Discovery BoxZechariah 1:2 
Context1:2 The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 1
Zechariah 1:20
Context1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. 2
Zechariah 3:6
Context3:6 Then the angel of the Lord exhorted Joshua solemnly:
Zechariah 4:7-8
Context4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? 3 Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple 4 capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ 5 because of this.” 4:8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me as follows:
Zechariah 7:4
Context7:4 The word of the Lord who rules over all then came to me,
Zechariah 8:18
Context8:18 The word of the Lord who rules over all came to me as follows:
Zechariah 10:2
Context10:2 For the household gods 6 have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. 7
1 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB); NIV “forefathers” (also in vv. 4, 5).
2 tn Heb “craftsmen” (so NASB, NIV; KJV “carpenters”), a generic term which can mean “metalworker, smith, armorer” (HALOT 358 s.v. חָרָשׁ). “Blacksmiths” was chosen for the present translation because of its relative familiarity among contemporary English readers.
sn The horns are perhaps made of iron, the strongest of all metals known to the ancient Near Eastern world, since military activity is implied in the context. Only blacksmiths can cut the horns off. If the horns represent oppressive nations, the blacksmiths must represent deliverers whom the
3 sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).
4 tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).
5 sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).
6 tn The Hebrew word תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim, “teraphim”) refers to small images used as means of divination and in other occult practices (cf. Gen 31:19, 34-35; 1 Sam 19:13, 16; Hos 3:4). A number of English versions transliterate the Hebrew term (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV) or simply use the generic term “idols” (so KJV, NIV, TEV).
7 sn Shepherd is a common OT metaphor for the king (see esp. Jer 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 23:1-2; 50:6; Ezek 34).
