Then the LORD will go forth: The prophet now pictures the LORD intervening directly in the conflict. Meyers & Meyers note that the Hebrew verb translated go forth here and “come” in verse 5 are technical military terms for starting and finishing a campaign (compare for instance Josh 14.11). If similar paired words are available in a translator’s language, it will be good to use them. Some English versions make an attempt to use military terms. Jerusalem Bible has “take the field,” and Moffatt has “sally forth” (New Jerusalem Bible “sally out”). However, English lacks a suitable military term to use in verse 5.

And fight against those nations: Some ancient Christian commentators interpret the Hebrew to mean that the LORD fights on the side of the nations against Jerusalem. The only modern commentator to support this view is Lamarche, but the arguments in favor of it are weak. No modern version takes this view and we recommend that translators should follow the Revised Standard Version interpretation. Those nations are the same ones mentioned in the previous verse.

As when he fights on a day of battle: Many scholars take this to refer to the LORD’s actions on behalf of his people at the time of the exodus from Egypt. Thus Good News Translation has “as he has fought in times past” (also New Living Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and New Jerusalem Bible “as once he fought on the day of battle.” Others take the clause to be a general statement of the LORD’s willingness to act to help his people. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh for instance has “as He is wont to make war on a day of battle” (“wont” means “accustomed”), and Bible en français courant has “as he has always done in times of war.” Both senses are possible, and both are fully compatible with the context. The word translated battle is an Aramaic word that occurs only rarely in the Old Testament. It occurs elsewhere in combination with day only in Psa 78.9.

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 .