The eighth month refers to a period from about mid-October to mid-November. The day of the month is not stated here, as it is in the other dates in the books of Haggai and Zechariah. Zechariah began his ministry about two months later than Haggai (compare Hag 1.1). In languages where the eighth month will be understood to mean August, translators should provide information to help the readers understand that the Jewish calendar was quite different from that of their culture. See Hag 1.1 for further comments.
The second year of Darius was 520 B.C., and this information may be added in a footnote. For Darius see the comments on Hag 1.1. The words “was emperor of Persia” (Good News Translation) are not in the Hebrew (compare Revised Standard Version) but are drawn from the larger historical context, and translators would do well to make this information clear as Good News Translation does (so also Contemporary English Version). Another way of expressing the second year of Darius is “the second year that Darius ruled as emperor of Persia.” For “emperor” and for idiomatic ways of translating this term, see the notes on Hag 1.1.
The word of the LORD came, as often elsewhere, means “the LORD gave this message” (Good News Translation) or “… gave the following message.” Most translators will find it more natural to make the LORD the subject of the sentence, as Good News Translation does.
To Zechariah the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet: Translators should note that the prophet refers to Zechariah, not to Iddo. Zechariah is identified as a prophet here in the opening verse, as Haggai was in Hag 1.1. For comments on the translation of prophet, see Hag 1.1. The meaning of Zechariah is “the LORD remembers,” and it is a very common name in the Old Testament. It is the same name as that of the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1), but in some traditions such as that of King James Version and Revised Version in English, the spelling is different in the New Testament because it is based on a Greek form of the name. Translators should be aware that it is the same name, though they may still prefer to use a different spelling in the New Testament to avoid confusion of the persons referred to.
In giving Zechariah’s ancestors, the Hebrew says literally son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, but the meaning is clearer in English when the second instance of the word son is translated as “grandson” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). In some other languages it may be more natural to use “son” both times, as the Hebrew does. Berechiah is mentioned elsewhere only in verse 7, and is not to be confused with Jeberechiah in Isa 8.2 or with the Berechiah (Good News Translation) mentioned in Matt 23.35. Some scholars believe that the words the son of Berechiah are wrongly included here, but there is no textual support for omitting them, and translators should not do so. Iddo is probably the priest Iddo mentioned among those who returned from exile with Zerubbabel in 537 B.C. (Neh 12.4).
Saying introduces the first degree quotation that begins in verse 2 and continues to the end of verse 6.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .