At this point, Zechariah’s summary of earlier prophetic teaching ends, and his summary of the people’s reactions to it begins. In Hebrew, verses 11-12 are in the third person (referring to the LORD), but Good News Translation has put the whole paragraph in the first person to avoid changes of person which do not sound good in English. Translators should do whatever is most natural in their own language, but should try to avoid distorting the structure of the Hebrew. See the comments in the introduction to this paragraph.

But they refused to hearken is a general statement in plain language. It is developed by three more statements (two in this verse and one in the next), each using a different metaphor or picture to illustrate the people’s rejection of God’s message. The first metaphor is drawn from the situation of an ox struggling to avoid having a yoke put on it. As the ox resists the yoke, so the people turned a stubborn shoulder (compare Jer 2.20; Jer 5.5; Hos 4.16). In cultures where the use of cattle in plowing or drawing carts is rare or unknown, it may not be possible to keep this picture. Good News Translation has run it in with the previous general statement and translates both clauses by one English clause: “But my people stubbornly refused to listen.” Other versions say “they turned their backs” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible, New International Version).

The second metaphor says that the people stopped their ears that they might not hear. The picture is of people putting something into their ears so that they would no longer even hear the message of the prophets (compare Isa 6.10; Acts 7.57). This picture is not limited to Hebrew culture, and many translators will be able to retain it. Good News Translation uses a somewhat different picture that sounds more natural in English, and says, “They closed their minds.”

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 .