OG-Zechariah 9:9–13: the King Is Coming

CHAPTER 10 OG-Zechariah 9:9–13: The King is Coming

Zechariah 9 is famous for its prophecy of a king and the theme of the Day of Yahweh. I will point out some peculiarities in the translation that may indicate how the translator understood the passage.

The Text

Zechariah 9 describes Yahweh saving his people from their enemies. Yahweh acts as a warrior who brings about peace and material abundance. The people will again have a king, and his kingdom will extend to the ends of the earth. The chapter is divided into three units: 9:1–8, 9:9–10, and 9:11–17.1 The first unit is a prophecy of doom for Hadrach and Damascus, Hamath, and the coastal cities from Sidon to Gaza. The second unit prophesies the restoration of a king to Jerusalem, and the third unit describes the future salvation of Yahweh. The passage develops from the judgment of the nations surrounding Judea to the salvation of Yahweh’s people. The unity of this passage appears even stronger in the Greek version than in the MT. The Greek text follows the structure of the Hebrew, but differs in numerous smaller instances. Some of these deviations reveal a pattern that may represent the translator’s interpretation of the text. Here I am interested in Zech 9:9–13. These verses contain the famous prophecy in which a king will be restored to Jerusalem and Yahweh will bring salvation to his people.

The Greek Translation A translation of OG-Zech 9:9–13 follows:

9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim aloud, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King is coming to you, he is just and saving; he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal. 10 And he shall destroy chariots from Ephraim, and cavalry from Jerusalem, and the bow of war shall be utterly destroyed; and there will be abundance and peace from the nations; and he shall rule over the waters as far as the sea, and the rivers to the ends of the earth. 11 And you have by the blood of the covenant sent forth your prisoners out of the pit that has no water.

1 Rudolph, Haggai—Sacharja, 166–189; Larkin, Eschatology, 54–86.

12 You shall dwell in fortresses, you prisoners of the congregation: and for one day of your exile I will repay you double. 13 For I have bent you, Judah, for myself as a bow, I have filled Ephraim; and I will raise up your sons, Zion, against the sons of the Greeks, and I will handle you as the sword of a warrior.

Textual Notes

to shout.” The“ , הָ רִ י ִ ע י Proclaim aloud”: κήρυσσε, “proclaim aloud,” renders MT’s“ 9 major Greek manuscripts are consistent on this verse. Most of the variant read- ings are found in quotations in the New Testament or the church fathers. The translation of this root in the Hiphil by κηρύσσειν is only found in the OG-MP (Hos 5:8; Joel 2:1; Zeph 3:14). (”being saved, having salvation“) ֹנוׁשָ ע Saving”: The MT has the Niphal form“ while the Greek text uses an active participle σῴζων (he who is saving). Brenton translates the participle as “a Savior,” while SD has “ein Retter.” See 166 for further discussion. 10 “He shall destroy”: ἐξολεθρεύσει is found in all the major codices except Codex Washington, which has the subjunctive ἐξολεθρεύσῃ (a very slight change to the meaning), and Codex Sinaiticus, which has the passive form ἐξολεθρευθήσετε, likely due to influence from the form ἐξολεθρευθήσεται later in the same verse. Only in Theodore of Mopsuestia’s commentary on the Minor Prophets (DP 12–13) do we find a form in the first person singular, which corresponds to the MT. In the MT, Yahweh acts as the subject for this verb. “Abundance and peace from the nations”: The Greek text is firmly based in the 2,ורב וׁשלום מגוים ,major manuscripts. It may rely on a different Hebrew source which would be secondary to the MT reading, possibly a response to the MT being too positive towards the nations.3 But the Greek text may also stem from the translator and reflect his exegesis of the text.4 “Waters as far as the sea”: The peculiar reading ὑδάτων, “waters,” is well attested in the manuscripts. Some manuscripts, with Codex Sinaiticus as the most impor- tant, add ἀπὸ θαλάσσης, which is a clear conflation of this reading with the tra- ditional vocalization found in the MT. We may safely assume that our translator

2 Kaminka, “Studien,” 249. 3 See Rudolph, Haggai—Sacharja, 178. 4 Van der Kooij, “The Septuagint of Zechariah,” 59–60.