Zechariah 14:1-7
New English Translation
The Sovereignty of the Lord
14 A day of the Lord[a] is about to come when your possessions[b] will be divided as plunder in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away.[c]
3 Then the Lord will go to battle[d] and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days.[e] 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives that lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward.[f] 5 Then you will escape[g] through my mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal.[h] Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah[i] of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him. 6 On that day there will be no light—the sources of light in the heavens will congeal.[j] 7 It will happen in one day—a day known to the Lord—not in the day or the night, but in the evening there will be light.[k]
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- Zechariah 14:1 sn The eschatological day of the Lord described here (and through v. 8) is considered by many interpreters to refer to the period known as the great tribulation, a seven year time of great suffering by God’s (Jewish) people culminating in the establishing of the millennial reign of the Lord (vv. 9-21). For other OT and NT references to this aspect of the day of the Lord see Amos 9:8-15; Joel 1:15-2:11; Isa 1:24-31; 2:2-4; 4:2-6; 26:16-27:6; 33:13-24; 59:1-60:22; 65:13-25; Jer 30:7-11; 32:36-44; Ezek 20:33-44; Dan 11:40; 12:1; Matt 24:21, 29; 25:31-46; Rev 19:11-16.
- Zechariah 14:1 tn Heb “your plunder.” Cf. NCV “the wealth you have taken.”
- Zechariah 14:2 tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”
- Zechariah 14:3 sn The statement the Lord will go to battle introduces the conflict known elsewhere as the “battle of Armageddon,” a battle in which the Lord delivers his people and establishes his millennial reign (cf. Joel 3:12, 15-16; Ezek 38-39; Rev 16:12-21; 19:19-21).
- Zechariah 14:3 tn Heb “as he fights on a day of battle” (similar NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Zechariah 14:4 sn This seismic activity provides a means of escape from Jerusalem so that the Messiah (the Lord), whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, may destroy the wicked nations in the Kidron Valley (the v. of Jehoshaphat, or of “judgment of the Lord”) without harming the inhabitants of the city.
- Zechariah 14:5 tc For the MT reading נַסְתֶּם (nastem, “you will escape”) the LXX presupposes נִסְתַּם (nistam, “will be stopped up”; this reading is followed by NAB). This appears to derive from a perceived need to eliminate the unexpected “you” as subject. This not only is unnecessary to Hebrew discourse (see “you” in the next clause), but it contradicts the statement in the previous verse that the mountain will be split open, not stopped up.
- Zechariah 14:5 sn Azal is a place otherwise unknown.
- Zechariah 14:5 sn The earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1, is apparently the one attested to at Hazor in 760 b.c.
- Zechariah 14:6 tn Heb “the splendid will congeal.” This difficult phrase (MT יְקָרוֹת יְקִפָּאוֹן, yeqarot yeqippaʾon) is not clarified by the LXX which presupposes וְקָרוּת וְקִפָּאוֹן (veqarut veqippaʾon, “and cold and ice,” a reading followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV). Besides the fact that cold and ice do not necessarily follow the absence of light, the idea here is that day will be night and night day. The heavenly sources of light “freeze up” as it were, and refuse to shine.
- Zechariah 14:7 sn In the evening there will be light. The normal pattern is that light breaks through in the morning (Gen 1:3) but in the day of the Lord in judgment it would do so in the evening. In a sense the universe will be “de-created” in order to be “recreated.”
Zechariah 14:1-7
International Standard Version
The Lord Comes to the Mount of Olives
14 “Look! A day is coming for the Lord, when your plunder will be divided among you. 2 I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle. 4 His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming[a] a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south. 5 You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you.”
A Unique Day
6 “At that time,[b] the daylight will be neither bright nor overcast. 7 It will be a unique day, known only to the Lord—neither daytime nor nighttime—and it will come about at twilight there will be light!
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- Zechariah 14:4 The Heb. lacks forming
- Zechariah 14:6 Lit. day
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