An Intertextual Analysis of Zechariah 9-10: The Earlier Restoration Expectations of Second Zechariah 9780567659293, 9780567399991

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Dedicated to my husband Yat Yuk

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is a revised Ph.D. dissertation, completed in 2012 at the McMaster Divinity College, McMaster University, under the supervision of Mark J. Boda. In presenting this book, I would like to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to those who have made a great contribution to my life and scholarship over the years of my doctoral studies. To begin with, I must give many thanks to my primary supervisor, Professor Mark Boda. He was a wonderful mentor, providing me with immense encouragement along my academic journey. His serious scholarship and helpful criticism enhanced my research skills, stretching me to excel. I am grateful to my secondary supervisor, Dr. Paul Evans, who provided input along the way. His probing questions and attention to detail sharpened my arguments. I would like to thank Professor Stanley Porter for his guidance during the early stages of my Ph.D. studies. Thanks must also go to my external examiner, Professor Paul Redditt, who provided helpful feedback and constructive suggestions to my work. Words of appreciation are also for Professor Jerry Moye, Dr Fook Kong Wong, and Rev. Dr. Wood Ping Chu, who encouraged me to pursue further study. In addition, many thanks must extend to Dr. Duncan Burns, the editor of this book, for his diligent and kind assistance during the production process. Above all, special thanks must go to my husband, Yat Yuk, whose sacri¿cial spirit was evident throughout the journey of my doctoral education. His faithful support made it possible for me to accomplish this project. This dissertation is dedicated to him with all my love.

*** Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

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ABBREVIATIONS AB ABD ABRL AJSL AnBib AOTC ATD ATDan BA BASOR BBB Bib BN BSac BZAW CAT CBC CBET CBQ CC CurBS Did FAT FOTL HAR HAT HBT HKAT HSM IB IBC ICC Int ITC JANESCU JBL JBQ JETS

Anchor Bible Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by D. N. Freedman. 6 vols. New York, 1992 Anchor Bible Reference Library American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature Analecta biblica Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries Das Alte Testament Deutsch Acta theologica danica Biblical Archaeologist Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Bulletin de bibliographie biblique Biblica Biblische Notizen Bibliotheca sacra Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte Commentaire de l’Ancien Testament Cambridge Bible Commentary Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology Catholic Biblical Quarterly Continental Commentaries Currents in Research: Biblical Studies Didaskalia Forschungen zum Alten Testament Forms of the Old Testament Literature Hebrew Annual Review Handbuch zum Alten Testament Horizons in Biblical Theology Handkommentar zum Alten Testament Harvard Semitic Monographs Interpreter’s Bible Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching International Critical Commentary Interpretation International Theological Commentary Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University Journal of Biblical Literature Jewish Bible Quarterly Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

xvi JNES JNSL JSNTSup JSOT JSOTSup JTC JTS KAT KHC NAC NCB NIB NIBCOT NICOT OBT OTG OTL OTS PEQ RB RelSRev ResQ SBL SBLDS SBLEJL SBLMS SBLSymS SJT STAR TDOT

TynBul VT VTSup WBC WMANT WUNT ZAW

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Abbreviations Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series Journal for Theology and the Church Journal of Theological Studies Kommentar zum Alten Testament Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten Testament New American Commentary New Century Bible The New Interpreter’s Bible New International Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament New International Commentary on the Old Testament Overtures to Biblical Theology Old Testament Guides Old Testament Library Old Testament Studies Palestine Exploration Quarterly Revue biblique Religious Studies Review Restoration Quarterly Society of Biblical Literature Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and Its Literature Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series Scottish Journal of Theology Studies in Theology and Religion Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren. Translated by J. T. Willis, G. W. Bromiley, and D. E. Green. 8 vols. Grand Rapids, 1974– Tyndale Bulletin Vetus Testamentum Supplements to Vetus Testamentum Word Biblical Commentary Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie

INTRODUCTION

1. The Importance of the Project Konrad Schmid and Odil Hannes Steck argue that the main purpose of prophetic literature is to unfold Yahweh’s restoration: “one can see the Àow of time for God’s people since the conquest as a time of salvation to judgment (Joshua–Kings) and a time of judgment returning to salvation (Corpus propheticum).”1 This phenomenon is particularly true with Second Zechariah, a late prophetic work of the restoration era. The majority of scholars agree that the main emphasis of Zech 9–14 is on Yahweh’s restoration for his people.2 Mark J. Boda contends that these six chapters “announce an imminent restoration inaugurated by the return of God.”3 Carol L. Meyers and Eric M. Meyers argue that Second Zechariah anticipates “the ultimate, full restoration of Israel.”4 This view is especially vivid when Zech 9:9–10 envisions the coming of a royal ¿gure who will rule with universal peace and 14:16’s expectation of cosmic worship of Yahweh, who will reign as king in Jerusalem. Despite this assertion, few scholars, if any, have examined extensively the restoration expectations in Second Zechariah, apart from some broad strokes.5 Even those scholars who have worked substantially on tracing the development of the theological ideals of the restoration from the Deuteronomistic History to the post-exilic prophetic writings tend to cease with Zech 1–8, without considering the perspectives in Zech 9–14. In his classic work Exile and Restoration, Peter R. Ackroyd tracks the themes of restoration in the biblical sources up to First Zechariah only.6 Around three decades later, Schmid and Steck present in their 1. Schmid and Steck, “Restoration Expectations,” 45. 2. Cf. Nurmela, Prophets in Dialogue, 233; Sweeney, Twelve Prophets 2, 563; O’Brien, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 232; Hanson, Dawn of Apocalyptic, 280; Webb, Message of Zechariah, 32; Achtemeier, Nahum– Malachi, 146. 3. Boda, Haggai, Zechariah, 48. 4. Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9–14, 29. 5. E.g., Boda, Haggai, Zechariah, 47. 6. Ackroyd, Exile and Restoration.

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An Intertextual Analysis of Zechariah 9–10

essay “Restoration Expectations in the Prophetic Tradition of the Old Testament” the ¿ndings on this subject, yet Second Zechariah is still neglected.7 With the renewal of interest in the Persian period,8 the edited volume of Gary N. Knoppers and others, Exile and Restoration Revisited, attempts to pull in other post-exilic books, especially Ezra and Nehemiah, but Zech 9–14 is omitted.9 Works with similar treatment, e.g., Klaus Koch’s two volumes, The Prophets, which seek to expound the prophetic thought about the future, also dedicate minimal space to Second Zechariah, probably due to the obscurity of the corpus.10 In view of this, this work intends to ¿ll in the gap by conducting an in-depth study on the ideas about future salvation in Second Zechariah in order to delineate the kind of restoration perspective embraced in this late biblical prophecy.11 Second Zechariah is known for its obscurity, as Koch remarks.12 The enigmatic nature of the text and the complex web of allusions in the corpus further intensify the interpretative problem.13 It is probably with this obscurity in mind that Jerome writes, “Obscurissimus liber Zachariae prophetae,”14 and Brevard S. Childs adds, “Few Old Testament books reÀect such a chaos of conÀicting interpretation.”15 In light of this, we need to conduct a thorough investigation rather than offer a brief treatment of Zech 9–14 in order to depict the restoration expectations in the

7. Schmid and Steck, “Restoration Expectations,” 41–81. The article does touch very brieÀy on a few restoration ideas in Zech 9–14, e.g., the coming king in Zech 9:9–10 (p. 73) and the inclusion of the non-Israelites in Zech 14:16 (p. 79). 8. For a discussion of the renewal of interest in the Persian period, see Williamson, “Exile and After,” 236–65. Cf. Eskenazi, “From Exile and Restoration,” 78–79. 9. Knoppers et al., ed., Exile and Restoration Revisited. 10. Koch comments: “Nowhere do the opinions of scholars diverge so widely about prophetic writings as here [Zech 9–14] and no where are the ¿ndings of research so uncertain… Some of the texts are concerned with internal political conditions. For us they are obscure, because we have no information from other sources which would throw light on them”; Koch, Prophets II, 180. 11. Similar work has been done by Bergdall on First Zechariah; Bergdall, “Zechariah’s Program of Restoration.” 12. See Koch’s comment above. Cf. Leske, “Context and Meaning,” 663; Petersen, Zechariah 9–14, 1; Pyper, “Reading in the Dark,” 485; Clark, “Discourse Structure in Zechariah 9–14,” 64. 13. See Chapter 1. 14. Translated as: “The Book of the Prophet Zechariah is the most obscure one”; Jerome, Commentarii in Prophetas Minores, 747, cited in Lamarche, Zacharie IX–XIV, 7. 15. Childs, Introduction, 476. 1

Introduction

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corpus. However, this kind of meticulous research on these six chapters would generate a massive amount of material that would require more space than is available in this study. Because of the great volume of discussion and the limited space of the project, we con¿ne our scope of inquiry to the ¿rst two chapters of Zech 9–14. 2. The Coherence of Zechariah 9 and 10 Zechariah 9 and 10 are generally treated as a coherent section revealing the earlier aspiration of the restoration hope of Second Zechariah,16 with 11:4–16 transitioning the readers17 from the ¿rst oracle (Zech 9–11) to the second one (Zech 12–14).18 Apart from Zech 10:1–2, there are a number of correspondences between these two chapters, on stylistic, thematic, and lexical levels: x

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Both chapters stress the divine intervention which breaks into history to inaugurate the restoration of Yahweh’s people (cf. 9:1–8, 10a, 14–16; 10:6, 8–12a), with war-like language against the nations (cf. 9:1–8; 10:11).19 These two chapters are salvation oracles concerning Judah20 and Ephraim,21 with a strong expectation for return (cf. 9:12; 10:8–10) and reunion (cf. 9:13; 10:6), which is absent after the breaking of the second staff “Union” in 11:14.22

16. E.g., Hanson, Dawn of Apocalyptic, 328–34; Boda, “Reading Between the Lines,” 291; Redditt, “Two Shepherds,” 685; Tigchelaar, Prophets of Old, 94, 108–9; cf. Tigchelaar, “Some Observations,” 263; Meyers and Meyers, Zechariah 9–14, 229; Petersen, Zechariah 9–14, 70. 17. In this work, the term “reader” is used in exchange with the term “audience,” representing the intended recipient of the corpus. This will be discussed further in Chapter 2. 18. Boda, “Reading Between the Lines,” 291. 19. Ibid., 289–90. 20. Judah is mentioned 14 times in Second Zechariah: 9:7, 13; 10:3, 6; 11:14; 12:2, 4, 5, 6, 7(×2); 14:5, 14, 21. 21. In Zech 9–14, Ephraim appears in 9:10, 13; 10:7, and Joseph occurs in 10:6. 22. After the breaking of the second staff “Union” in 11:14, Ephraim disappears from the scene, with only Judah remaining on the stage together with Jerusalem and David in the second oracle. Both Jerusalem and David appear prominently in Zech 12–14. Jerusalem occurs 24 times in Second Zechariah: 9:9, 10; 12:22(×2), 3, 5, 6(×2), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; 13:1; 14:2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 21, and David appears 6 times in Second Zechariah: 12:7, 8(2×), 10, 12; 13:1. 1

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An Intertextual Analysis of Zechariah 9–10

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There are a number of shared words in Zech 9 and 10, with some of them appearing exclusively in these two chapters (see Table 1 below).23 Table 1. The Lexical Parallel between Zech 9 and 10

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9:3 9:4* 9:5 9:6 9:7 9:8 9:8 9:8

9 10 11

9:9 9:9 9:10

12 13 14

9:10* 9:12 9:13

15 16

9:13 9:13

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

9:14 9:14 9:15 9:15* 9:16 9:16 9:16

Zechariah 9 =#8#% &'&) 7#:%# 10:5 -' !)!# 10:11* !&/