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In the second year of Darius, on the twenty-fourth day of Shebat, the eleventh month,[a] the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:

[b]I looked out in the night,[c] and there was a man mounted on a red horse standing in the shadows among myrtle trees; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. I asked, “What are these, my lord?”[d] Then the angel who spoke with me answered, “I will show you what these are.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1:7 The second year…eleventh month: February 15, 519 B.C. The largest set of visions (1:7–6:15) is dated to a time just prior to the beginning of the new year in the spring.
  2. 1:8–11 Four riders on horses of three different colors are sent by God to patrol the four corners of the earth. Compare the four chariots of the seventh vision, 6:1–8.
  3. 1:8 In the night: nighttime, or this night. This setting of darkness is meant only for the first vision.
  4. 1:9 My lord: this expression in Hebrew (‘adoni) is used as a polite form of address. Angel who spoke with me: angelic being (not identical to the angel of the Lord who is one of the four horsemen) who serves as an interpreter, bringing a message from God to the prophet, who himself is a messenger of God.

The Man Among the Myrtle Trees

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.(A)

During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red(B) horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.(C)

I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel(D) who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”(E)

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