5. The style of the two prophets is different. The author of this last section is fond of the prophetic for- mula: fT^i^T, "And it shall come to pass" (xii, 9; xiii, 2,3,4,8;'xiv,6, 8, 13, 16); N^nH oi*?, "in that day"
ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF 1074 ZECIIARIAII, BOOK OF
(xii, 3, 4, C, 8, 9, 11 ; xiii, 1, 2, 4; xiv, 8, 9, 13, 20, 21); mn"! nS3,'"saith Jehovah" (xii, 1,4; xiii, 2, 7, 8). In the section ix-xi the first does not occur at all, the sec- ond but once (ix, 16), the third only twice (x, 12; xi, 6). We have, moreover, in this section certain favorite ex- pressions: "all peoples," " all people of the earth," "all nations round about," "all nations that come up against .Terusalem," " the inhabitants of Jerusalem," " the house of David," " family" for nation, " the families of the earth," " the family of Egypt," etc.
6. There are apparently few notes of time in this section. One is the allusion to the death of Josiah in "the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of I\le- giddo;" another to the earthquake in the days of Uz- ziah kitui of Judah. This addition to the name of the king shows, Knobel suggests, that he had been long dead; but the argument, if it is worth anything, would make even more for those who hold a post-exile date. It is certainly remarkable, occurring thus in the bodj- of the prophecy, and not in the inscription as in Isa. i, 1.
(B.) Arrpiments in Favor of ihe Integi-ity of the Booh. — (I.) As between ch. i-viii and ix-xiv. — 1. In reply to all the foregoing arguments, it has been urged by Keil, Stiihelin, and others that the diflference of style between the two principal divisions of the prophecy is not great- er than may rcasonablj'* be accounted for by the change of subject. The language in which visions are narrat- ed would, from the nature of the case, be quieter and less animated than that in which prophetic anticipa- tions of future glory are described. They differ as the style of the narrator differs from that of the orator. Thus, for instance, how different is the style of Hosea, ch. i-iii, from the style of the same prophet in ch. iv- xiv ! or, again, that of Ezekiel vi, vii, from Ezekiel iv !
But, besides this, even in what may be termed the more oratorical portions of the first eight chapters, the prophet is to a great extent occupied with warnings and exhortations of a practical kind (see i,4-6; vii, 4- 14; viii, 9-23); whereas in the subsequent chapters he is rapt into a far-distant and glorious future. In the one case, therefore, the language would naturally sink down to the level of prose ; in the other, it would rise to an elevation worthy of its exalted subject.
In like manner, the notes of time in the former part (i, 1, 7 ; vii, 1) and the constant reference to the Temple may be explained on the ground that the prophet here busies himself with the events of his own time, whereas afterwards his eye is fixed on a far-distant future.
On the other hand, where predictions do occur in the first section, there is a general similarity between them and the predictions of the second. The scene, so to speak, is the same; the same visions float before the eyes of the seer. The times of the Messiah are the theme of the predictions in ch. i-iv, in ix, x, and in xii- xiii, 6; while the events which are to prepare the way for that time, and especially the sifting of the nation, are dwelt upon in ch. v, in xi, and in xiii, 7-xiv, 2. The same peculiar forms of expression occur in the two di- visions of the prophecy. Thus, for instance, we find -"i"^^ n2'13."0 not only in vii, 14, but also in ix, 8; T'S"!!, in the sense of "to remove," in iii, 4, and in xiii, 2 — elsewhere it occurs in this unusual sense only in later writings (2 Kings xvi, 3 ; 2 Chron. xv, 8) — " the eye of (iod," as betokening the divine providence, in iii, 9; iv, 10; and in ix, 1,8.
In both sections the return of the whole nation after the Exile is the prevailing image of happiness, and in both it is similarly portrayed. As in ii, 10, the exiles are summoned to return to their native land, because now, according to the princi|)les of righteous recom- pense, they shall rule over their enemies, so also a sim- ilar strain occurs in ix, 12, etc. Both in ii, 10 and in ix, 9 the renewed protection wherewith (iod will favor Zion is represented as an entrance into his holy dwell-
ing; in both his people are called on to rejoice, and in both there is a remarkable agreement in the words. In ii, 14, N2 ''T.T^ "'D yr'J. m '■T\•Z•C^ "^D^, and in
ix, 9, n^n cb'in-ii rs ■^r"'-in -,1^:1 ra ix:q ib'^s
Again, similar forms of expression occur in ii, 9, 11, and xi, 11 ; the description of the increase in Jerusalem, xiv, 10, may be compared with ii, 4; and the prediction in viii, 20-23 with that in xiv, 16. The resemblanoe which has been found in some other passages is too slight to strengthen the argument; and the occurrence of Chaldaisms, such as NS^ (ix, 8), n^xn (xiv, 10), bn3 (which occurs besides only in Prov. xx, 21), and the phrase ndj^ wX^'D (ix, 13), instead of ru;p "r^'l'n, really prove nothing as to the age of the later chapters of Zechariah. Indeed, generally, as regards these mi- nute comparisons of different passages to prove an iden- tity of authorship, Maurer's remark holds true : " Scd quae potest vis esse disjectorum quorundam locorum, ubi res judicanda est ex toto?"