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Chapter 3
THE STRUCTURE OF INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS
OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
In this chapter we shall consider those units marked off for separate
treatment by our previous investigation. For this purpose a table is
given containing every repeated word in the section, and they will be
discussed individually so as to decide, before we allow structural considerations
to intrude, which might be deemed to be relevant as
marker words. As the study proceeds we shall be able to omit very
common words from the table and the discussion.
Zechariah 1
Repeated Words in Zechariah 1.1-6 + 7-17
Figure 2 shows that 57 words occur twice or more in Zechariah 1.
We might be tempted to discount many of these simply because they
are common throughout the book (entries 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 16, 19, 21,
22, 27, 28, 32, 42, 49). However we should then have removed
'Yahweh of hosts', 'word/speak', 'land' and 'Jerusalem', which might
be significant in some way, perhaps in providing background
emphasis. It is also possible for a common word to become significant
by being in a prominent position, or a part of a significant phrase,
none of whose members need be significant in themselves (cf. 'What is
that to us? See thou to that'). We must therefore examine each occurrence
individually, although it will not be desirable to give detailed
comment on every word. Numbers 1-12 are all concerned with
providing an introductory formula for the two parts of the chapter.
The root "Ql, however, should not be dismissed without a closer look.
13. »'3] is found in vv. 1, 7 as part of an introductory formula, but
in vv. 4-6 the plural refers to the prophets who proclaimed God's
warning to the fathers.