10:1 Ask the Lord for rain in the season of the late spring rains 5 – the Lord who causes thunderstorms – and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field.
1 tn Heb “crowns” (so KJV, ASV; also in v. 14). The Hebrew word for “crown” here is עֲטֶרֶת (’ateret), a term never used in the OT for the priestly crown or mitre. Thus, the scene here describes the investing of the priest with royal authority.
2 tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.
3 tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”
3 sn For a similar reference to true and righteous judgment see Mic 6:8.
4 tn Heb “the latter rain.” This expression refers to the last concentration of heavy rainfall in the spring of the year in Palestine, about March or April. Metaphorically and eschatologically (as here) the “latter rain” speaks of God’s outpouring of blessing in the end times (cf. Hos 6:3; Joel 2:21-25).
5 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
6 sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586
6 tn Heb “so that no man lifts up his head.”
7 tn Heb “terrify them”; the referent (Judah’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “to scatter it.” The word “people” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.