I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
I saw by night. The Jews begin their day with sunset; therefore the night is meant which preceded the 24th day of the month (Zechariah 1:1).
And behold a man - Yahweh, the second person of the Trinity, manifested in man's form, an earnest of the incarnation; called the "angel of Yahweh" (Zechariah 1:11-12), "Yahweh the angel of the covenant" (Malachi 3:1: cf. Genesis 16:7 with Zechariah 1:13, where He who is first called "the angel of the Lord" (Yahweh) is afterward called "the Lord" (Yahweh); Genesis 22:11 with Zechariah 1:12; Exodus 3:2 with Zechariah 1:4). Being at once divine and human, He must be God and man in one person.
Riding - implying swiftness in executing God's will in His providence; hastening to help His people. Riding - implying swiftness in executing God's will in His providence; hastening to help His people.
Upon a red horse - the colour that represents bloodshed; implying vengeance to be inflicted on the foes of Israel (cf. 2 Kings 3:22; Isaiah 63:1-2; Revelation 6:4); also implying fiery zeal.
Among the myrtle trees - symbol of the Jewish Church: not a stately cedar, but a lowly though fragrant myrtle. It was its depressed state that caused the Jews to despond; this vision is designed to cheer them with better hopes. The uncreated angel of Yahweh's presence, standing (as in His abiding place, Psalms 132:14) among the myrtles, is a guarantee for her safety, lowly though she now be. It is a conjecture of Perowne (Smith's 'Bible Dictionary'), that the myrtle was imported into Palestine from Babylon. This seems not unlikely, as the myrtle is not mentioned elsewhere, except in Isaiah. It is a native of Persia. Esther's name, Hadassah, means 'the myrtle;' and she seems to have received it in the Persian court (Esther 2:7). But his supposition that it was not known among the Jews before the exile is refuted by Isaiah 41:19; Isaiah 55:13, which, doubtless, was as much written by Isaiah as the earlier chapters. There was communication in Isaiah's times, and earlier, with Assyria and Babylon (Isaiah 39:1-8), so that the importation of the myrtle was quite possible then.
In the bottom - in a low place, or bottom of a river; alluding to Babylon, near the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, the scene of Judah's captivity. The myrtle delights in low places and the banks of waters (Pembellus). Maurer translates, 'in a shady place' х mªtsulaah (H4699), the same as mªtsuwlaah: from tseel (H6738), a shade, and tsaalal (H6749), to shade over]. Ewald and Hitzig translate, unwarrantably altering the reading [bamªtsilaah], 'in the tabernacle (of God),' answering to the Mosaic tabernacle. For "myrtles" Ewald translates "mountains," referring to the "two mountains of brass," Zechariah 6:1: and appeals to the Septuagint [ana meson toon oreoon toon kataskioon.] This is very far-fetched and unlikely.
Red horses - i:e., horsemen mounted on red horses; Zechariah 1:10-11 confirms this view.
Speckled, and white - the white implies triumph and victory for Judah; "speckled," or roan-coloured х sªruqiym (H8320), from sowreeq (H7796), a branch with grapes - i:e., the combination of the dark colour of the grapes with the light or white colour of the branch; akin to sheereek, to intertwine]: a combination of the two colours white and red (bay, Moore) implies a state of things mixed, partly prosperous, partly otherwise (Henderson); or, rather, the connection of the wrath (answering to the "red") about to fall on the Jews' foes, and triumph (answering to the "white") to the Jews themselves, in God's arrangements for His people (Moore). Some angels ("the red horses") exercised offices of vengeance; others (the "white") those of joy; others (the "speckled") those of a mixed character (cf. Zechariah 6:2-3). God has ministers of every kind for promoting the interests of His Church.