Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.
- KJV And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
- NKJV Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
- NASB Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.
- NLT Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God shows Zechariah four craftsmen. They are sent to counter the four destructive horns.
Overview
The 'craftsmen' (smiths or workmen) are agents God raises to oppose the hostile powers. Their number matches the four horns, signaling a fitting answer to every oppressor. The vision teaches that for every force God permits against His people, He has prepared the means to overthrow it in due time.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Zech 10:3–5“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His royal steed in battle.
- Zech 9:12–16Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.
- Zech 12:2–6“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
- Neh 9:27So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.
- Isa 54:15–17If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Obad 1:21The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.
- Mic 5:8–9Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.
- Judg 11:16But when Israel came up out of Egypt, they traveled through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.
- Mic 5:5–6And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.
- Deut 33:25May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and may your strength match your days.”
- 1 Sam 12:11So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
- Judg 11:18Then Israel traveled through the wilderness and bypassed the lands of Edom and Moab. They came to the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, since the Arnon was its border.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 1:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.