9:1 An oracle of the word of the Lord concerning the land of Hadrach, 3 with its focus on Damascus: 4
The eyes of all humanity, 5 especially of the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord,
8:1 Then the word of the Lord who rules over all 6 came to me as follows: 8:2 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much concerned for Zion; indeed, I am so concerned for her that my rage will fall on those who hurt her.’
6:1 Once more I looked, and this time I saw four chariots emerging from between two mountains of bronze. 7
6:1 Once more I looked, and this time I saw four chariots emerging from between two mountains of bronze. 8
7:1 In King Darius’ fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month, 9 the word of the Lord came to Zechariah.
1 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
2 tn Though a hapax legomenon, the מִצָּבָה (mitsavah) of the MT (from נָצַב, natsav, “take a stand”) is preferable to the suggestion מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”) or even מִצָּבָא (mitsava’, “from” or “against the army”). The context favors the idea of the
3 sn The land of Hadrach was a northern region stretching from Aleppo in the north to Damascus in the south (cf. NLT “Aram”).
4 tn Heb “Damascus its resting place.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix on “resting place” (מְנֻחָתוֹ, mÿnukhato), however, precludes “land” or even “Hadrach,” both of which are feminine, from being the antecedent. Most likely “word” (masculine) is the antecedent, i.e., the “word of the
5 tc Though without manuscript and version support, many scholars suggest emendation here to clarify what, to them, is an unintelligible reading. Thus some propose עָדֵי אָרָם (’ade ’aram, “cities of Aram”; cf. NAB, NRSV) for עֵין אָדָם (’en ’adam, “eye of man”) or אֲדָמָה (’adamah, “ground”) for אָדָם (’adam, “man”), “(surface of) the earth.” It seems best, however, to see “eye” as collective and to understand the passage as saying that the attention of the whole earth will be upon the
6 sn
7 tn Heb “two mountains, and the mountains [were] mountains of bronze.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “two mountains, and the mountains [were] mountains of bronze.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 sn The fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month would be December 7, 518
10 tn Heb “have sinned.” For stylistic reasons – to avoid redundancy in English – this was translated as “committed.”
11 tn Heb “the house of my father.”
12 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
13 tn Heb “I will set my eyes upon them for good.” For the nuance of “good” see Jer 21:10; Amos 9:4 (in these cases the opposite of harm; see BDB 375 s.v. טוֹבָה 1).
14 tn The words “There” and “firmly in the land” are not in the text but are implicit from the connection and the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 sn For these terms see Jer 1:10.
16 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
17 tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.
18 tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.
19 tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”
20 tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”
21 tn Or “times when people did not know.”
22 tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
23 sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.