Tyre has built herself a rampart: In English as in Hebrew, cities are regarded as feminine, so the pronoun is herself, but this is a linguistic convention and not part of the information content of the verse. Translators should follow the conventions of their own language on this point. It may be useful to restructure this clause as “The people of Tyre have built for themselves….” A rampart is a strong, high defensive wall, or, as Good News Translation translates, “fortifications.” Other words used include “fortress” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version) and “stronghold” (New American Bible, New International Version). In a number of languages, this first clause may be also expressed as “The people of Tyre have built a strong, high wall around their city.” In Hebrew there is alliteration (a resemblance of sound) between the name Tyre (Tsor) and the word translated rampart (matsor). We could catch something of this in English by saying “Tyre has built herself a tower,” but this would not be a very adequate translation. Most languages, like English, will have to accept the loss of the alliteration, though if it could be retained, it should be.

The rest of the verse describes the wealth of Tyre (compare Ezek 28.2-5).

Heaped up silver like dust is similar to an expression found in Job 27.16.

And gold like the dirt of the streets: There may be another case of alliteration between the Hebrew words for gold (charuts) and streets (chutsoth), but this will be lost in most translations. The simile like the dirt of the streets occurs also in 2 Sam 22.43; Psa 18.42; Micah 7.10 (Revised Standard Version “like the mire of the streets”). A similar expression is found in Zech 10.5, but there and elsewhere in the Old Testament it has a different meaning. Some translations such as Good News Translation run these last two expressions together: “Tyre … has piled up so much silver and gold that it is as common as dirt” (compare Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Contemporary English Version has “and piled up silver and gold as though they were dust or mud from the streets.”

Up to this point the statements about Tyre are purely descriptive, and do not contain words of condemnation.

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 .