As in 13.8, the Hebrew begins with a word rendered in King James Version and Revised Version as “And it shall come to pass.” Again as in 13.8, this word has no equivalent in Revised Standard Version and many modern versions. It does, however, have the discourse function of marking the beginning of a new subparagraph, and translators should be aware of this. Several English versions have as a rough equivalent a time phrase at the beginning of the verse, such as Then (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Good News Translation, New International Version), “After this” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “Afterwards” (Contemporary English Version). Almost all modern versions begin a new paragraph at this point and many translators will find it convenient to do the same.

Every one that survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem: This is the first mention of any survivors among the enemy, and casts some light back on verse 12. Although every nation that formed part of the attacking army would be affected by the plague, not every individual among them would die. Every one that survives may also be expressed as “All the enemy soldiers that did not die [or, are still alive].”

Shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts: Go up is a technical term for going to Jerusalem to participate in worship (compare verse 17). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates it as “make a pilgrimage,” which captures the religious overtones well. Year after year may be rendered “each year” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The Hebrew word translated to worship is derived from the idea of bowing down, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh translates here “to bow low to” (compare Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Another possibility is “to prostrate themselves before.” The combination the King, the LORD of hosts is unusual. See also Isa 6.5. For the translation of King, see the comments on verse 9 and Hag 1.1. For LORD of hosts, see Hag 1.2. In some languages it will be helpful to restructure as Good News Translation has done: “… to worship the LORD Almighty as king.” Other possible translation models are “… to worship the LORD, the king of the universe” (Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and “… to honor the LORD of the whole world as their king” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition).

And to keep the feast of booths: The feast of booths, or in modern English, “The Festival of Shelters” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), was the third and most important of the three annual festivals that all Jewish adult males were supposed to keep or “observe” (Exo 23.14-17). It was sometimes referred to simply as “the feast” (1 Kgs 8.2, 65). The regulations for it are found in Lev 23.33-36. According to Deut 16.14, foreigners were also allowed to join in this festival, so this idea is not new in Zechariah. It was held in the seventh month (September-October), and was primarily a time of joy and thanksgiving for the harvest. The people made temporary dwellings or booths in which they lived for a week. The feast of booths may also be expressed as “the festival [or, feast/fiesta] when people lived in temporary shelters [or, huts].”

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 .