Zechariah 1:21 (Hebrew 2:4) has a neat, sort-a-chiastic structure. In answer to Zechariah’s question, Yahweh (v. 20) says that the craftsmen come to bring down the horns of the Gentiles. A. These are horns B. Which scatter Judah C. So that a man does not lift his head A’. These [craftsmen] are coming to terrify and to thrown down the horns of the nations C’. Which lift up a horn B’. To scatter Judah There are a couple of striking... Read more
In an earlier post, I noted that Zechariah 1:2 pictures Israel as hemmed in by Yahweh’s anger: Anger-fathers-anger is the word order. Zechariah 1:14 does the same. Zechariah’s message to Israel is qinne’ti liyrushalaim (jealous I am to Jerusalem) ultziyyon qin’ah gedolah (and to Zion great jealousy) Jealousy rather than anger now surrounds Jerusalem and Zion. Is that an improvement? Anger is often the expression of aroused jealousy, offended love. Whether it’s anger or jealousy, it’s the burning flame of... Read more
Meredith Kline has argued that the entire book of Zechariah is organized as a pair of “diptychs,” each of which “hinges” on a passage about the work of the King-Shepherd of Israel. The entire book itself, moreover, is a diptych, hinging around the crowning of Joshua in Zechariah 6:9-15. Below I present Kline’s conclusions in outline form. A. First “Diptych,” 1:1-6:8 1. Exhortation, 1:1-6 2. Visions, 1:7-2:13 a. Horses in myrtle grove, 1:7-17 b. Horns (of altar) cast down, 1:18-21... Read more
Richard Davidson ( Flame of Yahweh: Sexuality in the Old Testament ) notes the connections between Song of Songs 8:6 and Daniel 7:9-10. The two passages are “intertextual twins”: “In immediate succession, three times flames/fire are mentioned, matching (in Aramaic) almost precisely the threefold (in Hebrew) mention of fiery flames in Song 8:6: (1) Dan 7:9, ‘his [the Ancient of Days’] throne was fiery flames (= resapha , ‘its flames,’ of Song 8:6); (2) Dan 7:9, ‘its wheels were burning... Read more
Francis Landy ( Paradoxes of Paradise: Identity and Difference in the Song of Songs (Bible and Literature Series) ) argues that the phrase shalhebetyah in Song of Songs 8:6 should be taken as a reference to Yah’s own flame, and he connects the fire of Yah in the sanctuary with the fire of Yah in the love between lovers: “For in Israel, in the dialectics of king and kingdom, the flame of God is constantly alight only on the altar... Read more
Jill Munro’s Spikenard and Saffron: The Imagery of the Song of Songs (Jsot Supplement Series) is superb. Though written originally as a dissertation, Munro has cleared out the apparatus and provided an uncluttered and concise discussion of the Song’s imagery. She finds three main, overlapping zones of imagery in the Song – Courtly, Familial, Natural – and does a very neat job not only of noting the imagery, but following its development in the Song. She notes , for instance,... Read more
Robert Alter ( The Song of Songs: The World’s First Great Love Poem (Modern Library Classics) ) notes the variety of imagery in the Song of Songs, which “translates that bodily reality into fresh springs, flowering gardens, highlands over which lithe animals bound, spices and wine, cunningly wrought artifacts, resplendent towers and citadels and gleaming pools.” He contrasts the use of imagery in the Song with that of “more explicit erotic literature.” In the latter, “the body in the act... Read more
Zechariah 1:2 has a neat bit of text-painting. The verse uses the root “be angry” ( qatzaph ) twice. That of course gives the term emphasis. Yahweh is not merely angry; He’s ANGRY! The verse is surrounded by the root qatzaph so that the verse reads: “Angry was Yahweh at your fathers – anger!” The fathers are surrounded by Yahweh’s anger. Or, perhaps better, Yahweh and the fathers encounter one another within the walls of Yahweh’s anger. Anger is... Read more
Zechariah 1:1-6, the introduction to the prophecy, uses a number of words or phrases a significant number of times. “Yahweh” is used eight times. Eight is the number of rebirth, a new week, resurrection on the day after the Sabbath. Plus, Zechriah begins to prophecy in the eighth month. Of those eight uses, five are in the phrase “Yahweh of hosts,” or “Yahweh of Armies.” Five is associated with military formation, and so the fievold use of the militant name... Read more
For years, I’ve used Rodney Stark’s book on early Christianity in a theology class and told students that it was written by an unbeliever. It seems that’s not quite true. Stark grew up Lutheran, and has recently discovered that he’s again a Christian. In a 2007 interview with the Italian Center for Studies on New Religions ( Cesnur), he says: “I have always been a ‘cultural’ Christian in that I have always been strongly committed to Western Civilization. Through most... Read more
Leithart
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