And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.
- BSB Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
- 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 10:3–5Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
- Zech 9:12–16Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
- Zech 12:2–6Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
- Neh 9:27Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
- Isa 54:15–17Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
- Obad 1:21And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.
- Mic 5:8–9And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
- Judg 11:16But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
- Mic 5:5–6And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
- Deut 33:25Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
- 1 Sam 12:11And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
- Judg 11:18Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
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.