11:1-2 AND ZECHARIAH 3:8; 6:12
5. The Socio-political and Religious Implications of Semah in the oracles of Jeremiah, Isaiah and Zechariah
5.2. The Hope for a Better Social Order in the Midst of Hopelessness
The fulfilment of hope in people‟s social realities requires that they consciously understand that good leadership promised by God is indeed possible and that it is worth making an effort for. Hope generates power, energy, positive feelings, enthusiasm and motivation to participate in working on such a task. To address this issue, I will consider first, semah and the Judean hope. Second, I will discuss the land and hope of the Judean people.
108 5.2.1. Semah and the Hope of Judah
In the midst of the disaster and with the bad experience of the Davidic leadership, Jeremiah announces that there is hope based on God‟s promise. Kings were a sham, for they failed to witness to the true socio-political and religious values of their kingship (21:11-14; 22:1-3). Thompson (1980:488) holds that the expression “the days are coming,” hinneh yamim ba’iym, is first general, and has no particular time reference. Instead, it is simply a call to be aware of an important announcement (cf.
Jer. 7:32; 9:25; 31:31; […]). This leadership, although is cut off, is not dead. The
„loyal leader‟ is God‟s providence to restore social life in the Judean context.
Isaiah (11:1) declares, “a shoot shall emerge out of the Davidic line.” This emergence is from David‟s family line; this „loyal leader,‟ at the same time, rises up out of the Davidic roots. For Blenkinsopp (2000:263), this announcement concerns a form of apokatastasis, „restoration‟ of the socio-political and religious order, both of which are connected and interdependent. This restoration would bring a just order in which the poor and powerless would enjoy equal rights with the wealthy and powerful. At the arrival of such a leader, war and all manifestations of violence would be abolished (9:7).
In 9:1, the first and the second part present a synonymous parallelism. This literary style emphasises what is announced in terms of restoration through the „loyal leader‟
to come. Verse 1 presents some distinctive terms such as hoter, „branch‟; geza,
„stock‟; and neser, „shoot.‟ These terms have meanings very similar to that of semah and also refer to the arrival of the „loyal leader‟ from Davidic line. As Carroll (1986:447) can state:
Reading verses 5-6 as a celebration of Zedekiah‟s assumption of the throne (cf. Isa.
9:2-7; 11:1-5 for the conventional oracle welcoming a new king) presupposes a historical occasion for this section, whereas, it is set in the future and rounds off the cycle. Its positive note contrasts with the other individual king elements in the cycle.
There is an arrival of a new leadership who will be efficient in contrast with the previous kings.
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In the oracle from Zechariah, the expected „loyal leadership‟ has a twofold position, royal and priestly: Zerubbabel from the Davidic line and Joshua of the priestly line.
They were commissioned to restoring the Holy City, Zion-Jerusalem after the Exile.
Although this had occurred, a „loyal leadership‟ was a sign of things to come. It implies that hope for a better future remains a dynamic reality in the community (3:8- 10).
In the unit 6:1-15, the literary construction emphasises the importance of the subject, semah, and its role in the community. The „branch will branch out‟ from his place and act in Zion-Jerusalem (v. 12). Sprouting forth from the Davidic line, and at the same time out from it, makes the „loyal leader‟ to come, distinct and efficient to promote socio-political and religious life in the community. The focus in this text is not so much upon social justice in the community, as it is on the forgiveness of the people‟s guilt in chapter 3. Zion-Jerusalem was the centre of socio-political and religious life in Judean community. From Zion, Yahweh overflowed his blessings upon his people.
The building of the Sanctuary was a fulfilment of hope in Judah.
Isaiah (4:2-6) marks the end of a large section which underlines the suffering in Jerusalem (chapters 2-4). The end of the section (4:2-6) presents „a note of hope.‟
Semah evokes, at the same time, the arrival of a „loyal leader‟ and agricultural products signifying prosperity in the land (Watts 1985:49-50; Jensen and Irwin 2000:233). A „divine ability‟ is promised to the leadership and people in order to help them fulfil their task (11:2) (2000:237).
5.2.2. The Land and Hope of the People of Judah
The concept of land is not clearly defined in terms of either „earth‟ or „land‟ (Wright 1997:519). Sometimes one sense is taken for another. Nevertheless, I consider in this subsection the term to mean land as it is used in Jeremiah‟s oracle. The land in which Israel lived forms one of the primary social environments. It constitutes an ethical focus of the Israelite life and that of the peoples described in the OT. The threat and promise of Jeremiah‟s oracle consists of the loss of land which is tied to the process of regaining the homeland. It symbolises the re-establishment of the covenantal harmony between Yahweh and his people. The land is a major theme in God‟s „remembering.‟
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He remembers the Abrahamic covenant (Lev. 26:42a), the land (v. 42b), and the Sinaitic covenant (v. 45) (Craigie 1991:330; Wright 1997:519-523). Therefore, the Hebrew word ‘ares, „land, earth or country,‟ has major significance in regard to the return of the people from the Exile as it did previously in the exodus from Egypt. The promise of the land is repeated throughout the narratives of the Patriarchs in Genesis.
It is the goal of the exodus, finally achieved in Joshua-Judges.
One of the great judgments announced by the prophets was the loss of land.
Jeremiah‟s promise of the future related to the „loyal king,‟ which includes a specific mention of the land. The land is perceived as having Divine ownership, but upon which the people of God live. In the land, people‟s behaviour determines Yahweh‟s blessings to them. The good and fair rule of a State leadership leads to the social and economic growth of the community (Wright 1997:523). Such a situation requires the arrival of a „loyal leader‟ to inaugurate a harmonious relationship between Yahweh and his people.
In Isaiah 4:2, the phrase “in that day,” bayom hahu is a formula appearing for the first time in the book of Isaiah. The seer proclaims the future splendour of „the shoot‟
planted by Yahweh. The semah of Yhwh will be pleasant and majestic. In verse 2, the semah is used particularly in its literal sense in contrast to the aforementioned texts of Jeremiah. The synonymous parallelism in verse 2 between „branch‟ and the „fruit of the land‟ suggests the use of both senses of semah. This said, the focus is on the metaphoric meaning of „branch‟ in the verse. The literal sense refers semah to the survivors of Israel who would enjoy God‟s favour in the land.
The use by Isaiah of the related verb smh supports this broader connotation92 as well.93 If the product in the country is pride and splendour, the escapees from the disaster will enjoy this advantage. Hence, there is a real link between the majesty of a
92 “The Targum renders semah with messiah translated in English as „Messiah‟ and the LXX takes the meaning of „shining forth‟ rather than „springing forth‟ from the ground, hence epilampsei ho Theos, from the verb epilampo which means „shine forth.‟ Similar to the previous versions, we read in the Syriac version semha’ which means „brightness.‟ Other early Greek translations make the same transition, rendering semah as anatolé which means „the east, the rising of the sun, or another heavenly body in its ascendancy,‟ as LXX at Zech 3:8 and 6:12 translates as anatelei, rise up or grow up. This semantic shift will lead eventually to anatolé as a code name for the Christian Messiah in the current interpretation of gospels (Matt. 2:2; Luke 1:78)” (Liddell and Scott 1994:63).
93 See in Isa. 42:9; 43:19; 44:4; 45:8; 55:10; 58:8; 61:11.
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State leader and the prosperity of the country. Furthermore, it extends from the country‟s wealth to the prosperity of the people. Such a restoration focuses on the physical and moral needs of the people in the community.