Texts in Conversation
Exodus 24 describes the covenant at Sinai sealed with blood sprinkled on the altar and the people, describing their binding agreement with God. Zechariah later recalls this same language when speaking of prisoners released because of the blood of the covenant.
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Exodus 24:8
Hebrew Bible
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.” 8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of blue sapphire, clear like the sky itself.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Zechariah 9:11
Hebrew Bible
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you: He is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey—on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey. 10 I will remove the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be removed. Then he will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 11 Moreover, as for you, because of our covenant relationship secured with blood, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to the stronghold, you prisoners, with hope; today I declare that I will return double what was taken from you. 13 I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow. I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, like a warrior’s sword.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the phrase occurs elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible only in Exodus 24:8. In view of this exclusive verbal parallel, we argue that the Zecharian text alludes to the covenant-making instance in the Sinai tradition with it as an intertextual pointer. Based on this, we register Exodus 24:8 as an intertext of Zechariah 9:11a. The Sinai narrative (Exodus 19-24) in its final form is a well-crafted unity, with the closing chapter echoing the opening one. Exodus 24 recounts the sealing of the covenant between the deity and the Israelites, an event which has been set in motion in chapter 19 ..."
Lee, Suk Yee
The Earlier Restoration Expectations of Second Zechariah: An Intertextual Analysis of Zechariah 9-10
(p. 202) McMaster Divinity College, 2012
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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