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72 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
Chapter 8 readily divides into ten short oracles by means of the
phrase "Thus says Yahweh': vv. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-8, 9-13, 14-17, 19,
20-22, 23. Longer introductory formulae are found in vv. 1 and 18.
It is very doubtful whether these were originally independent, and
even if they were, they are too short for our purposes. There is broad
agreement as to how these are to be grouped together: vv. 1-8 + 9-
17 1 (or simply 1-17); 2 and vv. 18-23.
The main sections to be investigated in chs. 7-8 are: 7-8; 7.1-
3 + 8.18-23; and 7.4-14 + 8.1-17.
Having considered the individual sections of chs. 1-8, we must
obviously consider these chapters as a whole. In addition chs. 1-6
form a clear major unit, and we must examine these chapters together,
bearing in mind the possibility that 6.9-15 might need to be detached.
Zechariah 9-14
The divisions are much less clear in the second part of the book of
Zechariah, and much more difficult to describe from a form-critical
point of view without prejudging certain issues.
We may say at the outset that at least three large sections need to be
investigated: chs. 9-11, 12-14 and 9-14. These are marked off by the
heading Rfon, and recognized as major divisions by all scholars. 3
In dealing with smaller divisions of the text we shall opt to deal
with too large rather than too small a section.
9.1-8
This section is a clear unit despite the severe problems which beset its
detailed interpretation. This is not to deny that it may have an
important connection with the following verses (see below). Verses 1-
7 all contain references to a foreign city or people, but v. 7 suddenly
introduces an unexpected message of salvation for the Philistines. We
should consider the possibility that this is redactional.
Some 4 would treat vv. 9-10 with the first section, and v. 8 does
1. E.g. Beuken, Petitjean, R.L. Smith.
2. E.g. Amsler, Meyers, Petersen, Rudolph.
3. This does not rule out structures that may cut across this major division, as
the situation with 11.15-17 and 13.7-9 shows.
4. E.g. E.G. Kraeling, The Historical Situation in Zech. 9.1-10', AJSL 41
(1924-25), pp. 24-33; quoted by P.O. Hanson, in The Dawn of Apocalyptic