This is the more likely true explanation, since the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the meaning of which is " Jehovah shall judge "), which lies between these two " mountains," or " hills," is associated in the prophetic Scriptures with God's judgments upon the nations (Joel iii. 2). [1]
At any rate, this much is clear (as Dr. Wright points out), that the chariots are represented as going forth from a place situate between " north " and " south " i.e., from Palestine, and from that place in the Holy Land where Jehovah was wont to display His gracious presence. From this spot, which God has chosen as His earthly dwellingplace, and as the centre of His governmental dealings with the nations, blessing goes forth in all the world, and from it also judgments proceed.
They are spoken of as mountains of " brass," or, more literally, " copper," to indicate the strength and inaccessibleness of God's dwelling-place. He can, and does, send forth His chariots to build up, or to pull down and destroy, but no one can penetrate into His presence. Or, as Pusey observes, " the mountains of brass may signify the height of the Divine wisdom (in all His plans and purposes con cerning the nations), and the sublimity of the power which putteth them in operation. As the Psalmist says: Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God. "
- ↑ All sorts of fanciful explanations have been given by interpreters of these two mountains. Hengstenberg regards them as merely emblematic of the power of God, which shields and protects His people. Baumgarten says that they represent the east and west as the two central points of the world-power. But these in Zechariah's visions, as Dr. Wright properly points out, are rather the north and south. Hitzig would, it seems, locate them in heaven, and regards the chariots as having been seen coming forth from the dwelling-place of the Most High.
Von Hoffmann, Pressel, and others have explained them to be the mountains of Zion and Moriah, " for from these two mountains in Messianic days the Kingdom of God should be spread abroad" (Pressel); "and they will be the mountains whence God should send forth His last judgments upon the world."
The opinion of Jasper Svedberg, the father of the renowned Swedenborg, may be mentioned as a curiosity of exposition. According to him, the prophet, when speaking of mountains of brass or copper, evidently alluded to the country of Dalarne, in Sweden, which, he thought, was destined to be of great import ance in thejlatter daysj
