And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] there shall not be light; the shining shall be obscured.
In this chapter God steps in on the earth and splits the Mount of Olives; this verse then turns from the ground to the sky, to daylight unlike any we know. It raises two questions: what the words say, since translations differ here, and how long this "day" lasts.
The Hebrew here is hard. Older translations read "the light shall not be clear, nor dark," while the ESV has "no light, cold, or frost." One reference work names the problem and gives the likely sense:
Zechariah 14:6 is unclear (see the margin note), and the manuscripts differ. It may mean, "There shall not be light; the shining lights shall be obscured." The next verse shows that this will not be an ordinary day. Light will shine at evening time.
Some read the darkness here as Israel's long suffering after Rome took Jerusalem. One writer traces that reading to how those interpreters handle the earlier verses:
Some take this as a prediction of unbroken disaster, covering the long centuries of Jewish suffering since Titus took the city. That idea comes naturally to those who read the earlier verses as describing that famous siege. The wording at the end of the verse is hard.
The exact wording stays uncertain. Even so, one writer finds the sense clear enough, and borrows another's words for it:
The translation of the sixth verse is doubtful, and people have suggested many changes. But the meaning is clear enough, and can be given in someone else's words: "It shall not be a day of mixed light and darkness. It will be a day appointed by Jehovah — a day marked by His intervention and mighty presence. The ordinary changes of night and day could not mark such a day. At the moment when the total darkness of night might be expected, there would be light." For in truth it will be the day of Jehovah. It will therefore have its own character, one so clearly outside all ordinary days that it will catch the attention of everyone who sees it.
Some read verse 6 as one era and verse 7 as another. One writer rejects that, and sets the change in the sky beside the change in the ground:
It is absurdly wrong to separate verse 7 from verse 6, as if a wholly different time were meant. Not so; it is the continuation of the same unique circumstances... So God marks out the new era by a revolution in the heavens. He marks it there as clearly as He had marked it on the earth, by His intervention and the splitting of the Mount of Olives.
The verse opens with the words "that day." One writer reads the whole chapter to show that this day is not one turn of the clock:
We shall see there that "the day of the Lord" is not a literal day of twenty-four hours. It is the same as His reign as king over all the earth... We are told plainly that it is not an ordinary, natural day. Two marks set it apart. First, "the light shall not be clear nor dark," which the translators rightly explained in the margin as "it shall not be clear in some places and dark in other places of the world" — the light will be spread evenly. Second, "at evening time it shall be light." Instead of the light fading as the day declines, as in a natural day, the light will be undimmed to the last.
Another writer takes the change in the sky as a real event in nature, one that belongs to the day of the Lord and then lasts:
We believe this passage means the physical events in nature which always go with the day of the Lord... Changes will then happen. A new order will take the place of the present order of day and night, so that when evening comes it will be light. That day will simply be one day of light and glory. The glory light will probably shine throughout the thousand years.
Darkness is not the last word here. One writer looks at the hour when it lifts:
This day makes us think of the day on which the Lord hung on the cross and darkness came over the whole land. But here it says that light will shine in the evening, at an hour when deep darkness usually covers the earth. Evening will be the moment when terror and alarm grip the many nations, because the Lord will punish them. Before morning dawns they will no longer be found. At that moment the day will dawn for the beloved city.
- Disputed text. The Hebrew is hard and the manuscripts differ, so no one rendering can be pressed as certain.
- Clear sense. The picture still holds: no ordinary mixture of light and shadow, but a day God Himself has appointed.
- One day. Verses 6 and 7 describe one event. Splitting them into two eras breaks the passage.
- Sign above, sign below. God changes the sky as plainly as He splits the Mount of Olives — earth and sky together announce a new era.
- Light at evening. At the hour when darkness should fall, light comes instead, and Jerusalem's day dawns.
And it shall be one day which is known to Jehovah, not day, and not night; and it shall come to pass, at eventide it shall be light.
Zechariah's last chapter shows the Lord coming to Jerusalem while the nations attack it. What makes that one day unlike any other, and why does light come at the hour darkness should fall?
Translators have struggled with the Hebrew of these two verses. One writer offers a rendering, then draws out what kind of day is meant:
Everyone admits the Hebrew is obscure. One possible translation is, "there shall not be a precious light which shall be withdrawn." It shall not be a day of mixed light and darkness. It shall be a day appointed by Jehovah, a day marked out by His intervention and His mighty presence. The ordinary changes of night and day could not mark such a day. At the moment when you would expect the total darkness of night, there should be light.
One writer ties the change in the sky to the splitting of the Mount of Olives earlier in this chapter. He warns against reading verse 7 as a separate time from verse 6:
It is absurdly wrong to separate verse 7 from verse 6, as if a wholly different time were meant. Not so; it is the continuation of the same unique circumstances. So there will be no such changes as men have known, with light and darkness following each other. It shall be one day, and Jehovah knows it — not day following night, "but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light." God marks the new era by a revolution in the heavens, as clearly as He marked it by His intervention and the splitting of the Mount of Olives on the earth.
Evening normally leads downward into night. Here it runs the other way, and the reason is the presence of the returning Christ:
Jesus comes back to the Mount of Olives. There He had once been in humiliation. Now everything is changed: He is in brightest glory, and He has all His saints with Him. The light of His presence now begins to show itself — "At evening time it shall be light." Here the order of nature is turned around. By that order the evening would lead to midnight. But now the morning of a glorious day dawns upon Israel and the world at evening time.
The one day means opposite things for the attacking nations and for Jerusalem. Evening is the turning point for both:
This day makes us think of the day on which the Lord hung on the cross and darkness came over the whole land. But here it says that light will shine at evening, at an hour when deep darkness normally covers the earth. "At evening" will be the moment when terror and alarm grip the many nations, because the Lord will punish them. Before the morning dawns they will be gone. At that moment the day will dawn for the beloved city.
Why call it a day known to the LORD? One writer answers from the work God does in it, and compares Israel's change to one famous conversion:
Israel's conversion will be like that of Saul of Tarsus. When he met the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus he was changed at once, but he was blinded and saw no light for three days. At first the light will be hidden from Israel, because of their years away from God. They will feel the darkness of their natural, unbelieving state before everything is made clear to their wondering eyes. It will be "a day known to the Lord." He knows how to bring a sinful people out of darkness into light, through deep searching of soul about both the darkness and the light. "At evening time it shall happen that it will be light." When the light fades, the power of God steps in. He brings Israel the light that has escaped them for centuries.
The promise also steadies believers in dark days. One writer applies it to two men who received light late:
I have no doubt the shadows are lengthening... One delights that, despite the gathering darkness, God has said "at evening it shall be light." We can apply that to the thief on the cross. As the shadows deepened, a bright light about Jesus as Saviour shone into his heart... Aged Simeon comes to mind too. In the darkness that surrounded God's people at that time, he took the Child into his arms and received a ray of light beyond anything he had ever known.
- One day. This is not a normal day of light and dark taking turns. It is one day set apart by God's own presence and intervention.
- Known to Him. God alone holds its timing. He first lets Israel feel the darkness, then brings them into the light.
- Signed in the sky. The change in the heavens matches the splitting of the Mount of Olives below — one event, two witnesses.
- Turned at evening. The hour that should end in midnight opens into morning instead. The nations' terror and Jerusalem's dawn come together.
- Light late. The promise reaches past Israel: the thief at the cross, Simeon, and hearts where light breaks in when the day is nearly gone.