Once again class opened with a consideration of Zechariah legends in light of the textual identities of "Zechariah."  Additional attestations of the figure can be found as follows:

(1) In his commentary to Matt 23:35, Jerome reports that the Nazoraeans use a gospel wherein "son of Ioiada" appears instead of "son of Barachia."  Apparently, this sectarian gospel supplies the ‘correct’ identification.  This prompted a discussion of a possible line of development within gospel traditions.  Q (= Lk 11:51?) provides no patronym.  Matt 23:35 identifies the figure as "Zechariah son of Berechiah" either a) as a mistake, or b) in an attempt to ‘improve’ the text by affecting an association between the two figures.  The Matthew of the Nazoraeans (apud Jerome) provides the correct identification—might this be an attempt to correct Matthew?

(2) Josephus writes of ‘Zechariahs’ in two places. In Antiquities IX.166-170, he tells the story of the stoning of Zechariah the son of the high priest Jōdas in the temple according to the orders of King Joas—this is essentially the 2 Chronicles story.  In Antiquities XI.95-99, he acknowledges the combined efforts of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah in encouraging the building of the Second Temple.

(3) Zechariah the prophet is also mentioned in the final extant lines of a Christian church history written in Palestine around 450.  Sozomen, Historia ecclesiastica 9.17 speaks of the discovery of the relics of Zechariah.  The text asserts that Zechariah appeared to a peasant in a dream and commanded him to dig at a certain location; there, the peasant will find two coffins, a glass vessel full of water, and two tame medium-sized serpents.  Following the instructions, the man sees a vision of Zechariah wearing a white stole—a descriptive element that leads Sozomen to think him a priest.  Outside the coffin at the feet of the prophet lies the body of a child who had been given a royal burial—Sozomen expresses that the priests and the wise men of the time were "greatly perplexed" about both the child and the prophet’s funeral garb.  Sozomen reports that a monastic superior at Gerari found an ancient non-canonical Hebrew document stating that seven days after Zechariah was put to death, the beloved son of Joash suddenly died; understanding this as manifestation of divine wrath, the king ordered his son to be buried at the feet of the prophet.  Sozomen’s text concludes with a description of the dead Zechariah in his grave: despite his long burial, Zechariah’s body is intact; he has short hair, a straight nose, a moderate beard, and a short head with sunken eyes and thick eyebrows.

Zechariah 2:1-9 (finale)

The focus then shifted to a few items associated with last week’s discussion.  We looked at Pesikta Rabbati §30 (a medieval Jewish text, probably eighth or ninth century), where Zech 2:9 is found quoted among other "burning" passages in order to make a homiletic point.  We also discussed Petersen’s assessment of the measuring line and the wall of fire.  Petersen suggests that Zechariah emphasizes the holiness of the entire city rather than just the temple; this seems to be justified given the "expansive" imagery in the text.  However, Petersen also suggests that the wall of fire hints at Persian/Zoroastrian mythology; here Petersen appears to be on shakier ground.  Overall, there is no real indication that Zechariah moves in a Persian thought-world, and elements within the native tradition (e.g., the Exodus pillar) make it unnecessary to look to outside tradition(s).

There was also some discussion of Zechariah’s connection to Ezekiel. The texts evidence some similarities (e.g. "And you will know that the Lord…"), and we can understand Zechariah as supplementing Ezekiel.

Zechariah 2:10-17: Masoretic Text

The class now considered the final part of the chapter. We noted an abrupt shift in both tone and subject matter in verse 10: "Hey! Hey!  Flee from the land of the north …" There was some discussion of the fact that in Jewish literature ‘the north’ is typically the place where the enemy is or where evil comes from.

Verse 12 prompted much discussion centered on the phrase אחר כבוד שלחני .  Do we translate "after the glory" or "behind the glory"?  Moreover, who is the speaker?  And there’s a God-quote—where do God’s actual words begin?  We noted that usually, the kavod is God’s.  Dr. Reeves wondered whether this might this be a scribal note or direction indicating the placement of this in the text, i.e. a direction telling us this is taking place after verse 9, where the kavod is originally mentioned.  The medieval commentators were not particularly helpful here.  Rashi understands ‘sending after your glory in order to increase your glory’, and he attempts a connection with Midrash Aggadah’s paying back the lack of respect of Esau (Rome).  It looks like Rashi is fishing for an explanation.  Radaq says this refers to the prophesy directly above: ‘sending you in order that you can make it possible for me to dwell …’  Meyers translates kavod as the subject of the next verb: "For thus says the Lord of Hosts who after the Glory had sent me to the nations that were despoiling you: ‘For the one that is striking against you is striking against the apple of his eye.’" This may be the best we can do with the syntax here.

We also noted that this verse contains a scribal correction (tiqqun) designed to reduce the anthropomorphic quality of God. The text initially read "My eye," but since we all know God doesn’t really have eyes, the scribes changed the text to read "His eye" (see also the scribal correction in Gen 18:22 where the idea that God waited upon Abraham is changed to Abraham waited on God).

The remaining verses were less problematic.  We noticed that this section contained no intervening angels.  A student questioned the use of מעון in line 17; the instructor informed us that the word has a supernal connotation, and that it is frequently used in Psalms.

We discussed the structure of Zechariah 2 and concluded that Zechariah 2 appears to contain a collection of oracles only loosely joined together. We noticed that the last verse seems to stand by itself—as if it could be the beginning of a new composition. The instructor noted that we find a similar phenomenon in Psalms 68 and 118; the verses themselves sound somewhat like a list of titles or a ‘table of contents.’

Targum

In verse 10, we noticed that the Aramaic אכלו ("call together") expresses the function of the Hebrew הוי.

Compare verse 12: "For thus says the Lord of Hosts: ‘After the glory which was planned to come upon you, he sent me against the nations that rob you, for the one that hurts you is as if he extends his hand to strike the balls of his eyes."

In verse 13, the "strike of my might" replaces anthropomorphism of "waving my hand."

In verse 16, compare the Hebrew בחר "choose" with the Aramaic יתרעי "take pleasure."

In verse 17, compare the Hebrew עור "to wake up" with Aramaic אתגלי "I will reveal myself."

LXX

Verse 10 is in opposition to the MT: "for from the four directions I’m going to bring you together …."  We consulted the Dead Sea Scroll fragment and noticed that the verb is missing, so that text is of no help.  Does the Greek have a better text?

Here, the problematic verse 12 is rendered: "For thus says the Lord Almighty: 'After glory [he? ] sent me to the nations that spoiled; for he that touches you is as one that touches the apple of his eye.'"

This line remains continues to be problematic; it was suggested that we need to look at other places where individuals have talked about this verse such as Church fathers, other commentators, etc.

Next Week, after fall break: We’ll look at any leftover material and move into chapter 3.

Submitted by: Tammie Wanta

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