Zechariah 1:10

1:10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about on the earth.”

Zechariah 1:19

1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

sn The stem used here (Hitpael) with the verb “walk” (הָלַךְ, halakh) suggests the exercise of dominion (cf. Gen 13:17; Job 1:7; 2:2-3; Ezek 28:14; Zech 6:7). The Lord is here about to claim sovereignty over the nations. Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT “to patrol”; TEV “to go and inspect.”

tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in v. 9.

sn An animal’s horn is a common OT metaphor for military power (Pss 18:2; 75:10; Jer 48:25; Mic 4:13). The fact that there are four horns here (as well as four blacksmiths, v. 20) shows a correspondence to the four horses of v. 8 which go to four parts of the world, i.e., the whole world.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.