The Meaning of Zechariah 14:6 Explained

Zechariah 14:6

KJV: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

YLT: And it hath come to pass, in that day, The precious light is not, it is dense darkness,

Darby: And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light; the shining shall be obscured.

ASV: And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And it shall come to pass in that day,  [that] the light  shall not be clear,  [nor] dark: 

What does Zechariah 14:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

In that day the luminaries will dwindle (lit. congeal) and there will be a reduction of light on the earth (cf. Joel 3:15-17; Amos 5:18).
"The meaning is that the loss of light is explained by the congealing of the heavenly bodies, their "thickening" as it were to the point that they cannot shine [1]." [2]

Context Summary

Zechariah 14:6-9 - A Day Of Testing
This Fountain was opened, when the soldier pierced the Savior's side. But it is not enough for God to forgive; He must deal drastically with the waywardness of his people. And so thorough would be the work, that parents would rather their son should die than assume for filthy lucre and without the divine call, the lucrative profession of a prophet. A township would arise against a man suspected of being a prophet, who, in his terror, would pretend that he was a tiller of the ground. And if they discovered marks in his body which indicated that he had been previously branded as a false prophet, he would rather assert that his friends had been the cause of his affliction, than that he had any sympathy with the prophetic office.
Note that remarkable anticipation, Zechariah 13:7-9. See Matthew 26:31. Jesus knew that He was the Father's fellow. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. "We will come unto Him, and make our abode with Him." But He is also the Man. By the grace of the One Man, we may reign in life, Romans 5:17.
Zechariah 14:1-21 - "at Evening Time It Shall Be Light"
We can hardly doubt that in Zechariah 14:1-21, Zechariah is anticipating the same events as Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 38:1-23; Ezekiel 39:1-29 of his remarkable book. At first the attack of the enemies of God's people will be entirely successful, then Jesus will appear to them and for them. There will be a literal fulfillment of Acts 1:11 and Isaiah 25:9-10. It was when his brethren were in their greatest straits that Joseph made himself known to them, and when the Jews are in dire extremity, they will hear Him say, "I am Jesus your Brother." See Genesis 45:1-15. Finally the long stormy days of Israel's history will be over forever, and "at evening time it shall be light." It is clear that Paul's vision in Romans 11:1-36 is to be gloriously realized [source]

Chapter Summary: Zechariah 14

1  The destroyers of Jerusalem destroyed
3  The coming of Christ, and the graces of his kingdom
12  The plague of Jerusalem's enemies
16  The remnant shall turn to the Lord;
20  and their spoils shall be holy

What do the individual words in Zechariah 14:6 mean?

And it shall come to pass in day that no [That] there will be light the lights - will diminish
וְהָיָ֖ה בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא לֹֽא־ יִהְיֶ֣ה א֔וֹר יְקָר֖וֹת [יקפאון] (וְקִפָּאֽוֹן)

וְהָיָ֖ה  And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
בַּיּ֣וֹם  in  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַה֑וּא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
לֹֽא־  no 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יִהְיֶ֣ה  [That]  there  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
א֔וֹר  light 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: אֹור  
Sense: light.
יְקָר֖וֹת  the  lights 
Parse: Adjective, feminine plural
Root: יְקִפָּאֹון 
Sense: valuable, prized, weighty, precious, rare, splendid.
[יקפאון]  - 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, Paragogic nun
(וְקִפָּאֽוֹן)  will  diminish 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: קָפָא 
Sense: to thicken, condense, congeal, settle, become dense.