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180 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
Zech. 9.9-10 is probably the best known and most discussed passage
in Zechariah 9-14. Christian tradition has affirmed that Christ
fulfilled this prophecy when he rode into Jerusalem just before his
arrest and death. 1 Jesus himself seems deliberately to have acted out
the prophecy. Since he also referred other passages from Deutero-
Zechariah to himself there is considerable interest in the relation that
these have to each other. Lamarche connected them by means of his
elaborate chiastic structure and argued that together they make up a
coherent picture of a shepherd-king messiah. We did not find
confirmation of the details of Lamarche's thesis in 9.1-8. The passage
is crucial to Lamarche's understanding and interpretation of
Zechariah 9-14.
Lamarche analyses 9.9-10 as follows:
a Arrival of the king; its/his description (9): 3 vers
a' Action of the king for peace; his empire (10): 3 vers
He rejects the easier reading jvom, which would have made this
interpretation even more sure, and retains the lectio difficilior of the
MT. This is sound procedure and the descriptions that he gives are
accurate. The assigning of the letters a and a' is of doubtful value.
He also suggests a chiasmus in these verses:
a Jerusalem
b victorious king 2
c ass
c' horses
b' peace
a' all the earth
Set out like this, it looks plausible, and Lacocque remarks, 'with
P. Lamarche one will notice the remarkable chiastic parallel in these
1. It is, of course, recorded in all four gospels that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on
a donkey, Mt. 21.1-11; Mk 11.1-11; Lk. 19.29-40; Jn 12.12-18. Matthew and
John have an explicit quotation of Zech. 9.9.
2. The normal meaning of JHtfu is 'saved'. Although Lamarche translates
'victorieux' he understands it in a passive sense (against LXX, oto^cov, and Vulg.,
salvator) 'sauve" (Zacharie 9-14, p. 43). Many commentators, including Lamarche
and Rudolph, refer to Isa. 45.21 which speaks of Yah wen as tf'tttoi pnx, and argue
that certain nuances come from Deutero-Isaiah. Rudolph's 'reich an erfahrener
Hilfe', as a translation, seems pedantic (Haggai, pp. 177-78).