In each passage shady mountains are mentioned, and I believe they refer to the Paradise of God, which He planted eastward in Eden, or perhaps to the Heavenly Jerusalem. For "there are mountains around it, and the Lord is in the midst of his people." And these mountains are said to be shady, because they are full of divine powers and holy spirits, as of trees planted there and far-spreading. But in Zechariah clearly the vision was of a man riding on a bay horse, by which the Incarnation of our Saviour was meant, and the flesh in which He rode: while here "God a Holy One" is named. For to mark that it was from God that He made His approach to men, and that He arrived from diviner regions, it is said, "God came from Thaeman, and the Holy One from a thick and shady mountain." And then it adds: "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise, and his ray shall be as light." In which both the glory of His Heavenly Kingdom is shewn, and also the increase of the praise of the teaching about Him that will be spread through all the earth. And the expression, "horns in his hands," shews the symbols of His rule, wherewith He drives away the invisible and opposing powers by pushing and butting them. And agreeing with this he adds: "He made the love of his power strong": and the greatest sign of His strong affection and love to men was "that his Word should go before his face," meaning the Gospel of Salvation, which should come forth and scour the plains, so that soon all the world should be filled with the salvation offered by Him to all men according to the prophecy which said, "Before his face shall his Word go forth, and shall go out into the plains." His Word will bring a further and more exact fulfilment to this prophecy and its context at His Second Coming, which it is not now the place to expound.