6cIn that day, there shall be neither sunlight nor cold moonlight, 7but there shall be a continuous day—only the LORD knows when—of neither day nor night, and there shall be light at eventide.
8In that day, fresh water shall flow from Jerusalem, part of it to the Eastern Sead and part to the Western Sea,e throughout the summer and winter.
9And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD with one name.f
10Then the whole country shall become like the Arabah,g h-from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem.-h The latter, however, shall perch high up where it is, and i-shall be inhabited-i from the Gate of Benjamin to the site of the Old Gate, down to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11Never again shall destruction be decreed, and Jerusalem shall dwell secure.
12As for those peoples that warred against Jerusalem, the LORD will smite them with this plague: Their flesh shall rot away while they stand on their feet; their eyes shall rot away in their sockets; and their tongues shall rot away in their mouths.
13In that day, a great panic from the LORD shall fall upon them, and everyone shall snatch at the hand of another, and everyone shall raise his hand against everyone else’s hand. 14Judah shall join the fighting in Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the nations roundabout—vast quantities of gold, silver, and clothing—shall be gathered in.
15The same plague shall strike the horses, the mules, the camels, and the asses; the plague shall affect all the animals in those camps.
16All who survive of all those nations that came up against Jerusalem shall make a pilgrimage year by year to bow low to the King LORD of Hosts and to observe the Feast of Booths. 17Any of the earth’s communities that does not make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to bow low to the King LORD of Hosts shall receive no rain. 18However, if the community of Egypt does not make this pilgrimage, it shall not be visited by the same affliction with which the LORD will strike the other nations that do not come up to observe the Feast of Booths.j 19Such shall be the punishment of Egypt and of all other nations that do not come up to observe the Feast of Booths.
20In that day, even the bells on the horses shall be inscribed “Holy to the LORD.” The metal pots in the House of the LORD shall be like the basins before the altar; 21indeed, every metal pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to the LORD of Hosts. And all those who sacrifice shall come and take of these to boil [their sacrificial meat] in; in that day there shall be no more tradersk in the House of the LORD of Hosts.
a A clause like “Say to the people” is here understood; cf. 7.5.
b-b Septuagint reads “between the mountains”; cf. 6.1. In 6.1 ff. four teams of horses leave the LORD’s abode to roam the four quarters of the earth; in 1.8 ff. they are about to reenter His abode after such a reconnaisance.
c Septuagint adds “dappled”; cf. 6.3.
d Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “black”; cf. 6.2.
e Upheavals at the start of Darius’ reign had encouraged hopes of an early restoration of the Davidic dynasty (cf. Hag. 2.21 ff.). Now these hopes were dashed.
a The four horns correspond to the four winds of v. 10.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “to sharpen ax heads.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Emendation yields “whose Presence sent me.”
e-e According to ancient Jewish tradition, a scribal change for “My.”
f Heb. “My.”
g Heb. “I.”
h-h Emendation yields “allot to Judah its portion”; cf. Num. 34.17.
a Others “Satan.”
b Joshua’s father (Hag. 1.1; 1 Chron. 5.40–41) was exiled and his grandfather executed (2 Kings 25.18–21) by the Babylonians, but Joshua returned.
c Heb. “I.”
d I.e., ritually pure.
e Joshua has now been rendered fit to associate with the heavenly beings (v. 7); cf. Isa. 6.6–8.
f I.e., the future king of David’s line. See 6.12; Jer. 23.5–6; 33.15–16; cf. Isa. 11.1.
g Meaning of Heb. uncertain. The stone apparently symbolizes the God-given power of the future Davidic ruler; see below 4.6–7.
a-a Emendation yields “bowl above it has.”
b The explanation is given in the last sentence of v. 10.
c A grandson of King Jehoiachin (1 Chron. 3.17–19) and the secular head of the repatriated community (Hag. 1.1; etc.).
d I.e., Zerubbabel will succeed by means of spiritual gifts conferred upon him by the LORD; cf. Isa. 11.2. ff.
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain; others “plummet.”
f Meaning of Heb. uncertain; literally “ears” (as of grain).
g Emendation yields “oil”; cf. v. 14.
h Or “funnels”; through them the oil runs from the olive trees into the bowl of vv. 2 and 3.
i-i I.e., the high priest and the king (cf. 3.8–9 with note); lit. “sons of oil.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Heb. ephah, a measure of capacity.
c Septuagint and Syriac read “guilt.”
d I.e., Babylonia; cf. Gen. 10.10; 11.2, 9.
a-a Change of vocalization yields “will go out.”
b-b Cf. ’ahor, “west,” Isa. 9.11. Emendation yields “the region of the west.”
c-c Emendation yields “the bay ones will go out to the region of the east.”
d-d Cf. postbiblical nahath ruah, “gratification.” Emendation yields, “done the LORD’s pleasure.”
e I.e., Babylonia, whose communication with Judah was via North Mesopotamia and Syria; cf. 2.10–11.
f Emendation yields “the gift of.”
g See note at 3.8.
h-h Septuagint reads “on his right side.”
i The Syriac version reads “Heldai”; cf. v. 10.
j In v. 10, “Josiah.”
a-a Emendation yields “sent Regem-melech and his men.”
b Because of the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem; cf. 2 Kings 25.8 ff.
a Cf. Hag. 1.6.
b I.e., a standard by which men curse or bless; cf. Gen. 12.2 and note.
c Commemorating, respectively, the events of 2 Kings 25.3 ff. (Jer. 52.6 ff.); 2 Kings 25.8 ff. (Jer. 52.12 ff.); 2 Kings 25.25 ff. (Jer. 41); 2 Kings 25.1 ff. (Jer. 52.4).
a I.e., on the land of Hadrach and Damascus.
b-b Heb. mamzer; cf. note at Deut. 23.3.
c-c Change of vocalization yields “as a garrison.”
d-d Emendation yields “of their suffering”; cf. 1 Sam. 1.11.
e Heb. “I.”
f Cf. Deut. 20.10–12 and note.
g Exact meaning and connection of vv. 11–12 uncertain.
h Taking shillahti as a second-person singular feminine form, with Septuagint; cf. Judg. 5.7 with note.
i I.e., a pit that serves as a dungeon rather than a cistern (both are called bor in Heb.).
j Perhaps a nickname (“fortress”) for Samaria (Heb. Shomeron).
k I.e., Judah.
l Lit. “tempests of wind”; for teman in the sense of wind, cf. Job 9.9; 39.26.
m The meaning of much of the rest of the chapter is uncertain.
n-n Some Septuagint mss. read “drink blood like.”
a-a Septuagint reads “in its season/The early rain and the late.” Cf. Deut. 11.14.
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Emendation yields “[producing] food for men,/Grass in the fields for cattle.” Cf. Deut. 11.14–15.
d Idols consulted for oracles; cf. 1 Sam. 15.23; Ezek. 21.26.
e I.e., oppressive leaders; cf. Ezek. 34.17 ff.
f-f Emendation yields “shields and bucklers.”
g-g Emendation yields “And when Ephraim is victorious,/They….”
h I.e., Judah and Ephraim.
i-i Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “have glory”; cf. Isa. 45.25.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Emendation yields “for the sheep dealers”; cf. the word rendered “trader” in 14.21.
c-c Emendation yields “a third of the flock.”
d Perhaps alluding to the prediction of 14.1–3.
e-e Emendation yields “the sheep dealers.”
f Emendation yields “hired.”
g Two mss. of the Septuagint have “Jerusalem”; cf. 12.2–3; 14.14.
a-a Emendation yields “open the eyes of Judah while I strike all.”
b-b Emendation yields “We will save the dwellers of Jerusalem with the help of.”
c Emendation yields “safety.”
d-d For the idiom cf. Gen. 43.30; it is also attested in postbiblical Hebrew.
e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f Usually “Megiddo.”
g In this way, apparently, they will prevail upon the LORD to spare the remnant of the besieging nations; cf. v. 10.
a-a To which abnormal human behavior was attributed.
b Heb. “They.”
c In imitation of Elijah; cf. 2 Kings 1.8.
d-d I.e., I was addicted to wine like Noah, the tiller of the soil (cf. Gen. 9.20–21), hence my hallucinations and ravings; cf. Prov. 23.33.
e-e Connecting ’adam with ’adom “red” (cf. Prov. 23.31); but meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f-f Lit. “sores between your arms”; cf. 2 Kings 9.24. Sores are sometimes symptoms of hysteria.
g Presumably for making drunken scenes; cf. Prov. 23.35.
h Vv. 7–9 would read well after 11.17.
i-i Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Jerusalem is addressed.
b Vocalizing [we] nistam with Targum, Septuagint, and an old Heb. ms. Other mss. and printed editions read, “You [pl.] shall flee [to] the Valley in the Hills, for the Valley of the Hills shall reach up to Azal. You shall flee as you fled because of the earthquake. …”
c Meaning of verse uncertain; cf. Job 21.26.
d I.e., the Dead Sea; cf. Joel 2.20.
e I.e., the Mediterranean Sea; cf. Joel 2.20.
f I.e., the LORD alone shall be worshiped and shall be invoked by His true name.
g I.e., shall be depressed like the Jordan Valley.
h-h I.e., from the northern border of the Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 15.22; 2 Kings 23.8) to the southern border (Josh. 15.32; 19.7).
i-i Brought up from v. 11 for clarity.
j Because Egypt is not dependent on rain, it will suffer some other punishment, presumably that described in v. 12.
k To sell ritually pure vessels.
Malachi
1 A pronouncement: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.
2I have shown you love, said the LORD. But you ask, “How have You shown us love?” After all—declares the LORD—Esau is Jacob’s brother;
