Thus says the LORD of hosts: The usual form of the expression recurs this time. Again Good News Translation has no equivalent. See the comments on verse 2.

Old men and old women: In many languages there may be a general term such as “old people” that includes both men and women. If so, this term would be appropriate here. As the rest of the verse shows, the emphasis is on the fact that the people concerned are very old (Contemporary English Version “Very old people”).

Shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem: The wording does not necessarily mean that the people sat on the ground, though they may have done so. In languages where there are different words for sitting on the ground and sitting for instance on a chair, translators should probably choose the term that denotes the normal mode of sitting in their own society. The Hebrew text is not drawing any attention to the posture, but rather showing that the old people will have leisure and safety. Again does not mean that the same old people who had sat around before would do so once more, but that the community would again see old people sitting around relaxing.

In countries with a warm climate, it is normal for most social contact to take place out of doors. Translators should avoid giving the impression that the old people were forced to sit outside because they were not welcome indoors! The Hebrew word translated streets may also mean “squares” (Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Living Translation; compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “open spaces” (Moffatt). It may be better to use a term like this which fits well with the context of ease and peace, and which is appropriate in the culture as a place where people sit around.

Each with staff in hand for very age: Good News Translation puts this into modern English with “so old that they use canes [British and Australian editions ‘a stick’] when they walk.” The Good News Translation model may be difficult to translate in some languages. In such cases Contemporary English Version‘s translation, which avoids the mention of streets, may be more helpful: “Very old people with walking sticks will once again sit around in Jerusalem.”

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 .