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134 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
The sequence of thought may be represented as follows:
7 And behold (introductory formula)
a lid of lead was lifted
And this (= 'behold' ? See note above):
one woman sitting in the midst of the ephah 1
8 And he said (introduces the interpretation = climax)
This is wickedness
[new element but related to the preceding]
[Now further action is described]
And he put her into the midst of the ephah
[her original position]
And he put the stone of lead on its/her mouth
[its original position]
This is slightly confused formally by the correspondence between the
phrases nutzhn rw/htfK nw and the repetition of -j^'i. However the
sense is not confused, and this seems the most logical arrangement.
The first part (v. 7) leads in two steps to the identification of the contents
of the ephah as 'wickedness'. A further two steps return the
ephah to its original state, and in doing so suggest that the problem is
being dealt with.
At the end nothing has changed except that we now know:
1. What is in the ephah.
2. That wickedness is contained forcibly and deliberately.
Turning to the preceding verses we note that the section is controlled
by the verb 'go forth' (K^) and the question and answer structure.
The word 'this' (nnr) which is combined alliteratively with the feminine
singular of K^' in its first two occurrences, then adds an obscure
new element. Thus we have:
1. The addition of 'one' is rather odd. The best explanation for it seems to be as
a preparation for and contrast with the 'two women' who appear shortly, cf. Meyers,
Haggai, Zechariah, p. 301. They offer the paraphrase 'there was this one woman'.
It is not clear why a woman should symbolize wickedness. Suggestions are: that
there is a connection with Gen. 3 and/or Gen 6.1-4; that women are connected with
menstrual uncleanness; that there is a special connection with idolatry (cf. the women
and the Queen of heaven, e.g. Jer. 44.15-19). A full discussion of this outside the
bounds of our enquiry, but it seems to me that the fact that two women take away
wickedness rules out these suggestions. Perhaps it is simply that 'wickedness' is a
feminine noun, as Baldwin suggests, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 129.