Thus says the LORD of hosts begins a new unit. Good News Translation renders it as “The LORD Almighty says.”

Peoples shall yet come: Revised Standard Version is following the Septuagint, which here, as in verses 17 and 23, is based on a Hebrew text one word shorter than the traditional text. All the other available modern versions do the same, even apparently New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. The inclusion of the problem word, the relative pronoun “who” (“Peoples who shall yet come”), would make the grammar more awkward without changing the sense significantly, so translators are recommended to follow Revised Standard Version and omit it. Good News Translation expands what in Revised Standard Version is the single word yet to “The time is coming when.” This may be an attempt to follow the traditional Hebrew text (compare Beck), but it is not done by other versions, and does not seem to offer any advantages. New Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible turn yet into “in the future,” which is both clear and simple. Good News Translation is more helpful in making it clear that the people come “to Jerusalem.” In Hebrew this is not mentioned till verse 22, but for modern readers, the passage as a whole will be easier to follow if the destination is stated at the beginning (compare New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

The general term peoples is expanded in the last part of the verse as the inhabitants of many cities, and refers to gentiles, not Jewish inhabitants of foreign cities. Good News Translation runs the two expressions into one, and says “people from many cities.” Many cities may also mean “great cities,” and is so understood by Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition (compare the Good News Translation footnote). However, in this context it seems more likely that the meaning intended is many. New Jerusalem Bible has revised Jerusalem Bible to “many,” and Revised English Bible has revised New English Bible in the same way.

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 .