130. - Collection Point® | The Total Digital Asset Management System

3. The Structure of Individual Sections of Zechariah 183
ZechariahlO.1-11.3
It remains to look at one final individual section before we consider
the larger whole of 9.1-11.3. The words that occur twice or more in
10.1-11.3 are set out in figure 11.
It is obvious from the layout that, although there are many repeating
words, nearly all of them occur quite close together. Exceptions to
this are 5, run; 11, 'rTQJl (which is the strongest marker within
ch. 10); 12, 0*ain (cf. possibly 19, aid; also cf. the hiphil of 30' in
v. 6, often emended, with Syr., Targ. and Vulg., to the hiphil of nitf).
Few words may be confidently ignored: even 2, 3, 4 (different
meanings), 16 (different roots, and lacking other connections), and 18
Cm TCD im) may possibly serve some function by their repetition.
The result is that we have a remarkably large number of words that
serve to give continuity to this section: "ion is part of a step parallelism,
~m ties v. 2aa-y together. n]i>, in v. 2, describes the Israelites as
afflicted through being without a shepherd, while in v. 6 Yahweh
declares emphatically, 'I will answer them'. It is not at all certain that
this was how the writer or editor saw these words, but we cannot rule
it out. nps is used in contrasting ways in the space of three words, and
serves to change the mood from that of judgment on the nations to
promise for Israel. 'House of Judah' in v. 3, prepares for the addition
of 'Joseph' in v. 6 after the concentrated section concerning nnrtbn,
3.#21-5.#6 (plus the root Dnb in 5.7). iiaa plus 3 links vv. 5 and 7: in
both cases the word follows vm, although the first is singular and the
second plural. 1
1. The singular in v. 7 is odd and LXX, Vulg., Syr. and Targ. are assumed b
Mitchell (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah, p. 300) to have read the plural. It
is just as likely that they took it to be a collective singular with a plural verb (cf. GKC
145.2). Rudolph (Haggai, pp. 193-94) follows LXX and translates: 'die von
Ephraim'. The plural would be better from a structuring point of view but we should
keep the MT in the absence of strong evidence to the contrary.
BHS proposes to take uno in v. 5 with the last word of v. 4, which requires an
emendation to vrr, and makes the connection with v. 5 less strong. However, this
should not be accepted according to the principles I have adopted, even though the
sense is easier, and the change is very small. There is no reason to accept Rudolph's
rearrangement of the text: vv. 3, 5, 4 (Haggai, pp. 192, 195-96). Lamarche translates
mr 'pareillement' which seems acceptable, cf. 1 Sam. 30.24; Deut. 12.22;
BDB, p. 403c 'the one as well as the other'; cf. Otzen, Studien, pp. 248-49.