14.1–21: **Earth-shaking events lead to the establishment of Jerusalem as the center of the world and the place from which the Lord reigns over all.** **4–5:** *Mount of Olives,* a mount east of, and in the vicinity of, Jerusalem. *Valley in the Hills,* perhaps, “valley in/between the hills.” The Heb word for “hill” is often translated “mount” or “mountain.” *And the Valley … shall be stopped up:* Heb reads “you shall flee by the valley of My hills/mountains” (i.e., the new valley created by the Lord). *Azal,* an unknown location in the area. Some scholars assume that the original text read “ʾetzel,” i.e., “side” and, accordingly, that the text read: “the valley between the hills reached to each side (of the now split Mount of Olives).” **8:** *In that day, fresh water shall flow from Jerusalem* …*,* cf. 13.1. A reflection of the ancient near eastern motif of the (cosmic) temple as a source of living water and of the related idea of Jerusalem/Temple as a watered and water providing garden (cf. the imagery of the garden of Eden). Yhvh’s future Presence in the Temple in Jerusalem is associated with fertilizing waters emerging from the place in Ezek. 47.1–12 and also with the image of a future “fountain” in the Temple or Jerusalem which occurs in texts as different as Joel 4.18; Zech. 13.1 and Ps. 46.5–6 (cf. Isa. 33.21). Yhvh Himself was imagined as “the fountain of living water” (see Jer. 2.13; cf. Ps. 36.10 and also Jer. 2.13; 17.13. Earthly Jerusalem was a relatively water-poor city whose only source was the Gihon. Many utopian texts (imaginatively) reconfigure the geography of the land (e.g., Isa. 2.2; Ezek. ch 47). **9:** See intro. The v. evokes the language of Deut. 6.4, the beginning of what became the Shema prayer in later Judaism, and, given its context, it most likely means that in that day all humanity will acknowledge and worship the Lord alone and invoke the Lord’s name alone. (Contrast the different vision in Mic. 4.5.) **10:** *Like the Arabah* means as low and plain as the Jordan Valley. *From Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem* refers to the territory of Judah. Jerusalem will be higher than its surroundings; cf. Mic. 4.1; Isa. 2.2. The expression it *shall be inhabited,* placed in our translation in v. 10 for clarity, stands in v. 11 in the Heb. V. 11 then reads, “And it \[Jerusalem\] shall be inhabited, for never again shall destruction be decreed, Jerusalem shall dwell secure.” (Ehud Ben Tsvi - Jewish Study Bible 2nd Ed.)