Ch. Zechariah 3:1. he shewed me] i.e. Jehovah, from whom all the visions proceeded, Zechariah 1:7; Zechariah 1:20, shewed me. καὶ ἔδειξέ μοι κύριος, LXX.

Joshua] called in the Book of Ezra Jeshua (Zechariah 2:2; Zechariah 3:2, etc.). His grandfather, Seraiah, was taken captive by Nebuzar-adan after the sacking of the city and burning of the Temple, and was slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah (2 Kings 25:18-21). Josedech, or Jehozadak, his son, the father of Joshua, was at the same time taken as a prisoner to Babylon (1 Chronicles 6:15), where Joshua probably was born. During the lifetime of Josedech, while the Temple was in ruins and the people in captivity, the High Priesthood was in abeyance. After an interval of about 52 years, Josedech being now dead, the office was revived in the person of his son. Joshua was the first of the third or last series of High Priests, those, namely, who came after the Captivity. He is spoken of with commendation in the Book of Ecclesiasticus (Sir 49:12; comp. 1Es 5:5; 1Es 5:48; 1Es 5:56), and is made a special type of the Great High Priest, both in this chapter and in chapter 6.

standing before the angel of the Lord] as before his judge, Deuteronomy 19:17; Joshua 20:6; Romans 14:10; Revelation 20:12. The Angel of the Lord is here, as elsewhere in the Old Testament, He to whom all judgment is committed (John 5:22). See note on Zechariah 1:12.

Satan standing at his right hand] The great Adversary (for Satan is here a proper name, as in Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-7) here assumes the character (Revelation 12:10) and occupies the place (Psalm 109:6) of the accuser in the trial. See Appendix, note B.

to resist him] Lit. to play-the-adversary against him; to be his adversary, R. V. The verb and the noun (Satan) have the same root. The charge against Joshua has been thought to be a personal one, and reference has been made to Ezra 10:18, to prove that some of his sons had polluted themselves by marrying strange wives. The passage in Ezra however, is at least 60 years later than the vision in Zechariah. It is better to regard the intended accusation as including both personal and official transgressions, his own sins and the sins of the people (Hebrews 5:3; Hebrews 7:27). Sin, the sin of the man and of the order to which he belongs, of the individual and of the nation which he represents, stands in the way of the promised blessing, and must first be put away before that blessing can be enjoyed.

2. The Lord] Jehovah, who in Zechariah 3:1; Zechariah 3:5-6, is called the Angel of Jehovah.

hath chosen Jerusalem] comp. Zechariah 1:17; Zechariah 2:12; and for the argument Romans 8:33. The election or choice of God, as an act of free grace, is insisted on in like manner in the earlier history. Deuteronomy 4:37; Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Deuteronomy 10:15.

a brand pluckt out of the fire] i.e. saved from imminent and almost completed destruction, comp. 1 Corinthians 3:15. A similar expression occurs in Amos 4:11. In Isaiah 7:4, “from the two tails of these smoking brands,” the same figure is used with a different reference. The two hostile kings are there compared to wooden stakes or pokers, which had been used to stir up the flames, but which were themselves now well-nigh burnt out and consumed, and need therefore cause no further apprehension.

3. filthy garments] There is no allusion to the Roman custom of accused persons wearing sordid attire at their trials (reus sordidatus, Liv. ii. 54, vi. 20). Nor is there any ground for the idea that “an accusation had been lodged against” Joshua “in the Persian Court;” and that “the splendid attire of the High Priest, studded with jewels, had been detained at Babylon, or, at least, could not be worn without the special permission of the king; and until the accusations had been cleared away this became still more impossible” (Stanley, after Ewald, Jewish Church, iii. 103). The promise of the vision is not that “the soiled and worn clothing of the suffering exile shall be replaced, by the old magnificence of Aaron and of Zadok;” but that in accordance with the constant imagery of Holy Scripture and with the express statement of Zechariah 3:4, “I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee,” the guilt and pollution of sin shall be replaced by spotless purity and holiness (Leviticus 16:4; Isaiah 64:6; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 19:8).

4. he] i.e. the Angel of Jehovah.

those that stood before him] Angels of inferior order, who though not previously mentioned were in attendance, as was fitting, upon the Angel of the Lord. Compare for the expression Genesis 41:46; Deuteronomy 1:38; Daniel 1:5.

change of raiment] The Hebrew word here used only occurs beside in Isaiah 3:22, “changeable suits of apparel,” where number and variety, frequent changing, rather than costliness or magnificence, though that of course may be implied, appears to be the subject of rebuke. So here a change of dress, not necessarily different in kind, but pure instead of being defiled, is promised. The R. V. however, renders rich apparel here, and festival robes in Isaiah.

5. And I said] The speaker might be the Angel of the Lord, reciting further the commands which he had given. But it is better to suppose that Zechariah, looking on with intense interest, gives vent to his feelings, in the request that the now comely attire of the High Priest should not be left incomplete.

mitre] The word is not the same (though from the same root) as that used in Exodus 28:4; Exodus 28:36-38; but there is no doubt that the same thing is intended.

stood by] i.e. remained in the same position that he had occupied before, to superintend and sanction the proceedings.

6. protested] i.e. solemnly and earnestly affirmed. Comp. Genesis 43:3; Jeremiah 11:7; where the same Hebrew word is used.

7. judge my house] This may mean “my people,” Numbers 12:7; Hosea 8:1; the Jewish Church being spoken of, like the Christian, as the house of God, 1 Timothy 3:15. “Judgment, in the place of God, was part of the High Priest’s office.” (Pusey.) See Deuteronomy 17:8-13. But it may be used in its more obvious and restricted sense (comp. “my courts,” in the parallel clause) of the Temple with its priests and ministers.

places to walk] a place of access, R. V. text; meaning presumably of access to God. Thou shalt be admitted to the immediate presence and throne of God. There is no need, however, to depart from the rendering of A. V. and R. V. margin. Comp. Ezekiel 42:4 for the word, and see next note.

among these that stand by] i.e. among the angels, who were still standing round the Angel of Jehovah, in attendance upon Him as He spoke, Zechariah 3:4. The courts and chambers of the material house, so the promise runs, shall be places where angels ever come and go. The obedient priest shall realise in his ministry their presence and their fellowship. The material and the sensible shall fade away as it were from his sight, lost in the higher glory of the spiritual and the heavenly. The promise directly refers to the ministry of Joshua and his fellows and successors on earth; even if it includes a pledge of a higher ministry after death: “In the resurrection of the dead I will raise thee to life, and give thee feet walking among these Seraphim.” Targum. To one priest, we know, who walked in the ways and kept the charge of the Lord (Luke 1:6), the promise was literally fulfilled by the appearance of an angel to him in the Temple (Luke 3:11); and the readiness with which the people surmised what had happened (Luke 3:22) might seem to shew that his was not an altogether singular and unheard of experience.

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, 2 Kings 4:38; 2 Kings 6:1; and “the elders of Israel” in like manner before Ezekiel, Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 12:6; Ezekiel 12:11; Ezekiel 24:24; Ezekiel 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.”

my servant] A frequent name of Messiah in Isaiah, e. g. Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 53:11. In Acts 3:13; Acts 3:26; Acts 4:27; Acts 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. Zechariah 6:12; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 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 Luke 1:78. The early and repeated failures of succeeding High Priests and their fellows to fulfil the conditions and claim the privilege of Zechariah 3:7, as we learn from the Books of Ezra (Ezra 10:18) and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:4-5; Nehemiah 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 (Luke 2:38).

9. the stone that I have laid] set, R. V. The primary and immediate reference is to the Temple, in re-building which Joshua was then engaged. The “stone,” which was perhaps seen lying before him in the vision, is most probably not the foundation-stone, which had been laid years before, but the head-stone (Zechariah 4:7; Zechariah 4:9), which would complete the building, and which He, with whom to purpose is to accomplish, here announces that He has already laid; so certainly shall it be set in its place in due time. The ultimate reference is to Him, who as “the Branch” should hereafter “build the temple of the Lord” (Zechariah 6:12), of which He is not only the Foundation-stone (Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:4-5), but also the chief corner-stone (Psalm 118:22; Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20). The two fulfilments of the prophecy are intimately connected. The first is, in the purpose of God, the necessary preparation for the second.

upon one stone shall be seven eyes] are, R. V. This may mean that seven eyes shall be, or are, sculptured upon the stone; though in that case it is difficult to understand the force of the word “one,” or the significance of the prediction as regards the Temple then in progress. Typically, the seven eyes sculptured on the stone might be held to represent Him whom the stone symbolises, as “having the seven spirits of God” (Revelation 5:6). It is better, however, to understand the words to be a promise that the seven eyes (i.e. the perfect watchfulness and care—seven being the number of perfection) of God shall be fixed upon this stone; that He will never, so to speak, take His eyes off either type or anti-type, till His purpose respecting them is accomplished. So Solomon prays, at the dedication of the first Temple, that God’s “eyes may be open upon it night and day,” to hear the prayers that are offered there. 1 Kings 8:29. This view is confirmed by Zechariah 4:10, where the eyes of Jehovah are said to rejoice when (fixed as we are here told in unwearying solicitude on the Temple) they see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, as he busies himself in its restoration.

I will engrave the graving thereof] Supposing the eyes to have been marked out for cutting upon the stone, some have thought that God in these words engages that He Himself will cut them there. This clause, however, is rather to be regarded as an additional promise. My eyes, I have said, are fixed upon the stone. My hand shall engrave upon it whatever is needed to beautify and fit it for the place of honour it is to hold. The word here used for “engrave” occurs three times in Exodus 28, in the expression “engravings of a signet;” twice of the jewels in the High Priest’s dress (11, 21), once of the golden plate on his mitre (36). It is used, however, of a bolder kind of engraving, more like what would here be contemplated, of “cherubim, lions and palm trees,” on the panels of the “bases,” on which the lavers were set in Solomon’s Temple. (1 Kings 7:36).

in one day] It is possible that the renewal of the typical expiation of sin in “one day,” the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:21; Leviticus 16:30; Leviticus 16:34), consequent upon the re-building of the Temple and the resumption of its services, is here glanced at. But the goal of the prophecy is “the day of Golgotha.” “A Jewish writer confessed the mystery while he said, ‘One day, I know not what that day is.’ Ask any Christian child, ‘On what day was iniquity removed, not from the land only, but from all lands?’ He would say, ‘On the day when Jesus died.’ ” Pusey.

10. The consequence of the removal of the iniquity of the land shall be the return of the peaceful and prosperous days of Solomon (1 Kings 4:25), and social intercourse and festivity shall prevail on every side. Micah had already made this a type of the kingdom of Christ (Zechariah 4:4).

“We are told in the Talmud (Yoma vii. 4) that when, on the great Day of Atonement, the high priest had performed the various duties of that solemn day, he was escorted home in a festive manner, and was accustomed to give a festal entertainment to his friends. The maidens and youths of the people went forth to their gardens and vineyards with songs and dances; social entertainments took place on all sides, and universal gladness closed the festival of that solemn day.” Rev. C. H. H. Wright, Bampton Lectures, pp. 77, 78.