and bow, and hang down his head:
but these are come to fray them; these carpenters are come to frighten the horns, to put terror into those kings and kingdoms;
to cast out the horns of the Gentiles; to destroy their kingdoms, and take away their power from them:
which lifted up their horns over the land of Judah to scatter it: who make use of their power, and do harm to the people of Israel, and triumph and insult over them; see Psalm 75:4 all which may be applied to the ministers of the Gospel, who are workmen; and whose business it is to fight or terrify the horns, wicked men, even men in power, the enemies of Christ's church and people; by their preaching, which has made a Felix to tremble; by their prayers, which they have been more afraid of than an army of men, as Mary queen of Scots said of the prayers of John Knox; and by their good lives and conversations, which made Herod stand in fear of John the Baptist; nay, even they have been a terror to the devil himself, and have been the means of casting him, and his principalities and powers, out of the Gentile world, and out of both the bodies and souls of men; and of casting down the strong holds of sin, and of breaking in pieces the kingdom and interest of Satan, and of building up the churches of Christ; the work of these spiritual carpenters is to cut down men, comparable to strong, sturdy, and lofty trees, for the pride and haughtiness of their hearts, the stiffness and stubbornness of their wills, and for their show of goodliness and beauty: this is done by the ministry of the word, the cutting doctrines of it, accompanied with the Spirit and power of God; as it is said, "I have hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by, the words of my mouth", Hosea 6:5 whereas, when before, they grew up and stood on their own bottom, their morality, civility, and works of righteousness; now they are cut down, and die to all these things, as to any hope of salvation by them; and then, as the carpenter smooths and planes a timber he has hewed, and fitly frames it together, and joints it in, and lays it on a good foundation; so do Gospel ministers, as instruments in the hands of God, after hewing and cutting work through the ministration of the law, the killing letter, and which works wrath; speak comfortably to such souls, by directing them to the blood and righteousness of Christ for pardon of sin and justification of life; and ministerially lay them in the spiritual building, the church; or advise and exhort them to submit to the ordinances of Christ, and join themselves to Gospel churches; and, above all things, instruct them to build on Christ, the sure foundation in Zion; and ministerially lay him as the alone foundation to build upon for life and salvation, and not upon any works of righteousness done by them; and put them upon walking according to the line and rule of the divine word, in matters of worship, discipline, and conversation: and as there were in the first times of the Gospel many such builders, and have been more or less since; so there will be many more in the latter day, who will be very successfully employed in building, repairing, and beautifying the church of God; see Isaiah 58:12. Some by the four carpenters understand Zerubbabel, Joshua, Ezra, and Nehemiah; and so, by the four horns, those that opposed them in building the city and temple, as Rehum, Shimshai, Sanballat, and Tobiah; but these seem too inferior governors to be signified by horns; nor did they do what is here ascribed to them; rather their nations, Samaritans, Arabians, Ammonites, and Philistines, are meant.

These are the horns--rather, Those, namely, the horns being distinguished from the "carpenters," or destroying workmen ("skilful to destroy," Exodus 21:31), intended in the "these" of the question.
no man . . . lift up his head--so depressed were they with a heavy weight of evils (Job 10:15).
to fray--to strike terror into them (Ezekiel 30:9).
lifted up . . . horn--in the haughtiness of conscious strength (Psalm 75:4-5) tyrannizing over Judah (Ezekiel 34:21).
The city shall be fully restored and enlarged (Zac 2:2-5). Recall of the exiles (Zac 2:6-7). Jehovah will protect His people and make their foes a spoil unto them (Zac 2:8-9). The nations shall be converted to Jehovah, as the result of His dwelling manifestly amidst His people (Zac 2:10-13).

He - Christ. These - He first points to the four horns. But these - These carpenters are emblems of those instruments God will employ in breaking those destroyers. Who lift up - Who employed their arms and strength against the kingdom of Judah, to drive them out of God's inheritance.

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