And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

ZECHARIAH 1:10KJV
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Zechariah 1:10 (KJV)

What does Zechariah 1:10 mean?

Zechariah 1:10 identifies the riders in the prophet’s nighttime vision as messengers sent by the LORD to travel throughout the earth. The man among the myrtle trees explains that their journey is an assignment from the LORD, rather than their own wandering.

The man answers a question about the riders’ identity, asked in the preceding verse. His position among the myrtle trees places him within the scene Zechariah is watching, while his answer gives Zechariah a way to understand what he sees.

The Hebrew behind Zechariah 1:10

  • “walk to and fro” — הָלַךְ (halakh): This word can mean to go or travel. Its form here pictures movement about an area, fitting the riders’ journey through the earth.
  • “earth” — אֶרֶץ (erets): This word can mean land or earth. Here the KJV’s “through the earth” presents the journey as wide-ranging, rather than limited to the place where Zechariah sees the riders.

Why Zechariah 1:10 matters

  • The riders’ report belongs to a larger conversation. In verse 11, they address “the angel of the LORD” among the myrtle trees and report what they found on their journey.
  • The report sets up a question about Jerusalem. After the riders describe the earth as “at rest” in verse 11, the angel asks how long the LORD will withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah in verse 12.

Where else these words appear

“trees” Hebrew H1918 · used in 6 verses

  • Nehemiah 8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
  • Isaiah 41:19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
  • Zechariah 1:8 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.