New International Version
Zechariah 1:20
20Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
Zechariah 1:20 in other versions
Context of Zechariah 1:20
18Then 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.” Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
Read all of Zechariah 1Zechariah 1:20 word by word
וַיַּרְאֵ֣נִי יְהוָ֔ה אַרְבָּעָ֖ה חָרָשִֽׁים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Zechariah 1:20
- Zechariah 9:12Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
- Zechariah 10:3“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.
- Zechariah 12:2“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.
- Deuteronomy 33:25The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
- Judges 11:16But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh.
- 1 Samuel 12:11Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.
- Nehemiah 9:27So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.
- Isaiah 54:15If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.
- Obadiah 1:21Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
- Micah 5:5And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders,
Commentaries on Zechariah 1:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Four carpenters - Four other powers, who should defeat the powers intended by the horns. These are the same as the four chariots mentioned Zechariah 6:1-3, Zechariah 6:6, Zechariah 6:7. The first was Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, who overturned the empire of the Assyrians. The second was Cyrus, who destroyed the empire of the Chaldeans. The third was Alexander the Great, who destroyed the empire of the Persians. And the fourth was Ptolemy, who…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. 20The word translated as blacksmiths could refer to any type of craftsman, such as a mason, carpenter, or smith. If the horns representing the nations were metal (see 1 Kings 22:11), then blacksmiths were suitable for the task of destroying them (see 2 Chronicles 24:12; Isaiah 44:12).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. four carpenters--or "artificers." The several instrumentalities employed, or to be employed, in crushing the "Gentile" powers which "scattered" Judah, are hereby referred to. For every one of the four horns there was a cleaving "artificer" to beat it down. For every enemy of God's people, God has provided a counteracting power adequate to destroy it.Read the comment
Topics related to Zechariah 1:20
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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