These verses give a more detailed description of the organization of the mourning mentioned in 12.10-11. Basically the mourning would be done in family groups with the sexes separated. This separation may be due to some special role that women fulfilled in ritual mourning (compare Jer 9.17-22). Similar customs are still found in some parts of the world.

The land shall mourn, each family by itself: The land is here a figure of speech called a metonymy, and stands for its inhabitants. Family does not refer to a small family consisting only of parents and children, but to an extended family group having a common ancestor. In some languages it would be better translated “clan.” It is, however, a smaller unit than a tribe, as this term is used in the Bible (compare Josh 7.16-18). By itself is repeated several times in this passage. It is not certain whether it means “in its own place” or “at its own time.” If the first is meant, then the families are thought of as mourning simultaneously in different places. If the second, then they are thought of as mourning in sequence, one after the other, perhaps in a single place such as at the Temple. If there are different terms in their language, translators may choose whichever seems more culturally appropriate. A few English versions (King James Version, Revised Version, Moffatt, New American Bible) use the term “apart,” which indicates separation in space rather than time.

The family of the house of David by itself: This refers to the descendants of King David, still leading citizens after the exile. In this context the focus is on physical descent from the royal line rather than on status as rulers.

And their wives by themselves: In Hebrew the word for wives is the same as the word for “women.” In this context it is not just married women who are referred to and a more general term like “womenfolk” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) is preferable.

The family of the house of Nathan by itself: Some scholars understand the reference to be to the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 7.2), but in this context it seems much more likely to be to a son of David called Nathan (2 Sam 5.14; 1 Chr 3.5; 1 Chr 14.4). This son is also mentioned in Luke’s list of ancestors of Jesus (Luke 3.31). Thus a minor line descended from David is mentioned as an example. This would be parallel to the mention of both Levi and Shimei below.

The family of the house of Levi by itself: This refers to the descendants of Levi, that is the hereditary priests, who were also influential after the return from exile.

The family of the Shimeites by itself: This name is the only one in the list to have a definite article rather than the phrase “house of” before the name. There is no discernible significance in this variation, and indeed the ancient Syriac and Aramaic versions have the same phrase here as occurs with the other names. Translators need not try to make a distinction. Shimei is not the person who insulted David in 2 Sam 16.5-8, but rather a grandson of Levi (Num 3.17-18; 1 Chr 6.16-17). Thus he stands as an example of a branch of the priestly line just as Nathan stands as an example of a branch of the royal line.

And all the families that are left: This probably refers to the other families in the royal and priestly lines not mentioned by name above.

Each by itself, and their wives by themselves: See the notes above. In some languages the repetition of the first phrase six times and the second one five times may be very poor style. In such cases, it is appropriate to restructure these three verses so as to eliminate the repetition. Good News Translation offers a good example of how this can be done, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch offers another. But if the repetition can be kept without sounding unnatural, it may prove a useful way of emphasizing how solemn and sincere the mourning was.

If the identification of Nathan and Shimei above is correct, it may be of some significance that the mourners consist of royal and priestly families, with no mention of prophets. Perhaps this indicates that the person that they had pierced, and were now mourning, was a prophetic figure of some kind. See also the notes on 13.3. Some translators may wish to add footnotes identifying Nathan and Shimei since these names are not likely to be correctly understood otherwise.

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 .