40 MAARTEN J.J. MENKEN hand, relations of dependence can be established between the quo- tations and allusions in the Gospels, Barnabas and Justin, and that on the other hand there are conspicuous differences between them regarding both textual form and interpretation. So it will be worth- while to try to trace the development of the textual form and the interpretation of Zech 13,7 in these early Christian texts. It may give us some insight into the possibilities and varieties of early Christian readings of the OT. I shall start with some observations on the Hebrew text and on some of the ancient versions, notably the LXX (which offers a very peculiar rendering). The Hebrew text is the starting point of the whole process of tradition and interpretation, and the ancient versions show something of its problems and its potential. Next, I shall discuss the early Christian versions and interpretations, and try to detect their relations. 1. The Old Testament Text Zech 13,7 MT reads as follows: O sword, awake against my shepherd y[rAl[ yrw[ brj and against the man of my association, ytym[ rbgAl[w says the Lord of hosts; twabx hwhy μan strike the shepherd h[rhAta Èh and the sheep will be scattered, –axh –yxwptw and I will turn my hand against the little ones. μyr[xhAl[ ydy ytbçhw The two imperatives yrw[, “awake”, and Èh, “strike”, are evi- dently parallel and both must be addressed to the sword. The grammatical agreement is not perfect: Èh is the masculine form of the hiphil impv. sg., while brj, “sword”, is a feminine noun. How- ever, such lack of concord is not uncommon in the Hebrew Bible (see, e.g., Amos 4,1; Ru 1,8) 4. The meaning of the verse is not very obvious, just as many things in Zechariah 9–14 are enigmatic. It constitutes the beginning of the third of Deutero-Zechariah’s shep- herd passages (13,7-9; see further 10,1-3; 11,1-17). In the final re- C. DOGNIEZ – M. HARL, La Bible d’Alexandrie, 23/10-11. Les douze prophè- tes. Aggée – Zacharie (Paris 2007) 166-167, Zach 13,7 occurs relatively rarely in the patristic lists of OT testimonies to Christ. See GKC, §§110k and 144a, and cf. P. JOÜON – T. MURAOKA, A Gram- 4 mar of Biblical Hebrew (Subsidia Biblica 27; Rome 2006) §150k.