New International Version
Zechariah 1:18
18Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns.
Zechariah 1:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns!
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then I looked up and saw four animal horns.
Context of Zechariah 1:18
16“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 17“Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’ ” Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” 20Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
Read all of Zechariah 1Zechariah 1:18 word by word
וָאֶשָּׂ֥א אֶת־עֵינַ֖י וָאֵ֑רֶא וְהִנֵּ֖ה אַרְבַּ֥ע קְרָנֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Zechariah 1:18
- Zechariah 2:1Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand.
- Zechariah 5:1I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
- Joshua 5:13Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
- Daniel 8:3I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later.
- 2 Kings 15:29In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 17:1In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.
- 2 Kings 18:9In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.
- 2 Kings 24:1During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.
- Daniel 2:37Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;
- Daniel 7:3Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.
- Daniel 11:28The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.
Commentaries on Zechariah 1:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18And behold four horns - Denoting four powers by which the Jews had been oppressed; the Assyrians, Persians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians. Or these enemies may be termed four, in reference to the four cardinal points of the heavens, whence they came: - North. The Assyrians and Babylonians. East. The Moabites and Ammonites. South. The Egyptians. West. The Philistines. See Martin.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18And I lifted up mine eyes - oCyril on Zechariah 2:1: “Not those of the body (for such visions are invisible to the eyes of the flesh), but rather the inner eyes of the heart and mind.” It seems as though, at the close of each vision, Zechariah sank in meditation on what had been shown him; from which he was again roused by the exhibition of another vision. I saw four horns - The mention of the horns naturally suggests the thought of the creatures which…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-21Verses 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-19Then I looked up suggests the prophet was interrupted by another vision while still focused on the previous one (also in Zechariah 2:1; 5:1; 6:1). Horns symbolized power and authority in the biblical world and might represent an individual ruler (see Daniel 7:8; 8:8), a family line of kings, or nations.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2118. four horns--To a pastoral people like the Jews the horns of the strongest in the herd naturally suggested a symbol of power and pride of conscious strength: hence the ruling powers of the world (Re 17:3, 12). The number four in Zechariah's time referred to the four cardinal points of the horizon. Wherever God's people turned, there were foes to encounter (Ne 4:7); the Assyrian, Chaldean, and Samaritan on the north; Egypt and Arabia on the south…Read the comment
Topics related to Zechariah 1:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Zechariah 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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