1I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2Then I asked, “Where are you going?”
He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
3Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him, 4and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5For I,’ says Yahweh, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.
6Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says Yahweh; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says Yahweh. 7‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’ 8For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. 9For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me. 10Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion! For behold, I come and I will dwell within you,’ says Yahweh. 11Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. 12Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”
Word Study: Angel (Heb. מַלְאָך, malak). (2:3; Gen 32:1; Num 22:5; 2 Sam 11:4; 2 Kgs 6:32; Ps 91:11; Dan 6:22)
This word has the inherent meaning of “one sent with a message.” The term is found more than two hundred times in the Old Testament, where it is used to identify human messengers, angelic messengers, and even the divine Messenger (i.e., the Angel of the Lord; cf. Gen 16:7; Exod 3:2; Judg 13:21). In this verse, an angelic messenger is intended. The angel who speaks with Zechariah appears throughout the book, usually in the role of prophetic interpreter.