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170 Structure and the Book ofZechariah
We agree on the unit as verses 1-8, and that themes of condemnation,
punishment and salvation are found in this section. However,
several words of caution must be mentioned.
1. The titles for each section are artificial. Sections a and a 1 do not
correspond nearly as closely as this scheme suggests.
2. The only actual word in common is ]*i> (but see below).
Lamarche's 'for Yahweh has seen' depends on accepting a consonantal
text that is not quite certain, and an interpretation that is not the most
natural, although it does find support in the LXX (and possibly the
Syriac and Targum): 'for Yahweh has his eye on men'. 1 He suggests
that it may be possible to read the verb ]'i> instead of the noun and
appeals to its frequency in Ugaritic. In the OT it only occurs as a qere
(!) in 1 Sam. 18.9. It is quite possible that an inclusio is intended, but
it is illegitimate to confirm the interpretation of v. 1 by appealing to
the resulting structure.
3. 'Salvation' is intended in this section, but it is only certain in
v. 7. To characterize a and a' in this way is to take a precarious step.
However there does seem to be a genuine similarity between 'and all
the tribes of Israel' and 'like a clan in Judah'. This, together with the
fact that 'Israel' occurs in the northern section and 'Judah' in the
southern, lends support to Lamarche's interpretation.
4. The 'verses' or 'lines' that Lamarche records are of unequal
length, and the balance and symmetry of the text is not nearly so exact
as that of Lamarche's scheme: 2
Lamarche's divisions words/ words
and quantification combinations
la, 2ab 2 vers 8 13
Ib 1 vers 3 7
2bp-3 2 vers 12 13
4 1 vers 9 9
5-6a 2 vers 18 19
6b-7aap 1 vers 1 9
7ay-8a 2 vers 17 19
8b \vers 4 4
5. There is very little to suggest that the writer thought of the sort
of divisions that Lamarche sets out. There are almost no significant
words that occur in a and a 1 or in b and b 1 :
1. Zacharie 9-14, p. 36. See p. 166 n. 2.
2. Zacharie 9-14, p. 42.