For the teraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies: These two statements are parallel with each other. In languages where such parallelism is clearly understood, this structure may be retained. In others, translators may find it convenient to restructure it into one statement as Good News Translation has. Good News Translation has also helpfully made it clear that people were requesting advice rather than that the teraphim and diviners were speaking on their own initiative without responding to any request. Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente do likewise.

The term teraphim (a plural noun in Hebrew) has given rise to much discussion. Teraphim were idols kept in the family rather than in a shrine (see Gen 31.19 [Revised Standard Version “household gods”]; Jdg 17.5; Jdg 18.14, 18). They were probably made in human form (see 1 Sam 19.13, 16), possibly representing ancestors, according to Lacocque. They are not elsewhere associated with divination except in Ezek 21.21, where the king of Babylon consults them. Some scholars think that the use of the word here shows the deliberate use of an ancient form, because teraphim were not used after the exile. However, Zech 13.2-6 and Mal 3.5 show that pagan practices existed at this period, so the absence of the word teraphim from other parts of Scripture written after the exile is not conclusive.

How should teraphim be translated? In most languages it would be meaningless to retain the Hebrew word as Revised Standard Version does. Other modern versions that do the same (New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Revised Standard Version) at least add footnotes to give some explanation of the term. It is more sensible, however, to put something clear in the text. New Jerusalem Bible has “domestic idols,” while New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New Living Translation, and Biblen: Det Gamle og Det Nye Testamente have “household gods.” Many versions simply have “idols,” and such a general term is adequate for the present context. In languages that do not have a technical word for “idols,” translators may use an expression such as “carved statues of false gods.”

Diviners are people who claim to use supernatural power to interpret omens (strange or unusual events) in order to predict the future. Such practices were clearly forbidden in Deut 18.9-14. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version translate this term as “fortunetellers.” Another possible translation is “people who predict the future.”

The dreamers tell false dreams: The Hebrew words here are open to more than one interpretation. They may be taken to mean “dreamers speak lies” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “dreaming women make empty promises” (New English Bible footnote). Alternatively they may be taken to mean “they tell dreams that are false” (New International Version; similarly Revised English Bible), in which case “they” refers back to the diviners. In view of the parallel structure of the first two clauses of the verse, it seems probable that the third and fourth clauses should also to be seen as parallel. If this is so, then the second interpretation above (“they tell dreams that are false”) is more probable. In the ancient world, dreams were a common means of predicting the future, and were used by God on numerous occasions. The prophet here is not attacking the method of prediction, but saying that the diviners in this instance were giving false interpretations; compare Good News Translation “Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you.”

And give empty consolation: Since the diviners gave wrong advice, any comfort people drew from it was bound to disappoint them. So Good News Translation renders “the comfort they give is useless” and Revised English Bible “… is illusory.” In some languages it may be necessary to expand and say, “they make people trust in things that have no foundation.”

Therefore the people wander like sheep: The Hebrew text contains no equivalent to the people, but most modern versions understand the clause this way and make the people the subject of the verb wander. The main exception is New Jerusalem Bible, which understands “the diviners” to continue as the subject. The majority view (“the people”) seems more probable, especially in view of the next clause.

They are afflicted for want of a shepherd: The term shepherd continues the picture of the people as sheep, a common picture in the Old Testament. Often the word shepherd is used of a king or other leader (for instance in Ezek 34), and it may well have that meaning here. But the same word is also used of God (Gen 49.24; Psa 23.1; Psa 80.1; Psa 95.7), and there may be here a reference to the people’s turning away from God. In cultures where sheep and shepherds are well known, translators should keep the metaphor, but if this cannot be done, then they may use a general term like “leader” (Good News Translation), which leaves open both possibilities of interpretation. Good News Translation provides a good alternative model.

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 .