The four horns ( ''’ar-ba‘ qərānōṯ'') and four craftsmen ( ''’arbā‘āh ḥārāšîm'', also translated "
engravers" or "
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
s") are a
vision found in
Book of Zechariah, in
Zechariah 1:21 in traditional English texts. In Hebrew texts
1:18-21 is numbered 2:1-4. The vision precedes the vision of A Man With a Measuring Line.
Hebrew Bible text
In the Talmud
The four craftsmen are discussed in
Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
Suk.
Sukkah ( he, סוכה, ''hut'') is a book of the Mishnah and Talmud. It is the sixth volume in the Order (Mishnaic section) of Moed. Sukkah deals primarily with laws relating to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. It has five chapters.
Included in its ...
52b. Rav
Hana bar Bizna attributed to Rav
Simeon Hasida the identification of these four craftsmen as
Messiah ben David
The Messiah in Judaism () is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology, who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jewish people. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or Hi ...
,
Messiah ben Joseph In Jewish eschatology Mashiach ben Yoseph or Messiah ben Joseph ( he, מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן־יוֹסֵף ''Māšīaḥ ben Yōsēf''), also known as Mashiach bar/ben Ephraim (Aram./Heb.: Māšīaḥ bar/ben Efrayīm), is a Jewish messiah from ...
,
Elijah, and the
Righteous Priest. However
David Kimhi ''Cervera Bible'', David Qimhi's Grammar Treatise
David Kimhi ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד קִמְחִי, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a medieval rabbi, biblical commen ...
interpreted the four craftsmen as four kingdoms.
In later interpretation
The imagery of craftsmen is generally considered as "smiths", able to master the four iron horns, as symbolizing nations used as instruments of divine power for the destruction of Israel's enemies.
[Herbert Lockyer ''All the Parables of the Bible'' 1963 0310281113 p.107 "(Zechariah 2:1-13) The four carpenters were four smiths or workmen, well able to deal with the four horns. These smiths (R.V. ) symbolize instruments of Divine power for the destruction of alien power and the redemption of God's people."]
References
{{Book of Zechariah
Book of Zechariah