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

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

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3. The Structure of Individual Sections of Zechariah 205 11.15-17 The prophet as shepherd: part 2 Yahweh commanded me to act as a worthless shepherd (No account of the prophet's having done so) (v. 16 theological interpretation) Curse against my/the 1 worthless shepherd 13.7-9 Curse against 'my shepherd' ('in used but a different expression from 11.17) (vv. 8-9 theological interpretation with the great promise 'my people. . .my God' as the climax) If I set out the words that might be significant (see the table) it is possible to construct a formal chiastic unit as follows: 7 a therefore/thus the poor of the flock b took. .. staffs. .. Grace. .. Union c I shepherded. .. 8 I destroyed. .. d ( ) 9 c I will not shepherd. .. what is to be destroyed let it be destroyed 10 b took. ..staff. . .Grace 11 a thus the poor of the flock At this stage it makes no difference whether we put 'the poor of the flock' or 'those who trafficked in the sheep'. If this were to be accepted we should see at d the turning point of the subsection. This, in fact, makes good sense: 'But I became impatient with them...' The main difficulty with it is that we have ignored five words that occur before 11.11.#6, namely "7DK, "ifen, JTIJ, TIQ and DJ>. We should also note that 'I shepherded the sheep' occurs at the beginning and end of v. 7, forming an inclusio for this. If we treat the table with more respect we are bound to conclude that v. 10 forms some sort of parallel with v. 7 but adds certain new elements which again occur in v. 14. It is not clear whether v. 11 should be treated with the preceding or succeeding verses. The sense of the passage clarifies this for v. lla continues the thought of v. 10, v. 11 has a closing formula and v. 12 starts with an introductory 1. Rudolph takes the ' of 'in to be yodh compaginis, indicating the construct state, 'as the following '3t» shows'. The reasoning is cogent, but those hearing the prophecy would presumably first assume that those hearing the prophecy would presumably first assume 'in meant 'my shepherd'. The phrase following adds to the enigma of this passage. In 13.7, 'in does mean 'my shepherd'.

206 Structure and the Book ofZechariah formula. This means that we should take vv. 7-11 as a subsection of the narrative, and that the 'poor of the flock' or 'the traffickers in the sheep' are used to form an inclusio for it. 'And they knew... word of Yahweh' is a climax within the section, as we suspected it might be in discussing individual repeated words. The structure may therefore be set out: 11.4 Thus said Yahweh my God Shepherd the sheep of slaughter 11.6 For 1 1 will cause each to fall hand of his neighbour 11.7 And I shepherded the sheep of slaughter ]Ksn "^p 1 ? I took. . .staffs. . .Grace. . .Union And I shepherded the sheep 11.8 I destroyed (TO) three shepherds. .. BUT mutual hostility (DBteVefcU) 11.9 And I said I will not shepherd you. .. IPO. .. "7DR. .. "iftn each... of her neighbour 11.10 I took. .. staff. .. Grace. . .to annul covenant 11.11 it was annulled jKjfn "» p. . .word of Yahweh 11.12-13 Andl said. .. thirty pieces of silver. .. potter 11.14 broke. . .Union. . .to annul brotherhood. .. 11.15 And Yahweh said to me Again take implements of a shepherd, a/my foolish one 11.16 For behold I am raising up a shepherd in the land who... nro... iton... bsK 1. The 'D of v. 6 is puzzling, since it suggests that the first purpose in the prophet's becoming a shepherd is to do with God's judgment. The best way to approach the problem is to recognize that v. 6 is theological interpretation, rather than an integral part of the parable, and to consider the sheep-shepherd picture as a whole on its own first. The situation is then clarified: become a good shepherd... he does (cf. 'Grace' and 'Union'). He starts to give service to the sheep by removing their bad leaders, but then gives up. We are meant to imagine the prophet within the picture first of all, i.e. as a shepherd with sheep. We should not simply try to by-pass this by interpreting the allegory. Verse 6, therefore, can be understood in this sense: act out this situation because it represents that which I am bringing about in the land.

3. <strong>The</strong> Structure of Individual Sections of Zechariah 205<br />

11.15-17 <strong>The</strong> prophet as shepherd: part 2<br />

Yahweh commanded me to act as a worthless shepherd<br />

(No account of the prophet's having done so)<br />

(v. 16 theological interpretation)<br />

Curse against my/the 1 worthless shepherd<br />

13.7-9 Curse against 'my shepherd'<br />

('in used but a different expression from 11.17)<br />

(vv. 8-9 theological interpretation with the great promise 'my<br />

people. . .my God' as the climax)<br />

If I set out the words that might be significant (see the table) it is<br />

possible to construct a formal chiastic unit as follows:<br />

7 a therefore/thus the poor of the flock<br />

b took. .. staffs. .. Grace. .. Union<br />

c I shepherded. ..<br />

8 I destroyed. ..<br />

d ( )<br />

9 c I will not shepherd. ..<br />

what is to be destroyed let it be destroyed<br />

10 b took. ..staff. . .Grace<br />

11 a thus the poor of the flock<br />

At this stage it makes no difference whether we put 'the poor of the<br />

flock' or 'those who trafficked in the sheep'. If this were to be<br />

accepted we should see at d the turning point of the subsection. This,<br />

in fact, makes good sense: 'But I became impatient with them...' <strong>The</strong><br />

main difficulty with it is that we have ignored five words that occur<br />

before 11.11.#6, namely "7DK, "ifen, JTIJ, TIQ and DJ>. We should also<br />

note that 'I shepherded the sheep' occurs at the beginning and end of<br />

v. 7, forming an inclusio for this.<br />

If we treat the table with more respect we are bound to conclude<br />

that v. 10 forms some sort of parallel with v. 7 but adds certain new<br />

elements which again occur in v. 14. It is not clear whether v. 11<br />

should be treated with the preceding or succeeding verses. <strong>The</strong> sense<br />

of the passage clarifies this for v. lla continues the thought of v. 10,<br />

v. 11 has a closing formula and v. 12 starts with an introductory<br />

1. Rudolph takes the ' of 'in to be yodh compaginis, indicating the construct<br />

state, 'as the following '3t» shows'. <strong>The</strong> reasoning is cogent, but those hearing the<br />

prophecy would presumably first assume that those hearing the prophecy would<br />

presumably first assume 'in meant 'my shepherd'. <strong>The</strong> phrase following adds to the<br />

enigma of this passage. In 13.7, 'in does mean 'my shepherd'.

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