Then the LORD showed me: The LORD has not been mentioned in the narrative framework of the visions since verse 13, but his presence is assumed (compare 2.6; 3.2; 4.8; 6.9).

Four smiths: The Hebrew word for smiths is a general one meaning “craftsmen” (New International Version), but in this context it is generally taken to mean smiths (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “blacksmiths” (Moffatt, New American Bible, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version). These were craftsmen who dealt especially with making things out of heated metal such as iron, and Good News Translation tries to make this clearer by translating “workers with hammers.” This Hebrew word had already been used in Isa 54.16 and Ezek 21.31 (21.36 in the Hebrew text; Revised Standard Version has “skilful”) as a picture of the LORD’s agents of destruction. The present context may refer back to these earlier passages, and uses the same sort of picture.

The smith was a respected craftsman in the society of Zechariah’s day, as he produced important tools and weapons. In areas where such a craftsman is not familiar, it will be helpful to the reader to give some idea what he did. If the mention of “hammers” (Good News Translation) is not clear enough, translators could say “men who made iron [or, metal] tools.”

The number four is the same as the number of the horns. As the following verse shows, the purpose of this is to show that the LORD has the right number of workers to punish the enemies of his people.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .