Haggai - Zechariah 1-8

The activities of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah can be dated short-ly before and at the beginning of the rebuilding of the Temple. According to the dates, which were inserted to the books by the later redactor, it was the time from 520 to 518 BCE. In both books the themes of Israel’s salvation, her blessing and the Temple seem to be dominant.
The purpose of the book is to present the expectations of the salvation expressed in the Books of Haggai and Zechariah 1-8. In order to achieve the intended goal, the following research questions were asked: What kind of salvation and blessing was announced by both prophets? What was the role of the Temple in Jerusalem according to both books? What should  be the role and position of nations at the time of Israel’s salvation? How pre-sent were royal and Davidic traditions in the books, and finally what are similarities and differences in the view of the salvation in the Books of Haggai and Zechariah 1-8? To answer the questions the historical-critical method of exegesis was used in the book.

According to both books, the rebuilding of the Temple and the renewal of worship were the first stage of the coming salvation, which should also result in the renewal of the kingdom. Therefore, already in the initial period of reconstruction in Judah, an idea emerged that the contribution to the rebuilding and functioning of the Temple would lead to eschatological sal-vation.
In the days of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah basic themes emerged which were also present in the later eschatological debate, such as: the role of the Temple, the presence of God, the independent kingdom of Israel, the role of nations, the return from the diaspora, and the comprehensive blessing of the people.

<b>Abstract/Intro:</b>  In what follows, I outline a chronology of the activities of Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah.  Post-exilic life in Judah has a distinctly Sabbatical rhythm, which is aligned with all the known observances of Sabbatical years in Israel’s intertestamental period.  In particular, post-exilic life in Judah is punctuated by a number of important events when the people gather in a public square and God’s word is ministered in a public manner.

<b>Key Words:</b>  <i>Sabbatical years, Sabbatical cycle, dates, week, chronology, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, Nehemiah, post-exilic, Second Temple</i>

Haggai's prophetic ministry features several oracles, with scholarship being divided as to how many oracles the text contains. Two factors determining the separation between oracles are Date Formulae and Reception Formulae. The third factor is the audience to whom each oracle was spoken. When assessed according to these criteria, the number of oracles comes to seven. These seven oracles are spread across a text that divides into seven sections. These seven sections occur in a symmetrical matrix, one in which the central section itself splits into two parts.

The introduction to the Book of Zechariah at Zech 1:1-6 is structured around three keywords. These are strategically placed upon a template that recurs again and again throughout the composite work Haggai-Zechariah 1-8. The template itself strongly resembles the lily, the most frequently mentioned flower in the Hebrew Bible.

Zechariah's use of the number seven as a mnemonic device is once again highlighted in this presentation. The symmetrical disposition of this number reveals the formative framework on which the text is organized. It also exhibits a recursive pattern. This pattern repeats itself as we move ever closer to the central vision of Zechariah's heptad. It then receives its ultimate expression in the golden menorah vision itself at chapter 4, where the wheel-like gullah-fitting atop the lampstand - adorned with seven lamps, each having seven lights - displays the very same structure as that which undergirds the text.

The so-called Oracular Insertion at Zech 4:6-10 is found to exhibit a precise structure built upon a reflexive template based on the number seven. The chiastic nature of the text is embodied in repetition of keywords and thought. This same pattern is found elsewhere at Zech 6:9-15 and Zech 7-8.

The Reception Formula is the key macro-structural marker in the text of Haggai-Zechariah 1-8. The symmetrical manner in which it is employed argues strongly in favour of a single author/editor for the composite work. This author clearly had a particular editorial framework in mind, one built upon a cyclical/circular representation of the number seven.

The Messenger Formula (MF) occurs 24 times in the editorial framework of Haggai-Zechariah 1-8. The symmetrical arrangement of the MF depicted in this presentation suggests a careful hand was at work organizing the material in the composite work.

The text of Zech 4:6-10, which Wolters refers to as Episode III, has been a bone of contention for scholarship in the vision cycle of Zechariah for the best part of 200 years. This series of notes sets out the structural parameters in which this pericope is set. The chiastic structure serves as an excellent exegetical tool for settling arguments as to what the many contentious words and symbols within the pericope are in fact referring to, and how they serve the continuing narrative.