Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch.
Parallel Translations
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Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellows who sit before you; for they are men who are a sign: for, behold, I will bring out my servant, the Branch.
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Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
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Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men that are a sign; for, behold, I will bring forth My servant the Shoot.
Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Zechariah 3:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.
- Jeremiah 23:5 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
- Zechariah 6:12 and speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build Yahweh’s temple;
- Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
- Jeremiah 33:15 “In those days and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in the land.
- Isaiah 20:3 Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,
- Isaiah 4:2 In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
- Isaiah 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
- Isaiah 49:5 Now Yahweh, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, says to bring Jacob again to him, and to gather Israel to him, for I am honorable in Yahweh’s eyes, and my God has become my strength.
- Isaiah 52:13 Behold, my servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.
- Isaiah 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
- Ezekiel 12:11 “Say, ‘I am your sign. As I have done, so will it be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity.
- Ezekiel 17:22-24 “The Lord Yahweh says: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. I will plant it in the mountain of the height of Israel; and it will produce boughs, and bear fruit, and be a good cedar. Birds of every kind will dwell in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree flourish. “ ‘I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.’ ”
- Philippians 2:6-8 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.
- Ezekiel 24:24 Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.’ ” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 34:29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more.
- Ezekiel 37:24 “ ‘ “My servant David will be king over them. They all will have one shepherd. They will also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
- Luke 1:78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the dawn from on high will visit us,
- Ezekiel 34:23-24 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
- 1 Corinthians 4:9-13 For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.
- Psalms 71:7 I am a marvel to many, but you are my strong refuge.
- Isaiah 49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The angel shows here, that what had been hitherto…
The angel shows here, that what had been hitherto shown to Zechariah was typical; for the reality had not as yet come to light, but would appear in its time. We have said that God’s design was to lead the godly to the expectation of Christ; for these beginnings of favor were obscure. It behaved them, therefore, to hope for far more than they saw; and this appears evident from the verse before us, in which the angel says, hear now. He makes this preface to gain attention, as though he said, that he was going to speak of something remarkable. Then he adds, thou and thy associates who stand before thee; I will send my servant the Branch
Let us notice this, which is the main part of the verse, Behold, I send my servant, the Branch. The God of hosts no doubt refers to the priest, who is eminent beyond the common comprehension of men. He is called a Branch, because he was to come forth as a stem, according to what is said in Isaiah, the eleventh chapter, Isaiah 11:1 and in other places. It is then the same as though he had said, “this priesthood is as yet disregarded, nevertheless my servant, the priest, shall come forth like a branch which arises from the earth, and it will grow.” The word צמח, tsamech means a shoot. He then compares Christ to a shoot, for he seemed, as we say, to rise up from nothing, because his beginning was contemptible. For what excellency had Christ in the estimation of the world when he was born? how did he commence his kingdom? and how was he initiated into his priesthood? Doubtless, whatever honor and glory the Father had given him was regarded we know with contempt. It is then no wonder that he is on this account called a Branch.
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Now the reason for the similitude is apparent enough: and though the angel speaks indefinitely, the person of Christ is no doubt intended. How so? We may judge by the event itself. What priest succeeded Joshua who equalled him in honor, or who in the tenth degree approached him? We know that nearly all were profane and ungodly men; we know that the priesthood became venal among them; we know that it was contended for with the most cruel hatred; nay, we know that a priest was slain in the temple itself; ambition was burning so furiously that no success could be gained without shedding innocent blood. After the death of Joshua nothing could have been more base and more disgraceful than the Jewish priesthood. Where then is to be found this servant of God, the Branch? This principle must also be ever borne in mind, that the reformation of the temple was to be made by Christ: we must, therefore, necessarily come to him, that we may find the servant mentioned here. And why he is called a servant has been stated elsewhere; for he humbled himself that he might be not only the minister of his Father, but also of men. As then Christ condescended to become the servant of men, it is no wonder that he is called the servant of God.
Let us now enquire why the angel bids Joshua and his companions to hear. He indirectly reproves, I doubt not, the common unbelief, for there were very few then who had any notion of a future and spiritual priesthood. Indeed, the people had the promises in their mouths, but nearly all had their thoughts fixed on the earth and the world. This is the reason why the angel directed his words especially to Joshua and his companions: he saw that the ears of others were almost closed; he saw so much indifference in the people, that hardly any one was capable of receiving his doctrine: and thus he intended to obviate a trial which might have weakened the courage of Joshua. For we know how ready we are to faint when the whole world would drive us to apostasy; for when any of us is weak, we wish to be supported by others; and when there is no faith, no religion, no piety among men, every one is ready to quail. In short, we can hardly believe God, and continue firm in his word, except we have many companions, and a large number in our favor; and when unbelief prevails everywhere our faith vacillates. Hence the angel now addresses Joshua and his companions apart; as though he had said, that there was no reason for them to depend on the multitude, but, on the contrary, to look to God, and by relying on his word to wait patiently for what he promised, though all the rest were to reject his favor: Thou then and thy friends who stand before thee
He adds, for they are men of wonder; or though they are men of wonder; but the meaning is the same. For God means, that though the whole people rejected what he now declares as to the renewal of the priesthood, it would yet be found true and confirmed in its own time. Some render the words, “men of prodigy,” because they were objects of wonder and they think that the companions of Joshua were signalised by this title or encomium, because their faith was victorious and surmounted all hindrances. But the meaning of the prophet seems to me to be wholly different: and, I doubt not, but that this passage is the same with another in Isaiah, the eighth chapter, Isaiah 8:1 where he says, that the faithful were men of prodigy, or, that they were for a sign or prodigy, because they were objects of hatred, “what do these seek for themselves?” As then all were astonished as at a spectacle new and unwonted, when any one of the faithful met them, the Prophet says, that the true servants of God were then for a sign and prodigy. So here they are men of prodigy, for we see clearly, that the companions of Joshua were separated from the rest, or the common multitude. Why? not because they were objects of wonder, for that would be frigid, but because they were objects of reproach to all; and they were hardly borne with by the people, who clamored, “what do these seek for themselves? they seek to be wiser than the Church.”
In the same way we find ourselves at this day to be condemned by the Papists. “Oh! these, forsooth, will create a new world, they will create a new law: the rule of our great men will not satisfy these; we have a Church founded for so many ages, antiquity is in our favor. In short these men tear asunder what has been sanctioned from the beginning until now.” But in the time of Joshua and in the time of Isaiah, all who simply believed God were regarded as strange men; for the people had become then so unrestrainedly licentious, that to retain the pure worship of God was viewed as a strange thing on account of its novelty.
We now apprehend the meaning of the words, when the angel bids Joshua and his companions to attend, and when he calls them the men of prodigy, and when at last he promises that a priest should arise like a Branch, for God would make Christ to rise up, though hid, not only under the feet, but under the earth itself, like a shoot which comes forth from the root after the tree has been cut down. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Because they follow my word, they are contemned in…
Because they follow my word, they are contemned in the world, and esteemed as monsters, Isa. 8:18.
That is, Christ, who did so humble himself, that not only he became the servant of God, but also the servant of men: and therefore in him they should have comfort, although in the world they were contemned, Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5 and 33:14, 15.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest,…
Zec 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they [are] men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
Ver. 8. Hear now, O Joshua, the high priest] Hear a sermon of Christ, the fountain of all this mercy bestowed upon thee, and yet further promised unto thee. Hear for thyself, hear for thy whole society. Thou and thy fellows, thy fellow friends, the rest of the priests, thy fellows in service, though inferior in office (for there was a subordination of priests, both before the temple, Num 3:6-10 1Ch 23:4-5, and under the temple, 2Ch 35:8-9), types also of Christ, and partakers of the benefit, 1Ti 6:2.
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For they are men wondered at] Erant omnibus probrosi, saith Calvin, They departed from evil, and thereby made themselves a prey, Isa 59:15, they were for signs and for wonders in Israel, Isa 8:18, hissed and hooted at, Psa 71:7, as those that affected to be singular and seraphical. They think it strange, saith St. Peter, to his holy converts, that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, 1Pe 4:4; speaking evil of you, as if you were no better than madmen, Isa 59:15, robbed of your right minds, as the word signifieth. It is a French proverb, He that would have his neighbour’s dog hanged gives out that he is mad. The primitive persecutors used to put Christians into bears’ and dogs’ skins, or ugly creatures, and then bait them; so graceless persons put the saints of God into ugly conceits, look upon them as strange creatures, and then speak and act against them. In our wretched days, as the Turks count all fools to be saints, so people account all saints to be fools; and the more zealous among them monsters and miscreants. As for Athanasius and Marcellus, who have impiously blasphemed against God, and have lived as wicked miscreants, and are thereupon cast out of the Church, and condemned, we cannot receive them to the honour of episcopacy, said those fourscore bishops in the mock synod of Sardis. And Bede testifieth of the ancient Britons immediately before their destruction by the Saxons, that they were come to that height of wickedness, as to cast reproach upon the professors of religion, as upon the worst of men. Doth not St Paul say as much, 1Co 4:9, We are made a theatre, or are set upon the stage for a laughing stock unto the world, and to angels, and to men?
For behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH] The same that grew out of the root of Jesse, when that goodly family was sunk so low, as from David the king to Joseph the carpenter. See Isa 4:2; Isa 11:1; Isa 45:8; Isa 53:1 Jer 33:15, where the Chaldee for Branch rendereth it Messiah, as here also he doth; and some have observed that themagh, a branch, is, by transposition of letters, the same with Masciach, Messias; Samech and tsadde being near akin, and of the same sound almost. A servant Christ is called by reason of his mediatorship, taking upon him the form of a servant; yea, of a faulty servant that was to be beaten; yea, that being cruelly beaten, was brought forth to the people with an Ecce homo, "Behold the man," Joh 19:5 "Behold," saith God here, "I will bring forth my servant the Branch"; bring him forth out of the bosom of his Father, out of the womb of his mother, out of the types of the law.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hear now; hitherto thou hast been entertained with emblems…
Hear now; hitherto thou hast been entertained with emblems and hieroglyphics, but now, O Joshua, hear what these mean.
And thy fellows; the other priests, thy associates in the priestly office, though inferior to thee.
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That sit before thee; as assessors or coadjutors in a council or assembly; the high priest as president, the other as members of the council sat with him; to let them know what these types mean.
They are men wondered at; the worldly, profane, unbelieving, and ignorant sort of Jews wonder at them, and their hopes; at their labour and expenses in attempting to build such a house, with so little helps to raise such a structure out of rubbish.
I, God the Father, will bring forth a much more wonderful work.
My servant the Branch; Christ, Messiah, the Branch, Isa 4:2; 11:1; Jer 33:15.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain As the promises made to David often slide insensibly…
As the promises made to David often slide insensibly into promises of the Messiah, whose kingdom David's was a type of, so the promises here made to Joshua immediately rise as far upward, and look as far forward, as to Christ, whose priesthood Joshua's was now a shadow of, not only in general, as it kept up the line of Aaron's priesthood, but especially as it was the reviving of that happy method of correspondence between heaven and earth, to which a great interruption had been given by the iniquity and captivity of Israel. Christ is a high priest, as Joshua was, for sinners and sufferers, to mediate for those that have been under guilt and wrath. And it was fit that Joshua should understand the priesthood of Christ, because all the virtue of his priesthood, its value and usefulness to the church, depended upon and was derived from the priesthood of Christ. See,
I. To whom this promise of Christ is directed (Zac 3:8): "Hear now, O Joshua! Thou hast heard with pleasure what belongs to thyself; but, behold, a greater than Joshua is at hand. Hear now concerning him, thou and the rest of the priests, thy fellows, who sit before thee, at thy feet, as learners, but whom thou art to look upon as thy fellows, for all you are brethren; let the high priest, and all the inferior priests, take notice of this, for they are men wondered at." They are set for signs, for types and figures of Christ's priesthood. What God now did for Joshua and his fellows was a happy omen of the coming of the Messiah promised, and would be so interpreted, with a pleasing wonder, by all that had understanding of the times. Or they are men wondered at for their singularity, hooted at as strange sort of people, because they run not with others to the same excess of riot (Pe1 4:4), or for their strange afflictions and surprising deliverance out of them, as Psa 71:7, I am as a wonder unto many. They are men of wonder; they are a wonder to themselves, are amazed to think how happily their condition is altered. God's people and ministers are, upon many accounts, men wondered at. The high priest and his fellows here (as the prophet and his children, Isa 8:18) are for signs and for wonders. But men's wonder at them will cease when the Messiah comes, as the stars are eclipsed by the light of the sun; for his name shall be called Wonderful.
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II. The promise itself, which consists of several parts, all designed for the comfort and encouragement of Joshua and his friends in that great good work of building the temple, which they were now engaged in. An eye to Christ, and a believing dependence upon the promises relating to him and his kingdom, would carry them through the difficulties they met with in that and their other services. 1. The Messiah shall come: Behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch. He has been long hid, but the fulness of time is now at hand, when he shall be brought forth into the world, brought forth among his people Israel. God himself undertakes to bring him forth, and therefore, no doubt, he will own him and stand by him. He is God's servant, employed in his work, obedient to his will, and entirely devoted to his honour and glory. He is the branch; so he was called Isa 4:2, The branch of the Lord. Isa 11:1, A branch out of the roots of Jesse. Jer 23:5, A righteous branch; and Jer 23:15, The branch of righteousness. His beginning was small, as a tender branch, but in time he should become a great tree and fill the earth, Isa 53:2. He is the branch from which all our fruit must be gathered. 2. Many eyes shall be upon him. He is the stone laid before Joshua, alluding to the foundation or chief corner-stone, of the temple, which probably was laid, with great solemnity, in the presence of Joshua. Christ is not only the branch, which is the beginning of a tree, but the foundation, which is the beginning of a building; and, when he shall be brought forth, seven eyes shall be upon him. The eye of his Father was upon him, to take care of him, and protect him, especially in his sufferings; when he was buried in the grave, as the foundation-stones are under ground, the eyes of Heaven were still upon him, buried out of men's sight, but not out of God's. The eyes of all the prophets and Old Testament saints were upon this one stone; Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day, and he saw it and was glad. The eyes of all believers are upon him; they look unto him and are saved, as the eyes of the stung Israelites were upon the brazen serpent. Some understand this one stone to have the seven eyes in it as the wheels had in Ezekiel's vision, and think it denotes that perfection of wisdom and knowledge which Jesus Christ was endued with, for the good of his church. His eyes run to and fro through the earth. 3. God himself will beautify him, and put honour upon him: I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts. This stone the builders refused, as rough and unsightly; but God undertakes to smooth and polish it, nay, and to carve it so that it shall be the head stone of the corner, the most beautiful in all the building. Christ was God's workmanship; and abundance of his wisdom appears in the contrivance of our redemption, which will appear when the engraving is perfected. This stone is a precious stone, though laid for a foundation; and the graving of it seems to allude to the precious stones in the breast-plate of the high priest, which had the names of the tribes graven upon them, as the engraving of a signet, Exo 28:21, Exo 28:22. In that breast-plate there were twelve stones laid before Aaron, and for aught that appears those were lost; but there shall be one worth them all laid before Joshua, and that is Christ himself. This precious stone shall sparkle as if it had seven eyes; there shall appear a perfection of wisdom and prudence in the oracles that proceed from the breast-plate of judgment. And God will engrave the engraving thereof; he will entrust Christ with all his elect, and he shall appear as their representative, and agent for them, as the high priest did when he went in before the Lord with the names of all Israel engraven in the precious stones of his breast-plate. When God gave a remnant to Christ, to be brought through grace to glory, then he engraved the graving of this precious stone. 4. By him sin shall be taken away, both the guilt and the dominion of it: I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. When the high priest had the names of Israel engraven on the precious stones he was adorned with he is said to bear the iniquity of the holy things (Exo 28:38); but the law made nothing perfect, Heb 10:1. He bore the iniquity of the land, as a type of Christ; but he could not remove it; the doing of that was reserved for Christ, that blessed Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world; and he did it in one day, that day in which he suffered and died; that was done by the sacrifice offered that day which could not be done by the sacrifices of ages before, no, not by all the days of atonement which from Moses to Christ returned every year. This agrees with the angel's prediction (Dan 9:24): He shall finish transgression and make an end of sin. And some make the engravings wherewith God engraved him to signify the wounds and stripes which were given to his blessed body, which he underwent for our transgression, for our iniquity, and by which we are healed. 5. The effect of all this shall be the sweet enjoyment which all believers shall have of themselves, and the sweet communion they shall have with one another (Zac 3:10): In that day you shall call every man his neighbour under the vine and the fig-tree, which yield most pleasant fruit, and whose leaves also afford a refreshing shade for arbours. When iniquity is taken away, (1.) We reap precious benefits and privileges from our justification, more precious than the products of the vine or the fig-tree, Rom 5:1. (2.) We repose in a sweet tranquillity and are quiet from the fear of evil. What should terrify us when iniquity is taken away, when nothing can hurt us? We sit down under Christ's shadow with delight, and by it are sheltered from the scorching heat of the curse of the law. We live as Israel in the peaceable reign of Solomon (Kg1 4:24, Kg1 4:25); for he is the prince of peace. (3.) We ought to invite others to come to partake with us in the enjoyment of these privileges, to call every man his neighbour to come and sit with him, for mutual converse, under the vine and fig-tree, and to share with him in the fruits he is surrounded with. Gospel-grace, as far as it comes with power, makes men neighbourly; and those that have the comfort of acquaintance with Christ themselves, and communion with God through him, will be forward to court others to it. Let us go unto the house of the Lord.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For, behold, the stone that I have laid before…
For, behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua,.... Not the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel; nor the first and foundation stone of the temple laid by him in the presence of Joshua; but Christ the Stone of Israel, whom the builders refused, the foundation and corner stone of the spiritual building the church: and this was laid before Joshua to build his faith upon, to view his safety and security on it, and to take comfort from it for himself; and to lay it before others, and instruct them in the nature and use of it, for their comfort also. It was prophetically laid before him in the prophecies of Christ, that went before; and typically, when the foundation of the temple was laid, Ezr 3:9 the temple being a type of the church, and the foundation of it a type of Christ: and this being done by Jehovah, shows that he is the chief builder; that this stone must be an excellent one, that is of his laying; that that building must stand, which this is the foundation of; and that under builders have great encouragement to work; see Isa 28:16. Vitringa, on the place referred to, interprets Joshua of Isaiah, who prophesied of this stone in the said place, and before whom it was laid by a spirit of prophecy; Isaiah and Joshua being words of the same signification and formation: but Isaiah was no high priest; for there is no room to think that Joshua, in this verse, is another and distinct from Joshua the high priest, in the former:
upon one stone shall be seven eyes; meaning either the eyes of Christ himself, which he has, and are in him; for Christ is not only a Living Stone, but a seeing one, even all seeing; he is all eye. This may be an allusion to such stones that have the resemblance of eyes upon them: such a stone is that which Scheuchzer (d) speaks of, and calls "siliculus ommatias", being found in the river Sila; which represents the fore part of the bulb of the eye, and the black pupil of the eye in a snowy white; and, after a small interstice, as surrounded with another black circle; with which may be compared the "achates", in the middle of which is an onyx, resembling an eye, and is therefore named by Velschius (e), "achates ommatias", and "onych ophthalmos". Some stones have on them the figures of the eyes of animals, and have their names from them; as the "oegophthalmos", which is very much like the eye of a goat; and "lycophthalmos", in the middle of which the black is surrounded with white, as the eyes of wolves, and in all respects like unto them; and "hyophthalmos", which bears the likeness of the eyes of swine: and some resemble human eyes; there is one called "triophthalmos", which is bred with the onyx, and represents three eyes of a man together; all which are made mention of by Pliny (f): but here is a stone with seven eyes in it, denoting perfection of sight in him as a divine Person, special oversight of his people, and fulness of grace in him as Mediator; for the fulness of the gifts and graces of the Spirit in him, for the use of his people, is signified by seven eyes, Rev 5:6 they may design the omniscience of Christ in general, which reaches to all persons and things, and greatly qualifies him to be the Head of the church, and Judge of the world; and likewise his special knowledge, care, and watchfulness of his own people, from everlasting, in time, at, and before, and after conversion, under all their trials and exercises: or they design the eyes which are looking to him, and are intent on him; and the sense is, that all eyes are upon him: the eyes of God the Father were upon him in the council and covenant of peace, and under the Old Testament, as the surety of his people, to make satisfaction for them; and, when the fulness of time was come, to send him forth; and during his infancy, and throughout his life, to preserve him; and in the whole of his humiliation, sufferings, and death, his eye was on him with pleasure and satisfaction; and when in the grave to raise him up; and now in heaven, for the acceptance of his people: the eyes of the Holy Spirit are on him, to take of his things, and show them to his people: the eyes of angels are upon him, in point of dependence, service, and worship; their eyes were upon him when here on earth, as he ascended to heaven, and now he is there; the eyes of all the saints, under the Old Testament, were upon him, expecting him, and looking to his person, and to his blood and sacrifice, that were to be offered; the eyes of all believers, under the New Testament, in all times and places, are to him for pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; and the eyes of all, good and bad, will be fastened on him, when he comes a second time, in the clouds of heaven; and the eyes of all the glorified ones will be upon him to all eternity, beholding his glory; to this sense agrees the Targum, which renders the words, "upon one stone, seven eyes look to it". R. Joseph Kimchi interprets these eyes of seven men, Joshua, Ezra, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and the three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi:
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behold, I will engrave the engraving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts: either with the names of his elect, which are not only written in the book of the Lamb; but their persons are put into his hands, and engraven there; and are bore upon his shoulders, he having the care and government of them; and are upon his breastplate, and on his heart, he being their representative, and presenting them for a memorial before the Lord; as the names of the tribes of Israel were on the stones, on the shoulders, and on the breastplate of the high priest; in all which Jehovah is concerned: or else with the gifts and graces of the Spirit, like a carved or polished stone; his human body was prepared and formed by him, and his human soul was filled with him; and he, as Mediator, was full of grace and truth; which is one branch of his glory, and draws the eyes of believers to him: or these engravings may intend the sufferings of Christ; the wounds and marks in his flesh; or, the "openings" (g), in his feet, hands, and side, as it may be rendered; the incisions and cuts made there by the nails and spear; which were according to the determination, will, and pleasure of God; according to his purposing and commanding will, which Christ was obedient to; and are pleasing to God, as being the accomplishment of his counsel and covenant; satisfactory to his law and justice; what procured the salvation of his people, and brought glory to him: unless this is rather to be understood of the exaltation and glorification of his human nature in heaven; of his being beautified, adorned, and crowned with glory and honour there, and made the head stone of the corner; and indeed all these things may be included. The allusion seems to be to engraving of stones, either by nature, or by art; some have forms and figures on them, which are not engraven by art, or man's device, but are of God, and by nature; such as those stones before mentioned, that have the resemblance of eyes upon them; and the "achates", which was wore in the ring of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, in which were seen the nine Muses, and Apollo holding a harp; and which were not engraven by art, as Pliny (h) observes; but the spots of nature's own accord were so placed, as that to each Muse its proper ensign was given: others are engraven by the art of men, as the onyx stones, which had the names of the children of Israel on them, wore on the shoulders of the high priest; by which instance it appears, that the art of engraving on precious stones is very ancient, and in which the ancients are said to excel; their engravings on agates, cornelians, and onyx, surpass anything of that kind produced by the moderns. Pyrgoteles, in the times of Alexander, and Dioscorides, under the first Roman emperors, were the most eminent engravers we read of. This art, with other polite arts, was buried under the ruins of the Roman empire, until it was retrieved in Italy at the beginning of the fifteenth century, by two Italians; and from that time has been common enough in Europe (i): but since this stone here was for building, rather the allusion is to the engraving and polishing of corner stones and frontispieces in edifices; and particularly to those costly, curious, and carved stones used and laid in the temple; see Mar 13:1 or to the first stone laid in the foundation, in which little orbs were engraven, and medals of gold or silver put in them, bearing the name, country, and descent of the builder, and the day, year, and reign in which the structure was begun; which little orbs are thought to be called eyes, because of the orbicular form of the eye (k): so Grotius thinks the engraving of the seven eyes on the stone is here referred to; which stone he takes to be the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, when the foundation of the temple was laid, Zac 4:10 at which time these seven eyes were caused suddenly to appear on it, and is the wonder spoken of, Zac 3:8,
and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day; not Judea, nor Chaldea, but Immanuel's land, the church and people of God, Isa 8:8 even all the elect and covenant ones, for whom Christ suffered and died, and who are laid upon this stone; their sins Jehovah removed from them to Christ their surety; and Christ, by bearing them, and the punishment of them, took them away; and God removed them, both from him and them, upon his becoming a sacrifice for them; and that wholly out of sight, so as that he never will impute them to them, nor condemn them for them; and this was all done "in one day". Jarchi, upon the text, says,
"I know not what day this is;''
but we Christians know it was the day on which Christ suffered and died, and offered himself a sacrifice for sin; by which one offering of himself, once for all, he put away sin for ever; it was all done in one day, Heb 7:27 on the day he suffered, when he, expiring on the cross, said, "it is finished"; namely, sin, and complete salvation from it.
(d) Specimen. Lithograph. Helvet. Curois. fig. 37. p. 27. (e) Hecatost. I. Obs. 22. apud ib. (f) Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 11. (g) "aperiens apertionem ejus", Montanus; "aperio", Munster. (h) Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 1. (i) Chamber's Dictionary, in the word "Engraving". (k) Capellus in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Thy fellows - Thy associates in the priestly office.…
Thy fellows - Thy associates in the priestly office. That sit - As assessors in a council. Wondered at - The unbelieving Jews wonder at them; at their labour and expense in attempting to build such a house. Bring forth - God the Father will bring forth a much more wonderful work. The Branch - The Messiah.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. O Joshua - thou, and thy fellows]…
Verse 8. O Joshua - thou, and thy fellows] Thy countrymen, who have now returned from your captivity, in a very wonderful manner. אנשי מופת anshey mopheth, figurative men, men whose office and ministration prefigured the Lord Jesus Christ; and therefore it is immediately added, "I will bring forth my servant The BRANCH." Abp. Newcome thinks this means Zerubbabel, so called because he was the grandson of Jehoiakim, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, Mt 1:12, and heir to the throne of Judah. The Chaldee has, "My servant the Messiah." See Clarke on Isa 4:2. I think the word cannot apply to Zerubbabel, except as a type of Christ; in that sense it may be understood of him. See Zec 6:11-12.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Zec 3:8. Hear now, O Joshua, and thy fellows…
Zec 3:8. Hear now, O Joshua, and thy fellows that sit before thee — The angel directs his speech to Joshua and his assessors, or assistants in council. “Possibly these may have been some of those who were called chief priests; who, though subordinate to the high-priest, were entitled by their rank to assist in his councils.” — Blayney. The rabbins call these, of whom doubtless Zerubbabel was one, the heads of the captivity, and the men of the great synagogue, by whom they suppose the Jewish affairs, both ecclesiastical and civil, to have been settled after the captivity, and the canon of the Old Testament to have been completed. The angel bespeaks their attention to what follows, as containing matter of great importance. For they are men wondered at — Hebrew, מופת המה אנשׁי, men of wonder, or, men of sign are they: men intended for signs or tokens, or typical men, as some render the phrase. Thus Isaiah, walking naked and barefoot, was for a sign and wonder, or rather a type or example, to Egypt and Ethiopia, Isa 20:3; that is, a sign, or emblem, that they should be carried away without covering. So Ezekiel, in digging through the wall, &c., (as commanded chap. Zec 12:7-12,) and in not mourning for his wife, Eze 24:24, was to be a sign, type, or emblem, to the Jews: in all which passages the same word, מופת, is used in the original. To this sense the Vulgate translates it here, viri portendentes, men foreshowing, namely, something to come, that is, the men that composed this council, with Joshua at the head of them, were an emblem, or figure, of the restoration of the church, under the government of the Messiah. Their wonderful deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; the fortitude and resolution which they manifested in returning to Jerusalem, when it lay in ruins; their perseverance amidst the various difficulties, hardships, and perils, which they had to encounter on their journey, and when they arrived in Judea; their preservation among their numerous, powerful, and inveterate enemies; not only rendered them objects of wonder to many, but proper types of the deliverance, restoration, and preservation of the church of God under the Messiah.
The next clause points out the person, of whom Joshua was to be a figure; as the verse following does those of whom his companions were to be representatives, or signs. For behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH — Namely, the Messiah, to whom this title, the BRANCH, is often given in the prophets, as descended from the stock of David: see the places referred to in the margin; in all which the word in the original is צמח, tsemach, as here; and all which texts the Chaldee explains of the Messiah; who is elsewhere called God’s servant in an eminent sense, because he was sanctified and sent into the world upon a message of the highest importance. Some, indeed, would explain this passage, and Zec 6:12, of Zerubbabel; but, as Dr. Blayney justly observes, there is no reasonable ground to conclude that he is designed in either place. “It is true he was a descendant from David, and appointed under the authority of the kings of Persia to be a subordinate governor of the Jews who returned from Babylon, and in that capacity he presided, and took an active part with Joshua the high-priest, and with the chief of the fathers, in forwarding the building of the temple. But there surely does not appear, in what we know of his character or performances, any thing to merit the particular notice imagined to be here taken of him. The same person must needs be intended here as is spoken of under the same title Jer 23:5; nor is it conceivable that terms so magnificent as those used in this latter place especially can be applicable to one of so limited power and authority as Zerubbabel enjoyed. Besides, it is evident that the Branch is promised as one that was to come, or be brought forth, and not as one that had already enjoyed his estate, such as it was, for many years past. In short, for these and for many other reasons, it may be concluded against Zerubbabel; and, I think, against any other of less consequence than the great Messiah himself, through whom alone iniquity is put away, and the reign of perfect peace and righteousness is to be established: compare Psa 132:17; Isa 4:2; Jer 33:15-16.” The word which here, and in the places above referred to, is translated Branch, is by the LXX. rendered Ανατολη, the east, or sun-rising, from whence it is applied to Christ, Luk 1:78, and is translated there the day-spring. Hence the name of Oriens was probably given to the supposed king of the Jews by the Roman writers: see Tacit. Hist., lib. 5. cap. 13.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thou and thy companions which sit before thee; yea…
Thou and thy companions which sit before thee; yea men of marvelous signs are they - o It seems probable that the words addressed to Joshua begin here; else the “men of signs” would be the companions of Joshua, to the exclusion of Himself. His companions are probably ordinary priests, who sit as sharing his dignity as priest, but “before him,” as inferiors. So Ezekiel says, “I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Israel were sitting before me” Eze 8:1. They are “images of the things to come” Heb 10:1. Isaiah’s two sons, with their prophetic names, “Haste-spoil speed-prey, and a-remnant shall-return,” were with his own name, “salvation-of-the-Lord, signs and portents” Isa 8:18 of the future Israel. Isaiah, walking naked and barefoot, was “a sign and portent” Isa 20:3 against Egypt. God tells Ezekiel, that in the “removal of his stuff, as stuff for the captivity, I have set thee for a portent unto the house of Israel” Eze 12:6.
I, he explains his act, “am your portent; like as I have done, so shall it be done unto you” Eze 12:11. When forbidden to mourn on the death of his wife; “Ezekiel is unto you for a portent; according to all that he hath done, shall ye do; and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God” Eze 24:24. Wherein then were Joshua and the other priests portents of what should be? One fact alone had stood out, the forgiveness of sins. Accusation and full forgiveness, out of God’s free mercy, were the substance of the whole previous vision. It was the full reinstatement of the priesthood. The priesthood so restored was the portent of what was to come. To “offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; Lev 9:7; “to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year” Lev 16:34, was the object of the existence of the priesthood. Typical only it could be, because they had “but the blood of bulls and goats to offer, which could,” in themselves, “never take away sins” Heb 10:4. But in this their act they were portents of what was to come. He adds here, “For, behold, I will bring My Servant the Branch.”
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The Branch - Had now become, or Zechariah made it, a proper name. Isaiah had prophesied, “In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious for the escaped of Israel” Isa 4:2; and, in reference to the low estate of him who should come, “There shall come forth a rod out of the stump of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” Isa 11:1; and Jeremiah, “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth, and this is the name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our Righteouness” Jer 23:5-6; and, “In those days and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land” Jer 33:15. Of him Zechariah afterward spoke as, “a man whose name is the Branch” Zec 6:12.
Here Zechariah names him simply, as a proper name, “My servant, the, Branch,” as Ezekiel prophesied of “My servant David.” The title “My servant,” which is Isaiah’s chiefest title of the Messiah, occurs in connection with the same image of ills youth’s lowly estate, and of His atoning Death. “He shall grow up before Him as a sucker, and as a root from a dry ground” Isa 53:2; “a scion shall grow out of his roots” Isa 11:1. . Lest then God should seem to have spoken untruly, in promising to the legal priesthood that it should ever have the oversight over His house, there was need to fore-announce the mystery of Christ, that the things of the law should cease and He Himself should judge His own house through the Scion from Himself, His Son.
Osorius: “Look ye to the Branch of the Lord; set Him as the example of life; in Him, as a most strong tower, place with most becoming faith all your hope of salvation and immortality. For He is not only a Branch, who shall fill you with the richness of divine fruit, but a stone also, to break all the essays of the enemy.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Portending men. That is, men who by words and…
Portending men. That is, men who by words and actions are to foreshew wonders that are to come; (Challoner) or rather they require prodigies before they will take courage to build the temple; or they understand how to explain such things. (Calmet) --- Orient; Christ, who according to his humanity is the servant of God, is called the Orient, from his rising like the sun in the east to enlighten the world. (Challoner) --- St. Luke explains this of Christ, (Worthington) recording the words of Zacharias. [Luke i. 78.] (Haydock) --- Christ’s birth was most pure. He gave light to the world. Some would explain this of Zorobabel; but as he was already present, it would seem more applicable to Nehemias. Yet both were only figures of Christ, and could not efface the iniquity of Juda, &c. The Messias is styled the Bud, chap.vi. 12., and Isaias iv. 2., &c. (Calmet) --- Tsemach signifies either "the bud or the orient." (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Hear--On account of the magnitude of what He is…
Hear--On account of the magnitude of what He is about to say, He at once demands solemn attention.
thy fellows that sit before thee--thy subordinate colleagues in the priesthood; not that they were actually then sitting before him; but their usual posture in consultations was on chairs or benches before him, while he sat on an elevated seat as their president.
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they are--From speaking to Joshua He passes to speaking of him and them, in the third person, to the attendant angels (compare Zac 3:9).
men wondered at--Hebrew, "men of wonder," that is, having a typical character (Isa 8:18; Isa 20:3; Eze 12:11; Eze 24:24). Joshua the high priest typifies Messiah, as Joshua's "fellows" typify believers whom Messiah admits to share His Priesthood (Pe1 2:5; Rev 5:10). This, its typical character, then, is a pledge to assure the desponding Jews that the priesthood shall be preserved till the great Antitype comes. There may be also an indirect reproof of the unbelief of the multitude who "wonder" at God's servants and even at God's Son incredulously (Psa 71:7; Isa 8:18; Isa 53:1, &c.).
behold--marking the greatness of what follows.
my servant--the characteristic title of Messiah (Isa 42:1; Isa 49:3; Isa 50:10; Isa 52:13; Isa 53:11; Eze 34:23-24).
the Branch--Messiah, a tender branch from the almost extinct royal line of David (Zac 6:12; Isa 4:2; Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15). Luk 1:78, where for "day spring," "branch" may be substituted (Mal 4:2, however, favors English Version). The reference cannot be to Zerubbabel (as GROTIUS thinks), for he was then in the full discharge of his office, whereas "the Branch" here is regarded as future.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. that sit before thee] not, “who are now…
8. that sit before thee] not, “who are now (seen) sitting,” for Joshua, the High Priest, alone appears in the vision, but “who are accustomed to sit,” as the inferior priests (“thy fellows”) before the High Priest to receive his commands. So “the sons of the prophets” sit before Elisha for instruction, 2Ki_4:38; 2Ki_6:1; and “the elders of Israel” in like manner before Ezekiel, Eze_8:1; Eze_14:1.
for they are men wondered at] Rather, men of sign, or type: men which are a sign, R. V. “Men who in their persons (and office) shadow forth future events. Eze_12:6; Eze_12:11; Eze_24:24; Eze_24:27.” Gesen. This clause is a quasi-parenthesis. The direct address is interrupted, and a reason, as it were, given for making it: “To Joshua and his fellows I foretell the coming of ‘my servant, Branch,’ because they, the priesthood, in all their office and ministry, as well as in what has just happened to them in the vision in the person of their chief, are types of Him.”
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my servant] A frequent name of Messiah in Isaiah, e. g. Isa_42:1; Isa_49:6; Isa_52:13; Isa_53:11. In Act_3:13; Act_3:26; Act_4:27; Act_4:30; the R. V. has restored the true rendering of παῖς, “Servant,” not “Son,” or “Child.” This vision is thus more distinctly Messianic than those which preceded it.
The Branch] Lit. Branch, or Shoot, or Sprout; the word being used as a proper name without the article. Comp. Zec_6:12; Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15. The use by the LXX. of ἀνατολή, “that which rises or springs up,” for Branch in these passages has led to the “Dayspring” (rightly so rendered as the context shews) of Luk_1:78. The early and repeated failures of succeeding High Priests and their fellows to fulfil the conditions and claim the privilege of Zec_3:7, as we learn from the Books of Ezra (Ezr_10:18) and Nehemiah (Neh_13:4-5; Neh_13:28-29), and from the Gospel history, must have made this promise of the “Branch” especially precious to the faithful while they waited for its fulfilment (Luk_2:38).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) For they—i.e., thou and they. For this change…
(8) For they—i.e., thou and they. For this change of person, comp. Zep_2:12, which runs literally, “Also ye Cushim slain by my sword (are) they.”
Wondered at.—Literally, as in margin, of sign—i.e., men to whom signs are given, and for whom miracles are wrought; or, according to others, persons accustomed to interpret the enigmatical sayings of prophets. LXX., ἄνδρες τερατοσκόποι.
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For, behold.—Better, simply, Behold. (Comp. ὅτι of New Testament.)
I will bring.—Literally, I (am) bringing, a somewhat indefinite tense, the exact meaning of which can be decided only by the context. (Comp. Hag_2:6.) Thus in Isa_7:14 the context (3:16) shows that what the prophet looked on as a fulfilment could not be far off; in Eze_24:17 this tense is shown by the next verse to be the imminent future; while in Zec_12:2 a similar form of construction seems to refer to a distant future.
My servant. . . .—Better, my servant Branch, after Eze_34:23 : “my servant David.”
Branch.—Hebrew, Tsémach; occurs in Isa_4:2, “Branch of the Lord.” (Comp. the expressions in Isa_11:1; Isa_53:2.) These passages (especially Isa_4:2) Jeremiah had, doubtless, in mind when he uttered the prophecies of Jer_23:5; Jer_33:15, in which he speaks of “A righteous Branch” and a “Branch of Righteousness,” as springing from the house of David, to be a Saviour to deliver Israel from the captivity. (See the whole context in both places, especially Jer_23:7-8, Jer_33:12-14.) From these passages Zechariah adopts “Branch” as the proper name of the Saviour. He may have expected that this promised Saviour would be found in Sheshbatstsar (i.e., Zerubbabel), “the Prince of Judah” (Ezr_1:8), who should build the House (Hag_2:23; Zec_4:9). In Hag_2:23, Zerubbabel is expressly called “my servant;” but the expression is also a recognised title of the Messiah in the passage of Ezekiel referred to above, and in Isa_53:12—“a righteous one—my servant”—and elsewhere. (This last passage is, probably, the foundation of the expression in Act_4:27, τὸν ἅγιον παῖδά σον Ἰησοῦν.) A glimpse of Messianic times is here, indeed, revealed to the prophet, but the clearness of his view is obscured by the medium through which he views them. (See Notes on Zec_2:10-13; Zec_6:11-15.) From “Branch,” LXX., ἀνατολήν, “day-spring;” Syriac, “sunrise,” since Tsemcho in Syriac denotes “shining of the sun.” (Comp. LXX. of Isa_4:2, ἐπ λάμψει δ Θεός.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Hear now; akoue dh (Septuagint). Joshua is called upon…
Hear now; akoue dh (Septuagint). Joshua is called upon to give all his attention to the important announcement that follows, which promises a very great boon in the future. Thy fellows that sit before thee. His fellow priests, who took their orders from him and sat with him in council. (comp. 2Ki_4:38 Eze_8:1, etc.) These priests were not seen in the vision. Keil considers that the address, to which Joshua"s attention is called, begins at "Thou and thy fellows." For (or, yea) they are men wondered at; Septuagint, dioti andrev teratoskopoi eisi , "men observers of wonders;" Vulgate, Quia viri portendentes sunt. (see Isa_8:18) The phrase would be better rendered, "men of portent, sign, or type." Revised Version gives, "men which are a sign," i.e. who foreshadow some future events, whose persons, office, duties, typify and look forward to good things to come. I will bring forth my Servant the BRANCH. This is why they are called typical men, because God is making the antitype to appear. The word rendered "branch" (tsemach) is translated by the Septuagint anatolhn , which is used in the sense of "shoot" as well as "sunrise", (see Jer_23:5 Eze_16:7 Eze_17:10) and by the Vulgate, orientem. So the Syriac and Arabic. (comp. Luk_1:78) Most interpreters rightly see here a reference to the Messiah. Some few have fancied that Zerubbabel and Nehemiah are meant; but the appellation, "my Servant Branch," has already been applied in prophetical language to Messiah, and cannot be distorted to any inferior subject, such as a mere civil ruler. Messiah is often called the Lord"s "Servant," e.g. Isa_42:1 Isa_43:10 Isa_52:13, etc. And the terms, "Branch," or "Rod," or "Shoot," referring to Messiah, are found in Isa_4:2 Isa_11:1 Jer_23:5 Jer_33:15. From the depressed house of David a scion should spring, in who mall that was prophesied concerning the priesthood and kingdom of Israel should find its accomplishment.
Portents.
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"Men wondered at." There are times when there are signs in the heavens and on the earth prodigies which rouse attention. So in society. There are men who stand out from others. Their characters have a special significance. Their lives are prophecies. Perhaps most of the great men of the Bible were of thin sort. So here
I. REPRESENTATIVE OF THEIR GENERATION. They breathe the spirit of the age. The evil and the good, of their times, are seen in them at the highest. "There were giants in those days
II ADUMBRATE GREAT FORCES. Powers have been at work for long that come out. Embodied. We see the height to which corruption may rise. Intellect without conscience, passion without principle, power without God. Or it may be otherwise. Men of genius and resolution faithful to the truth, ardent for the good of their brethren reformers, professors, martyrs, whose glory was to live not to themselves, but to God.
III FORESHADOW COMING JUDGMENT. Like Pharaoh, they have been raised up for God"s glory. Like the Jews, they are "ensamples" of God"s judgments. What they do, what they suffer, what they enjoy, are as forecasts and foreshadowings of what will be, on to the perfect end. Often such men obtain a certain worship. "There is so much of chance in warfare, and such vast events are connected with the acts of the single individual, that the proper temperament for generating and receiving superstitious impressions is naturally produced" (Coleridge). But they are "for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world have come. F.
Vers. 8-10. Messiah"s mission.
I THE TIME OF HIS COMING DIVINELY FIXED. There was the ancient promise, and long waiting generations came and went. Manifold changes. Overturning of kingdoms and dynasties. The old stock of David seemed as good as dead. But life preserved. "Branch" destined to spring and bud in his season. There is "a time to every purpose. (Ecc_3:1) Christ. came "in the fulness of time.
II THE CHARACTER OF HIS WORK DIVINELY APPOINTED. "Servant." Christ came to do the will of the Father. As the Law was hidden in the ark, so the law of God was hidden in his heart. What God ordained, he freely chose. What God commanded, he delighted to carry out. He never wavered, never wearied. Why? Because the work given him to do accorded both with eternal righteousness and the highest good of man. Faithful even to the death of the cross.
III THE RESULTS OF HIS MINISTRY DIVINELY SETTLED. Removal of sin. Upbuilding of the Church of God in the strength of righteousness and the beauty Of holiness and the joys of love. What he began he would surely finish. Solomon"s temple was "finished," and king and people rejoiced with great joy. Zerubbabel"s temple was also to be "finished," and this should be a sign and seal of the forgiveness of past iniquity, and of the outshining of God"s favour on the land. So these prophesy of greater things to come. Christ"s exulting cry on the cross, "It is finished!" proclaimed the opening of heaven to all believers, the new heaven and the new earth, and the restitution of all things. F.
Vers. 8-10. The world"s wants and God"s provisions.
"Hear, now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my Servant the BRANCH," etc. It is admitted by most acknowledged expositors of Holy Scripture that the sacerdotal institutions of the Mosaic system were typical of gospel realities; they were, as St. Paul has it, the "shadows of good things to come." This passage undoubtedly points to the Messiah and his times. Joshua, here called "the high priest," is a type of Christ, who is represented as "my Servant the BRANCH." A name by which he is designated in other parts of the Bible. Thus, for example: "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots," etc, Again, "In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful," etc. And again, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I wilt raise unto David a righteous Branch," etc. Indeed, the men who are here spoken of as those who "sit before" Joshua, "men wondered at," are typical men. This, indeed, is the meaning of the expression, "men wondered at," which some translate, "men appointed", (Isa_8:18) that is, typical men. Literally, the reference is to the members of the subordinate priesthood; and as the high priest, Joshua, was the type of Christ, these men were the types of his disciples in every age. I shall take the words as presenting the world"s wants and God s provisions.
I THE WORLD WANTS A MORAL HELPER, AND IN THE GOSPEL ONE IS PROVIDED. Morally, man is enslaved, diseased, exiled, lost to the great uses and purposes of his being. God has provided a great Helper, here called his "Servant the BRANCH." In Isaiah (Isa_42:1) we have these words, "Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." He is the "Branch," God is the Root, and all holy souls are branches, deriving their life, beauty, and fruitfulness from him; but Christ is the "Branch," the oldest Branch, the largest Branch, the strongest Branch, the most fruitful Branch, etc. He is the Branch on which there hang clusters of perennial fruits for the "healing of the nations.
II THE WORLD WANTS DIVINE GUARDIANSHIP. "Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes." What is here meant by the "stone"? Not the foundation stone of the temple, which was now being rebuilt, for that had been laid long before. "The stone," says Keil," is the symbol of the kingdom of God, and is laid by Jehovah before Joshua, by God"s transferring to him the regeneration of his house and the keeping of his courts (before, liphne in a spiritual sense, as in 1Ki_9:6, for example). The seven eyes which watch with protecting care over this stone are not a figurative representation of the all-embracing providence of God; but, in harmony with the seven eyes of the Lamb, "which are the seven Spirits of God", (Rev_5:6) and with the seven eyes of Jehovah, (Zec_4:10) they are the sevenfold radiation of the Spirit of Jehovah, (after Isa_11:2) which show themselves in vigorous action upon this stone, to prepare it for its destination." Perhaps the meaning is that upon the kingdom of Christ, here symbolized by the stone, God"s eyes are fixed (engraven) with deep and settled interest, "The eye is the natural hieroglyphic for knowledge; and "seven," as every reader of the Bible is aware, is the number used to denote completeness, perfection. Seven eyes denote the perfection of observant knowledge; and as the "eyes of Jehovah" mean Jehovah"s observation and knowledge, his "seven eyes" express the perfection of both omniscient observation." Two thoughts are suggested.
1. God has a special interest in Christ and his followers. His eyes are on the "stone," there in all their completeness seven. He has a general interest in the universe, but a special interest here. His eyes, which "run to and fro through all the earth," glance with a wonderful tenderness upon the "stone.
2. God has a settled interest in Christ and his.followers. The eyes are said to be engraven on the stone, not written in ink, not painted with colour which time would erase, but cut into its very heart; the stone itself must moulder before the engraving is destroyed. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed," etc.
III THE WORLD WANTS MORAL PURIFICATION, AND IN THE GOSPEL IT IS PROVIDED. "I will remove the iniquity of that this land that is, Palestine in one day." The "iniquity of that laud," the land of the Jews, was multiform, aggravated, immeasurable; but in one day provision should be made for its removal, the day on which Christ died upon the cross. "The work of the Messiah had a primary respect to Israel. The offer of salvation was to the Jew first." "Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities". (Act_3:3-6) These words of Peter to the Jews of his day are a commentary on those before us. The great want of man is moral purification. Thank God, "Christ came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
IV THE WORLD WANTS SPIRITUAL REPOSE, AND IN THE GOSPEL IT IS PROVIDED. "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree." "When iniquity is taken away," says Matthew Henry,
(1) "We reap precious benefits and privileges from our justification, more precious than the products of the vine or the fig tree. (Rom_5:1)
(2) We repose in a sweet tranquility, and are quiet from the fear of evil. What should terrify us when iniquity is taken away, when nothing can hurt us? We sit down under Christ"s shadow with delight, and by it are sheltered from the scorching heat of the curse of the Law. We live as Israel in the peaceable reign of Solomon, (1Ki_4:24, 1Ki_4:25) for he is the Prince of Peace. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain They are men wondered at
Zec_3:8-10
They are men wondered at
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Christians a wonder
Joshua and his fellow worshippers were wondered at, both by the idolatrous Chaldeans and the unbelieving Jews, for their faith in the Divine predictions during the period of their captivity; that Jerusalem should be rebuilt, the temple worship restored, and that they should return again to their own land.
Good men are not less an object of wonder now than they were then. There is something in their principles and pursuits which men in general cannot easily understand, and they know not to what cause it should be ascribed.
1. Ministers of the Gospel are often a wonder both to themselves and others. It is wonderful that God should condescend to employ weak and sinful creatures in so sacred a work as publishing articles of peace between heaven and earth. Infinite wisdom saw fit to lodge this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of us. Considering likewise the mean opinion which good men entertain of themselves, the treatment they are likely to meet with, the difficulties and trials to which they will necessarily be exposed, it is not a little remarkable that they should be induced to engage in the work of the ministry. Yet it is wonderful how such are carried through their work, and enabled to persevere, notwithstanding all the discouragements they meet with, from within and from without. The success that at any time attends the ministry may very properly be regarded as matter of astonishment.
2. The same sort of singularity attaches to all real Christians who walk in newness of life, and exemplify the genuine spirit of the Gospel.
(1) They are a wonder unto angels. They are struck with amazement at the love of God, manifested to such sinful and unworthy creatures.
(2) They are a wonder unto devils, who cannot but be surprised to see the spiritual temple, which is to endure throughout eternal ages, rising out of the ruins of the Fall. The fallen spirits wonder to see all their plots frustrated and their evil designs overruled for the Divine glory.
(3) Real Christians are a wonder to themselves. What reason can be rendered for such distinguishing grace and love? The conversion and salvation of a sinner is a more surprising work than the creation of a World.
(4) They are a wonder to one another.
(5) They are a wonder to the world. Nor is it strange that it should be so, since they are followers of Him whose kingdom is not of this world.
3. There is something in the very nature of religion that is mysterious and strange.
(1) The manner in which grace is implanted in the soul is so. The work of the Spirit upon the heart is one of the deep things of God.
(2) The way in which grace operates is equally wonderful. The Christians life is a hidden one.
(3) The fruits which grace produces in the life of a true believer are not less remarkable. Those who walk by sight cannot understand how others walk by faith. How then can the Christian be ashamed of his high calling, even though it should make him a gazing stock to angels and to men? Thou art now a wonder to the world, believer, but what a wonder wilt thou be in that solemn and decisive day, when Christ will come to be glorified in His saints and admired in all them that believe. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
My servant the Branch--
The worlds wants and Gods provisions
I. The world wants a moral helper, and in the Gospel one is provided. Morally, man is enslaved, diseased, exiled, lost to the great uses and purposes of his being. God has provided a great Helper, here called His servant the Branch. In Isaiah we have these words, Behold My servant whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth. He is the Branch, God is the Root, and all holy souls are branches, deriving their life, beauty, and fruitfulness from Him; but Christ is the Branch, the oldest Branch, the largest Branch, the strongest Branch, the most fruitful Branch, etc. He is the Branch on which there hang clusters of perennial fruits for the healing of the nations.
II. The world wants Divine guardianship, and in the Gospel it is provided. Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes. What is here meant by the stone? Not the foundation stone of the temple, which was now being rebuilt, for that had been laid long before. The stone, says Keil, is the symbol of the kingdom of God, and is laid by Jehovah before Joshua, by Gods transferring to him the regeneration of His house and the keeping of His courts (before lip-hire in a spiritual sense, as in 1Ki_9:6, for example). The seven eyes which watch with protecting care over this stone are not a figurative representation of the all-embracing providence of God; but, in harmony with the seven eyes of the Lamb which are the seven Spirits of God (Rev_5:6), and with the seven eyes of Jehovah (Zec_4:10), they are the sevenfold radiation of the Spirit of Jehovah (after Isa_11:2), which show themselves in vigorous action upon this stone, to prepare it for its destination. Perhaps the meaning is, that upon the kingdom of Christ, here symbolised by the stone, Gods eyes are fixed (engraven) with deep, and settled interest. The eye is the natural hieroglyphic for knowledge; and seven as every reader of the Bible is aware, is the number used to denote completeness, perfection. Seven eyes denote the perfection of observant knowledge; and as the eyes of Jehovah mean Jehovahs observation and knowledge, His seven eyes express the perfection of both--omniscient observation. Two thoughts are suggested--
1. God has a special interest in Christ and His followers. His eyes are on the stone, there in all their completeness, seven. He has a general interest in the universe, but a special interest here.
2. God has a settled interest in Christ and His followers. The eyes are said to be engraven on the stone, not written in mere ink.
III. The world wants moral purification. In the Gospel it is provided. The iniquity of the land of the Jews was multiform, aggravated, immeasurable; but in one day provision should be made for its removal; the day on which Christ died upon the Cross. Christ came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
IV. The world wants spiritual repose. In the Gospel that is provided. Mr. Henry says, When iniquity is taken away--
1. We reap precious benefits and privileges from our justification; and
2. We repose in a sweet tranquillity, and are quiet from the fear of evil. (Homilist.)
For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua--
The stone before Joshua
That stone was Christ. Take the clauses of the verse in succession.
1. Behold the stone which I have laid before Joshua, He that built all things is God. He built the temple of nature. More august and glorious far is the temple spoken of here. Its foundation stone was laid by God Himself in Zion. He laid it when the great Antitype Himself came, and gave His life a ransom for many. He laid it anew, in the Zion above, when Christ was exalted on His mediatorial and priestly throne, a name given Him that is above every name. He shall finally consecrate and glorify it as the headstone of the corner, on the great day, in presence of the Church triumphant.
2. Upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Observe, it is one stone. One Mediator. By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. See that one stone laid by the Divine Builder! The sun needs no glittering taper to add to its light; the ocean needs no tiny drop to add to its volume. Let the giant deed of Christs doing and dying stand forth in all its peerless, solitary grandeur. What mean the seven eyes? Seven was a sacred number with the Jews, probably from being first associated with the seven days of Creation. It would seem to denote--
(1) Christs fulness or perfection. How applicable to Him in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Out of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
(2) The seven eyes point to Christs providential government of the Church and the world. What a blessed truth is this universal, constant sovereignty of Jesus! The roll in which art inscribed the worlds destinies is in His hands. More comforting still is it to think of Christs individual providence, the care He takes of each separate member of His Church. This stone, with its seven eyes, has an eye for each. But the words seven eyes may admit of the rendering seven fountains. The eye, among Orientals, is often the metaphor for the wellspring. The Arabs call the fountain to this day, the eye of the desert. Render then, Upon one stone shall be seven fountains. This one stone, the Rock of Ages, was smitten by the rod of justice, and lo! seven fountain-streams flow from its cleft side. Fountains of pardon, righteousness, peace, sanctification, comfort, grace here, life and glory hereafter. All the fountains from one source.
3. I will engrave the engraving thereof. Carvings on stone were frequent in ancient times. In Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, it was the old method of inscribing a nations annals. These stone libraries are dug up fresh as they were chiselled and entombed many thousand years ago. Once engraven on the heart of love, you are on His heart forever. An alternative rendering of this metaphor is, I will open the openings thereof. I, says God, will unlock the fountains in that sealed stone, that the waters of salvation may gush forth. He opens the fountains every time His glorious Gospel is proclaimed.
4. And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. This doubtless points onwards to the day of days. In the Mosaic and ceremonial dispensation of the Jews, iniquity was typically removed. But all was a shadow, till the true Anti typical Surety and Scapegoat Himself came to remove iniquity in one day, by having the sins of His people laid on His guiltless head. It was a momentous one day, the day waited for by all time. The stone was smitten, the fountain was unsealed. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Jesus Christ, the stone whereon are seven eyes
The text is highly figurative language.
I. The description of this stone. Joshua may be the representative of the whole priesthood, or of the Church at large. We take the latter idea. Therefore the stone is laid before Joshua,--or the Church of God.
1. The stone. By which I understand Christ. A precious stone. Precious to the Father, to angels, to the fully redeemed, and to us. A precious stone, because God has chosen it as the foundation of His Church. It is a cornerstone. He is a foundation stone. He is a tried stone.
2. The situation of the stone. It is not a stone of human production. It was laid in Gods everlasting love. In the Old Testament rites and types and shadows. In prophecy. It is to be laid before the Church even now.
3. The Builder. It is the stone that I have laid. God in Trinity is the builder. The Father is the builder of the Church designedly. The Son is the builder of the Church really. The Spirit is the builder of the Church efficiently.
II. The eyes fixed upon this store. Seven eyes. Some refer this to the operations of the Spirit of God. Prefer to take it as the eyes of all, friend and foe, that are placed upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. The eye of the Father is upon this stone: in eternal council, when the everlasting stipulations for the salvation of the Church were entered into.
2. The eye of the Spirit was upon Him. The Spirit of God taketh the things of Christ and revealeth them unto the soul.
3. The eyes of angels are fixed on Christ.
4. The eyes of all the saints in heaven are fixed on Christ.
5. So are the eyes of the Church on earth.
6. And the eyes of the wicked, on earth and in hell.
III. The engraving of this stone. The names of the Lords people are said to be written on stones, or in books. Our names are written on the palms of Christs hands, denoting our security. Upon His shoulders, to denote the support that we receive from Him. On His heart, explanatory of His love.
IV. The removal of the Churchs sin. By God the Father, through the Mediator. God has imputed all our sins to Jesus Christ, and removed them in one day. (T. Bagnall-Baker, M. A.)
The cornerstone of the Church
Christ is promised as He who is represented by the temple, and who is the ground and cornerstone of His own Church, and the rock on which she is built, bearing all the burden of the fabric, concerning whom is promised that Gods infinite providence shall be about Him and His Church, Himself endued with perfect wisdom to see to and care for all His members, and that by the effects and rays of the glory of God shining in Him, He shall draw all eyes to Him, and keep them on Him; as also that He shall be so polished and adorned by God, as shall be marvellous to the world. Doctrine--
1. Christ the Mediator is not only a part of the spiritual building, making up one Christ mystical with all His members, and the eminent and most excellent part of it, but the very foundation of His Churchs being, upon whom all the Church and every particular member thereof is and must be built, and without whom they cannot subsist; for, He is the stone laid before Joshua.
2. As Christ in His office of mediation is a means of the Fathers appointment, by Him to derive happiness to the Church, and establish her in it; so whoever despise and reject Him, yet the Father will have Him high and eminent in that building.
3. As Christ hath all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge employed for seeing to the condition, and finding out the way of happiness for His people, in every case and exigency, signified by seven eyes (which is a number of perfection) engraven on that one stone: and as the vigilant providence of God is always intent upon Christ as Mediator, and for His sake upon the welfare of His Church and kingdom as being His chief delight, signified also by seven (or many) eyes fixed over that one stone, so also is Christ, as Mediator, God-man, revealing the Father in Himself, and as the support and upholder of His Church, so glorious and excellent as may draw all to admire Him, and to fix their expectation on Him, as the only choice and refuge of lost sinners, and will do so to all the elect, which is also signified by seven eyes fixed on that one stone, admiring Him, and having all their expectation from Him.
4. The beauty, excellency, and furniture of Christ the Mediator, is Divine and rare, and He is the ornament, glory and storehouse of all the spiritual building, being, as God, the brightness of the Fathers glory, and the express image of His person (Heb_1:3). His humanity also being adorned with the gifts of the Spirit without measure, and with all Divine perfections in so far as the human nature is capable; withal His sufferings for His people (as so many curious engravings) speak not a little His beauty to those who have interest therein. This is signified by our Lords engraving the graving of this stone, polishing it as a precious jewel, and adorning it by His art. Two benefits are promised to flow from Christ the Priest to His people; the first whereof is, remission and purging away of sins by the sacrifice upon the Cross, once for all, which needs not to be repeated as the Jewish sacrifices were. This is promised to the whole elect and mystical body of Christ, figured by the Jews and their promised land, beside what peculiar relation it may have to them and their land, that their sins, being taken away by Christ, should not hinder Him to favour them, nor the land for their sake; but should be looked on in due time, not as polluted, nor possessed and overrun by enemies.
(1) Remission and removal of sins is the choice mercy of Christs people, and the rise of other mercies. I will remove iniquity, is the fruit of Christs coming to the world, and of His glory as Mediator.
(2) Sin is pardoned and removed only by the virtue and merit of Christs one sacrifice, only once offered, and not to be repeated on any pretext whatever; for, iniquity is removed in one day.
(3) Christs own peculiar and fiven people of the Father, are they upon whom the privilege of pardon and sanctification is conferred, and on whose behalf Christ offered up Himself to procure these procure these benefits, for it is the iniquity of that land (a type of the elect Church) that is removed. (George Hutcheson.)
Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts--
No engraving without wound
That is, of the stone, upon which were to be seven eyes, and which intends the Messiah, the foundation laid in Zion. To engrave is to pierce and cut. When He became a Man of Sorrows, when He said, Reproach hath broken My heart, then was this Scripture fulfilled. As there is no engraving without wounding, so to engrave is to embellish and beautify. And He was made perfect through suffering. The richest display of His graces; the acquirement of the dispensation of the Spirit; the dominion He exercises in our nature; the prerogative of judging the world in righteousness; and the praises He will inhabit through eternal ages--all these resulted from His sufferings. Because He was obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, therefore God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name. To a person unacquainted with the process, the pruning of the tree; the cleaving of the ground with the ploughshare; the operation of the chisel on the stone would look like an effort to injure or destroy. But look at the thing afterwards. Behold the vine adorned with purple clusters. Survey the field, yielding the blade, the ear, the full corn in the ear. Examine the carved work, when the sculptor has achieved his design, and fixed it in its proper place! Christians are sometimes perplexed and discouraged because of their trials: They know not what God is doing with them. They fear He is angry, and going to crush and destroy. But they are His workmanship. He is preparing them for their destination in the temple of His grace. These trials are applied to qualify and advance them. They will all perfect that which concerneth them. Howard was taken by the enemy and confined in prison. There he learned the heart of a captive. It is good for me, says David, that I have been afflicted. (William Jay.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Zec 3:1 - Zec 3:10.
Zechariah
A VISION OF JUDGEMENT AND CLEANSING
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Zec 3:1 - Zec 3:10.
Zechariah worked side by side with Haggai to quicken the religious life of the people, and thus to remove the gravest hindrances to the work of rebuilding the Temple. Inward indifference, not outward opposition, is the real reason for slow progress in God’s work, and prophets who see visions and preach repentance are the true practical men.
This vision followed Haggai’s prophecy at the interval of a month. It falls into two parts-a symbolical vision and a series of promises founded on it.
I. The Symbolical Vision {Zec 3:1 - Zec 3:5}.
The scene of the vision is left undetermined, and the absence of any designation of locality gives the picture the sublimity of indefiniteness. Three figures, seen he knows not where, stand clear before the Prophet’s inward eye. They were shown him by an unnamed person, who is evidently Jehovah Himself. The real and the ideal are marvellously mingled in the conception of Joshua the high priest-the man whom the people saw every day going about Jerusalem-standing at the bar of God, with Satan as his accuser. The trial is in process when the Prophet is permitted to see. We do not hear the pleadings on either side, but the sentence is solemnly recorded. The accusations are dismissed, their bringer rebuked, and in token of acquittal, the filthy garments which the accused had worn are changed for the full festal attire of the high priest.
What, then, is the meaning of this grand symbolism? The first point to keep well in view is the representative character of the high priest. He appears as laden not with individual but national sins. In him Israel is, as it were, concentrated, and what befalls him is the image of what befalls the nation. His dirty dress is the familiar symbol of sin; and he wears it, just as he wore his sacerdotal dress, in his official capacity, as the embodied nation. He stands before the judgment seat, bearing not his own but the people’s sins.
Two great truths are thereby taught, which are as true to-day as ever. The first is that representation is essential to priesthood. It was so in shadowy and external fashion in Israel; it is so in deepest and most blessed reality in Christ’s priesthood. He stands before God as our representative-’And the Lord hath made to meet on Him the iniquity of us all.’ If by faith we unite ourselves with Him, there ensues a wondrous transference of characteristics, so that our sin becomes His, and His righteousness becomes ours; and that in no mere artificial or forensic sense, but in inmost reality. Theologians talk of a communicatio idiomatum as between the human and the divine elements in Christ. There is an analogous passage of the attributes of either to the other, in the relation of the believer to his Saviour.
The second thought in this symbolic appearance of Joshua before the angel of the Lord is that the sins of God’s people are even now present before His perfect judgment, as reasons for withdrawing from them His favour. That is a solemn truth, which should never be forgotten. A Christian man’s sins do accuse him at the bar of God. They are all visible there; and so far as their tendency goes, they are like wedges driven in to rend him from God.
But the second figure in the vision is ‘the Satan,’ standing in the plaintiff’s place at the Judge’s right hand, to accuse Joshua. The Old Testament teaching as to the evil spirit who ‘accuses’ good men is not so developed as that of the New, which is quite natural, inasmuch as the shadow of bright light is deeper than that of faint rays. It is most full in the latest books, as here and in Job; but doctrinal inferences drawn from such highly imaginative symbolism as this are precarious. No one who accepts the authority of our Lord can well deny the existence and activity of a malignant spirit, who would fain make the most of men’s sins, and use them as a means of separating their doers from God. That is the conception here.
But the main stress of the vision lies, not on the accuser or his accusation, but on the Judge’s sentence, which alone is recorded. ‘The Angel of the Lord’ is named in Zec 3:1 as the Judge, while the sentence in Zec 3:2 is spoken by ‘the Lord.’ It would lead us far away from our purpose to inquire whether that Angel of the Lord is an earlier manifestation of the eternal Son, who afterwards became flesh-a kind of preluding or rehearsing of the Incarnation. But in any case, God so dwells in Him as that what the Angel says God says and the speaker varies as in our text. The accuser is rebuked, and God’s rebuke is not a mere word, but brings with it punishment. The malicious accusations have failed, and their aim is to be gathered from the language which announces their miscarriage. Obviously Satan sought to procure the withdrawal of divine favour from Joshua, because of his sin; that is, to depose the nation from its place as the covenant people, because of its transgressions of the covenant. Satan here represents what might otherwise have been called, in theological language, ‘the demands of justice.’ The answer given him is deeply instructive as to the grounds of the divine forbearance.
Note that Joshua’s guilt as the representative of the people is not denied, but tacitly admitted and actually spoken of in Zec 3:4. Why, then, does not the accuser have his way? For two reasons. God has chosen Jerusalem. His great purpose, the fruit of His undeserved mercy, is not to be turned aside by man’s sins. The thought is the same as that of Jeremiah: ‘If heaven above can be measured . . . then I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done’ {Jer 31:37}. Again, the fact that Joshua was ‘a brand plucked from the burning’-that is, that the people whom he represented had been brought unconsumed from the furnace of captivity-is a reason with God for continuing to extend His favour, though they have sinned. God’s past mercies are a motive with him. Creatural love is limited, and too often says, ‘I have forgiven so often, that I am wearied, and can do it no more.’ He has, therefore he will. We often come to the end of our long-suffering a good many times short of the four hundred and ninety a day which Christ prescribes. But God never does. True, Joshua and his people have sinned, and that since their restoration, and Satan had a good argument in pointing to these transgressions; but God does not say, ‘I will put back the half-burned brand in the fire again, since the evil is not burned out of it,’ but forgives again, because He has forgiven before.
The sentence is followed by the exchange of the filthy garments symbolical of sin, for the full array of the high priest. Ministering angels are dimly seen in the background, and are summoned to unclothe and clothe Joshua. The Prophet ventures to ask that the sacerdotal attire should be completed by the turban or mitre, probably that headdress which bore the significant writing ‘Holiness to the Lord,’ expressive of the destination of Israel and of its ceremonial cleanness. The meaning of this change of clothing is given in Zec 3:4: ‘I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee.’ Thus the complete restoration of the pardoned and cleansed nation to its place as a nation of priests to Jehovah is symbolised. To us the gospel of forgiveness fills up the outline in the vision; and we know how, when sin testifies against us, we have an Advocate with the Father, and how the infinite love flows out to us notwithstanding all sin, and how the stained garment of our souls can be stripped off, and the ‘fine linen clean and white,’ the priestly dress on the day of atonement, be put on us, and we be made priests unto God.
II. The remainder of the vision is the address of the Angel of the Lord to Joshua, developing the blessings now made sure to him and his people by this renewed consecration and cleansing.
First {Zec 3:7} is the promise of continuance in office and access to God’s presence, which, however, are contingent on obedience. The forgiven man must keep God’s charge, if he is to retain his standing. On that condition, he has ‘a place of access among those that stand by’; that is, the privilege of approach to God, like the attendant angels. This promise may be taken as surpassing the prerogatives hitherto accorded to the high priest, who had only the right of entrance into the holiest place once a year, but now is promised the entrée to the heavenly court, as if he were one of the bright spirits who stand there. They who have access with confidence within the veil because Christ is there, have more than the ancient promise of this vision.
The main point of Zec 3:8 is the promise of the Messiah, but the former part of the verse is remarkable. Joshua and his fellows are summoned to listen, ‘for they are men which are a sign.’ The meaning seems to be that he and his brethren who sat as his assessors in official functions, are collectively a sign or embodied prophecy of what is to come. Their restoration to their offices was a shadowy prophecy of a greater act of forgiving grace, which was to be effected by the coming of the Messiah.
The name ‘Branch’ is used here as a proper name. Jeremiah {Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15} had already employed it as a designation of Messiah, which he had apparently learned from Isa 4:2. The idea of the word is that of the similar names used by Isaiah, ‘a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a Branch out of his roots’ {Isa 11:1}, and ‘a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground’ {Isa 53:2}; namely, that of his origin from the fallen house of David, and the lowliness of his appearance.
The Messiah is again meant by the ‘stone’ in Zec 3:9. Probably there was some great stone taken from the ruins, to which the symbol attaches itself. The foundation of the second Temple had been laid years before the prophecy, but the stone may still have been visible. The Rabbis have much to say about a great stone which had been in the first Temple, and there used for the support of the ark, but in the second was set in the empty place where the ark should have been. Isaiah had prophesied of the ‘tried corner-stone’ laid in Zion, and Psa 118:22 had sung of the stone rejected and made the head of the corner. We go in the track, then, of established usage, when we see in this stone the emblem of Messiah, and associate with it all thoughts of firmness, preciousness, support, foundation of the true Temple, basis of hope, ground of certitude, and whatever other substratum of fixity and immovableness men’s hearts or lives need. In all possible aspects of the metaphor, Jesus is the Foundation.
And what are the ‘seven eyes on the stone’? That may simply be a vivid way of saying that the fulness of divine Providence would watch over the Messiah, bringing Him when the time was ripe, and fitting Him for His work. But if we remember the subsequent explanation {Zec 4:10} of the ‘seven,’ as ‘the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth,’ and connect this with Rev 5:6, we can scarcely rest content with that meaning, but find here the deeper thought that the fulness of the divine Spirit was given to Messiah, even as Isa 11:2 prophesies of the sevenfold Spirit.
‘I will engrave the graving thereof’ is somewhat obscure. It seems to mean that the seven eyes will be cut on the stone, like masons’ marks. If the seven eyes are the full energies of the Holy Spirit, God’s cutting of them on the stone is equivalent to His giving them to His Son; and the fulfilment of the promise was when He gave the Holy Spirit not ‘by measure unto Him.’
The blessed purpose of Messiah’s coming and endowment with the Spirit is gloriously stated in the last clause of Zec 3:9: ‘I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.’ Jesus Christ has ‘once for all’ made atonement, as the Epistle to the Hebrews so often says. The better Joshua by one offering has taken away sin. ‘The breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel,’ stretched far beyond the narrow bounds which Zechariah knew for Israel’s territory. It includes the whole world. As has been beautifully said, ‘That one day is the day of Golgotha.’
The vision closes with a picture of the felicity of Messianic times, which recalls the description of the golden age of Solomon, when ‘Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree’ {1Ki 4:25}. In like manner the nation, cleansed, restored to its priestly privilege of free access to God by the Messiah who comes with the fulness of the Spirit, shall dwell in safety, and shall be knit together by friendship, and unenvyingly shall each share his good with all others, recognising in every man a neighbour, and gladly welcoming him to partake of all the blessings which the true Solomon has brought to his house and heart.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Isa 4:2").
BRANCH
(See Scofield "Isa 4:2").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The angel of Yahweh continues to speak to Joshua.
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your companions who live with you
This phrase refers to other priests who would serve in the temple under the leadership of Joshua. AT: "the other priests who live with you" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
For these men are a sign
Here the word "sign" refers to something that communicates a special meaning to those who see it. Yahweh speaks of the priests serving in the temple as being this sign that shows that Yahweh will bring his servant.
my servant the Branch
The word "Branch" refers to a messianic figure that would serve as king over Yahweh's people. Yahweh speaks of this person as if he were a branch that grows out from a tree. Since the word "Branch" is a title, it should be translated with an equivalent word in your language. (See: Metaphor)
the stone that I have set before Joshua
Here the word "stone" likely refers to a precious stone or jewel.
There are seven eyes on this single stone
The sides or facets of the stone that reflect light are spoken of as if they are eyes. AT: "There are seven sides on this single stone" (See: Metaphor)
I will engrave an inscription
It is implicit that he will engrave the inscription on the stone. AT: "I will engrave an inscription on the stone" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
engrave
"carve"
this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Zechariah 1:3. AT: "this is what Yahweh of hosts has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh of hosts, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
I will remove the sin from this land in one day
Here the word "land" represents the people who live in the land. AT: "I will remove the sin of the people from this land in one day" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
high priest
life
sign
servant
declare
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:8 The high priest Jeshua and the other priests…
3:8 The high priest Jeshua and the other priests were symbols of greater realities. • Servant and Branch are both titles for the Messiah (Isa 42:1; 53:2; Jer 23:5; 33:15). As servant, the Messiah obeys God’s will by becoming a sin offering so that many might be made righteous (Isa 53:11; see Acts 3:13; 4:27). The Branch is a metaphor for kingship that identifies the Messiah as David’s descendant (Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.