As to the last chariot, the Prophet says, that it went forth toward the south, and then it went elsewhere, and even through the whole world, for God had so permitted.
Now as to the meaning of this Prophecy nothing will remain obscure, if we hold these elements of truth — that all events are designated by the chariots, or all the revolutions which take place in the world — and that the blind power of fortune does not rule, as fools imagine, but that God thus openly makes known to us his own counsel. And why the horses are said to have been, some red, some black, some white, and some somewhat red, (62) the plain answer is this — because God had sent forth his chariots over Judea, which was full of blood: by this then is meant the red color. But he shows also, that their enemies would have their time, and this had been in part fulfilled; for God had ridden over them with his chariots, having driven his wheels over their land when Nineveh was overthrown. And though the Spirit had not simply a reference to the Assyrians or the Chaldeans, as though he meant by the black color to designate the wars carried on among then, but rather the calamities brought by them on the Jews, yet I consider the black color to mean in general the terrible disturbances which took place through the whole of the least; and the Jews could not expect anything agreeable from that quarter, for shortly after a heavier weight fell on their heads. But in the third place the Prophet adds, that there were white horses, that is, when the time was accomplished in which God intended to deliver his Church.
But he says, that the chariots not only went forth to the East, or to Babylon; but he says, that they also ran through the south, and then visited the whole world. That we may more fully understand this, we must regard the design of the Prophet. He meant here, no doubt, to bring some comfort to the Jews, that they might not succumb under their evils, however sharply God might chastise them. And Zechariah sets before them here two things — first, that no part of the earth, or no country, would be exempt from God’s judgments, for his chariots would pass through all lands; and secondly, that though the chariots of God, terrible in their appearance on account of the black and red color, had visited Judea as well as the north, yet the time had already come in which God, having been pacified, would change the state of things; and therefore, in the third place, he sets before them another color; for God’s chariot had been sent forth through Judea, and then God’s vengeance had visited Nineveh, and afterwards Babylon: only this had rested, because it had been already in part fulfilled, for God had removed the darkness and brought sunshine to the Jews, and that from Chaldea, inasmuch as the Persian, who then possessed the empire, had begun to treat the Jews with kindness. It now follows —
(62) There are two words to designate the character of the horses belonging to the fourth chariot. The first is commonly rendered “grisled” or spotted, and by Henderson, “piebald:” and the second word is translated “bay” in our version and by Newcome; “grey,” by Henderson; and “strong” in the Vulgate, and by Jerome, Dathius, and Blayney. Strong, vigorous, robust, is its common meaning, and in no other instance it is found to designate a color. The Septuagint and the Targum have given it this sense; and it is rendered by the former, “particolored—[ ψαρους ],” the color of a starling, and by the latter, “ash-color—cinereos.” But there is no need in this case to depart from the ordinary meaning of the word, strong, robust; these horses being different from the others not only in color, but also in strength. The rendering of Aquila is “[ κραταιοί ]—strong.” Marckius would apply this term to all the horses, as it stands without a conjunction; but this cannot be, for in verse 7 “the strong ones” are evidently the same with the speckled or “the grisled ones” at the end of the 6 verse.— Ed.