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3. The Structure of Individual Sections of Zechariah 215
(i.e. Yahweh) would be abrupt. 1 Zech. 14.14 is relevant but also
inconclusive: D^tfwa Dnbj rrnrr oar Does Judah fight with or against
Jerusalem? 2
Whatever may be the case in v. 2, vv. 6-7 show Judah on the same
side as Jerusalem. There are echoes of 2.9 (and 8) in the 'blazing pot'
and the 'flaming torch' (cf. also "?DK, 9.4, 15; 11.1, 9, 16; see above).
Zech. 12.1-9 forms a unit dealing with the nations who come
against Jerusalem; v. 9 forms a logical end to the section with D^a *?D
Dbtfvv •» D»ian (cf. pun "la to n >l ?a ISDRI v. 3). The word »ia occurs
nowhere else in the chapter.
A new element appears in v. 10, the figure pierced by the people
(the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem). Again there are
obscurities: should we read 'on me whom they have pierced?' as in the
MT? The verse continues with 'him', so that Theodotion's reading is
logical and understandable. It is not so easy, however, to see how a
change from 'him' to 'me' could have been made—unless it was a
purely mechanical mistake: the omission of a waw. The thought, however,
is of a human figure and MT's 'on me' is probably to be understood
as a bold expression of Yahweh's suffering through or with his
representative. 3 The section extends to v. 14 with an expansion of
'they shall weep for him'. It is interesting that the word for 'pierce',
"ipi, occurs also at the end of 13.3, and nowhere else in Zechariah. A
father and mother will pierce their own son if he is a false prophet.
This seems to allude to 12.10, 'as one weeps for an only child. ..a
firstborn'.
1. S.R. Driver mentions the view of Keil that 'it' means 'that which has just
been mentioned', i.e. in v. 2, which will fall upon Judah as upon Jerusalem. As he
remarks: 'the thought is not expressed at all naturally' (The Minor Prophets,
p. 262).
2. The most natural translation is 'against' but the context favours 'with' or 'in'.
NEB's ambiguous translation 'Judah too shall be caught up in the siege of Jerusalem'
is neat, and passes on the problem to the reader.
3. There have been many different attempts to reconcile the details. See, e.g.,
Rudolph, Haggai, pp. 217-18; Lamarche, Zacharie 9-14, pp. 80-84; Otzen,
Studien, pp. 173-184. We may at least be confident that some historical figure is
portrayed here, someone who was murdered or martyred by the house of David and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem (v. 10). It is not necessary for us to try and identify the
historical situation, but to describe how it functions from a literary point of view.