Texts in Conversation
Zechariah 9:11 evokes the story of Joseph’s imprisonment in a dry cistern from Genesis 37, using similar imagery to describe Zion’s prisoners being freed, and with a renewed covenant that marks the beginning of restoration for Israel.
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Genesis 37:24
Hebrew Bible
22 Reuben continued, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.) 23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.) 25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Zechariah 9:11
Hebrew Bible
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.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the Genesis passage has more shared words than the Jeremianic one the noun and its verbal form relating to Joseph are also found in the narrative; the associated verb with Yahweh as subject denoting a sense of setting free, which appears prominently in the exodus account, ties closely to the Joseph story, a narrative recounting the event which leads the whole family of Israel going down to Egypt (Genesis 46); and the mention of Ephraim (verse 13), a son of Joseph, also serves as a connection. In view of these remarkable correspondences, we register Genesis 37:24 as an intertext of Zechariah 9:11b ... we suggest that the Zecharian text intends to recall the misfortune of Joseph but to reverse it in order to nuance the salvific act of Yahweh in verse 11. Yahweh delivered the prisoners of Zion as he did for Joseph in the past ..."
Lee, Suk Yee
The Earlier Restoration Expectations of Second Zechariah: An Intertextual Analysis of Zechariah 9-10
(pp. 199-200) 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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