Zechariah 1:4
1:4 “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord.
Zechariah 3:2
3:2 The Lord 1 said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, 2 rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
Zechariah 5:9
5:9 Then I looked again and saw two women 3 going forth with the wind in their wings (they had wings like those of a stork) and they lifted up the basket between the earth and the sky.
Zechariah 9:8
9:8 Then I will surround my temple 4 to protect it like a guard 5 from anyone crossing back and forth; so no one will cross over against them anymore as an oppressor, for now I myself have seen it.
Zechariah 9:13-14
9:13 I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! 6 I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, 7 like a warrior’s sword.
9:14 Then the Lord will appear above them, and his arrow will shoot forth like lightning; the Lord God will blow the trumpet and will sally forth on the southern storm winds.
Zechariah 10:5
10:5 And they will be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord will be with them, and will defeat the enemy cavalry. 8
Zechariah 10:7
10:7 The Ephraimites will be like warriors and will rejoice as if they had drunk wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; they will celebrate in the things of the Lord.
1 sn The juxtaposition of the messenger of the Lord in v. 1 and the Lord in v. 2 shows that here, at least, they are one and the same. See Zech 1:11, 12 where they are distinguished from each other.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 sn Here two women appear as the agents of the Lord because the whole scene is feminine in nature. The Hebrew word for “wickedness” in v. 8 (רִשְׁעָה) is grammatically feminine, so feminine imagery is appropriate throughout.
4 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
5 tn Though a hapax legomenon, the מִצָּבָה (mitsavah) of the MT (from נָצַב, natsav, “take a stand”) is preferable to the suggestion מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”) or even מִצָּבָא (mitsava’, “from” or “against the army”). The context favors the idea of the Lord as a protector.
6 tn The words “my arrow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the imagery for the modern reader (cf. NRSV, NLT).
7 tn The word “Zion” is not repeated here in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the statement refers to Zion and not to Greece.
8 tn Heb “and the riders on horses will be put to shame,” figurative for the defeat of mounted troops. The word “enemy” in the translation is supplied from context.