Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Garth,

The Niphal is interested in seeing the subject as the recipient of the 
action. It is uninterested in where or with whom the action originates. So, 
technically, yes it could be reflexive. However, what would that mean? The 
Niphal of ישׁע has the basic sense of receiving aid from another party so as 
to be delivered from trouble or freed from a predicament. So, a reflexive 
sense here would be unusual.

I think the wider primary context of Zech 9.9 shows us Zerubbabel returning 
to Jerusalem after having been freed by his Persian overlords. I think צדיק 
in this verse carries the sense of exonerated and, therefore, declared to be 
right or ‘in the clear’. All this makes sense of the ‘prisoner’ imagery that 
comes a little later in the text.



GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au