Zechariah 4:10

4:10 For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes ¹  will joyfully look on the tin tablet ²  in Zerubbabel’s hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)

Zechariah 9:13

9:13 I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! ³  I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, ⁴  like a warrior’s sword.

Zechariah 12:3

12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ⁵  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ⁶  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.

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¹ tn Heb “these seven.” Eyes are clearly intended in the ellipsis as v. 10b shows. As in 3:9 the idea is God’s omniscience. He who knows the end from the beginning rejoices at the completion of his purposes.

² tn This term is traditionally translated “plumb line” (so NASB, NIV, NLT; cf. KJV, NRSV “plummet”), but it is more likely that the Hebrew בְּדִיל (bÿdil) is to be derived not from בָּדַל (badal), “to divide,” but from a root meaning “tin.” This finds support in the ancient Near Eastern custom of placing inscriptions on tin plates in dedicatory foundation deposits.

³ 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).

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

⁶ sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.