Zechariah 6King James Version
Four chariots pulled by horses of different colors come out from between two mountains of bronze, the patrols of the Lord sent to the four corners of the earth. Then a crown is made of silver and gold and set on the head of the high priest Joshua, a symbolic act pointing to the Branch who shall build the temple of the Lord.
Four chariots with colored horses emerge from two bronze mountains and go out to patrol the four corners of the earth. The black horses going north particularly satisfy God's Spirit, as Babylon, the source of exile, is brought to account. Then Zechariah is instructed to crown Joshua the high priest with silver and gold crowns as a symbolic act pointing to the coming BRANCH, who will unite priestly and royal authority in a single person and build the true temple.
The BRANCH who merges priest and king is the ultimate answer to everything the visions have been building toward.
"Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." (6:13) The merging of throne and altar in one figure was constitutionally impossible under Mosaic law, so the prediction is deliberately impossible by normal means, pointing forward to someone who exists outside the usual categories.
Three men just arrived from Babylon carry silver and gold. Zechariah melts it down and fashions a crown, setting it on the head of Joshua, who stands there as a kind of living sign. The gesture is strange, since priests do not wear royal crowns. But the strangeness is the point: one day a figure will appear who legitimately holds both roles, and his governance will not involve the tension between temple and throne that has plagued Israel's whole political history.
The four chariot teams are divine patrollers completing the security survey hinted at in chapter 1. Joshua the high priest receives the crowns as a living prophecy, not because he is the BRANCH but because the act illustrates what the BRANCH will be. Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen are Babylonian returnees whose donated gold and silver are used for the crowns, a sign that the diaspora participates in the restoration.
Zechariah 6 closes the eight-vision cycle and then moves from symbol to action with the crowning ceremony. The BRANCH figure, first named in chapter 3, is now given his job description: he will build the temple, hold royal authority, serve as priest, and govern in peace. This profile matches no historical figure except Jesus, and the early church read the passage as one of the clearest messianic predictions in the prophets.
The eight visions end here, and there is a settling quality to this chapter. The divine patrols have done their work, the north has been quieted, and a crown has been placed on a priest's head as a promise of something more permanent to come.
1And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
2In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;
3And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.
4Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
5And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
6The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.
7And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.
8Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
9And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
10Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
11Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
12And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
14And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.
15And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.