and the mountains were mountains of copper A sign of the strength of these kingdoms, which came to them from between the two mountains, which are hard and strong, as these four chariots are messengers of the Holy one, blessed be He, to give ruling power to the four kingdoms of Babylon, Media, Greece, and Edom.

red horses They were the ones that caused Babylon to mount, for [Babylon] is red, as it is written (Dan. 2:38): “You are the head of gold” [gold having a red tinge].

black [Horses,] to cause Media to mount, for they blackened the faces of Israel in the days of Haman.

white To cause Persia to mount, and Persia built the Temple.

spotted They are spotted. [Their function is] to cause Greece to mount, [as Greece] oppressed Israel with various kinds of decrees

ash- colored to cause Edom and Ishmael to mount, but I do not know the expression אֲמֻצִּים. Jonathan rendered: ash-colored.

These are the four corners of the heavens The heavenly princes of the nations that rule over the four corners of the heavens.

coming forth from standing, etc. They came before Him, and He gave them permission from His mouth to rule.

The one [chariot] the black horses were in was going to the northland to cause Media to ride. Concerning the red ones, he does not write that they were going forth because the kingdom of Babylon had already been destroyed.

and the white ones went forth after them to cause Persia to mount both of them, in the north, and they ruled over Babylon.

and the spotted ones went forth to the southland to cause Greece to mount so that Greece should take the kingdom from Persia. In Rav Saadiah’s interpretation of Daniel, the king of the south (11:5) is identified with the king of Greece.

And the ash-colored ones went forth and begged of Him that they have a very long rule, to go throughout all the earth.

And He said, “Go, walk to and fro on the earth” He gave them permission to rule a great ruling, and that is the kingdom of Edom.

Look, those going forth to the northland to cause Media and Persia to mount.

eased My spirit They caused My anger to subside in Babylon when they destroyed Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar’s descendants. This is what Isaiah (48:14) said: “The Lord loves him who shall do His will in Babylon, etc.”

Take from the exiles - from Heldai, etc., who have come from Babylon All these people.

whose name is the Shoot He is Zerubbabel, mentioned above (3:8): “Behold, I bring My servant, the Shoot,” since his greatness burgeoned little by little. Some interpret this as referring to the King Messiah, but the entire context deals with the [time of the] Second Temple.

who will spring up out of his place From royal descent.

and he shall bear glory The glory of the kingship.

And he shall sit The High Priest [shall sit] on the throne of the priesthood.

And a council of peace, etc. The king and the Priest shall love one another.

And the crowns shall be for Helem, etc. This is a transposed verse. It should be understood as: And the crowns shall be in the Temple of the Lord as a good memorial for Helem and for Tobijah, who donated the silver and the gold. Those crowns were hanging in the windows in the height of the Temple, as we learned in tractate Middoth (36a, 3:8).

for Helem That is Heldai.

And it shall come to pass if you hearken And this thing shall come to pass for you if you hearken, etc.