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4. Connections Between Sections ofZechariah 1-14 291
I do not think it is possible to reduce this to a neat diagram without
distorting the picture (which, hopefully, at present is not prejudiced
by preconceived ideas about structure). It is clear that there is a unity
about the whole, despite the wide variety of materials from which this
is composed. It seems likely that this is the case because the writers/
editors had certain interlocking concerns: those that are listed in the
Summary of Results below (a 1 to g 1 ) which can probably be traced
back to those of Zechariah himself and his contemporaries.
The structure that does appear may be described in simplified terms
as a sort of multi-layer sandwich, where the 'bread' consists of passages
concerning the enemies of Judah and Jerusalem: it contains varying
amounts of judgment and/or salvation for the enemies and for
Judah/Jerusalem. The climax is that the nations are given the same
opportunity to worship Yahweh as Judah's. The 'filling' concerns the
question of leadership. Here there are also variations in content: the
right leader is to be installed and bad leaders purged; cleansing is to
be achieved somehow in connection with God's representative. 1
Contacts between Zechariah 1-8 and 9-14 according to Mason
There are at least 34 places where Mason, in his thesis of 1973,
comments upon similarities between different parts of the book of
Zechariah. They are as follows. 2
On 9.1-8
1. Zech. 9.1 and 6.8; inrmo and imn (9.1; 6.8), noting the
ambiguity in both passages (pp. 4-6).
2. Zech. 9.1-8 and 6.1-8.
1. There is no generally agreed interpretation of 12.10. Traditionally Christia
exegetes have taken it to refer to the messiah, but many argue (like Mitchell, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah, p. 330) that the pierced figure belongs to past
history, and that this rules out a messianic interpretation. It is difficult to be sure o
the chronology intended in this section of Zechariah, where so much is mysterious
and obscure. In view of the way that the book holds together, and the similarities
with the 'smitten shepherd', it seems to me that the pierced one must be, in some
sense, Yahweh's representative, whether past, present or future. See Mason,
Zechariah 9-14, pp. 233-40, for a discussion of the various views.
2. The fullest presentation of Mason's views is in the thesis. Since this is still
unpublished, it seems worthwhile to present what he says in some detail.