Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men: The main problems in this verse lie in the interpretation of the proper names. The word order in Hebrew is “sent Bethel Sharezer and Regem-melech,” which can be understood in several ways. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation take “Bethel” as the name of a town, standing for the inhabitants of the town. They make it the subject of the verb. Thus they translate the people of Bethel had sent. They then take Sharezer and Regem-melech as personal names and as the objects of the verb. In this they agree with Revised Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente. The name Sharezer also occurs in 2 Kgs 19.37 and Isa 37.38; and compound names ending in -melech occur in 2 Kgs 23.11 and Jer 38.7. Regem occurs on its own as a name in 1 Chr 2.47.
It is also possible to treat “Bethel-sharezer” as a single name, which fits with a known pattern of Babylonian personal names (compare “Nergal-sharezer” in Jer 39.3). This name then identifies a person who is the subject of the verb, leaving Regem-melech as another person who is the object of the verb: “Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech” (New American Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible). This involves deleting the “and” between the two names, which is only one letter in Hebrew. There are two variations of this option. One, which also involves deleting the “and,” is to treat Regem-melech not as a proper name, but as a title or the name of an office. This option gains some support from ancient versions. The Septuagint took melech as an ordinary Hebrew word and translated it with its usual meaning as “king.” The Syriac instead of “Regem-melech” had “Rab-mag,” a title found in Hebrew in Jer 39.3, 13. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible adopts this option and translates “Bethel-Sharezer, a high officer of the king” (this is given as an option in the Bible en français courant footnote, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament).
The other variation does not involve changing the Hebrew text at all. This takes both “Bethel-sharezer” and “Regem-melech” as subjects of the verb. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh accepts this option and translates “Bethel-sharezer and Regem-melech and his men sent.” Both of these variations leave the verb with no stated object, though the sense is still clear. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible makes an object clear by saying “sent a delegation.” (The name Regem-melech is omitted altogether by Bible de Jérusalem and Jerusalem Bible, but there is no textual support for this.)
If translators interpret the people of Bethel as the subject, then the situation would probably be as follows. In the days before the exile, Bethel had been one of the main centers of false worship in the northern kingdom (compare 1 Kgs 12.29, 30; Amos 7.13). Some Jews had returned to Bethel after the exile (Ezra 2.28), and perhaps they were sending a delegation to Jerusalem to ask for guidance on ritual matters in order to show that they had no intention of setting up a rival shrine. The men they sent, Sharezer and Regem-melech, would have been born during the exile, and Sharezer could well have had a Babylonian name.
If translators interpret “Bethel-sharezer” as the subject, then probably this man was a Jew of high rank still living in Babylon, and sending the delegation from there. (Indeed he was high in Darius’s service, if Traduction œcuménique de la Bible is followed and Regem-melech is treated as a title.) If Regem-melech was an individual, he would have been another important Jew, whether he is seen as the leader of the delegation (New American Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible) or joint sender (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In support of this view is the fact that the delegation reached Jerusalem in the ninth month with a query about the fast kept in the fifth month (see the comments on verse 3 below). The journey from Babylon to Jerusalem took about four months (Ezra 7.8-9), so the delegation could well have left Babylon soon after keeping the fast.
Either of the possibilities makes good sense. Although Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both accept the first one, the second seems on the whole more convincing. Unless the principles of a translation project commit translators to following the interpretation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation when they agree with each other, they should seriously consider taking the second option, with New American Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, and Beck.
In this connection we should note one further point: Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both translate and their men, whereas the Hebrew actually says “and his men.” While this change does not affect the sense of the sentence as a whole, it is unnecessary. Whichever of the options discussed in the previous paragraphs we choose, the rendering “and his men” will fit with it, though it fits best with the second option, the one recommended above.
To entreat the favor of the LORD: This expression is old-fashioned English. The meaning is given in modern terms in Good News Translation as “to pray for the LORD’s blessing.” It is likely that this included making offerings to the LORD. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes a reference to such offerings in its text, and other translators may do the same if the structure of their language requires it. Favor or “blessing” refers to God’s goodness or kindness toward people. So this final clause may be expressed as “to pray that the LORD would show kindness to them.”
Good News Translation brings the mention of “the house of the LORD of hosts” from verse 3 into verse 2. Many translators will find this kind of restructuring helpful.
An alternative translation model following the second option mentioned above is:
• Bethel-sharezer sent Regem-melech and his men to the Temple of the LORD Almighty to ask him to show kindness to 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 .