And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the LORD of hosts: Not only will the pots used in the Temple for humble purposes become holy, but so will every pot in the land. It is as though the sanctity of the Temple area will expand to include the whole country. The expression that Revised Standard Version here renders sacred to the LORD is the same in Hebrew as the one in the previous verse, which it rendered “Holy to the LORD.” The link between the two verses is shown more clearly if the expression is translated in the same way both times. Almost all modern English versions except Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version do so, and this is to be recommended. Translators should note that this time the divine name has its longer form the LORD of hosts. For LORD of hosts, see Hag 1.2.

So that all who sacrifice may come and take of them: Several commentators point out that with so many foreigners coming to attend the Festival of Shelters, there would be a shortage of sacred vessels for ceremonial use. The extension of the special status of holiness to include all the pots in the land would solve the problem. In that way all who sacrifice would find a suitable vessel to take and use.

And boil the flesh of the sacrifice in them: In most sacrifices the worshipers shared in the eating of the animal. The flesh had to be cooked by boiling (see 2 Chr 35.13), and the pots could be used for this purpose.

And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day: The word that Revised Standard Version translates trader is actually the word for “Canaanite” as in 11.7, 11. (see the notes on “trafficked” in 11.7, and compare Job 41.6; Pro 31.24 [Revised Standard Version “merchant”]; Zeph 1.11). There is some debate about whether the word in this context carries its primary meaning of “Canaanite,” or its derived or associated meaning, trader. Most modern English versions have “trader” or “merchant.” Only New International Version and Beck say “Canaanite,” and New International Version offers “merchant” as an alternative in a footnote. It is possible that the prophet was consciously making a pun. In the new era when all pots are holy, there will be no need for traders “to sell ritually pure vessels” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh footnote). Likewise there will be no place for “Canaanites” as representatives of false religion. In the light of this possibility, it is recommended that translators follow the example of New Revised Standard Version, and put “traders” in the text and “Canaanites” in a footnote as an alternative.

This verse may have been in the minds of the writers of the Gospels when they recorded Christ’s cleansing of the Temple (Matt 21.12-13; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45-46; John 2.13-16).

The final words on that day function as a time phrase emphasizing that the events described belong to the end time. Obviously they cannot in this position function as a marker for the opening of a new discourse unit.

An alternative translation model combining verses 20 and 21 is as follows:

• 20-21 At that time people will inscribe the words “Sacred to the LORD” on the bells worn by the horses. The ordinary pots in the Temple, and indeed every cooking pot in Jerusalem and the whole of Judah will be just as sacred to the LORD Almighty as the bowls used before [or, at] the altar. Any of them will be acceptable for anyone who comes to sacrifice an animal to use for boiling the meat, and at that time there will be no need for merchants to sell special pots and bowls.

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 .