> [[zechariah-01|← Previous]] | [[zechariah-00|TOC]] | [[zechariah-03|Next →]] --- # Zechariah, Chapter 2 ## Chapter 2 **Second Vision: The Four Horns and the Four Smiths.** 1 I raised my eyes and looked and there were four horns. ^zechariah-02-1 2 Then I asked the angel who spoke with me, “What are those?” He answered, “Those are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ^zechariah-02-2 3 Then the LORD showed me four workmen. ^zechariah-02-3 4 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” And the LORD said, “Those are the horns that scattered Judah, so that none could raise their heads any more; and these have come to terrify them—to cut down the horns of the nations that raised their horns to scatter the land of Judah.” ^zechariah-02-4 **Third Vision: The Man with the Measuring Cord.** 5 I raised my eyes and looked, and there was a man with a measuring cord in his hand. ^zechariah-02-5 6 I asked, “Where are you going?” And he said, “To measure Jerusalem—to see how great its width is and how great its length.” ^zechariah-02-6 7 Then the angel who spoke with me advanced as another angel came out to meet him ^zechariah-02-7 8 and he said to the latter, “Run, speak to that official: Jerusalem will be unwalled, because of the abundance of people and beasts in its midst. ^zechariah-02-8 9 I will be an encircling wall of fire for it—oracle of the LORD —and I will be the glory in its midst.” ^zechariah-02-9 **Expansion on the Themes of the First Three Visions.** 10 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north—oracle of the LORD;—For like the four winds of heaven I have dispersed you—oracle of the LORD. ^zechariah-02-10 11 Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell in daughter Babylon! ^zechariah-02-11 12 For thus says the LORD of hosts after the LORD’s glory had sent me, concerning the nations that have plundered you: Whoever strikes you strikes me directly in the eye. ^zechariah-02-12 13 Now I wave my hand over them, and they become plunder for their own servants. Thus you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. ^zechariah-02-13 14 Sing and rejoice, daughter Zion! Now, I am coming to dwell in your midst—oracle of the LORD. ^zechariah-02-14 15 Many nations will bind themselves to the LORD on that day. They will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. Then you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. ^zechariah-02-15 16 The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion of the holy land, and the LORD will again choose Jerusalem. ^zechariah-02-16 17 Silence, all people, in the presence of the LORD, who stirs forth from his holy dwelling. ^zechariah-02-17 \* (2:1) Four horns: symbols of the total political and military might of Judah’s imperial adversaries, probably representing Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. The number four represents universality rather than any specific number of foes. \* (2:2) Scattered: sent part of the population into exile. This was standard imperial policy initiated in the ancient Near East by the Assyrians for dealing with a conquered state. \* (2:3) Four workmen: four agents of God’s power. The imagery follows that of four horns: the workers cut down, or make ineffectual, the horns, i.e., enemy. \* (2:5) Measuring cord: a string for measuring, as opposed to a builder’s string, [1:16]. \* (2:8) That official: probably the man with the measuring cord of v. [5]. \* (2:9) Encircling wall of fire: divine protection for an unwalled Jerusalem. Urban centers were generally walled, and Jerusalem’s walls were eventually rebuilt in the late fifth century B.C. ([Neh 2:17]). \* (2:10) Land of the north: refers to Babylon (v. [11]), in a geographic rather than a political sense, as the place from which exiles will return. The designation is “north” because imperial invaders historically entered Palestine from that direction (see [Jer 3:18]; [23:8]). \* (2:15) Many nations…my people: a way of expressing God’s relationship to people in covenant language. The covenant between God and Israel (see [Jer 31:33]; [32:38]) is here universalized to include all nations. \* (2:16) The holy land: the Lord’s earthly territory, a designation found only rarely in the Old Testament. a. (2:2) [Dt 33:17]; [Dn 7:8]. b. (2:4) [Jer 48:25]. c. (2:5) [Jer 31:38] – [39]; [Ez 41:13]; [Rv 11:1]; [21:15]. d. (2:8) [Is 49:19] – [20]; [54:2] – [3]; [Jer 31:27]; [Ez 38:11]. e. (2:9) [Rv 21:23]; [22:3] – [5]. f. (2:10) [Zec 6:5]; [Is 48:20]; [Jer 50:8]; [51:6]. g. (2:12) [Dt 32:10]; ([[psalm-17|Ps 17]]:8]. h. (2:13) [[isaiah-14|Is 14]]:2; [Zep 3:15]. i. (2:15) [Is 56:6]; [66:18]. j. (2:16) [Zec 1:17]. k. (2:17) [Hb 2:20]; [Zep 1:7]; ([[revelation-08|Rv 8]]:1a]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[zechariah-01|← Previous]] | [[zechariah-00|TOC]] | [[zechariah-03|Next →]]