Zakharia 4:9

4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ¹  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zakharia 9:1

The Coming of the True King

9:1 An oracle of the word of the Lord concerning the land of Hadrach, ²  with its focus on Damascus: ³ 

The eyes of all humanity, ⁴  especially of the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord,

Zakharia 10:1

The Restoration of the True People

10:1 Ask the Lord for rain in the season of the late spring rains ⁵  – the Lord who causes thunderstorms – and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field.

Zakharia 10:9

10:9 Though I scatter ⁶  them among the nations, they will remember in far-off places – they and their children will sprout forth and return.

[4:9]  ¹ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).

[9:1]  ² sn The land of Hadrach was a northern region stretching from Aleppo in the north to Damascus in the south (cf. NLT “Aram”).

[9:1]  ³ tn Heb “Damascus its resting place.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix on “resting place” (מְנֻחָתוֹ, mÿnukhato), however, precludes “land” or even “Hadrach,” both of which are feminine, from being the antecedent. Most likely “word” (masculine) is the antecedent, i.e., the “word of the Lord” is finding its resting place, that is, its focus in or on Damascus.

[9:1]  ⁴ tc Though without manuscript and version support, many scholars suggest emendation here to clarify what, to them, is an unintelligible reading. Thus some propose עָדֵי אָרָם (’ade ’aram, “cities of Aram”; cf. NAB, NRSV) for עֵין אָדָם (’en ’adam, “eye of man”) or אֲדָמָה (’adamah, “ground”) for אָדָם (’adam, “man”), “(surface of) the earth.” It seems best, however, to see “eye” as collective and to understand the passage as saying that the attention of the whole earth will be upon the Lord (cf. NIV, NLT).

[10:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the latter rain.” This expression refers to the last concentration of heavy rainfall in the spring of the year in Palestine, about March or April. Metaphorically and eschatologically (as here) the “latter rain” speaks of God’s outpouring of blessing in the end times (cf. Hos 6:3; Joel 2:21-25).

[10:9]  ⁶ tn Or “sow” (so KJV, ASV). The imagery is taken from the sowing of seed by hand.