42 MAARTEN J.J. MENKEN The Targum remains relatively close to the MT, except that “ real ” persons and acts are substituted for “metaphorical” ones 8 : O sword, be revealed against the king aklm l[ algta abrj and against the prince his companion hyl ymdd hytwkd hyrbj anwflç l[w who is his equal, who is like him, says the Lord of hosts; twabx ywy rma slay the king aklm ty lwfq and the princes shall be scattered aynwflç –wrdbtyw and I will bring back a mighty stroke ayynynt l[ atrwbg tjm bytaw upon the underlings. One textual difference can be established between the MT and the Hebrew text that served as the basis for the Targum: the latter read wtym[ instead of ytym[, “his association” instead of “my asso- ciation ”, a reading that finds support in the LXX and in Theodo- tion’s translation (and in a very few Hebrew mss). This reading made it easy to distinguish between “my shepherd” and “the man of my association”, who here become “the king” and “the prince his companion”. “The sheep” become “the princes”, and “the little ones ” of the final line become “the underlings”, who will be hit by “ a mighty stroke”. Just as in the MT, it is not completely clear whether king and prince have a positive or a negative role. The fact that all persons mentioned in the verse are interpreted as the king and his courtiers, and that the common people disappear, might point to a negative role: the ruling class will be punished. The picture evoked in the Targum could constitute a reference to the Babylonian exile in the form of a prophecy 9. The LXX offers the following Greek translation 10 : romfa¥a, ejegeruhti epù toyv Ω ıß ¥ ßı ù O sword, awake against my shepherds poimenav moy ¥ kaı epà andra polıthn aytoy, ùß ¶ ¥ ߘ and against the man, his fellow citizen, legei kyriov pantokratwr. ¥ ¥ ¥ says the Lord of hosts; The English translation comes from K.J. CATHCART – R.P. GORDON, The 8 Targum of the Minor Prophets (The Aramaic Bible 14; Edinburgh 1989) 221- 222. See S. HÜBENTHAL, Transformation und Aktualisierung. Zur Rezeption 9 von Sach 9-14 im Neuen Testament (SBB 57; Stuttgart 2006) 252-254. According to the Göttingen LXX. There is no need to discuss the variant 10 readings in detail: they can all be explained as adaptations to the Hebrew text and/or the NT quotations.