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216 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
Zech. 13.1 introduces the next new element: a fountain for
cleansing from sin of the house of David and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. The verse has more in common with ch. 12 than with
13.2-6 (especially 'house of David', the last occurrence) but 'on that
day' also links this latter passage with what has gone before. It is
clearly concerned with cleansing. 1
Zech. 13.2-6 is another puzzling passage, but vv. 3-4 seem to
confirm that false prophecy is in focus, and that it is at least partly
given 'in the name of Yahweh'. Verse 2 also suggests that there might
be prophecy in the name of idols; v. 6 suggests the sort of outward
form of prophecy seen in 1 Kings 18.
The most noteworthy words are "ipi and rD3 (also important elsewhere:
1.6; 9.4; 10.11; 13.7). How they fit into a pattern, if they do, is
not yet clear.
Smaller sections that exhibit some sort of regular structure are:
12.4
IF nvr D«: Rinn Dra
ab pnom 010 ^ roK
jiwtfo HDTI
c 'ru riK npBK ^K-ito' rva *yy\
b'a 1 ]mj?3 roR D'n^n 010 'wi 2
The three rare words here, pnan, JIWBJ and p~nu occur in Deut.
28.28 as the punishments that will come if the people are unfaithful.
Only the middle of these occurs elsewhere in the OT: of Jehu who
drives with pmtf! There is a contrast expressed between c and a'b'
(open eyes/blindness).
1. Mason takes this to mean there will be a 'continuing means of cleansing in
Jerusalem. . .a purified temple and cult' (Zechariah 9-14, p. 120); Rudolph says
that the prophet goes back to cultic ideas, as in Num. 8.7 ('water of expiation') and
19.9 ('water for impurity'), but here it is not prepared—and renewed—by human
hands, it is from God and a sign of his favour (Haggai, p. 227).
2. This is a quite definite chiasmus. The outer sentences are also similar as a
whole (b + particular sign of judgment indicates this). Rudolph deletes the last phrase
along with vv. 2b and 3b (Haggai, pp. 216-20).