Loading...Last week, for some reason I can’t remember (!) I decided to see what I had written about the book of Zechariah in my textbook, The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction (Oxford University Press). As I read it, I thought — I bet most people on the blog haven’t actually read Zechariah (one of the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament — called “minor” not because they are unimportant but because they are shorter than the “major” ones — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel…). And I bet most people who have read it couldn’t summarize it to save the planet. And hey, why should they? (Summarize it; not save the planet…)
So why not give a bit of info on it? It’s a great little book. Here’s what I say about it in my undergraduate textbook.
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This is the “wrong” Zechariah, but what’s up with the story in Luke 1 where the angel is pointlessly petty toward John the Baptist’s dad? Like, I get that there’s an audience for stories about God smiting any random act of disobedience, even if it’s not me. But this one isn’t even linked to any notable act of disbelief or bad action – it sounds like he’s just asking for details on the upcoming miracle son. Was Luke (or whoever authored Luke 1-2, if that was different) just having an off day?
For me the most intersting thing is that Mary herself expresses similar kinds of doubts later in the story and clearly was not punished for it! But hey, it’s a story…
Was Zechariah 13:8 a retelling of 2 Samuel 8:2 and Numbers 24:17?
I’m not quite sure what you mean. Zech. 13:8 isn’t a narrative. Maybe you can explain and others can look at it then as well?
If King David was the fulfillment of the star of Jacob prophecy, did the author of Zechariah 13:8 use the context of 2 Samuel 8:2 to create a new prophecy ?
I don’t know. It doesn’t look like a direct usage to me…
Is there any evidence that the Persian (or Greek) empires that ruled over Judaea would’ve pushed for the priests at Jerusalem to take over the mantle of the Davidic line instead of having a former kingdom striving for a new king?
Pre-exilic writings would’ve been kingly propaganda while exilic/post-exilic writings up until the Maccabean revolt would’ve pushed an anti-monarchist narrative (there’s no Jewish King in the Pentateuch, and Cyrus is a messiah as examples). I come from an international relations background so I’m pretty fascinated with how imperial politics may have influenced these texts.
Interesting questoin. I don’t know.
I haven’t read Zechariah in a long time!