Zechariah 1

Zechariah · Chapter 1

Zechariah 1:20

1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,2The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.3Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.7Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,8I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.9Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.10And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.11And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.12Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?13And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.14So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.15And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.16Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.17Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.18Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.19And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.20And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.21Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
20And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.And Jehovah showed me four smiths.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

After the vision of the riders among the myrtle trees, Zechariah sees four horns, which the angel says are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. Then the LORD shows him four carpenters, or craftsmen. They have come to terrify those horns and cast out the horns of the Gentiles that were lifted up over Judah. Zechariah 1:8Zechariah 1:18Zechariah 1:19Zechariah 1:20Zechariah 1:21Zechariah overview

SpeakingZechariah, son of Berechiah, tells the vision in his own words. He says it was the LORD who showed him the four carpenters. Zechariah 1:7Zechariah 1:20Zechariah overview

ToThe people of Judah who had come back from exile in Babylon, along with Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. Zechariah overviewZechariah 1:3

Also involvedThe "horns of the Gentiles" that scattered Judah are the ones to be cast out. Judah, scattered "so that no man did lift up his head," is the one being rescued. Zechariah 1:21Zechariah 1:19

This verse brings in God's answer to the four horns of verse 19: four carpenters to match the four horns. The next verse explains that they come "to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it." Zechariah 1:19Zechariah 1:20Zechariah 1:21

The scene is one of the night visions. Zechariah was among the returned exiles in Jerusalem, where the people had been stirred to rebuild the temple. Zechariah 1:8Zechariah overview

JUDAHMediterranean SeaJerusalemTyreSidonDamascusHamath 1GazaAshdodMegiddo

The eventsThe night visions came on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, Sebat, in the second year of Darius, about 520 BC. Zechariah 1:7Zechariah overview

WrittenTraditional: written by Zechariah, with dated messages from about 520 to 518 BC. Scholarly: most scholars agree that chapters 1-8, which include this verse, come from Zechariah in 520-518 BC. Zechariah overview

HereThe vision backs up the promise just before it. The LORD is "very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease," because they "helped forward the affliction," and he has "returned to Jerusalem with mercies." The carpenters show him acting against those nations. Zechariah 1:15Zechariah 1:16Zechariah 1:17Zechariah 1:21

In the whole of ScriptureZechariah's book keeps promising that God will overturn Judah's enemies. He will make Judah "as his goodly horse in the battle" and make Jerusalem "a cup of trembling unto all the people round about." Micah likewise pictures the remnant of Jacob among the Gentiles "as a lion among the beasts of the forest." Zechariah 10:3Zechariah 10:5Zechariah 12:2Zechariah 12:6Micah 5:8

For readersThe people's work on the temple had stopped under opposition before they were stirred to build again. They are told that the horns that scattered them will themselves be cast out, by the means the LORD shows. Zechariah overviewZechariah 1:20Zechariah 1:21

Christians read this differently

The text says the horns are the horns "of the Gentiles" that scattered Judah, but no cited Scripture names the four nations or the four carpenters. Some readers link them to particular nations in history. Others take the number four as a picture of all Judah's enemies together, met by the powers God uses to overthrow them. Zechariah 1:19Zechariah 1:21

  • carpentersחָרָשׁ, חֲרָשִׁים
    Hebrew · cha.rash · H2796

    The word means a craftsman, artisan, engraver or artificer, and figuratively someone skilful to destroy, such as warriors. That fits their task in 1:21: to fray the horns and cast them out. Strong's H2796Zechariah 1:21

  • and he showed meרָאָה
    Hebrew · ra.ah · H7200G

    In this form the verb means "to cause to see, show." The LORD is the one who makes the prophet see the carpenters, just as the angel promised to "shew" him the meaning of the visions. Strong's H7200GZechariah 1:20Zechariah 1:9

Takeaway

The LORD answers the horns that scattered his people with carpenters sent to cast them out. Zechariah's vision promises that the nations who scattered Judah will themselves be thrown down. Zechariah 1:19Zechariah 1:20Zechariah 1:21Zechariah 12:6

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 520-518 BC. King of Persia: Darius I (522-486 BC). Where Zechariah prophesied. A small, poor community was rebuilding the temple among the ruins of the city Babylon had burned.

Who ruled
  • King of PersiaDarius I522-486 BC

    Zechariah dates his messages by the years of Darius. Darius confirmed Cyrus's decree and ordered the temple work to go on at royal expense. Zechariah 1:1Zechariah 7:1Ezra 6:1-12Haggai 1:1Behistun Inscription

  • Governor of JudahZerubbabelc. 520 BC

    A descendant of David who led the rebuilding. "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it." Zechariah 4:6-10Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:8

  • High priestJoshua the high priestc. 520 BC

    Called Jeshua in Ezra. He stands in Zechariah's vision clothed in filthy garments, which are taken away, and later receives crowns as a sign. Zechariah 3:1-10Zechariah 6:11Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:2

  • Persian governor "on this side the river"Tattenaic. 520 BC

    The governor of the province west of the Euphrates. He asked who had allowed the building, wrote to Darius, and was told to let the work go on. Ezra 5:3-6Ezra 6:6-13

What was happening, 539 BC to 332 BC
  1. 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus king of Persia took Babylon, ending the empire that had destroyed Jerusalem. Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Cyrus Cylinder

  2. 538 BC
    God's peopleThe first return

    Cyrus let the exiles go home to build the LORD's house. About fifty thousand returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Ezra 1:1-4Ezra 2:1-2Ezra 2:64-65

  3. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe foundation is laid, then the work stops

    The returned exiles laid the temple's foundation with shouting and weeping. Opposition from their neighbors stopped the work until the second year of Darius. Ezra 3:10-13Ezra 4:4-5Ezra 4:24

  4. 525 BC
    WarPersia conquers Egypt

    Cyrus's son Cambyses invaded and took Egypt, bringing the whole region from the Nile to the Indus under one king. Herodotus, Histories 3.1-16

  5. 522-521 BC
    WarDarius crushes the revolts

    When Darius took the throne, provinces across the empire rebelled, Babylon twice. By 520 he had put them all down. Compare the riders' report in Zechariah's first vision: "all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Behistun InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 3.150-159Zechariah 1:11

  6. 520 BC
    God's peopleHaggai and Zechariah stir the people to build

    In Darius's second year the two prophets urged the people to take up the temple work again, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to build. Ezra 5:1-2Haggai 1:1-15Zechariah 1:1

  7. c. 520-519 BC
    RulersDarius confirms Cyrus's decree

    Tattenai questioned the building. A search found Cyrus's decree at Achmetha, and Darius ordered the work to continue and be paid for from royal taxes. Ezra 5:3-6:12

  8. 515 BC
    BuildingThe second temple is finished

    The temple was finished on the third day of Adar in Darius's sixth year and dedicated with joy. Ezra 6:14-18Zechariah 4:9

  9. 490-479 BC
    WarPersia's wars with Greece

    Persia invaded Greece twice and was turned back at Marathon (490), Salamis (480) and Plataea (479). Greece, which Zechariah names in 9:13, was becoming Persia's great rival. Herodotus, Histories 6.102-117Herodotus, Histories 8.40-96Herodotus, Histories 9.1-89Zechariah 9:13

  10. 445 BC
    BuildingNehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem's walls

    Under the Persian king Artaxerxes, Nehemiah came from Shushan and rebuilt the walls in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 2:1-8Nehemiah 6:15

  11. 332 BC
    WarAlexander takes Tyre and Gaza

    Alexander the Great besieged island Tyre for seven months and then Gaza for two, on his way to Egypt. Zechariah 9 speaks of Tyre's "strong hold" and of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron and Ashdod. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.15-27Zechariah 9:3-7

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records (the Behistun Inscription, the Cyrus Cylinder, the Babylonian Chronicles) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and he showed meוַיַּרְאֵ֣נִיvai-yar-'E-niH7200G
to see: see

רָאָה (ra.ah) : see/show 1) to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to see 1a2) to see, perceive 1a3) to see, have vision 1a4) to look at, see, regard, look after, see after, learn about, observe, watch, look upon, look out, find out 1a5) to see, observe, consider, look at, give attention to, discern, distinguish 1a6) to look at, gaze at 1a7) to provide, choose 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to appear, present oneself 1b2) to be seen 1b3) to be visible 1c) (Pual) to be seen 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cause to see, show 1d2) to cause to look intently at, behold, cause to gaze at 1e) (Hophal) …

Yahwehיְהוָ֔הYAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

fourאַרְבָּעָ֖ה'ar-ba-'AHH0702
four

אַרְבַּע (ar.ba) four

craftsmenחָרָשִֽׁים׃cha-ra-SHIMH2796
artificer

חָרָשׁ, חֲרָשִׁים (cha.rash) 1) craftsman, artisan, engraver, graver, artificer 1a) graver, artificer 1b) skilful to destroy (warriors) (fig.)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.