Humanitext Reader

Septuagint · Zechariah §6.1-6.15

Vision of the Four Chariots and Joshua's Crowning

Passage 6 of 14 · Greek

Summary

The prophet beholds a vision of four chariots representing the four winds of heaven emerging from between two mountains, and subsequently receives an oracle concerning the crowning of the high priest Joshua and the reconstruction of the temple by a figure called the Branch.

§6.1Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα καὶ ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ τέσσαρα ἅρματα ἐκπορευόμενα ἐκ μέσου δύο ὀρέων, καὶ τὰ ὄρη ἦν ὄρη χαλκᾶ.
And I turned and lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze.
§6.2ἐν τῷ ἅρματι τῷ πρώτῳ ἵπποι πυρροί, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἄρματι τῷ δευτέρῳ ἵπποι μέλανες, §6.3καὶ ἐν τῷ ἄρματι τῷ τρίτῳ ἵπποι λευκοί, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἄρματι τῷ τετάρτῳ ἵπποι ποικίλοι ψαροί.
In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot dapple-grey horses.
§6.4καὶ ἀπεκρίθην καὶ εἶπα πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον τὸν λαλοῦντα ἐν ἐμοί Τί ἐστιν ταῦτα, κύριε; §6.5καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ εἶπεν Ταῦτά ἐστιν οἱ τέσσαρες ἄνεμοι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἐκπορεύονται παραστῆναι τῷ κυρίῳ πάσης τῆς γῆς. §6.6ἐν ᾧ ἤσαν οἱ ἵπποι οἱ μέλανες. ἐξεπορεύοντο ἐπὶ γῆν βορρᾶ, καὶ οἱ λευκοὶ ἐξεπορεύοντο κατόπισθεν αὐτῶν, καὶ οἱ ποικίλοι ἐξεπορεύοντο ἐπὶ γῆν νότου,
Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" And the angel who talked with me answered and said, "These are the four winds of heaven, going out to present themselves before the Lord of all the earth." The chariot in which the black horses were was going out to the land of the north, and the white were going out after them, and the dapple were going out to the land of the south.
§6.7καὶ οἱ ψαροὶἐξεπορεύοντο καὶ ἐπέβλεπον τοῦ πορεύεσθαι τοῦ περιοδεῦσαι τὴν γῆν.
And the grey horses went out and sought to go to patrol the earth.
καὶ εἶπεν Πορεύεσθε καὶ περιοδεύσατε τὴν γῆν· καὶ περιώδευσαν τὴν γῆν.
And he said, "Go, patrol the earth." And they patrolled the earth.
§6.8καὶ ἀνεβόησαν, καὶ ἐλάλησεν πρὸς μέ λέγων Ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐκπορευόμενοι ἐπὶ γῆν βορρᾶ, καὶ ἀνέπαυσαν τὸν θυμόν μου ἐν γῇ βορρᾶ. §6.9Καὶ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρὸς μὲ λέγων §6.10Λάβε τὰ ἐκ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας παρὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ παρὰ τῶν χρησίμων αὐτῆς καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἐπεγνωκότων αὐτήν, καὶ εἰσελεύσῃ σὺ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ἰωσίου τοῦ Σοφονίου τοῦ ἥκοντος ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος
Then they cried out and spoke to me, saying, "Behold, those who go out to the land of the north have appeased my wrath in the land of the north." And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Take from the exiles, from their rulers, and from their useful men, and from those who have known her, and you shall enter on that day into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, who has come from Babylon.
§6.11καὶ λήψῃ ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον καὶ ποιήσεις στεφάνους, καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ἰωσεδὲκ τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ μεγάλου,
And you shall take silver and gold and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the chief priest.
§6.12καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν Γάδε λέγει Κύριος Παντοκράτωρ Ἰδοὺ ἀνήρ, Ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ, καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν αὐτοῦ ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ οἰκοδομήσει τὸν οἶκον Κυρίου· §6.13καὶ αὐτὸς λήμψεται ἀρετήν, καὶ καθιεῖται καὶ κατάρξει ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσται ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ βουλὴ εἰρηνικὴ ἔσται ἀνὰ μέσον ἀμφοτέρων. §6.14ὁ δὲ στέφανος ἔσται τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν καὶ τοῖς χρησίμοις αὐτῆς καὶ τοῖς ἐπεγνωκόσιν αὐτὴν, καὶ εἰς χάριτα υἱοῦ Σοφονίου, καὶ εἰς ψαλμὸν ἐν οἵκῳ Κυρίου.
And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: Behold, a man whose name is the Branch, and he shall branch out from beneath him, and he shall build the house of the Lord.' 'And he shall receive glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and there shall be a priest at his right hand, and there shall be a counsel of peace between them both.' 'And the crown shall be for those who endure, and for her useful men, and for those who have known her, and for the favor of the son of Zephaniah, and for a psalm in the house of the Lord.' 'And those who are far off shall come and build in the house of the Lord, and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.
§6.15καὶ οἱ μακρὰν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἥξουσιν καὶ οἰκοδομήσουσιν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου, καὶ γνώσεσθε διότι Κύριος ΙΙαντοκράτωρ ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν εἰσακούοντες εἰσακούσητε τῆς φωνῆς Κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν.
And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.'"

Notes

  1. §6.6ἐν ᾧ ἤσαν — The relative pronoun ᾧ (neuter singular dative) has the neuter noun ἅρμα (chariot) from the preceding context as its implied antecedent, forming with the preposition ἐν a restrictive phrase meaning 'in [the chariot] which.'
  2. §6.7τοῦ πορεύεσθαι τοῦ περιοδεῦσαι — Two consecutive genitives of the articular infinitive (τοῦ + infinitive) function here to express the purpose or direction of the main verb ἐπέβλεπον ('they sought to go, in order to patrol').
  3. §6.10παρὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ παρὰ τῶν χρησίμων αὐτῆς καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἐπεγνωκότων αὐτήν — The Hebrew proper names (Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah) are rendered here by the LXX translator etymologically as common nouns and participles: 'rulers,' 'useful men,' and 'those who have known her.'
  4. §6.14τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν καὶ τοῖς χρησίμοις αὐτῆς καὶ τοῖς ἐπεγνωκόσιν αὐτὴν — Similar to §6.10, the Hebrew proper names (Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah) are translated literally into Greek dative participles and adjectives as 'those who endure,' 'her useful men,' and 'those who have known her.'
  5. §6.15εἰσακούοντες εἰσακούσητε — The tautological combination of the present participle εἰσακούοντες with the aorist subjunctive εἰσακούσητε is a literal rendering of the Hebrew emphatic construction with the infinitive absolute ('if you indeed obey').

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Zechariah §6.1-6.15. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg046.humanitext-grc1:6.1-6.15

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