Zechariah 1:21

1:21 I asked, “What are these going to do?” He answered, “These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. ¹  But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies ²  and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” ³ 

Zechariah 3:9

3:9 As for the stone ⁴  I have set before Joshua – on the one stone there are seven eyes. ⁵  I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. ⁶ 

Zechariah 5:4

5:4 “I will send it out,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones.”

Zechariah 11:16

11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ⁷  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ⁸  and tear off their hooves.

Zechariah 14:10

14:10 All the land will change and become like the Arabah ⁹  from Geba to Rimmon, ¹⁰  south of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate ¹¹  and on to the Corner Gate, ¹²  and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. ¹³ 

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¹ tn Heb “so that no man lifts up his head.”

² tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn The stone is also a metaphor for the Messiah, a foundation stone that, at first rejected (Ps 118:22-23; Isa 8:13-15), will become the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph 2:19-22).

⁵ tn Some understand the Hebrew term עַיִן (’ayin) here to refer to facets (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “faces” (NCV, CEV “seven sides”) of the stone rather than some representation of organs of sight.

sn The seven eyes are symbolic of divine omniscience and universal dominion (cf. Zech 1:10; 4:10; 2 Chr 16:9).

⁶ sn Inscriptions were common on ancient Near Eastern cornerstones. This inscription speaks of the redemption achieved by the divine resident of the temple, the Messiah, who will in the day of the Lord bring salvation to all Israel (cf. Isa 66:7-9).

⁷ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

⁸ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”

⁹ tn Or “like a plain” (similar KJV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT); or “like a steppe”; cf. CEV “flatlands.” The Hebrew term עֲרָבָה (’aravah) refers to an arid plain or steppe, but can be used specifically as the name of the rift valley running from the Sea of Galilee via the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.

¹⁰ sn The expression from Geba to Rimmon is a way of indicating the extent of all Judah from north (2 Kgs 23:8) to south (Job 15:32; 19:7). Since Geba (Heb. גֶּבַע) means “hill” and Rimmon resembles the word for height (Heb. רָמָה, ramah), this could be a play on words suggesting that all the high country will be made low, like the great Arabah valley.

¹¹ tn Or “old gate” (NLT); or “former gate” (NRSV).

¹² sn From the Benjamin Gate…on to the Corner Gate marks the northern wall of the city of Jerusalem from east to west.

¹³ sn From the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses indicates the extent of Jerusalem from north to south.