ZECHARIAH 1-8: INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERARY STRUCTURE

 

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St. Jerome held the opinion that Zechariah was “the obscurest and longest of the twelve prophets”, and Childs adds that “few Old Testament books reflect such a chaos of conflicting interpretations.” There are similar problems one faces in discerning a literary structure for this book, beginning with an attempt to define its borders. Several commentaries nowadays consider the first eight chapters of the book apart from the rest or treat them together with the book of Haggai. Similarly, chs. 9-14 of Zechariah are felt by most modern Bible scholars to belong to a different hand than the first eight chapters, but may be related in one way or another to the Book of Malachi which follows in the canon. The structure of so-called "Zechariah I" will be treated here, with discussions of Haggai, Zechariah 9-14, and Malachi elsewhere, as well as the relationship between all of these books.

The first indication that Zechariah 1-8 constitutes a unity in itself comes from the unusual phrase “the angel who talked with me,” which appears eleven times in Zechariah, all in the first six chapters. Second is a consideration of the identical opening formula used to introduce each of the three major sections in chs. 1-8. At Zech. 1:1, 1:7 and 7:1 we encounter the phrase “In the...year of King Darius..., the word of the LORD came to Zechariah.” These markers thus delineate the borders of three quite differently sized and constituted literary blocks: Introductory Narrative (1:1-6), Visions (1:7-6:15), and Concluding Oracles (7:1-8:23). Each of these three sections ends similarly with a turning to God. Two approximate inclusios are formed by (a) statements indicating an eventual return to Jerusalem (1:16; 8:8) and calls to repentance (1:3; 8:14-17) . Most prior structural discussions in the literature have revolved around the large second section, so that is a good place to begin.

Section II: The Visions (Zechariah 1:7-6:15)

The centerpiece of Zech. 1-8 is a series of visions, often called the Night Visions. Their nature is such as to exist in a reality “somewhere between purely mundane concerns and a utopian vision of renewal...worldly and yet somehow removed from this world.” (Petersen) All of these visions are united by a common format and vocabulary. Leaving aside for the moment the fact that oracles are interspersed within these visions, almost all commentators detect a sort of pattern to this series. Boda reviews a number of diverse proposals for structuring these vision reports, some of which are linear and some chiastic. He concludes that both movements may be taking place at the same time. For example, although there is a progressively negative tone to the series, the concentric schemes seem to be the most self evident, and there is a fairly wide consensus linking the first three visions with the last three in the symmetrical manner shown below:

Figure 1: The Six Visions

Vision A: Four Horses (1:7-17)

Vision B: Four Horns and Four Smiths (1:18-21)

Vision C: Man with a Measuring Line (2:1-13)

                                                    -------------------------------------------

                                                Vision C': The Flying Scroll (5:1-4)

Vision B': The Ephah (5:5-11)

Vision A': Four Chariots (6:1-8)

Meyers and Meyers note that visions A and A' contain between them exactly seven instances of “earth” being used in the absolute sense. These appearances form a chiastic pattern:

roam about the earth (1:10,11)

all the earth (1:11)

                                                all the earth (6:5)

roam about the earth (6:7 – 3x)

The theological importance of the parallel visions A and A' is that between them they declare three attributes of Yahweh: His omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence.

The pairing of visions B/B' presents an interesting example of how structural analysis can aid in the exegesis of a passage. There are two symbols in each of these passages, and Meyers and Meyers use this correspondence to help answer some debated features of these visions, arriving at the equations:

horns (Vision B) and woman in the ephah (Vision B') = foreign nations

            smiths (Vision B) and flying females (Vision B') = agents of Yahweh

Since the flying creatures take action against the woman in the ephah, it can be assumed that the latent conflict between the two symbols in Vision B will also result in an “imminent confrontation.”

Remainder of Section II

There is, of course, still more material in the section that remains unaccounted for. It is that material (chs. 3-4, and Zechariah 6:9-15), as well as some minor disagreement on the proper divisions between the six visions, which gives rise to the various opinions regarding the exact number and identification of visions present in this section of the book.

Seven Visions or Eight?

The two structural options we are faced with at this point would appear to be (a) a seven-fold chiasm with ch. 4 at the center or (b) an eight-fold structure with chs. 3 and 4 serving as a matched pair of central visions. Without rehearsing all the arguments pro and con regarding these positions, it is safe to say that the accumulated evidence points to a seven-part chiasm with ch. 4 (which we will now label Vision D) at its center.

But what becomes of ch. 3? Its verses could be dispersed among the first three visions as does the New English Bible, but no such drastic surgery is necessary. The key is to consider the close relationship of ch. 3 to the other orphan passage in Section II: Zech. 6:9-15. Many pieces of evidence point to their parallel nature, especially designation of the Messiah as “the branch” in 3:8 and 6:12 with associated passages hinting at Joshua's greater assumption of leadership in 3:7-10 and 6:9-15.

Structure of Section II

Figure 2: The Structure of Section II

Vision A: Four Horses (1:7-17)

Vision B: Four Horns and Four Smiths (1:18-21)

Vision C: Man with a Measuring Line (2:1-13)

E. Joshua is Clothed (3:1-10)

Vision D: The Lamp Stand and the Two Olive Trees (4:1-14)

Vision C': The Flying Scroll (5:1-4)

Vision B': The Ephah (5:5-11)

Vision A': Four Chariots (6:1-8)

E'. Joshua is Crowned (6:9-15)

With this structure in mind, we are now in a position to understand and evaluate various statements in the literature concerning these visions. For example, Redditt identifies three so-called “secondary” passages that have in common an interest in Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rebuilding of the Temple, in other words “the administrative reshaping of the restoration community.” These passages correspond to the points of emphasis E, D and E' shown in Fig. 2 and do not necessarily belong to a later authorship since they appear to be an integral part of the overall literary structure.

Many other evidence of the proposed groupings in Fig. 2 can be noted. These include the often-noted sense of geographical movement within the Night Visions from the general to the specific: A/A' cover the whole earth or cosmos, B/B' deal with the land of Judah and her neighbors, C/C' with Judah (specifically Jerusalem), and D with the Temple and Holy of Holies.

Vision D

The center vision possesses its own internally symmetrical organization since the appearance of its two symbols is separated by the oracle 4:6b-10a. This “intrusion” actually creates an ABA structure that is strengthened by (a) the presence of two questions in both the first and last segment, (b) the repetition of specific dialogue from the first unit in the final unit (He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”) and (c) the two olive trees of v. 3 paralleling the two anointed ones in v. 14. Zerubbabel's name appears four times in the center unit.

1. Vision of the Lamp Stand (4:1-6a)

2. Oracle to Zerubbabel (4:6b-10a)

1'. Vision of the Two Olive Trees (4:10b-14)

It is no coincidence that two of the most well known phrases in the whole of Zech. 1-8 are found in the small passage 4:6b-10a, which stands at the exact of the book:

“ Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

            “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice.” (Zechariah 4:10a)

Section I (Zech. 1:1-6) and Section III (Zech. 7-8)

The remaining portions of Zech. 1-8 seem to be supremely mismatched, at least in terms of relative size, to act as bookends for the Night Visions section. However, this function is clearly in mind, as underscored by a number of literary and thematic parallels. The first of these sections is too brief to warrant much discussion regarding its own internal structure except to note the recurring verb “turn/return,” the high density of references to “Yahweh (of hosts),” and the inclusio “your ancestors” at 1:2 and 1:6.

Much can be said, however, concerning the way in which Section III is organized. For one thing, there is a clear inclusio in the use of the phrase “to entreat the favor of the LORD” in 7:2 and 8:21. Nelson comes close to the original intent of the author when he defines 7:1-3 as the introduction to this section and 8:20-23 as its conclusion. In between are four units beginning with practically identical formulas: “The word of Yahweh (of hosts) came to Zechariah (me)” at 7:4; 7:8; 8:1 and 8:18. This phrase occurs elsewhere within Zech. 1-8 only at important structural locations: the beginning of sections I (1:1) and II (1:7), twice at the center of the book (4:6,8), and the beginning of the final unit of Section II (6:9).

The present proposal in Fig. 3 is not nearly as detailed as others that have been offered but has the aesthetic advantage of being more symmetrical. It also preserves the distinction in tone between the two chapters as well as recognizing the opening formula discussed above and the suspected chiastic nature of these two chapters. Several observations by Meyers and Meyers and the similar chiastic analysis by Dorsey help to confirm this structure.

Figure 3: The Structure of Section III

A. Introduction (7:1-2)

B. Fasting (7:3-7)

C. Keep the Law or be Cursed (7:8-14)

                                                C'. Keep the Law and be Blessed (8:1-17)

B'. Feasting (8:18-19)

A'. Climax (8:20-23)

The overall architecture of the first eight chapters of Zechariah can thus be constructed as shown in Fig. 4. Note that the three openings in the book introducing Zechariah appear at the start of sections I (1:1), II (2:1) and III (7:1).

Figure 4: The Structure of Zechariah I

I. Introduction: Lessons from History (1:1-6)

II. The Night Visions (1:7-6:15)

Vision A: Four Horses (1:7-17)

Vision B: Four Horns and Four Smiths (1:18-21)

Vision C: Man with a Measuring Line (2:1-13)

E. Joshua is Clothed (3:1-10)

Vision D: The Lamp Stand and Two Olive Trees (4:1-14)

1. Vision of the Lamp Stand (4:1-6a)

2. Oracle to Zerubbabel (4:6b-10a)

1'. Vision of the Two Olive Trees (4:10b-14)

Vision C': The Flying Scroll (5:1-4)

Vision B': The Ephah (5:5-11)

Vision A': Four Chariots (6:1-8)

E'. Joshua is Crowned (6:9-15)

III. Conclusion: Past and Future (chs. 7-8)

A. Introduction (7:1-3)

B. Fasting (7:4-7)

C. Keep the Law or be Cursed (7:8-14)

                                    C'. Keep the Law and be Blessed (8:1-17)

B'. Feasting (8:18-19)

A'. Climax (8:20-23)