¹tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in v. 9.

²sn That is, to Zechariah.

³tn Heb “Jerusalem will dwell as open regions (tozr`P=).” The population will be so large as to spill beyond the ancient and normal enclosures. The people need not fear, however, for the Lord will be an invisible but strong wall (v. 5).

⁴tn Heb “her”; the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.

⁶tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, <y]m^v* (v*m^y]<), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

⁷tn Heb “live in [or, “with,” i.e., “among”] the daughter of Babylon.”

⁸tn Heb “After glory has he sent me.” What is clearly in view is the role of Zechariah who, by faithful proclamation of the message, will glorify the Lord.

⁹tn Heb “gate” (hb*B*) of the eye, that is, pupil. It is one of the most vulnerable and valuable parts of the body, so for Judah to be considered the pupil of the Lord’s eye is to raise her value to an incalculable price.

¹⁰tc A scribal emendation (tiqqun sopherim) has apparently altered an original “my eye” to “his eye” in order to allow the prophet to be the speaker throughout vv. 8-9. This alleviates the problem of the Lord saying, in effect, that he has sent himself on the mission to the nations.

¹¹tn Heb “I will wave my hand over them.”

¹²sn This individualizing of Zion as a daughter draws attention to the corporate nature of the covenant community and also to the tenderness with which the Lord regards his chosen people.

¹³tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3ms suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”) in order to avoid the Lord’s speaking of himself in the third person. Such resort is unnecessary, however, in light of the common shifting of person in Hebrew narrative (cf. 3:2).

¹⁵tn Heb “will inherit.”

¹⁶tn Heb “all flesh.”

¹⁷sn The sense here is that God in heaven is about to undertake an occupation of his earthly realm (v. 12) by restoring his people to the promised land.