The instructions given to the prophet probably end at the end of verse 14. At any rate verse 15 is not very closely linked with them. This is shown in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation by printing it as a separate paragraph. Jerusalem Bible goes as far as to print verse 15 after verse 8, but there is no textual evidence to support this and translators should not follow this example. New Jerusalem Bible changes this, and prints the verses in their traditional order. In its traditional position, the verse functions as a closing summary to the whole of chapter 6.

And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the LORD: Those who are far off probably refers primarily to those Jews who were living outside of Judah. It may refer to the gifts sent by the Babylonian Jewish community, as mentioned in verse 10. For shall come and help to build, the Hebrew text says “shall come and build” (King James Version, Revised Version, New American Bible), but the addition of help to (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version) is justified. The prophet is not saying that huge numbers of people will assist with the actual labor, but that they will make a contribution toward its success. In many cases this would have been a financial contribution like that brought by Heldai and his companions. It is possible in the light of 8.22 and Hag 2.7 that the prophet also has in mind contributions from gentile sources (compare Ezra 6.8, 22). Translators should not exclude this possibility by saying “those who are in exile,” but should keep a more general expression like “Men who live far away” (Good News Translation) or “people from distant lands” (Contemporary English Version). For the temple of the LORD, see the notes on verse 12.

And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you: Compare the notes on 2.9, 11; 4.9. In this case, you is plural in both of its occurrences. In many languages it will be useful to begin this clause with a statement linking it with the previous clause, as in Good News Translation “when it is rebuilt.”

And this shall come to pass if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God: New Revised Standard Version puts this shall come to pass into current English as “This will happen.” The Hebrew text actually has no equivalent to this. The sentence is in fact incomplete and consists only of a conditional clause. So New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has just “if only you will obey the LORD your God.” R. L. Smith notes that it may be an incomplete quotation of Deut 28.1. Perhaps this text would have been sufficiently familiar that mention of even part of it would bring the rest to the reader’s mind. It could be rendered “it will happen that if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God….” Some versions such as Moffatt, Knox, and New American Bible use dots to show that the text breaks off. Most however, try to provide a satisfactory ending. The most frequent solution is to provide this as the subject referring back to the arrival of foreign contributions to the work on the Temple (King James Version, Revised Version, Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). This is the solution that translators are advised to adopt.

The voice of the LORD your God is of course a Hebrew way of referring to “the commands of the LORD your God” (Good News Translation), and many translators will find it better to state the meaning plainly. Another possibility is to say directly “obey the LORD your God” (New English Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version); for example, “… if you truly obey the LORD your [plural] God.”

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 .