Zechariah 12:5

12:5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all.’

Zechariah 8:8

8:8 And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ¹  in truth and righteousness.’

Zechariah 9:13

9:13 I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! ²  I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, ³  like a warrior’s sword.

Zechariah 2:11

2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, ⁴  and they will also be my ⁵  people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zechariah 11:7

11:7 So I ⁶  began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted ⁷  of all the flock. Then I took two staffs, ⁸  calling one “Pleasantness” ⁹  and the other “Binders,” ¹⁰  and I tended the flock.

[8:8]  ¹ sn The affirmation They will be my people, and I will be their God speaks of covenant renewal, a restoration of the unbroken fellowship the Lord desired to have with his people but which their disloyalty had shattered. In the eschaton God and Israel will be in covenant union once again (cf. Jer 31:33).

[9:13]  ¹ tn The words “my arrow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the imagery for the modern reader (cf. NRSV, NLT).

[9:13]  ² tn The word “Zion” is not repeated here in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the statement refers to Zion and not to Greece.

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ² tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3rd person masculine singular suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”; cf. NAB, TEV) in order to avoid the Lord’s speaking of himself in the third person. Such resort is unnecessary, however, in light of the common shifting of person in Hebrew narrative (cf. 3:2).

[11:7]  ¹ sn The first person pronoun refers to Zechariah himself who, however, is a “stand-in” for the Lord as the actions of vv. 8-14 make clear. The prophet, like others before him, probably performed actions dramatizing the account of God’s past dealings with Israel and Judah (cf. Hos 1-3; Isa 20:2-4; Jer 19:1-15; 27:2-11; Ezek 4:1-3).

[11:7]  ² tc For the MT reading לָכֵן עֲנִיֵּי (lakhen ’aniyyey, “therefore the [most] afflicted of”) the LXX presupposes לִכְנַעֲנֵיּי (“to the merchants of”). The line would then read “So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter for the sheep merchants” (cf. NAB). This helps to explain the difficult לָכֵן (lakhen) here but otherwise has no attestation or justification, so the MT is followed by most modern English versions.

[11:7]  ³ sn The two staffs represent the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. For other examples of staffs representing tribes or nations see Num 17:1-11; Ezek 37:15-23.

[11:7]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am) is frequently translated “Favor” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. KJV “Beauty”; CEV “Mercy.”

[11:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term חֹבְלִים (khovlim) is often translated “Union” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); cf. KJV, ASV “Bands”; NAB “Bonds”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “Unity”).