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144 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
Repeating words that are distinctive may be set out as follows:
10.##6,8,17
11. #5
ll.#ll
12.#11
12.#14
13.#14
14.#1
14.##4,5,8
rrmo rrm'
nnofl
pa
nns
nns
]HD
n[i]no»
rraiD rrjn'
rrasx
ta'n [naa]
•»'n [ran]
K03
Virtually all the distinctive duplicate words here fit into two interlocking
chiastic patterns (marked by word reference numbers on the right
or left). I have omitted only np 1 ?, RD and Kin, but even these can be
seen to serve some purpose (see below). This makes the irregularities
all the more striking. Why should nbn have become D*?n? And if it
did, why was it not changed back, since the correspondence between
v. 10 and v. 14 is obvious? How could rvtfR' 1 have become |n and not
be changed back when both are called msx p? Only the Syriac
supports the emendation in each case. 1 For our purposes the three
identical names repeated in vv. 10 and 14 are sufficient to establish a
prima facie case for an inclusio. The two repeating words that follow
are important (nriBB and jiiD) though here again is a puzzle: why are
there 'crowns' and why should they (?) be put only on the high
priest's head? For us, the emendation proposed by BHS and several
scholars (viz. to read 'crown' and 'Zerubbabel...' in v. 11 and the
make Joshua stand at his right hand [cf. LXX] in v. 13) are out of
bounds. Verses 11 and 14 both have the plural crowns, and there is no
support for 'Zerubbabel' in the versions, but v. 14 has a singular
1. Rignell, Die Nachtgesichte, pp. 234-236. Petitjean (pp. 289-96) argues that
originally vv. 10-12 and 13-14 were separate. He calls them 'une piece prophetique
ancienne' and 'le morceau complementaire qu'il y ajoute'. We are not primarily
concerned with the pre-history of the text and my remarks on these verses stand.
KD2
rraax
•?3'n
to'n [ran]
12.#17
13.#4
13.#12
13.#16
14.#10
15.#4