So I said: The Hebrew does not contain a conjunction expressing consequence as clearly as the English So. Probably “Then” (Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version) is more appropriate. The Hebrew also does not indicate who the prophet is addressing. Those versions that take a clear position on this point all hold the view that he is addressing the sheep (Moffatt, New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). A few are as unclear as the Hebrew (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version). Although vagueness is seldom a virtue in translation, in the present instance it does at least have the advantage of not ruling out other possible meanings. It is possible that the prophet is addressing the three shepherds of verse 8, though this seems very unlikely, especially if they are dead! If the interpretation proposed in the notes on verse 8 is accepted, then the prophet here is addressing the sheep dealers, and translators may begin this verse with “Then I said to the sheep dealers.”

I will not be your shepherd: The word your is a masculine plural suffix, whereas in the rest of the verse the sheep are consistently referred to with feminine affixes. The view that it is the dealers who are addressed here not only gives a better flow of thought through the paragraph as a whole, but also avoids the odd situation where a human being is addressing animals. There are many strange things in the book of Zechariah, but there is no need for the translator to manufacture more unnecessarily.

Some may argue here that the words I will not be your shepherd can carry the meaning “I will not work for you as a shepherd” in English more readily than in the underlying Hebrew. It is true that the preposition “for” which carried this meaning in verse 7 is not repeated in verse 9. But it is also possible to understand the particle usually taken as an object marker to be the preposition “with.” The meaning is then “I will not be a shepherd with you,” that is to say, “… under your authority [or, for you].” This interpretation involves reading one vowel differently from the traditional Hebrew text, but does not require any changes in the consonants. It seems more acceptable to alter one vowel than to assume that the prophet is using pronoun genders incorrectly. However, this is the assumption that has to be made by those who understand the prophet to be addressing the sheep, since the sheep are always referred to as feminine throughout this chapter. This Handbook therefore recommends the interpretation “Then I said to the dealers, ‘I will not be a shepherd for you’ ” or “… ‘I will not look after the sheep for you anymore.’ ” We may note further that this interpretation, in which the prophet suddenly quits his job, explains his hesitation in requesting his pay in verse 12.

What is to die, let it die: This clause translates just two words in Hebrew, both of which are feminine. It is the sheep (in particular the ewes, or female sheep) of the flock that are in view. The words are a comment to the dealers about the sheep rather than an instruction to the sheep. In translation it would be clearer to refer directly to the sheep: “Let the sheep that are going to die, go on and die” (Contemporary English Version).

What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed: The Hebrew verb rendered destroyed here is the same verb used to describe what the prophet did to the three shepherds in verse 8. However, few English translations use the same word in both places. Here in verse 9 the most common term is “perish” (New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version), though several prefer a somewhat different meaning: “lost” (Moffatt, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Beck), “stray” (New English Bible), or “missing” (Revised English Bible). The sense of “lost” seems somewhat preferable as this clause has more of a point if it does not repeat the exact content of the previous clause. The precise shade of meaning, however, is less significant than the repetition of the clause structure, emphasizing that the prophet is abandoning the sheep to their fate. Translators should use a structure in this clause parallel to that used in the previous clause; for instance, “Let those that are to get lost, get lost” or “Let those that are to perish, perish.” For this type of thought and structure, compare Jer 15.2.

Let those that are left devour the flesh of one another: Those that are left indicates that not all will die or get lost. Since sheep are not flesh-eating animals, devour the flesh of one another is a hyperbole, or exaggeration, which amounts to a curse. The sheep who do not die or get lost will destroy each other, as Good News Translation says. The fact that the forms are all feminine probably makes this statement seem even stronger in Hebrew than it does in English. The Hebrew expression translated one another is similar to an expression in verse 6. See the notes there on “his shepherd.” For devour the flesh, compare the cannibalism described in Jer 19.9.

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 .