Zechariah 12:6

12:6 On that day ¹  I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter ²  among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:10

14:10 All the land will change and become like the Arabah ³  from Geba to Rimmon, ⁴  south of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate ⁵  and on to the Corner Gate, ⁶  and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. ⁷ 

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¹ sn On that day (referring to the day of the Lord) the Davidic monarchy will be restored and the Lord’s people will recognize once more the legitimacy and divine sanction of David’s dynasty. But there will also be a democratizing that will not give Jerusalem and its rulers undue priority over the people of the countryside (v. 7).

² tn Heb “a firepot” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “a blazing pot”; NLT “a brazier.”

³ tn Or “like a plain” (similar KJV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT); or “like a steppe”; cf. CEV “flatlands.” The Hebrew term עֲרָבָה (’aravah) refers to an arid plain or steppe, but can be used specifically as the name of the rift valley running from the Sea of Galilee via the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.

⁴ sn The expression from Geba to Rimmon is a way of indicating the extent of all Judah from north (2 Kgs 23:8) to south (Job 15:32; 19:7). Since Geba (Heb. גֶּבַע) means “hill” and Rimmon resembles the word for height (Heb. רָמָה, ramah), this could be a play on words suggesting that all the high country will be made low, like the great Arabah valley.

⁵ tn Or “old gate” (NLT); or “former gate” (NRSV).

⁶ sn From the Benjamin Gate…on to the Corner Gate marks the northern wall of the city of Jerusalem from east to west.

⁷ sn From the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses indicates the extent of Jerusalem from north to south.