[Faith-talk] {Spam?} Baffling Bible Questions Answered for Monday, August 22, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello once again to all astute Bible students out there in cyberspace.  
Time for another column in this series of baffling Bible questions 
answered, continuing with the book of Zechariah.



Zechariah 9-13

Question:  Why are the final chapters of this book so disjointed? The 
images don't seem to fit together.  Is this an indication that some 
later writer or editor just took snatches of various prophets' work and 
patched them together as Zechariah's?

Answer:  While these chapters were long criticized as disjointed, it 
was recently shown that this section displays a very complex and 
sophisticated litery form called chiasmus.  In this form the material 
is balanced in a unique and complex way, with theme set against theme 
in distinctive progression.  Far from lacking unity, these chapters of 
Zechariah demonstrate a design that demands they be viewed as the work 
of a talented and cultural writer.



ZECHARIAH 11:12-13

Question:  This passage is quoted in the New Testament as the work of 
Jeremiah, not Zechariah.  Not only that, here, the shepherd is paid 
thirty pieces of silver; in the Gospels, it is Judas who gets the 
money.  Surely these are serious discrepancies.

Answer:  The first problem is resolved by noting that, in many 
manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah was first in the collection 
of prophets, and his name was frequently used of the whole collection.  
Thus, the phrase "in the prophet Jeremiah" need not mean that Jeremiah 
wrote the prophecy but that it was found in the collected works of the 
prophets.

The second problem is resolved by noting that both Old Testament and 
New Testament describe the same event accurately.  The shepherd's 
ministry is viewed contemptuously by his people.  All they offer him in 
payment for his services is thirty pieces of silver, the price Exodus 
21:32 sets on a slave who is gored by an ox.  This price is so 
demeaning that the expression, "Throw it to the potter" is used, 
meaning, "Throw it away."  In Matthew, the perspective changes, but the 
meaning is the same.  Rather than that the Messiah asks for His just 
wages, Judas asks Israel to set a price on his Master's head.  The 
amount settled on is the same pittance Zechariah predicts:  thirty 
pieces of silver.  Israel considers her Messiah worthless.  Later, the 
betrayer fulfills the prophecy literally by throwing the money on the 
temple floor, where it is used by the priests to buy a potter's field 
to serve as a burial place for the indigent.  If we note the change in 
perspective, from Messiah to Judas, the Gospel event fits the prophecy 
completely, even though the prophecy was penned some five hundred years 
before the events it describes.



ZECHARIAH 13:6

Question:  Is this mention of wounds received in the house of a friend 
a reference to Jesus' sufferings at the hands of His own people?

Answer:  No, although it has been taken this way by some commentators.  
This passage describes what will happen in Israel when the Messiah 
returns and cleanses His people from sin.  Then false prophets will be 
ashamed and try to disguise themselves (13:4-5).  The reference to 
wounds reminds us that false prophets at times abused themselves, 
hoping that the scent of blood would rouse the brutal deities they 
worshiped (compare 1 Kings 18:28).  When confronted about their 
characteristic wounds, these false prophets will lie and answer, "Oh, I 
got these in a brawl at a friend's place the other day.  We had a 
little too much to drink, you know."

This is not a Messianic prophecy.

And there you have this week's baffling Bible questions answered 
column.  Hope you're findings these a blessing.  Until next Monday 
when, Lord willing another column will be posted, may the God of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and 
collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian 
friend and brother, Paul