What Does Zechariah 6:6 Mean in the King James?
The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew for north is צָפוֹן (tsafon, north), linked to a root meaning “hide,” so the black horses and their white followers head toward what is hidden while the dappled horses move south.
THE MEANING
The movement has direction and sequence: the black horses go north, the white follow them, and the dappled move south. Each company has a route, and the next verse locates these departures before the Lord of all the earth.
THE ROOT
צָפוֹן
tsafon
GROWS FROM
צפן
ṣ-p-n
To hide, conceal, or store away.
“north country” in this verse is tsafon. The Hebrew name for north is linked to the root for hiding or storing away, giving the destination an additional shade of concealment. The direction remains geographical while its Hebrew name carries this hidden depth.
ALSO GROWS
tsaphan: To conceal or keep something stored.
צָפַן
This verb carries the root’s basic action, which also informs the Hebrew word for north.
tsafun: Something concealed or kept in reserve.
צָפוּן
This related form makes the root’s connection to concealment especially clear.
יֹצְאִים
yotze'im
GROWS FROM
יצא
y-ṣ-ʾ
To go out or emerge.
“go forth” in this verse is yotze'im. The same root describes each company’s outward movement, even as their destinations differ. The verse’s repeated motion binds the black, white, and dappled groups into one dispatch with separate routes.
ALSO GROWS
yetsi'ah: An exit or act of going out.
יְצִיאָה
It names the departure shared by all three companies.
motsa: A point of exit, source, or outcome.
מוֹצָא
It shows how the root of “go forth” can also name where movement comes out or begins.
הַתֵּימָן
ha-teman
GROWS FROM
ימן
y-m-n
The right hand or right side; directionally, the south.
“south country” in this verse is ha-teman. The word for south is related to יָמִין (yamin, “right hand”), tying the direction to bodily orientation. The route is described through a spatial language that has the body as its reference point.
ALSO GROWS
yamin: The right hand or the right side.
יָמִין
This related word reveals the bodily orientation behind the southern direction.
teman: The south or southern region.
תֵּימָן
This is the directional word used for the dappled horses’ destination.
THE PATTERN
Movement from a single source unfolds along routes that reach across the created world.
And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.THE THREAD
Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.This verse uses צָפוֹן (tsafon, “north”), the same word as the north country here, and צְאוּ (tse’u, “come out”), from יצא (yatsa, “go out”), the root repeated for the horses. One verse calls people out from the north; this one shows the horses going toward it, placing the same direction within a larger movement.
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