Date

5-16-2024

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Chair

Tom Campbell

Keywords

Zechariah, sign-act, shepherd, staff, thirty pieces of silver, retrospective

Disciplines

Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

The prophetic book of Zechariah, the longest one of the Twelve Prophets, contains many interpretive challenges. This dissertation focuses on Zechariah 11 while acknowledging textual issues and heavy influence from the Major Prophets and offers a harmonized holistic interpretation of the two sign-acts, the shepherds and staffs, and other relevant issues such as the thirty pieces of silver through applying five research methodologies. This dissertation argues that Zechariah 11 provides a retrospective of what Israel experienced to raise an alarm for them to obey God’s command. This partly explains the abrupt shift in tone from hope and promise in Zechariah 9–10 to accusation and pessimism in Zechariah 11 since it offers a clear historical lesson—“Do not be like your ancestors” (Zechariah 1:4). Two verses of vv. 6 and 14 are critical to understanding the whole chapter. The two sign-acts are both based on the determination of the Lord unveiled in Zechariah 11:6—“‘Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.’” Zechariah 11:14 discloses directly the retrospective nature of the second sign-act, and indirectly that of the first sign-act. The study on Zechariah 11 provides valuable lessons for Christians and local churches, including biblical scholars and theologians, regarding who God is and how he acts, how church leadership ought to function, and how to handle the intertwined relationship between theology and biblical studies. Future research is needed, especially regarding prophecy revision, reversal, etc.

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