Now Joshua was standing before the angel: This repeats the setting of verse 1. Now is a logical connector here, not a temporal one. It marks the introduction of some explanatory details. Again standing has legal overtones. Good News Translation omits before the angel and has simply “was standing there.”

Clothed with filthy garments: The filthy garments stand for the sins of Joshua (see verse 4), and by implication, for the sins of the people he represents. To be wearing dirty clothes was a sign of sorrow, and so in effect an admission of guilt. The word translated filthy probably means stained with human excrement. The word for garments is a general term and does not refer to any particular article of clothing.

Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both reverse the order of the Hebrew clauses. This change makes the account less repetitive, but it does reduce the focus on the filthy garments. Other versions maintain the focus of the Hebrew more closely by rendering, “Now Joshua was wearing filthy clothes as he stood before the angel” (New English Bible; similarly Revised English Bible). Some translators will find this a more helpful translation base. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition and Contemporary English Version omit was standing before the angel. This is also a valid possibility in languages where such repetition would seem unduly awkward.

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 .