Abstract:
This article deals with images of war, violence and peace and with the role of
messianic leaders in Deutero-Zechariah and the way in which texts from Zechariah 9–14 have
been interpreted in the Gospel of Matthew. The first section describes the lines of meaning
in Zechariah 9–14 on the basis of word fields related to violence and universal peace. The
second section discusses Deutero-Zechariah’s own position in the development of messianic
expectations in Old Testament texts. In the third section, the question is asked how the
meaning of texts from Zechariah 9–14 about messianic leaders has been influenced by earlier
prophetic texts, and how these texts in their turn have been transformed and updated in the
Gospel of Matthew, which contains explicit quotations from Deutero-Zechariah in 21:5; 26:15;
26:31 and 27:9–10. The fourth section summarises some interesting semantic shifts appearing
in Matthew’s gospel compared to Deutero-Zechariah. Moreover, some critical comments
are presented against the idea defended in some recent studies that there is a sharp tension
between Jesus’s role in Matthew as the bringer of a peaceful ethical message, and his violent
and vindictive role at the final judgement. At the end of this article, the burning question
is raised whether Zechariah’s and Matthew’s messages, both of which are characterised
by a certain degree of exclusivity, can play a constructive role in modern multi-religious
discussions about common roads leading to global peace.
