myrtle

The Myrtle Myrtus communis is found in the mountains of the Galilee region up to the present, as well as in North Africa and throughout the Middle East. In the apocalyptic passage Isaiah 41:19 it is listed with cedars, acacias, and olives, and we are told that in the new age these verdant trees will replace the thorny bushes of the wilderness. The Arabic as (آس) and the Akkadian asu (𒊍 / 𒀀𒋢𒌝) are cognates of the Hebrew word hadas. The leaves and flowers of the myrtle are used in weddings and in medicine. The wood is used for walking sticks and furniture. The bark and roots yield tannin, used up to the present day in Russia and Turkey to prepare leather.

The myrtle shrub is an evergreen with fragrant leaves and normally grows to a height of 2-3 meters (7-10 feet). It has leathery, dark green leaves, pretty white flowers, and bluish black berries, which have a sweet smell.

Nehemiah 8:15 tells us that branches of the myrtle and other trees were used to make shelters for the Festival of Shelters, a practice still followed by Jews today. The Isaiah references associate the myrtle with a time of renewal and goodness. Taken together we may conclude that when Zechariah situates his vision of horses and riders “among the myrtles,” he is thinking of a sacred place, a place of God’s presence, possibly even a “gateway to heaven,” although the use of the definite article may also point to a particular place that Zechariah and his readers knew about. Some commentators hold that the myrtles in Zechariah’s vision represent the people of Israel. Note that these myrtles are said to be growing in some kind of depression in the ground, whether a valley or ravine, which may itself be symbolic of a negative national experience, perhaps even the Babylonian Exile, as some have suggested.

Myrtles are part of the gigantic Myrtaceae family that includes at least three thousand species throughout the world, including the guava, the eucalyptus, and the clove. Close relatives of the myrtle, however, may be hard to find, so a transliteration from a major language may be the best option. In the poetical Isaiah passages the handling of hadas will depend on what the translator does with the other names of trees in the list, whether they use literary equivalents or transliterations. In Nehemiah, transliteration is advised, unless, of course, myrtle or a close relative of it is known. In Zechariah, since we do not know the significant features of the myrtle that the writer had in mind, it is difficult to make an appropriate descriptive equivalent. However, a transliteration or a generic phrase such as “shrubs” or “small, leafy trees” may be used.

Myrtle flowers, photo by Nigel Hepper
Myrtle branch, photo by Gloria Suess

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

red

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “red” in English is translated in Silimo with a local reference: “the colour of the red rocks used to dye nets” (source: Buzz and Myrna Maxey ).

complete verse (Zechariah 1:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 1:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “I saw a man in the night who was sitting on a red horse who was in the middle of trees that are called myrtles in a valley. There were other horses behind him who were red, those who were brown and those who were white. Each of those horses had a person who was riding/steering it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “In a vision during the night I saw a man who rode a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle tree in the valley. Behind him there were red, brown and white horses.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The LORD spoke to Zacarias through a vision. This happened at night on the 24th day of the month of Shebat (the 11th month), in-that second year of the reign of Darius. And this (is) what Zacarias revealed:
    I saw a man riding on a red horse that was-staying-put/[not-moving] in a valley/plain that had myrtle/[mirto] trees. Behind him there-were men who were-riding on red, brown, and white horses.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “During the night I had a vision. In the vision I saw an angel who was on a red horse. He was in a narrow valley among some myrtle trees. Behind him were angels on red, brown, and white horses.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Zechariah 1:8

I saw in the night, and behold: See the final comments on verse 7. Behold is an old-fashioned term in English for which there is no modern equivalent. Good News Translation simply omits it, and translators in other languages may do the same if they have no suitable equivalent. Probably the function of the word here is to mark focus. In some languages this function may be indicated by the word order, such as “What I saw was a man….”

A man riding upon a red horse!: As we have argued above, this is the same person as the one called “the angel of the LORD” in verses 11 and 12. The earliest editions of Good News Translation, both American and British, used the same expression here (“an angel of the LORD”) in order to avoid the confusion caused by speaking of the same person in several different ways. Translators may do the same if it is more natural in their language. Later editions of Good News Translation simply say “someone,” but this is not to be recommended, as it encourages confusion about how many angels appear in this vision. “Angel” in some languages will be expressed as “God’s messenger,” “a heavenly messenger,” or in this present context as “the LORD’s messenger.”

Translators may be puzzled over how one and the same person can be called both a man (verses 8, 10) and an “angel” (verses 11, 12). It seems that angels had the appearance of men, and were not always recognized as supernatural beings on first sight. This kind of variation in their description occurs in a number of places in the Old Testament, and is not to be taken as inconsistency or contradiction. Compare for instance Gen 18.2, 22; Gen 19.1, 5, 10, 12, 15; Jdg 13.3, 6, 8-11, 13, 15-18.

Translation of the word horse may be a problem in areas where these animals are unknown. In other contexts it may be possible to use a more general term like “animal.” In this context, however, it is probably significant that the animals in the vision were horses, and not something else. Horses were associated with military purposes in the ancient world, and that fits the context of a group going out “to patrol the earth” (verse 10). If horses are not known, it may be necessary to borrow a word from English or some locally influential language, to explain it in a word list, and also to include an illustration of the animal. Translators will have dealt with the translation of horse already in such places as Gen 47.17; Exo 9.3; Exo 14.9; Exo 15.1; Deut 11.4.

The colors of the horses mentioned in this verse are the subject of much discussion. The first color is translated as red in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation and most other English versions. The problem with this is that red is not a word used to describe horses in English, and the expression a red horse sounds rather ridiculous. People familiar with horses have various technical terms to describe the color intended, and some translators have made use of them. Moffatt, for instance, has “a chestnut horse,” and New English Bible/ Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh have “a bay horse.” These words give the right atmosphere to the passage, but are not common language. A better translation base is “a brown horse.” “Brown” gives the right color, it is also easily understood, and it is quite acceptable to describe horses. Some languages may actually use their word for “red” to describe horses, and if so, the translator will have no problem here. Other languages may not distinguish between red and brown.

He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen: He was standing, if translated literally, could sound as if the angel had dismounted from the horse. This possible confusion is avoided by the Good News Translation translation “he had stopped,” that is, stood still. In some languages the pronoun He might be taken to refer to the red horse rather than the rider. In such a case translators may say, for example, “The angel riding on the horse had stopped it [or, made it stop] among the myrtle trees.” In fact the Hebrew could easily carry that meaning, as could the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. The word translated He is emphatic in Hebrew, and may very well indicate a change of subject from the man to the horse, the last mentioned noun. This would in turn mean that the phrase behind him later in the verse also refers to the first horse. Such an analysis gives a very smooth transition to the last part of the verse. This interpretation is not found in any available modern version, but no version seems to take account of the emphatic nature of the pronoun, and nor do commentators. If translators wish to interpret the text like this, they could combine the first three clauses and say, “I saw an angel of the LORD sitting on a red horse that had stopped among….”

Myrtle trees are not strictly speaking trees, but bushes or shrubs. They grow to a height of two to three meters (six to ten feet). They are evergreen, with fragrant leaves and white flowers. They were quite common in the Holy Land, and are still found there. It is not clear whether they have any symbolic meaning in the vision. Myrtles are associated with the blessings of the Messianic age in Isaiah 41.19; Isaiah 55.13. Some scholars believe that the myrtles indicate the gates of heaven, as in Sumerian mythology, but this is probably seeing more meaning than the Hebrew really holds. (Compare the comments on 6.1.) Since myrtle trees do not seem to have any symbolic significance that can be identified here, in cultures where these bushes are unknown and where there is no general word for “shrub,” translators are advised to use a general phrase like “a grove of small trees that are sweet smelling” or to use a term borrowed from a major language of the area, such as murtus or miritili. Often the borrowed word can be combined with a word for tree, bush or shrub, so that readers will know that it refers to a type of vegetation.

The Hebrew word translated glen is a word of uncertain meaning. Several modern English versions take it as having some meaning like “valley” (Good News Translation; compare New English Bible/ Revised English Bible “hollow,” New International Version “ravine”). This makes perfectly good sense in the context and translators are recommended to follow it. Zechariah does not give further details, but some scholars have suggested that the description fits the Kidron Valley just outside Jerusalem. The use of the definite article the with glen in Revised Standard Version suggests a valley that is known to both Zechariah and his listeners. This is possible, but the valley is not known to modern readers, so Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have “a valley,” using the indefinite article. Translators are advised to do the same.

And behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses: The group may at first have seemed to Zechariah to be a Persian cavalry troop. The prophet does not say how many other horses there were, but the occurrence of three color terms may suggest to the reader that there were three horses. In fact, the color terms in Hebrew are all plural, which probably indicates several horses of each color. The Hebrew mentions only the horses, but the context later indicates that there were riders on these horses also (see the comments on verse 11). In many languages it would be more appropriate to make that clear at this point and say something like “behind him [or, behind it, that is, the first horse] were other horses with their riders” or “behind him [or, it] stood other horses with their riders.”

Good News Translation gives the colors of the horses as “red, dappled, and white.” We have argued above that in English “brown” would be a better translation than red unless technical terms for the colors of horses are available and well known. The meaning of the Hebrew word, which Revised Standard Version translates sorrel (compare Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and which Good News Translation translates “dappled,” is not certain. Sorrel means reddish-brown, and in many languages it would be difficult to distinguish from the first color, though it may mean a lighter shade of brown (Petersen). “Dappled” is a fairly technical term, and means having either different colors, or different shades of one basic color. It is used especially with different shades of gray. In common language, “gray” is probably the simplest term to use here. It is distinct from both brown and white, and is readily used in describing horses. This is the term used in Bible en français courant and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. Some languages will not have a term meaning “gray,” and in such cases it would be better to mention two specific colors. Probably “black and white” would be best as these are the two colors from which gray is derived. The third color, white, should be the easiest to translate!

Jerusalem Bible adds a fourth color, “black,” before “white.” In using four color words here, Jerusalem Bible is following the Septuagint. New Jerusalem Bible mentions this possibility in a footnote, but does not put “black” in the text. The Hebrew has four different color words for the horses in 6.2-3, but not here. Most translators will in any case have enough trouble finding three suitable terms!

It is not certain whether the colors themselves carry any symbolic meanings. Quite possibly they did originally, but if so, we no longer know what they were.

An alternative translation model for verse 8 is the following:

• In the night I looked and saw an angel [or, messenger] of the LORD sitting on a brown [or, red] horse that he had caused to stop among some myrtle trees in a valley. Behind him I saw other horses standing with riders sitting on them. Some of these horses were brown, others gray [or, black and white], and others white.

A model combining verses 7 and 8 is as follows:

• On the night of the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year that Darius ruled as emperor [of Persia], the LORD spoke to me as if in a vision [or, in what seemed to be a dream]. I saw an angel of the LORD sitting on a brown horse that stood among some myrtle trees [or, sweet smelling bushes] in a valley. Behind him stood other horses with their riders….

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .