Commentari biblici

Zec 6:1-8.

EIGHTH VISION. THE FOUR CHARIOTS.

1. four chariots--symbolizing the various dispensations of Providence towards the Gentile nations which had been more or less brought into contact with Judea; especially in punishing Babylon. Compare

Zec 6:8

("the north country," that is, Babylon);

Zec 1:15; 2:6.

The number "four" is specified not merely in reference to the four quarters of the horizon (implying universal judgments), but in allusion to the four world kingdoms of Daniel.

from between two mountains--the valley of Jehoshaphat, between Moriah and Mount Olivet [MOORE]; or the valley between Zion and Moriah, where the Lord is

(Zec 2:10),

and whence He sends forth His ministers of judgment on the heathen [MAURER]. The temple on Mount Moriah is the symbol of the theocracy; hence the nearest spot accessible to chariots in the valley below is the most suitable for a vision affecting Judah in relation to the Gentile world powers. The chariot is the symbol of war, and so of judgments.

of brass--the metal among the ancients representing hard solidity; so the immovable and resistless firmness of God's people (compare

Jer 1:18).

CALVIN explains the "two mountains" thus: The secret purpose of God from eternity does not come forth to view before the execution, but is hidden and kept back irresistibly till the fit time, as it were between lofty mountains; the chariots are the various changes wrought in nations, which, as swift heralds, announce to us what before we knew not. The "two" may thus correspond to the number of the "olive trees"

(Zec 4:3);

the allusion to the "two mountains" near the temple is not necessarily excluded in this view. HENDERSON explains them to be the Medo-Persian kingdom, represented by the "two horns"

(Da 8:3, 4),

now employed to execute God's purpose in punishing the nations; but the prophecy reaches far beyond those times.

2. red--implying carnage.

black--representing sorrow; also famine

(Re 6:5, 6;

compare

Zec 1:8).

3. white--implying joy and victory [CALVIN].

grizzled--piebald. Implying a mixed dispensation, partly prosperity, partly adversity. All four dispensations, though various in character to the Gentile nation, portended alike good to God's people.

bay--rather, "strong" or "fleet"; so Vulgate [GESENIUS]. The horses have this epithet, whose part it was to "walk to and fro through the earth"

(Zec 6:7).

However, the Septuagint and Chaldee agree with English Version in referring the Hebrew to color, not strength.

4. The prophet humbly and teachably seeks instruction from God, and therefore seeks not in vain.

5. four spirits of the heavens--heavenly spirits who "stand before Jehovah" to receive God's commands

(Zec 4:14; 1Ki 22:19; Job 2:1; Lu 1:19)

in heaven (of which Zion is the counterpart on earth, see on

Zec 6:1),

and proceed with chariot speed

(2Ki 6:17; Ps 68:17)

to execute them on earth in its four various quarters

(Ps 104:4; Heb 1:7, 14)

[PEMBELLUS]. Or, the secret impulses of God which emanate from His counsel and providence; the prophet implies that all the revolutions in the world are from the Spirit of God and are as it were, His messengers or spirits [CALVIN].

6. north country--Babylon (see on

Jer 1:14).

The north is the quarter specified in particular whence Judah and Israel are hereafter to return to their own land

(Zec 2:6; Jer 3:18).

"The black horses" go to Babylon, primarily to represent the awful desolation with which Darius visited it in the fifth year of his reign (two years after this prophecy) for revolting [HENDERSON]. The "white" go after the "black" horses to the same country; two sets being sent to it because of its greater cruelty and guilt in respect to Judea. The white represent Darius triumphant subjugation of it [MOORE]. Rather, I think, the white are sent to victoriously subdue Medo-Persia, the second world kingdom, lying in the same quarter as Babylon, namely, north.

grizzled . . . toward the south--that is, to Egypt, the other great foe of God's people. It, being a part of the Græco-Macedonian kingdom, stands for the whole of it, the third world kingdom.

7. bay--rather, the "fleet" (or "strong"). As the "red" are not otherwise mentioned, the epithet "fleet" (as the Hebrew for "bay" ought to be translated) in

Zec 6:3

seems to apply to all four, and here especially to the "red." Their office is to complete hereafter the work already in part executed by the previous three who have stilled Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Græco-Macedonia; namely, to punish finally the last great foe of Israel, the final form assumed by the fourth world kingdom, Rome, which is to continue down to the second advent of Christ. Hence they "walk to and fro through the earth," counterworking Satan's "going to and fro in the earth"

(Job 1:7; 2Th 2:8, 9; 1Ti 4:1),

in connection with the last awful development of the fourth world kingdom. Their "fleetness" is needed to counteract his restless activity; their red color implies the final great carnage

(Eze 39:1-29; Re 19:17, 18, 21).

8. north . . . quieted . . . my spirit--that is, caused My anger to rest

(Jud 8:3,

Margin;

Ec 10:4; Eze 5:13; 16:42).

Babylon alone of the four great world kingdoms had in Zechariah's time been finally punished; therefore, in its case alone does God now say His anger is satisfied; the others had as yet to expiate their sin; the fourth has still to do so.