Zechariah 1:10

Zec 1:10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These [are they] whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

Ver. 10. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees] The man Christ Jesus, that is ever with the Church, and in the midst of his people, that feedeth among the lilies, and walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He, being asked by the foresaid angel, answered him (in Zechariah’s hearing), for he is Palmoni hammedabber, that excellent speaker, as Daniel calleth him, and therefore asketh him of the vision, Dan 8:13.

These are they whom the Lord hath sent] As his εποπται, or overseers and intelligencers. Not that God needeth them, as princes need the counsel and aid of their subjects. The holy angels receive more from God than they perform or bring to him. But he maketh use of their service about us. 1. For the honour of his majesty, and comfort of our infirmity. 2. To make out his love unto us, by employing such noble creatures for our good. 3. To make and maintain love and correspondence between us and angels, till we come to walk arm in arm with angels, as Zec 3:7, and to be like unto them, yea, their equals (ισαγγελοι), Luk 20:36, if not more, Eph 1:23.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:10 Patrol suggests the angelic riders’ ongoing scrutiny of the earth.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

answered--The "angel of the covenant" here gives the reply instead of the interpreting angel, to imply that all communications through the interpreting angel come from Him as their source.

Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth--If "Satan walks to and fro in the earth" (implying restless activity) on errands of mischief to God's people (Job 1:7), the Lord sends other angels to "walk to and fro" with unceasing activity everywhere to counterwork Satan's designs, and to defend His people (Psa 34:7; Psa 91:11; Psa 103:20-21; Heb 1:14).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. The man that stood among the myrtle trees] The angel of the Covenant, as above, Zec 1:11.

Whom the Lord hath sent] Who are constituted guardians of the land.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) Answered.—The question which Zechariah had put to the angel-interpreter.

The earth—i.e., the world, “all the earth” (Zec_1:11), not merely “the land of Israel,” as is often the meaning of the word (e.g., Zec_13:8).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. the man] i.e. the rider on the red horse of Zec_1:8, who, in answer it may be to a look or sign from the interpreting angel, takes upon himself to “shew” the prophet “what these be.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said,.... And so prevented the angel from giving the account he was about to give; and who was more capable of it, and which to do was great condescension in him, and was doing the prophet a singular honour:

these are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth; which is a description of the angels, the ministering spirits sent forth by God to take their tour throughout the earth; not to do mischief, as Satan does; but to do good to kingdoms, nations, and men in general, and to the heirs of salvation in particular; for which they are commissioned and empowered of God; see Heb 1:14.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And the man answered - To the question addressed to the attendant-angel. He himself took the word.

These are they whom the Lord sent to walk up and down - Satan says of himself that he came “from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it” Job 2:2. As he for evil, so these for good. Their office was not a specific or passing duty, as when God sent His angels with some special commission, such as those recorded in Holy Scripture. It was a continuous conversation with the affairs of people, a minute course of visiting, inspecting our human deeds and ways, a part of the “wonderful order” , in which God has “ordained and constituted the services of angels and men.” Nor is it said that the angels were limited, each to his own special province, as we learn through Daniel, that certain great angels, princes among them, had the charge of empires or nations, even of the pagan . These angels had apparently only the office of inspecting and reporting to angels of a higher order, themselves a subordinate order in the heavenly Hierarchy. Nor are they spoken of, as executing any judgments of God, or as pacifying the earth; they may have been so employed; but they are only said to have reported the state in which they found it.

These answered the unexpressed inquiry of the angel of the Lord, as he had answered the unuttered question of the angel, attendant on Zechariah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

These are they, &c. The guardian angels of provinces and nations. (Challoner) --- The Jews believed that each nation had such an angel, who had to give an account to one in higher authority. God proportions his revelation to their ideas.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The man that stood among the myrtle trees: see Zec 1:8.

Answered; gave answer to what I asked.

These; horsemen.

They whom the Lord hath sent; a periphrasis of angels, who are servants and ministers of the Divine Providence in the government of the world.

To walk to and fro through the earth: God is pleased after the manner of men to speak of his managing the affairs of the world; men must employ others, because they need them, God will employ angels, though he needs them not.

The earth; the empires which his churches were either helped or injured by: these were, partly by the pride of their emperors, partly by the flattery of their servants and ministers, and partly by the ignorance of the world at that time in matters of geography, thought to be the whole earth; and the Scripture sometimes useth phrases used and well known among men, though there be some impropriety in them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. This explanation is supplied by the further unfolding of the vision. The man among the myrtles (Zec_1:8) is the first to speak.

Answered — The Hebrew verb does not mean necessarily to reply to a question, sometimes it is used in the sense of begin to speak; so here. The words are not intended as a reply to Zechariah; they are addressed to the “angel of Jehovah” (Zec_1:11), to whom the man presents his followers, that they may report the result of their investigations. The prophet, as an interested bystander, could learn the significance of the vision from this report and from the dialogue which took place subsequently between the angel and Jehovah.

These — The men upon the horses of different colors, who are introduced as messengers of Jehovah, commissioned to “walk to and fro through the earth.” Their duty seems to have been purely to find out conditions and report on them; there is no indication that they were to interfere in any way with “terrestrial matters.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The man that stood, etc. The rider upon the red horse of ver. 8, the leader of the company of horsemen. Answered the question which the prophet had proposed, or answered in response to a sign from the interpreting angel. They whom the Lord hath sent, etc. These angelic ministers had been sent to traverse the earth and to report its condition, (comp. Job_1:7 Job_2:2 Heb_1:14) and to guide it to the carrying out of God"s purposes.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

These - Horsemen, are angels, who are ministers of the Divine Providence in the government of the world.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

the man who stood among the myrtle trees ... the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle trees

These phrases refer to the man who "was riding on a red horse" in Zechariah 1:8. Possible meanings are 1) the man dismounted his horse and stood or 2) the word "stood" is an idiom that means he was located in that position. AT: "the man who was among the myrtle trees ... the angel of Yahweh who was among the myrtle trees" (See: Idiom)

These are those ... They answered ... they said

The words "these" and "they" refer to the red, reddish-brown, and white horses that were behind the man who was among the myrtle trees. Possible meanings are 1) it is implicit that there were other men who were riding the horses, and that these phrases refer to the riders or 2) the horses are personified as being able to speak like people. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Personification)

to roam throughout the earth

It is implicit that Yahweh sent these out to walk about in order to patrol the earth. This does not suggest that they were wandering or lost. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

all the earth sits still and is at rest

There being peace and quiet in the world is spoken of as if the earth were a person who is still and resting. Possible meanings are 1) this is a good thing that means that there is peace between nations or 2) this is a bad thing that means that there is no war because nations are helpless to fight against a stronger nation that has subdued them. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Yahweh

angel

earth

rest

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

to walk to and fro on the earth To see the tranquility of the nations.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.