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246 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
This strengthens the impression that the writer who gave ch. 1 its
final form was the one who also shaped chs. 7 and 8. It is probable
that he was responsible also for their position in relation to Zechariah
1-8. It seems plausible to assume that he intended an inclusio.
Can we discern the work of this editor elsewhere in chs. 1-14? To
determine this there will need to be strong contacts between editorial
sections such as 1.1-6, 15-17, and chs. 7-8 and 9-14. I shall evaluate
the cumulative evidence in an excursus, after considering each section
of Zechariah in relation to the rest. I shall compare the findings with
traditional arguments for the unity ofZechariah. 1
If contacts are found between these editorial sections in Zechariah 1
etc and others in Zechariah 9-11, we shall conclude that the same
editor who did the work we have discovered here was also responsible
for the whole book and wrote later than Deutero-Zechariah.
If the contacts are with the main part of Deutero-Zechariah then it
will be likely that our editor was Deutero-Zechariah himself. I shall
not have proved that he could not have been the original Zechariah,
but it will be unlikely in the absence of contacts between editorial
sections and 'original' text in Zechariah 1-8.
We have found strong supporting evidence in this enquiry for the
view that the final editor of Zechariah 1-8 was responsible for:
1. The final wording and position of 1.1-6 and 12 (15?16?)-17,
and other parts that are additional to the visions themselves.
2. The position of the first and last visions of Zechariah 1-6.
3. The position and part of the content of Zechariah 7-8.
4. Possibly some of the content of Zechariah 3.
5. The final form of Zechariah 4.
So far we have found few likely connections between Zechariah 1
and 9-14: nar + aid, rm, orn + ora, ps, and the concern with Jerusalem
and Judah. None of these is particularly strong, and this is in striking
contrast to the evidence in favour of a unified editing of chs. 1-8.
Connections between Zechariah 2 and the Rest ofZechariah
There are comparatively few words in Zechariah 2 that have links
with other parts of Zechariah and the table for the whole chapter is
1. See below after the discussion of chs. 7-8.