And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
Four chariots - symbolizing the various dispensations of Providence toward the Gentile or "pagan" nations, which had been more or less brought into contact with Judea, especially in punishing Babylon. Compare Zechariah 6:8 ("the north country," i:e., Babylon); Zechariah 1:15; Zechariah 2:6. The number "four" is specified not merely in reference to the four quarters of the horizon (implying universal judgments), but in allusion to the four world-kingdoms of Daniel.
Behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains - in the valley of Jehoshaphat, between Moriah and mount Olivet (Moore); or the valley between Zion and Moriah, where the Lord is (Zechariah 2:10), and whence He sends forth His ministers of judgment on the pagan (Maurer). The temple on mount Moriah is the symbol of the theocracy; hence, the nearest spot accessible to chariots in the valley below is the most suitable for a vision affecting Judah in relation to the Gentile world-powers. The chariot is the symbol of war, and so of judgments.
And the mountains were mountains of brass - the metal among the ancients representing hard solidity: so the immoveable and resistless firmness of God's people (cf. Jeremiah 1:18). Calvin explains the "two mountains" thus: The secret purpose of God from eternity does not come forth to view before the execution, but is hidden and kept back irresistibly until the fit time, as it were between lofty mountains; the chariots are the various changes worked in nations, in Chaldea, Judea, and other places, which changes, when they come to pass, as swift heralds, announce to us God's purposes which before we knew not. The "two" may thus correspond to the number of the "olive trees" (Zechariah 4:3); the allusion to the "two mountains" near the temple is not necessarily excluded in this view. Menochius makes the two refer to the fore-ordering and the execution of God's counsels. Henderson explains them to be the Medo-Persian kingdom, represented by the "two horns" (Daniel 8:3-4), now employed to execute God's purpose in punishing the nations; but the prophecy reaches far beyond those times.