And I am very angry with the nations that are at ease: The terms used for the LORD’s anger here are the same as in verse 2. See the comments there. Here the LORD’s anger is directed against gentile nations that are at ease. The single Hebrew word translated are at ease usually refers to a careless and selfish ease based on a false sense of security (see especially Psa 123.4; Isa 37.29, where Revised Standard Version has “arrogance”; Amos 6.1). That is the meaning in this context, and it is brought out in other versions by such terms as “arrogant nations” (Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “proud nations” (Jerusalem Bible), and “complacent nations” (New American Bible). It could be expressed more fully by saying “the proud nations that relax in peace and quiet,” “the proud nations that live without any problems/troubles,” or “the proud people of the other countries that enjoy their ease” (compare New English Bible/ Revised English Bible).
The reason for the LORD’s anger against the nations is stated very briefly in Hebrew. It is actually rather complex and will need to be expanded in many languages. Revised Standard Version translates literally while I was angry but a little they furthered the disaster. The meaning is this: In the days before the exile, the LORD was angry with his own people because of their idolatry. He planned to punish them moderately, and to use heathen nations to do so. However, these heathen nations (primarily the Assyrians and Babylonians) grew proud of their own strength and attacked the LORD’s people with a ferocity that was beyond measure. They in turn therefore merit the punishment of God for their excessive cruelty (see Isa 10.5-7, 12). Translators should supply enough of this background to ensure that their readers will understand who is being spoken of in each part of the sentence. In order to achieve this, Good News Translation expands to say “I was holding back my anger against my people” and “those nations made the sufferings of my people worse.” However, Good News Translation‘s wording is not clear enough. The sufferings caused by the nations were worse than what? As it stands, Good News Translation probably means “worse than they were before.” But the meaning should be “worse than the LORD intended.” Alternative ways to restructure the sentence for clarity are “I was only moderately angry with my people, but the nations I used to punish them acted too severely” and “I intended to punish my people only in moderation [or, a little], but the nations I used to do so [or, to punish them] brought them to complete disaster.” In some languages speakers cannot talk about nations doing things; it is people who are the initiators of actions. In such cases, in this context it will be necessary to say, for example, “while I was holding back my anger against my own people, the people of those countries….”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• And I am very angry with those proud people in the other nations who lead lives that are free of problems [or, troubles]. For while I intended to punish my people only a little, the people of those nations that I used to punish my people completely ruined them.
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 .