Chapter 2

1 And I lifted up my eyes and looked, and look, four horns. 2 And I said to the angel that spoke with me, What are these things, my lord? And he said to me, These are the horns that have scattered Judah, and Israel. 3 And the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 4 And I said, What are these coming to do? And he said to me, These are the horns that scattered Judah, and they broke Israel in pieces, and none of them lifted up his head: and these have come forth to sharpen them for their hands, even the four horns, the nations that lifted up the horn against the land of the Lord to scatter it. 5 And I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and look, a man, and in his hand a measuring line. 6 And I said to him, Where are you going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth of it, and what is the length of it. 7 And, look, the angel that spoke with me stood by, and another angel went forth to meet him, 8 and spoke to him, saying, Run and speak to that young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be fully inhabited by reason of the abundance of men and cattle in the midst of her. 9 And I will be to her, says the Lord, a wall of fire all around, and I will be for a glory in the midst of her. 10 Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, says the Lord: for I will gather you from the four winds of heaven, says the Lord, 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. 14 Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion: for, look, I come, and will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. 15 And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall be for a people to him, and they shall dwell in the midst of you: and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 16 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and he will yet choose Jerusalem. 17 Let all flesh fear before the Lord: for he has risen up from his holy clouds.

Texts in conversation

Compare Zechariah 2:8 and LXX Zechariah 2:12

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

Summary

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.

Passages

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.

500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Zechariah

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.

100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Zechariah

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.

"... Rabbinic literature makes reference to תיקוני סופרים, literally scribal corrections (of the Bible). Different works of classical rabbinic literature have different lists of these “scribal corrections,” totaling between 7 and 18, from all over Tanach, including three verses from the Torah (Genesis 18:22, and Numbers 11:15 and 12:12). What did the rabbis mean when they claimed that a phrase in a biblical verse was a “scribal correction”? The Scribes Changed the Words The simplest understanding is that the scribes of rabbinic times changed the wording of various verses in the Bible. Touching God’s Eye For example, in Zechariah, God is quoted as saying: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of his own eye.” A number of rabbinic texts claim that the uncorrected wording was actually: “Whoever touches you touches the pupil of My [= God’s!] eye.” Midrash Tanhuma calls this “a scribal correction [made] by the Men of the Great Assembly”. Writing in the Jewish Study Bible, Ehud Ben Zvi paraphrases this rabbinic comment: “The original text read, ‘the pupil of My own eye,’ and was changed by the soferim (scribes) so as to avoid the obvious anthropomorphism” ..."

Marty Lockshin, Tikkunei Soferim and the Ironic Emendation of Rashi’s Interpretation (TheTorah.com, 2015), 1–7.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

LXX Zechariah14 chapters

Compare Zechariah 2:8 and LXX Zechariah 2:12

Summary

Passages

Zechariah 2:8

LXX Zechariah 2:12

References

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