Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 2:4

"and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and cattle therein." — Zechariah 2:4 (ASV)

And said unto him.—Some commentators suppose that it is the angel-interpreter who speaks here; but if this were the case, an “other angel” would be a superfluous figure in the vision, because the angel-interpreter could have addressed “this young man” directly. Accordingly, we agree with the Authorized Version in taking this “other angel” as the speaker.

This young man is supposed by some to be Zechariah; but it gives a much more definite meaning to the vision to understand the expression as referring to “the man with the measuring line.”

Towns without walls — i.e., unfortified towns. A similar expression in the Hebrew is contrasted with “fortified cities” in 1 Samuel 6:18. The “other angel,” for Zechariah’s instruction, directs the angel-interpreter to inform the man who was measuring that there would be no purpose in taking an exact measurement of Jerusalem, since, for the multitude of men and cattle, it would soon exceed its original limits. It would be an unnecessary forcing of the words to suppose with some commentators that the measurer is called a “young man” because of his simplicity and ignorance.

That this prophecy was fulfilled in the grandeur and extent of Jerusalem can be seen by referring to the descriptions of it, after its restoration, by Aristeas (Ed. Schmidt), Hecataeus, etc. Josephus (Bell, Jud 1.5.4, 92) says that in the time of Herod Agrippa, Jerusalem had, “by reason of the multitude” (or, its inhabitants), gradually “extended beyond its original limits,” so that another hill had to be incorporated, which was fortified, and called “Bezetha.”