It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD: This repeats the thought of the closing words of verse 12, but with emphasis upon the pronoun he. Good News Translation represents this emphasis by saying “He is the one who….” New American Bible says “Yes, he shall build…” and New Jerusalem Bible has “Yes, he is the one who….” Moffatt follows the Septuagint in omitting this clause, but there is no need to do so.

And shall bear royal honor: In the Hebrew the emphatic pronoun “he” is again included, but Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both fail to show any equivalent. Jerusalem Bible shows the emphasis best by repeating “It is he who…” (similarly Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Revised English Bible). The verb translated bear in Revised Standard Version is used elsewhere of wearing distinctive clothing (such as the priestly ephod in 1 Sam 2.28; 1 Sam 14.3; 1 Sam 22.18). Some versions take it here to mean wearing distinctive royal garments and translate accordingly. For instance, Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible have “wear the royal insignia.” Other versions take the expression in a more general sense and say things like “assume royal dignity” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible), “assume majesty” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “receive the honor due a king” (Good News Translation American and Australian editions; “receive the honour due to a king” in British editions). The expression royal honor translates a single Hebrew word that is often used of a king (1 Chr 29.25 [Revised Standard Version “majesty”]; Psa 45.3 [Revised Standard Version “glory”]; Jer 22.18 [Revised Standard Version “majesty”]; Dan 11.21 [Revised Standard Version “majesty”]).

And shall sit and rule upon his throne: The emphatic pronoun is not repeated with this clause. The order of the verbs is somewhat confusing. Basically upon his throne goes with sit. Sitting on a throne is a symbolic action whose meaning is explained by rule. Several modern versions restructure the sentence to make the meaning clearer. Jerusalem Bible, for instance, says “sit on his throne as ruler,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “sit on his throne and rule.” It is also possible that the whole expression means “ascend to the throne and rule.” Good News Translation does not mention the symbolic action of sitting on the throne at all, but simply gives its meaning with “he will rule his people.” This avoids any possibility of misunderstanding, but the idea of a special seat for a person in authority is known in many cultures and so it would be good for translators to keep the symbolic action if at all possible.

And there shall be a priest by his throne: There are two problems here. The first concerns the meaning of the Hebrew word translated by, and the second concerns the antecedent of his (that is, who this pronoun refers back to). The Hebrew word here translated by usually means “upon” (as in the previous clause). If it is translated “upon” here, then his throne would mean “his own throne,” that is the priest’s throne (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament). Thus there would be two thrones, and power would somehow be shared between the ruler and the priest. This possibility is accepted by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. The Hebrew phrase equivalent to by his throne was translated in the Septuagint as “at his right hand.” This could mean either that the Septuagint translators had before them a Hebrew text somewhat different from ours, or at least that they considered the preposition to be capable of having other meanings as well as “upon.” Several modern versions (Moffatt, Bible de Jérusalem, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition) follow the Septuagint fully, while others (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente) seem to use its rendering to support the idea that the preposition can mean by: “A priest will stand by his throne” (Good News Translation). In this case his must refer to the ruler mentioned in the previous clause. Meyers & Meyers point out that the Hebrew word twice translated throne is the normal word for a chair, and takes on the meaning of throne only in royal contexts. Thus it is possible that in the second occurrence it does not hint at royal status. However, it seems a little unlikely that the word would be used twice so close together with significantly different meanings.

A further possibility is found in King James Version, Revised Version, New American Standard Bible, New King James Version , and New International Version. These versions take the clause to mean “he will be a priest on his throne” and to refer to the ruler of the previous clause. Thus this person would be both king and priest, as is shown by the capital letter on “He” in New American Standard Bible and New King James Version . The objection to this interpretation is that it does not fit at all with the following clause, which definitely speaks of two people.

As so often in the book of Zechariah, there is no ideal solution to the problem. On the whole we recommend that translators should follow the decision of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, and translate by his throne, with his referring to the ruler. This decision takes note of the Septuagint, but avoids both a major change in the Hebrew text, and a major clash of meaning with the following clause.

And peaceful understanding shall be between them both: This expression is not very natural in English, and is improved in modern versions, such as New English Bible “concord shall prevail between them,” Revised English Bible “there will be harmony between them,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “harmonious understanding shall prevail between them.” Good News Translation restructures it as “they will work together in peace and harmony.” Contemporary English Version has simply “and the two of them will be good friends,” but this is too weak to be a good model. Some scholars have taken this clause as an indication that a disagreement had arisen between Zerubbabel and Joshua, and that Zechariah is urging them to cooperate better. We cannot tell if there is any historical truth in this view, but in any case, translators should render the clause as a statement and not as a command.

A possible model for this verse is:

• Yes, he is the one who will build the LORD’s [or, my] Temple, and it is he who will sit on his throne and rule. There will be a priest beside his throne and the two will work together closely [or, harmoniously].

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 .