(Ch 2.1 in Hebrew.)

I lifted my eyes and saw: This expression, which introduces the vision, is used again in 2.1; 5.1; 6.1. In other languages a more lively introduction may be “I looked up” (as in New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation translates this as “In another vision I saw,” but some languages will use expressions closer to the Hebrew “I lifted up my eyes and saw.”

And behold, four horns!: The Hebrew word translated behold has the discourse function of helping to mark the beginning of a new unit. Good News Translation gives no real equivalent for this Hebrew term (see verses 8, 11), and neither do several modern versions in other European languages, such as Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. The word “horn” on its own is ambiguous in English, and could refer for instance to a musical instrument. Good News Translation has therefore made clear what kind of horn is intended by saying “ox horns” in the American and British editions. The Australian edition says “cattle horns”; this is simply a more general term, and does not represent a different interpretation. In areas where oxen or cattle are not familiar, translators could use a more general term still, and say “animal horns” (New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version).

Horns were used as a symbol of strength and power in the Old Testament (compare Deut 33.17; 1 Kgs 22.11; Psa 75.10; Ezek 29.21; Micah 4.13). Here, as the next verse shows, they stand for powerful nations. The fact that there were four of them is probably intended to indicate that the powerful nations were on every side. Compare the use of “four” in 2.6; 6.5 to stand for all directions. There is no point in trying to identify any four nations in particular.

Zechariah does not make it clear whether the horns in his vision were on the heads of animals, or whether they were detached. If it makes nonsense to talk about horns that are not part of an animal, then it would be satisfactory to say, “I saw four horns on the heads of animals.” However, if they can avoid it, translators should not go into more detail and say whether there were two animals with two horns each, or four animals with one horn each. The emphasis is on the horns themselves, not the creatures that carried them. If it is unavoidable to state how the horns were related to the animals, translators should assume it was a normal animal arrangement with two horns on each of two heads.

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 .