The LORD of hosts will protect them: The Hebrew word translated protect is related to the word for a shield, so some versions say “The LORD of Hosts will be their shield” (New English Bible; compare New American Bible) or “the LORD Almighty will shield them” (New International Version; similarly Beck). Them is identified by Good News Translation as “his people.” For The LORD of hosts, see the notes on Hag 1.2.
They shall devour and tread down the slingers: As the Revised Standard Version footnote makes clear, it is translating an altered text. The Hebrew literally says, “they will devour and tread down the slingstones” (similarly New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible).
This is a somewhat unexpected expression, but it makes adequate sense, and there is no need to suggest a change in the traditional text (compare Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament). This is a poetic way of saying that the LORD’s people “will destroy their enemies” (Good News Translation), though the loss of the figure of speech destroys the poetic impact.
There are other ways of interpreting the text. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh takes the slingstones as the subject, and says, “[His] slingstones shall devour and conquer” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1. Edition). Some scholars understand God’s slingstones to be a reference to hailstones. New International Version has “They will destroy and overcome with slingstones” (similarly New Living Translation), though it is not certain whether the Hebrew can really be understood that way. The verbs devour and tread down are a figurative exaggeration. If such terms would be misunderstood, translators could say something clearer, such as “they will withstand and defeat their enemies who attack them by slinging stones.” Such a rendering is close to the meaning of Revised Standard Version, but it arrives at this interpretation by recognizing that the stones stand for the people who sling them. This is a translational adjustment rather than a textual alteration. Slings for hurling stones at the enemy were a recognized form of armament in ancient times, and skilled slingers could be very accurate (Jdg 20.16). It was with a sling and a stone that David defeated Goliath (1 Sam 17.48-50).
They shall drink their blood like wine: The words their blood are taken from the ancient Greek translation. Although New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and New Revised Standard Version also follow the Greek here, this text is not to be recommended (Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). The Revised Standard Version rendering raises various problems. Nowhere in the Old Testament are victorious soldiers described as drinking the blood of their enemies, and for Israelites to do this would be doubly abhorrent, since the Law forbad them to drink even animal blood (see the comments on verse 7). The Hebrew text as it stands means “They will drink and roar as with wine” (New International Version); that is, “… shout as drunks do.” This is a satisfactory meaning in the context of a victorious army and can be retained. The text does not say they will actually be drunk, but that they will shout in celebration as if they were. Good News Translation has “They will shout in battle like drunk men” (British edition “… drunken men”; Australian edition “… men who are drunk”), or translators may say something like “As they fight they will shout like drunk men [or, men who have drunk too much wine].” Note that Good News Translation also tries to follow the Greek text with “and will shed the blood of their enemies,” but translators should not follow this example. New English Bible and Revised English Bible translate with a colloquial expression “they shall/will be roaring drunk as if with wine,” but this is not satisfactory, because if people were “roaring drunk,” then actual alcohol is involved and the “as if” is not appropriate. Wine is a fermented drink made from grapes (see Hag 1.6). If it is unknown in a culture, something like “intoxicating drink” may be used.
And be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar: This is a reference to the way in which sacrificial ritual was carried out. The blood of the sacrificed animal was collected in a bowl and splashed on the altar, including on the projecting corners of the altar (sometimes referred to as “horns,” as in 1 Kgs 1.50; 1 Kgs 2.28), which were regarded as its most sacred parts. The bowls (or, basins) are mentioned in Exo 38.3 and Num 4.14. The splashing of the altar with blood is described in Exo 29.10-21; Lev 1.11; Lev 3.8; Lev 4.7, 18; Lev 8.15; Lev 16.18. Any bowl used to catch the blood of a large animal like a goat or a bull would quickly become full, and the altar that was regularly used in sacrifices could well be described as drenched or “soaked” (Jerusalem Bible).
To sum up, then, the verse as a whole can be taken in two ways. In the first, it describes a situation in which the people of God are victorious in battle, drinking the blood of their defeated enemies until they are soaked in it, and so to speak drunk with it. This interpretation is represented in Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, but it has two problems. One is that it depends on following the Greek text rather than the Hebrew, and the other is that to speak of the LORD’s people drinking human blood would have been totally repugnant to the original audience. This interpretation cannot be recommended.
The second way of taking the verse is to see it as describing the LORD’s people as being victorious through his protection, and then celebrating with a banquet that will be as noisy as if the participants were drunk. This view is represented in New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version, and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament. It also has the support of such scholars as Lamarche, Baldwin, and R. L. Smith. It avoids both the problems of the other view and is to be preferred. However, the reference to drunkenness must be handled in a sensitive way so that it will not be misunderstood.
It is hard to determine how Good News Translation arrived at its translation. Good News Translation seems to have followed the Greek text in reading “blood” but has avoided having the LORD’s people drinking blood. It seems to be an uncomfortable compromise between the two views described above, and is not a good example to follow.
A possible translation model for the verse is:
• The LORD Almighty will protect his people like a shield. They will withstand and conquer those who attack them by slinging stones. Then they will drink in celebration, and shout like people who are drunk [or, drunk with wine]. They will be as full as a bowl used to hold the blood of sacrificed animals. They will be drenched like the corners of the altar itself.
As the Good News Translation footnote suggests, no rendering of this verse can be entirely free from uncertainties.
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 .