Text: Zechariah 13:5
OT Text Referred to: Genesis 4:2
Subject: Working the land as vocation
Source: John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1763)
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Zechariah 13:5's claim "I work the land" (אִישׁ עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה, ish oved adamah) echoes Genesis 4:2's description of Cain: "Cain was a worker of the ground" (עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה, oved adamah). The exact phrase "worker of the ground/land" (עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה) appears in both texts, linking Zechariah's false prophet's cover story to humanity's original agricultural vocation. In Genesis 4:2, Cain's identity as a tiller of soil is a straightforward description of his occupation. In Zechariah 13:5, the false prophet adopts this same identity as a disguise, claiming he is merely a farmer rather than a prophet. The echo highlights the universality and respectability of the agricultural claim — returning to humanity's most basic calling to avoid detection.