Texts in Conversation
Zechariah 2:8 reflects a scribal tradition known as “tiqqun soferim.” The Greek Septuagint preserves the original language, “the pupil of My eye,” and the Masoretic text changed it to “the pupil of his eye” to avoid giving God human features.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Zechariah 2:8
Hebrew Bible
7 “Escape, Zion, you who live among the Babylonians!” 8 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “For his own glory he has sent me to the nations that plundered you—for anyone who touches you touches the pupil of his eye. 9 Yes, look here, I am about to punish them so that they will be looted by their own slaves.” Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me.
Date: 500–401 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Zechariah 2:12
Septuagint
11 even to Zion: deliver yourselves, you that dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 12 For thus says the Lord Almighty; After the glory he has sent me to the nations that plundered you: for he that touches you is as one that touches the apple of [my] eye. 13 For, look, I bring my hand upon them, and they shall be plunder to those who serve them: and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... A phenomenon that is remarkably similar to Isaiah 65:16 is found within the tradition of the tiqunne sopherim, where Zechariah 2:12 is given prominent attention ... The scribal and/or exegetical tradition that has issued in the tiqqune sopherim lists the underlined phrase as one of the 18 alleged euphemisms that conceal original readings that might have been offensive. In this case, the original reading is held to have been "my eye" That is, the final stich of this verse was considered by the scribes to have been included within the divine speech which begins at 2:9 [English 2:5].)' would then have referred to the Lord's eye. According to this tradition, an emendation has avoided such an anthropomorphic self-description ... This brief discussion of Zechariah 2:12 has treated exclusively of the Hebrew textual tradition of that verse. The same clause in the best manuscripts of LXX Zechariah 2:13 agrees with the 'corrected' Masoretic text. The point of contact with LXX Isaiah 65:16 remains solely at the conceptual level ..."
David A. Baer, When We All Go Home: Translation and Theology in LXX Isaiah 56–66, JSOTSup 318 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2001), 144–145.
* 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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