David Baron

“ Viewed as going forth like the other chariots into a particular direction, and as encountering a particular power, they are described, like the previous ones, by their colour, which is in itself symbolical; but when the fact is brought into view that this particular power which these horses are to encounter is unlike its predecessors, but will assert its dominion over the whole earth, then their special character istic as " the strong ones " is emphasised. ”

“ It is most probable, therefore, that the fourth chariot, appointed for the overthrow and destruction of the fourth great worldempire, is seen to go forth, first to the south, as if to encounter this fresh hostile power at the point at which it first came into contact with Israel.
But the Spirit of God, foreseeing that the fourth empire, unlike its predecessors, would spread itself, not only to the north, and south, and east, but westward also, and practi cally embrace the whole known world ”

“ A chariot is a team oi four horses." ↑ All sorts of fanciful explanations have been given by interpreters of these two mountains. Hengstenberg regards them as merely emblematic of the power of God, which shields and protects His people. Baumgarten says that they represent the east and west as the two central points of the world-power. But these in Zechariah's visions, as Dr. Wright properly points out, are rather the north and south. Hitzig would, it seems, locate them in heaven, and regards the chariots as having been seen coming forth from the dwelling-place of the Most High. ”

“ If we are asked why the horses in this last chariot are seen first going forth as the " grisled " or " speckled," and then, in the 7th verse, as the " strong " (which, be it noted, was the additional epithet applied to them already in the 3rd verse) , the true answer is probably that suggested by| Bredenkamp, who says that " speckled strong horses " ar such as, regarded from the point of view of their colour, are " speckled " (gefleckte) , but from the point of view of their special characteristic, are " strong." ”

“ Hengstenberg attempts to solve the difficulty in the bllowing manner: According to him there can be no loubt as to the meaning of the word amutsim; it can only signify " powerful," or " strong," but he argues that this predicate, although only formally connected with the horses in the fourth chariot, at the end of the 3rd verse, " cannot apply to them in contrast with those of the other three chariots, but must, in fact, belong equally to all the four." ”

“ He can, and does, send forth His chariots to build up, or to pull down and destroy, but no one can penetrate into His presence. Or, as Pusey observes, " the mountains of brass may signify the height of the Divine wisdom (in all His plans and purposes con cerning the nations) , and the sublimity of the power which putteth them in operation. As the Psalmist says: Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God. "
II. The Chariots. If, with the prophet, we ask, What are these? the answer of the Interpreting Angel in ver. ”

“ And He " (that is, the Lord of the whole earth, before whom they were all seen " standing " in the first instance) " said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth," in order to meet this power in every place where it shall establish itself, to hold it in check, and to counteract its evil plans, until the signal shall be given for its final overthrow. ”

“ In the vision itself (vers. 2, 3) the prophet beholds four chariots, in the first of which were red horses, in the second black, in the third white, and in the fourth grisled horses, to which last is also added the epithet D^ps (amutsim> " strong ") ; but in the inter pretation by the interpreting angel (vers. 5-7) the first with the red horses is passed over. The black and the white are explained as going forth into the north country, the grisled into the south, and then we read of the amutsim (" strong ") , which in ver. ”