uniquely powerful earthquake, as Zechariah mentions it over two centuries later (14:5). One study argues for a magnitude of 7.8 to 8.4, with the epicenter on the Dead Sea transform fault in modern-day Lebanon.23 This earthquake has been a benchmark for the scholarly consensus concerning the dating of the prophet’s activity.24 In addition, the imagery of 8:9 might have been inspired by an eclipse that, according to the Assyrian Eponym Chronicles, can be dated to June 15, 763.25 These phenomena substantiate
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