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98 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
Possible patterns
There is no point in treating b and c separately since they only occur
together. I will therefore replace them by the letter B. There ought
probably to be a letter to denote the whole phrase 'These are the horns
that scattered Judah', which occurs in identical form in v. 2 and v. 4.
I will use the expression F(d, f) for this purpose, where d stands for
'the horn' or 'horn' (i.e. the word used to refer to 'the powers' or
'power') and f stands for the 'scattering of Judah (etc.)'.
I will also put xd to denote a word corresponding to d but different
from it. In principle this involves a subjective element; in the case
before us the four horns must in some sense correspond to the
four smiths.
I shall use the same superscript number for identical words or
phrases. This yields the pattern:
a 1
(a 2 )
B'Cd 1 )
e 1
B 2 (xd)
e 2
F^d 1 , f 1 )
F'Cd 1 , f 1 , a 2 )
F^.f^.d 2 ,! 2 )
This pattern seems to be true to the original emphasis of the passage.
We are, to some extent, sacrificing a 1 , a 2 and a 3 as important elements
for the overall structure, but this would seem to be justified. The
'lifting up' motif retains some importance in binding the whole
together. But the most important focus must be on the meaning of the
horns, and the above diagram shows this quite clearly. There appears
to be something similar to 'the growing phrase' noticed by J. Magonet
in his study of Jonah. 1
In effect the pattern is a twofold one:
What are these? Answer: These are. ..
What are these? Delay by recap: These are. ..
Answer: These are. . .
1. Form and Meaning: Studies in Literary Techniques in the Book of Jonah
(Sheffield: Almond Press, 1983), pp. 31-33, 40.