New Living Translation
Zechariah 1:18
18Then I looked up and saw four animal horns.
Zechariah 1:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
- New International Version (NIV)Then I looked up, and there before me were 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.
Context of Zechariah 1:18
16“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.’ 17“Say this also: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The towns of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem as his own.’” Then I looked up and saw four animal horns. 19“What are these?” I asked the angel who was talking with me. He replied, “These horns represent the nations that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.
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 2:1When I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
- Zechariah 5:1I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.
- Joshua 5:13When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”
- Daniel 8:3As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one.
- 2 Kings 15:29During Pekah’s reign, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked Israel again, and he captured the towns of Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also conquered the regions of Gilead, Galilee, and all of Naphtali, and he took the people to Assyria as captives.
- 2 Kings 17:1Hoshea son of Elah began to rule over Israel in the twelfth year of King Ahaz’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria nine years.
- 2 Kings 18:9During the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege against it.
- 2 Kings 24:1During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled.
- Daniel 2:37Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor.
- Daniel 7:3Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.
- Daniel 11:28“The king of the north will then return home with great riches. On the way he will set himself against the people of the holy covenant, doing much damage before continuing his journey.
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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