Zechariah 6:9

Zec 6:9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ver. 9. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying]. This second part of the chapter is not a vision, but a sermon, or a historical prediction of what was really to be done. For as God’s Spirit was quieted, and, as it were, comforted, by the angels’ faithful execution of their offices; so he seeks, by this prophecy, to quiet and comfort the spirits of his people the Jews, that were returned out of Babylon. For these finding themselves beset with enemies and exigencies, might possibly despair of ever seeing the accomplishment of those promises and prophecies of the kingdom restored to the house of David, and of the great glory of the second temple above the first. To keep up their hearts, therefore, is this declaration made them of the kingdom and priesthood of Christ, under the typical coronation of Joshua the high priest.

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.

Zec_6:9-15

And set them upon the head of Joshua

The matchless man in history

The crowning, the work, and the position of Joshua spoken of in these verses, are obviously employed to symbolise some coming man who would be matchless in all history.

Concerning this matchless man, we are taught--

I. That He is one whom heaven commands the people to honour. The prophet is commanded to go to certain men of the more distinguished who had returned from Babylon, representative men it may be. He was to take these men, whose names are here given, to the house of another distinguished man, here called Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. From that house silver and gold were to be taken, with which crowns were to be made, and placed upon the head of Joshua, the son of the high priest. By general consent of expositors, this was a mere symbolical transaction--a transaction pointing to some great man whom heaven will require all men to crown with the highest dignity. Here is a character symbolised by the name of Joshua, to whom the people are called upon by God Himself to render honour. Who is this man? The man Christ Jesus! When He bringeth in the first-begotten into the world He saith, Let all the angels of God worship Him.

II. That His pedigree was strikingly singular. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the Branch; and He shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord. He came down from heaven and tabernacled on this earth, which was not His place. A great soul, dominated by a supreme sympathy with the Supremely Good, can grow anywhere, in its place or out of it. It can subordinate the most hostile external elements and forces for its own will and interests.

III. That He is one whose mission is sublimely glorious. He shall build the temple of the Lord, etc. Zerubbabel was now engaged in the work of rearing the material temple at Jerusalem; and a more glorious work than this is not given to man, viz. to promote the public worship of God.

IV. That He is one whose position and functions are transcendently exalted. He is on a throne.

1. As a priestly King.

2. As a glorious Reconciler.

The Mediator between God and man. The reconciliation, the atonement.

V. That He is one whose power to attract others to His enterprise is immensely great. The Gentiles were to be themselves stones in the building, and agents in the rearing of it. (Homilist.)

The man whose name is the Branch--

On Christs name, the Branch

The text and context are a remarkable prophecy of the coming of the promised Messiah in the flesh, who is described by His natures, His offices of Priest and King, and His work in building the spiritual temple of the Lord.

1. Some observations upon the occasion and reason of this name the Branch, given to the promised Messiah, before His coming in the flesh.

(1) The original word, tsemach, does not signify the East, as some have imagined, but always, the Branch. There are also other Hebrew words expressing Jesus Christ by this His name, the Branch.

(2) A mans offspring are, by a very just metaphor, called his branches, because they proceed from him, as branches or sprouts from a root. Jesus Christ is said, in Isa_11:1, to be a Branch out of the root of Jesse.

(3) Jesus Christ is metaphorically called a Branch, respecting some family He was to spring from in His human nature, and this was the family of David, the son of Jesse.

(4) When the kings of Davids family, and their kingdom, which was then the Church of God, were greatly declined, sore oppressed and much weakened, this promise to David, that Christ was to come as a Branch from him, was presented to their faith, that they might expect the greatest blessings to themselves, and to the Church of God, by the means of this Branch of Davids family.

(5) After the return from captivity, the encouragement and hope of the Church were founded upon the coming of this Branch of David.

2. Scriptures of the New Testament where He is designed the Branch (Luk_1:78). For day spring the margin has sun rising or branch (Mat_2:23). Nazareth had its name from a branch, which, though not the same word as in our text, yet is of the same signification.

3. The Scripture account of Jesus Christ, under the name and designation of the Branch.

(1) He was to be the true and eternal God. The Lord our Righteousness.

(2) The Branch of the Lord (Isa_4:2). Son of God the Father, by an eternal, incomprehensible, and incommunicable generation.

(3) Really and truly man, and of the lineage and posterity of David.

(4) Both God and man, without any change of one nature into another, or confusion of the one with the other, and all this in one person.

(5) He was to be Jehovahs servant for the redemption of lost sinners. He took upon Him the form of a servant. He came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister.

(6) This Branch was, in a peculiar manner, of Gods bringing forth and raising up. God the Father found Him out, and called Him to the work of saving sinners.

(7) He was for a time to be very low and contemptible, to be cut down, and to grow up to the greatest height. This was to be specially true of His birth.

(8) The Branch was to sustain and execute offices for the building of the temple of the Lord, both as Prince and Saviour.

(9) It was to be a righteous Branch, a Branch of righteousness. Application--

1. Learn the advantage of studying the Old Testament.

2. Be restless in your endeavours, until this Branch, this man, be excellent, desirably glorious and precious to you, and in your esteem.

3. Behold the man whose name is the Branch. Behold Him in His person, in His natures.

4. Come and take up your dwelling under the shadow of this man whose name is the Branch. (James Robe, M. A.)

The Branch

The words are addressed to Joshua the priest, but they represent the Divine Saviour.

I. The beauty of this Branch. What is it that most especially constitutes the beauty of the Divine character? Not justice by itself; not mercy by itself; but the marvellous union of both, the harmony between these Divine attributes, by which God can be a just God and a Saviour. That union has been discovered perfect and complete in the person of the Lord Jesus, the God-man-mediator, so in Him is the very perfection of beauty. It is indeed said of Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him; but these expressions refer to the meanness of His birth, and to the prejudices of His nation.

II. The shadiness of this Branch. The term brings to our minds the exposed state of the sinner, in the weary land of this world. He stands exposed to the wrath of God. He wants shade--something that will interpose between him and the intense heat from above, and afford him a protection from it. By whatever emblem the precious blood and perfect righteousness of Christ are represented to us in Scripture, the idea always conveyed is that of security against the effects of Divine wrath, consequent on human transgression. The shade of the righteous Branch is the interposing mediation of our exalted Redeemer. The shade of this Branch is extending itself every day.

III. The fruitfulness of this Branch. The two figures are united in Canticles. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste. In Revelation is described the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruit, and whose leaves were not for shade only, but also for healing.

IV. The strength of this Branch. He shall bear the glory. He shall bear the weight of all the cares and concerns of His whole Church, both small and great, even of every individual, however important or insignificant; and He shall be found both able and willing to support them all. And He bare our sins in His own body on the tree. (F. Elwin.)

The man whose name is the Branch

There is a difference between the manner in which the prophets, before and after the captivity, spoke of the Messiah. To the prophets after the captivity, the invasion of the Babylonian armies, the destruction of their city and temple, and the very return of the Jews were all past events. The fulfilling hand of the faithful Inspirer of foregoing predictions had swept them all aside; and nothing remained to turn their attention from that near approach of the Messiah of which they all speak in terms so remarkably explicit. Among other types and figures of heavenly things which the Jewish prophets used, are personal types, of which the text is an example. Here Joshua is expressly made the type of Him who was both King and Priest. This could not apply to Joshua himself, seeing that he was only a priest.

I. The emphatic appellation given to the Messiah,--the Branch. The verb whence the word is derived signifies to grow, to sprout. It is specially applied to trees, some of which in part decayed, and that to the very roots, will often send forth new shoots, which shall surpass, in greatness and fruitfulness, the original stock. This expression, as applied to Christ, is--

1. Eminently prophetical (Isa_11:1). The stem of Jesse was decayed. At the time of its lowest depression, the Branch, the Messiah, shot forth.

2. As descriptive of His Personal progress to glory and dominion. Of the progress of His religion in the world. And of the work of Christ in the heart.

3. As indicating the secret and mysterious mode of His operations. The metaphor is taken from vegetation, the process of invisible influence which out of rude elements frames the stately tree, and from a bud develops the goodly branch. There is an unseen principle at work, and that principle is the working of God Himself. We see this m the progress of our Saviour from sufferings to glory. And in the progress of His religion in our world.

II. The great work to which the Messiah was appointed. He shall build the temple of the Lord. A parallel may be presented between the material temple and the spiritual house. In conclusion notice--the union of the kingly and priestly offices in Christ. (R. Watson.)

The man whose name is the Branch.

I. The person here spoken of. Who is this wondrous, mysterious man? Not certainly Joshua, the high priest, on whose head the crowns were to be placed. For the message is addressed to Joshua, as concerning some one else. Joshua, the crowned high priest, is the type of another, greater than himself, to whom he and all others are to look for blessing. These words seem to point to one already known, to one whose name is familiar. And so it is. Isaiah had borne testimony regarding Him (Isa_11:2-9; Isa_23:5; Isa_32:6; Isa_33:15-16). Is not this the substance of the Lords message to every generation of the sons of men? Is not this the great central message of the Book of God, and of every faithful messenger of His? Must not this be the keynote of our preaching? The Branch is none other than the Messiah, our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. It tells of one who has taken our nature. Our Redeemer is man. But not man alone. He is the God-man. Son of God and Son of Man, a Divine, and therefore an all-sufficient Saviour.

II. His work. He shall build up the temple of the Lord. This work was entrusted to Zerubbabel, but he was only a type of the true temple builder. For the true temple is the spiritual temple, the temple into which all believers are built, and of which Jesus Christ is the foundation stone. And this Builder is also the Owner, the Ruler, a Priest, a Royal Priest. The headship of Christ is a personal matter; the great question for each one is, Am I a loyal subject of the Churchs Head and King? Is He the ruler of my life? It is also said, He shall be a Priest upon His throne. What you and I need is a priest to remove guilt, to make atonement for sin, to satisfy Divine justice, and reconcile us to God. Him hath God exalted, a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (William Findley, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Zec 6:9-11. And the word of the Lord came unto me, &c. — The prophet here proceeds to relate how he was favoured with another revelation, respecting a kingdom very different from the preceding; saying, Take of them of the captivity, &c. — That is, receive from the captivity, from Heldai, from Tobijah, &c. The exiles who remained in Babylon, showed their regard for the temple that was then building, by sending their gifts and oblations to Jerusalem, for carrying on the work, and adorning the temple after it was built. These offerings, it is to be supposed, they sent about the time when the prophet had this vision, by the persons here named, as they did afterward by Ezra and his companions: see Ezr 7:16; Ezr 8:25-26. And go into the house of Josiah — This was probably one who came from Babylon along with those before mentioned, namely, Heldai, &c.; for in other versions the words, which are come from Babylon, are put at the end of the verse. Then take silver and gold — That is, receive from them silver and gold, namely, of that which they had brought for the service of the temple, from those who remained still in Babylon. And make crowns — “That is, cause to be made by the artist.” — Newcome, who observes that Josiah, above mentioned, was probably a worker in gold and silver. Some versions read, not crowns, but a crown. It seems, however, more probable, that “two crowns are here ordered to be made, and both of them to be placed upon the head of Joshua; to signify that the Messiah, the branch, spoken of in the next verse, of whom Joshua was a type, should be both a king and a priest, and so should have a right to wear the two crowns that belonged to these offices. One crown was probably made of silver, and the other of gold; or both silver and gold might be used on the same crown; the silver denoting the human nature of the Messiah, and the gold the divine; or the former the exercise of his offices of priest and king on earth, and the latter the exercise of them in heaven. Or, as some think more probable, both crowns were made of gold, and the silver was employed for some different sacred use, especially as the high-priest’s crown, inscribed with HOLINESS TO THE LORD, was to be entirely made of pure gold.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.]

Zec_6:9.] The ninth vision. Crowns on Joshua.

Zec_6:10-11.] The persons named appear to have formed a deputation from the captives still remaining in Babylon, who had sent them with contributions in gold and silver, to help forward the building of the temple at Jerusalem. These deputies had deposited their gifts in the house of Josiah, to which the prophet is commanded to repair, and take what was necessary for making the two crowns, which were to be placed on the head of the high priest [Henderson] Crowns] A symbol of the priesthood and kingdom of Messiah (Rev_19:12).

Zec_6:12. The man] shadowed forth in Joshua, viz. the Messiah. Branch] As if it were a proper name, as appears not only by the lack of the article, but by the established usage of the earlier prophets [Lange]. (Cf. Zec_3:8; Isa_4:2; Jer_23:5). Grow] Shall sprout out from his place, i.e. from his land or nation; not an exotic, but a root-shoot of the real stock. “Not merely from Bethlehem or Nazareth, but by his own power, without man’s aid, in miraculous conception” [Henderson]. Build] the future spiritual temple; an encouragement to Jews that the material temple will be finished in spite of opposition.

Zec_6:13. Glory] A reference to the insignia of majesty put on the head of Joshua; the honour and authority of sovereign. Sit and rule] The former denotes the possession of the honour and dignity of a king; the latter, the actual exercise of royal authority [Hengs.]. Priest] Priestly and kingly offices united in him on one throne. Peace] Civil and religions authorities working together, typify the harmony of his kingdom and priesthood; no clashing of jurisdiction between the two offices. “By the counsel or purpose of peace, is understood the glorious scheme of reconciliation between God and man, effected by the joint exercise of the sacerdotal and regal offices of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Isa_9:6; Mic_5:5; Eph_2:14-17; Col_1:20-21; Heb_13:20” [Henderson].

Zec_6:14. Helem] The same as Heldai and Hen] Another name of Josiah (Zec_6:10). Not unusual among Jews for one man to be known by two names. Memorial] The crowns not for these persons to wear, but a symbol of the act just taken place; hence to be desposited in the temple as pledges of the Messiah, to animate their anticipations of his appearance.

Zec_6:15. Far off] Gentiles shall be called, and shall actively participate in setting up the kingdom of God. Know] When events correspond to predictions. Come] Unbelief would not hinder the accomplishment of the promise; but if they obeyed, the temple would be finished, and in the latter days this would be realized. The benefits of the Messiah’s coming and work were conditional to them. The large portion of the Jews were disobedient, and perverted the prophets. Henderson and others consider the words an aposiopesis; a figure of speech by which emphatic silence conveys an intimation more impressively than words. If ye will hearken, then—“The words simply declare that Israel will not come to the knowledge of the Messiah, or to his salvation, unless it hearkens to the voice of the Lord. Whoever intentionally closes his eyes, will be unable to see the salvation of God” [Keil].

HOMILETICS

THE MESSIAH’S PERSON AND WORK.—Zec_6:9-13

In predictions concerning the Messiah we find word combined with action, prophecy coalescing with history. An example of symbolic prediction based upon present history is found in the text. In presence of a deputation of Jews from Babylon, the prophet was charged to place a crown on the head of Joshua, the high priest, and then deliver the prophecy. Its form and spirit, the union of the priestly and regal office, forbid us to confine it to Jewish restoration. It is founded upon visible representations, yet in mystic vision soars into the future.

I. The person of the Messiah is described. Behold the man, the man marked and well known, the true man and most eminent of all men (Hos_2:16). Not man wretched and miserable, mortal and dying (Job_25:6; cf. Psa_8:4); but man with the characteristics of a man—strength, courage, and pre-eminence. Joshua and his companions were men of signs (ch. Zec_3:8), but in none of them were the priestly and regal splendours united. Then the word branch designates a future person, a sprout of Jehovah (Isa_4:2), a descendant of David. The Messiah is the priest and king. Zechariah revives the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer_33:15). One belongs to the last predictions at the beginning of the captivity, and the other is one of the first after it is past. God does not forget his promise, and will never forsake his people. In every age it may be said, “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.”

II. The work of the Messiah is specified.

1. He shall grow up out of his place. He shall sprout up from his place, i.e. from the place peculiar to him; not merely from Bethlehem or Nazareth, but by his own power, without man’s help, in his miraculous concep tion. Some refer this to his springing up from a low family; others, to the growth of the Church under him. It is better to apply it as above. He shall grow by virtue of his own power, with rapid and vigorous increase. He springs from God in his human and Divine nature, shot forth through man, blossoming in the royal line of David, yet neither sown, nor planted, nor propagated by human hands. He shall continue to grow, extend his power and dominion, and his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom.

2. He shall build the temple, the Church of God, which is the house and temple of God (1Co_3:16; 1Ti_3:15; 1Pe_2:5). Of this temple he is the author and foundation (Eph_2:20-22). It is growing in beauty and numbers, filled with his light and glory, and is the school of instruction, the monument of wisdom to the universe (Eph_3:10). The repetition may indicate the certainty of the work being commenced and finished, or give emphasis to the truth, to encourage faith in his person and confidence in his work.

III. The honour of the Messiah is set forth.

1. He (himself) shall bear the glory. The crowns of royalty, the robes and insignia of office, shall hang upon him and adorn his person. He shall lift up the glory (as the word means) which had been depressed and despised. It shall be exalted in him, not divided any longer between kings and priests, but the government shall be upon his shoulders alone, and he shall have the glory (Isa_9:6; Php_2:9-11).

2. He shall sit and rule. For a king to sit was nothing strange, but contrary to the custom of priests, who stood daily (Heb_10:11). But Christ has offered one sacrifice and obtained eternal redemption; he has finished his work, will never rise to perform it a second time, but now sits for ever at the right hand of God: a priest upon his throne, whom the people cannot approach without priestly intercession. Here the majesty of a prince is blended with the sympathy of a priest (Heb_2:18; Heb_4:15; Heb_5:2).

IV. The special arrangement with the Messiah is mentioned. “The counsel of peace shall be between them both.” The words allude, first of all, to Joshua and Zerubbabel, then to the priestly and kingly office of Christ. Formerly kings and priests had counselled together for the peace and prosperity of the Church and the State. Now these offices may be centred in one person, and no longer kept distinct; yet each must have its dignity. The majesty of the king is not to be displayed without the intercession of the priest. There is no depression of one to exalt the other, no confounding together, but harmony and co-operation. The priest is a king, and the king is a priest. There may be reference also to the plan of redemption, a plan of infinite wisdom, and Christ is called “Counsellor” (Isa_9:6). As in the creation of man, so was there consultation in his redemption. Peace is the grand result; harmony in the moral government of God, peace between God and man, and man and man. “On earth peace, goodwill toward men” [By the Author, from The Study, 1873].

CHRIST THE BUILDER OF THE TEMPLE.—Zec_6:13

The temple is not that of which Zerubbabel was the builder; but the spiritual temple, the house, the Church of God.

I. He drew the plan. The Divine Architect who made and beautified the world planned the structure of his house. Everything is specified and pre-ordained. Sects may scheme and build, but Christ alone can rear “the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.”

II. He collect the materials. For a material temple the stones are not naturally prepared. Solomon had to fell the timber and cut out the stones. Christ collects the living stones of this wonderful building.

1. He bought them. He shed his precious blood and “gave his life a ransom for many.”

2. He prepares them. He renews by his grace, forms and polishes them for their place in the building. “In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord.”

III. He unites the materials when collected. He assigns them their suitable position, and puts them together more firmly than any human being or human theory could “In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

IV. He employs others to help in this work. Christ is the sole builder, others are under-builders. Paul was “as a wise master-builder,” and “laid the foundation,” but he declared “another buildeth thereon.” Ministers are only assistant instruments, and cannot add a single stone without his aid. “He shall build,” and under his superintending care and by his Divine agency “the temple” shall be finished. In due time the head-stone shall be brought forth with shoutings of “Grace, grace unto it.”

CHRIST GLORIFIED AS THE BUILDER OF HIS CHURCH.—Zec_6:13

1. The first point is the temple. The temple is the Church of God, not in any narrow, sectarianism sense. Any company of Christian men gathered together in holy bonds of communion, for the purpose of receiving God’s ordinances and preaching God’s word, is a Church. All believers scattered throughout the world, all Churches gathered together from the one Universal Apostolic Church. Why is the Church called the temple of God? The temple was the special residence of God, the place of the clearest manifestation, and a place of worship. For these reasons the Church is said to be the temple of God.

2. The next is the builder of the temple. Make a parallel between Solomon, the builder of the first temple, and Christ, the builder of the Church. Solomon was wise, but needed instructions and a pattern. Christ is no Solomon in this respect. A mountain, Moriah, was ready made for the first temple; for the second, the foundation was laid in oaths, promises, and blood. Again, Christ excels Solomon in providing all the materials. He hews them himself, rough-casts them first, then during life polishes them till ready for the hill of God whereon the temple is built. In Solomon’s temple the stones were made ready in the quarries, and no sound of the hammer was heard; so we must be made meet for heaven. There will be no sanctifying there if not ready beforehand.

3. Pause and admire the glory of the builder. “He shall bear the glory.” Half his glory can never be told. Note first that the glory shall be a weighty glory. “They shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father’s house.” He shall have all the glory, all that can be conceived, desired, and imagined. This glory is continual glory. When shall his dominion become effete? He shall bear all the glory.

4. Now for the practical application. Are we built upon Christ? Can we say that we are a part of his temple, that his handiwork has been exhibited in us, and that we are built together with Christ? If so, honour God, for he has highly honoured you. Think that you might have been disgraced, abandoned, and cast away, but now made temples of the Holy Ghost! If no portion in Israel, if not stones in the spiritual temple, how sad never to be used in the building up of God’s Jerusalem! It may seem a slight thing to be left out of the muster-roll of the Church to-day, but will it seem a slight thing to be left out when Christ shall call for his people? When the list is read before the great white throne, and your name left out, then there will be no change, no deliverance. Submit now, and believe in Jesus Christ to-day [From Spurgeon].

HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES

Zec_6:9-12. First, the offerings of these people. We know little or nothing concerning the persons who brought the gold and silver, but God can touch the hearts of strangers and dispose all to contribute to his work. Second, the use of these offerings. They were accepted, though sent by some who perhaps preferred to remain severed from the temple and the people of God. They were used as a memorial in the crowns placed on the head of Joshua. “Every contribution toward the building up of the Church coming from a true heart was its memorial before God, and is a testimony before the world of the Divinity of the gospel” [Lange]. They were gladly received. “Come thou, the same day.” The people required speedy and great comfort, and no sooner were they prepared than the favours were ready (2Ch_29:36). God delays no blessing when we are earnest in his work.

Zec_6:12-13. The temple of the Lord. “Even he,” &c., constantly and confidently affirm and aver it, that notwithstanding all unlikelihood and unbelief on the people’s part, Almighty God will surely bring it to pass. This heap of words importeth so much, for “do ye think the Scripture speaketh in vain?” saith St. James, not without some holy indignation (Zec_4:5) [Trapp]. The Church of God is often set forth under the image of a temple. The allusion was peculiarly natural in a Jewish writer, considering the importance attached to the house of God in Jerusalem. The name is founded on three reasons. First, consecration. A temple is appropriated to sacred uses. The people of God are separated from the world and dedicated to his service. “The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.” Beware of profane mixtures, maintain your sacredness, and keep yourselves pure from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Secondly, residence. A mansion is a dwelling for a nobleman, a palace for a king, a temple for God. “Ye are the temple of the living God;” “I dwell in them, and walk in them.” He is everywhere, but in the Church by a special presence, in a way of grace, influence, and operation. This secures and dignifies it. “This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” What are numbers, fine buildings, or imposing ceremonies to communion with the living God? Thirdly, devotion. He is served and worshipped in them as a temple; he receives homage and adoration nowhere else according to his own requisition. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him,” &c. His worship, therefore, is a reasonable service; not gross, but spiritual sacrifices. Though prayers, praise, and alms are imperfect and defiled; yet they result from principle, aim at the glory of God, and being offered through the Mediator, and with his incense, they are accepted, and the worshipper has this testimony, that he pleases God [Jay].

HOMILETICS

JESUS UPON HIS THRONE.—Zec_6:13

A throne is, literally, the seat of a king, and therefore the emblem of royalty. Solomon’s throne was made of ivory and gold, so that “there was none like it in any kingdom.” But a greater than Solomon is here. A greater than angels, for unto “the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,” &c.

Yet how sublime and unrivalled! it is his throne; he has dearly earned it, and sees in it the travail of his soul. God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name. It is his by Divine ordination, and by the suffrage of his people. They are made willing in the day of his power, and avow his name only.

But many who ascend a throne can hardly be said to sit and rule there. They are hurled by violence, or drop by weakness, from it. If they continue on it for awhile they have little pleasure or repose; they are filled with fear and cares, and cannot do what they wish. In spite of the sovereign of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den. What a wretch is Ahab, king of Israel, who is sick, and can neither eat nor drink, because he cannot get a few feet of garden ground from a faithful subject. But Jesus “shall sit and rule upon his throne.” He will never be deposed, never die. Nothing can impede, nothing perplex him. He rules in the midst of enemies who shall be made his footstool. He will display wisdom and power in correcting their designs and making their efforts subserve his own purpose. Though his spiritual empire at present be limited, yet remember two things. First, his real dominion is universal. He is not only King of saints, but King of kings, and the King of nations; all creatures serve him. The treasures of grace, the elements of nature, and the dispensations of providence are his. He is the head over all things to the Church. Secondly, though his kingdom be limited, and subjects who obey him from the heart be few at present, it will not always be so, nor be so long. “He shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.” Yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him [Jay].

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Zec_6:15. Afar off. Distant nations, symbolized by those from captivity (Zec_6:9), shall be called. This was partially fulfilled in Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, and Herod, who greatly assisted in the temple work. But the conversion of the Gentiles is here set forth. They shall be united to Israel in faith and privilege, and the truth of prophecy shall be realized.

1. This event is certain. “This shall come to pass.”

2. The truth of the word will be proved when it does come to pass. “You shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me unto you.”

3. But it shall be fulfilled only to those who obey the word preached unto them. For “this shall come to pass if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.” To secure the favour of God we must obey, and diligently obey, him. This knowledge and experience depend upon individual faithfulness and effort.

4. Hence, though the performance of the promise be not suspended upon men’s conduct, yet neglect of duty may hinder its fulfilment. If men despise knowledge, stifle convictions, and reject the truth, Christ’s work will not profit them. By this means they bring “swift destruction” upon themselves, and not the blessings of the Messiah’s reign.

From the whole chapter, learn—

1. God’s cause shall be avenged even by his enemies. The messengers of earth and heaven shall alike fulfil his pleasure.

2. God’s cause shall be supported by his friends. “The silver and the gold are the Lord’s,” and these they will not fail to bestow where it is in their power to give; while God will graciously remember their works of faith and labours of love.

3. God’s cause shall be Iwnoured by the Mediator. All the purposes of eternal love are accomplished in him. To him belong dominion and glory, and on his head are many crowns. When the great events of his kingdom are consummated, then shall he become all in all” [Cobbin].

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 6

Zec_6:10-15. Prophets introduce gospel subjects. Zechariah, especially, in mystic vision and by typical representation, which yet are sufficiently clear, as expressive of the kingdom and priesthood of Christ, the establishment of the Christian Church, and the concourse of nations resorting to that future Temple. For here we have a second application of the same systematic form of prophecy which was employed in the establishment of the temporal kingdom. The nearer subject in each instance supplies the prophetic ground and the prophetic images for the future Christian subject. In the first instance, the kingdom of Christ is delineated in connection with, and by analogy to, the actual kingdom which was seen before men’s eyes rising to view; in the second instance, his personal priesthood and his Church are delineated in connection with, and by an equal analogy to, the priesthood and temple of the Hebrew Church, at the time when that priesthood was reinstated in its functions and that temple was rebuilt. This is an example of symbolic prediction founded upon the present scene of things [Davison on Prophecy].

Zec_6:12-13. The man. A man’s a man; but when you see a king you see the work of many thousand men [G. Eliot]. Throne. He was a king blessed of the King of kings [Shakespeare]. Kings ought to be kings in all things [Adrian].

Zec_6:15. Diligently. The expectations of life depend upon diligence, and the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools [Confucius]. What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first to do with diligence [Johnson]. Toil, feel, think, hope. A man is sure to dream enough before he dies without making arrangements for the purpose [Sterling].

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

The series of visions closes with a symbolical transaction, which is closely connected with the substance of the night-visions, and sets before the eye the figure of the mediator of salvation, who, as crowned high priest, or as priestly king, is to build the kingdom of God, and raise it into a victorious power over all the kingdoms of this world, for the purpose of comforting and strengthening the congregation. The transaction is the following: Zac 6:9. "And the word of Jehovah came to me thus: Zac 6:10. Take of the people of the captivity, of Cheldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedahyah, and go thou the same day, go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they have come from Babel; Zac 6:11. And take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jozadak the high priest." By the introduction, "The word of the Lord came to me," the following transaction is introduced as a procedure of symbolical importance. It is evident from Zac 6:10 and Zac 6:11 that messengers had come to Jerusalem from the Israelites who had been left behind in Babel, to offer presents of silver and gold, probably for supporting the erection of the temple, and had gone to the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. The prophet is to go to them, and to take silver and gold from them, to have a crown made for Joshua the high priest. The construction in Zac 6:10 and Zac 6:11 is somewhat broad and dragging. The object is wanting to the inf. absol. לקוח, which is used instead of the imperative; and the sentence which has been begun is interrupted by וּבאת וגו, so that the verb which stands at the head is resumed in the ולקחתּ of Zac 6:11, and the sentence finished by the introduction of the object. This view is the simplest one. For it is still more impracticable to take לקוח in an absolute sense, and either supply the object from the context, or force it out by alterations of the text (Hitzig). If, for example, we were to supply as the object, "that which they are bringing," this meaning would result: "accept what they are bringing, do not refuse it," without there being any ground for the assumption that there had been any unwillingness to accept the presents. The alteration of מחלדּי into מחמדּי, "my jewels," is destitute of any critical support, and מחלדּי is defended against critical caprice by the לחלם in Zac 6:14. Nor can מאת הגּולה be taken as the object to לקוח, "take (some) from the emigration," because this thought requires מן, and is irreconcilable with מאת, "from with." Haggōlâh, lit., the wandering into exile, then those who belong to the wandering, or to the exiled, not merely those who are still in exile, but very frequently also those who have returned from exile. This is the meaning here, as in Ezr 4:1; Ezr 6:19, etc. Mecheldai is an abbreviation for מאת חלדּי. Cheldai, Tobiyah, and Yedahyah, were the persons who had come from Babylon to bring the present. This is implied in the words אשׁר בּאוּ מב, whither they have come from Babel. אשׁר is an accus. loci, pointing back to בּית. We are not warranted in interpreting the names of these men symbolically or typically, either by the circumstance that the names have an appellative meaning, like all proper names in Hebrew, or by the fact that Cheldai is written Chēlem in Zac 6:14, and that instead of Josiah we have there apparently chēn. For chēn is not a proper name (see at Zac 6:14), and chēlem, i.e., strength, is not materially different from Cheldai, i.e., the enduring one; so that it is only a variation of the name, such as we often meet with. The definition "on that day" can only point back to the day mentioned in Zac 1:7, on which Zechariah saw the night-visions, so that it defines the chronological connection between this symbolical transaction and those night-visions. For, with the explanation given by C. B. Michaelis, "die isto quo scil. facere debes quae nunc mando," the definition of the time is unmeaning. If God had defined the day more precisely to the prophet in the vision, the prophet would have recorded it. Zechariah is to have given to him as much of the silver and gold which they have brought with them as is required to make ‛ătârōth. The plural ‛ătârōth does indeed apparently point to at least two crowns, say a silver and a golden one, as C. B. Michaelis and Hitzig suppose. But what follows cannot be made to harmonize with this. The prophet is to put the ‛ătârōth upon Joshua's head. But you do not put two or more crowns upon the head of one man; and the indifference with which Ewald, Hitzig, and Bunsen interpolate the words זרוּבבל וּבראשׁ after בּראשׁ, without the smallest critical authority, is condemned by the fact that in what follows only one wearer of a crown is spoken of, and in Zac 6:13, according to the correct interpretation, there is no "sharp distinction made between the priest and the Messiah." The plural ‛ătârōth denotes here one single splendid crown, consisting of several gold and silver twists wound together, or rising one above another, as in Job 31:36, and just as in Rev 19:12 (ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ διαδήματα πολλά) Christ is said to wear, not many separate diadems, but a crown consisting of several diadems twisted together, as the insignia of His regal dignity.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

THE CROWN UPON JOSHUA’S HEAD

Zec_6:9-15

A. The Symbolic Action; Crowns on Joshua (Zec_6:9-11). B. Its Meaning; The Branch a Priest and King (Zec_6:12-15)

9–10And the word of Jehovah came to me saying, Take7 from the exiles,8 from Cheldai, from Tobiah, and from Jedaiah, and go thou on that day, go9 into the 11house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah whither they have come from Babylon; And take silver and gold and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the 12son of Josedech, the high priest;10 And speak to him saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of Hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is Branch, and from his place he 13shall grow up,11 and build the temple of Jehovah. Even He12 shall build the temple of Jehovah, and He shall bear majesty, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 14And the crowns shall be to Chelem, and to Tobiah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen, the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. 15And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to you; and it will come to pass, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God—13

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Some interpreters consider what is here related as another vision, but manifestly without reason, since it has none of the peculiarities of the visions, is historical in its nature, and is introduced with the customary formula which denotes an ordinary communication from God, “the word of Jehovah came to me.” But while it is not one of the night visions, it is closely connected with them, as appears from the fact that it was given at the same time; that it resumes the principal feature of the most striking of the whole, namely, the fourth, by describing yet further the Branch; and that it stands in a close relation of contrast to the vision immediately preceding. That one set forth the severe judgments in store for all the foes of the theocracy. This symbolic action develops the other side of the great subject. The outlying heathen are not all to be destroyed or exterminated. On the contrary, they will one day cease their hostility to the covenant people, and even enter into cordial coöperation with them in building up and adorning the kingdom of God. This is simply a different form of the same thought given in the second chapter of Haggai, where we are told (Zec_6:7) that the desire (=desirable things) of all nations shall come, and the Lord will fill the house with glory. We have then here an historical appendix to the night visions, which brings out more clearly their main theme, and especially emphasizes the view that the heathen nations are not simply to be disarmed of their opposition, but made active helpers in the advancement of God’s kingdom and glory.

a. The Symbolic Action (Zec_6:9-11).

Zec_6:9. And the word, etc. Therefore this is not a vision.

Zec_6:10. Take from the exiles…from Babylon. The exiles is a term applied by Ezra (Ezr_4:1; Ezr_6:19) to the returned captives (Ezr_4:1; Ezr_6:19), but here evidently means those who were still in exile, and of whom the persons named as having come from Babylon, were representatives. Of these three persons and their host Josiah, we know nothing more than what the passage itself relates. Several interpreters (Jerome, Hengstenberg, Baumgarten), following the LXX., consider their names as significant, but there is nothing to require this here more than elsewhere, nor do the results thus obtained contribute anything to the proper understanding of the section. The E. V. makes אֲשֶׁר the subject of בָאוּ (Targum, Peshito, Vulgate, Luther, Henderson), but it is better to take it as an accusative of place, referring to the house of Josiah (Nordheimer, H. G., 902, 1 b.). So Hengstenberg, Köhler, Keil, etc. According to this view the three men are deputies from the Jews in Babylon, and the fourth was the host with whom they lodged in Jerusalem. On that day, the day mentioned (Zec_1:7).

Zec_6:11. Crowns. The plural which is repeated in Zec_6:14 must be significant, and represents, if not two distinct diadems, at least one composite crown of two or more parts, The former is the more natural (cf. Rev_19:12) and better suited to the connection which treats of the combination of two distinct offices in one person. Ewald, Hitzig, and Bunsen interpolate “and upon the head of Zerubbabel” after the words “high priest;” but for this there is no authority whatever, critical or exegetical.

b. The Explanation and Promise (Zec_6:12-15).

Zec_6:12-13 explain the meaning of the symbolical action just commanded.

Zec_6:12. And speak to him. Joshua of course would know that the regal function, so firmly fixed in the family of David, could not possibly be conferred upon him as an individual, and that therefore its insignia were placed upon his head typically. This is put beyond doubt by the address here made to him. Behold points to the Messiah as if he were present. He is called Branch as if it were a proper name, as appears not only by the lack of the article, but by the established usage of the earlier Prophets. See on Zec_3:8. Of this branch or sprout from the fallen trunk of David, it is said, from his place he will grow up. Some (LXX., Luther, Hitzig, Pressel, etc.) render this clause impersonally, “there will be sprouting or growth;” but this overlooks the מן in מִתַּחְתּיו, and besides, changes the subject without reason. Better is the view (Cocceius, Hengstenberg, Baumgarten, Keil, etc), that the Branch will grow up from his place (cf. Exo_10:23), i. e., from his own land and nation, not an exotic, but a genuine root-shoot from the native stock to which the promises had been made. Build the temple—not the earthly temple then in progress, for this was to be Completed by Zerubbabel (Zec_4:9); not a new and more glorious one of the same kind, for Zerubbabel’s temple was to be glorified in the Messianic times (Hag_2:7-9; Mal_3:1); but (Hengstenberg, Tholuck, Köhler) the spiritual temple of which the tabernacle and Solomon’s splendid edifice were only types, the holy house composed of living stones (Eph_2:21; 1Pe_2:5). Not a temple, but the temple,—one still in existence and always the same, but destined to an unprecedented exaltation by the Messiah. “The temple of God is one, namely, the Church of the saved, originating in the promise given in Paradise, and lasting to the end of the world “(Cocceius).

Zec_6:13. Even He shall build. The repetition is not useless, but emphatic, as the expressed pronoun shows. Even he, notwithstanding his lowliness of origin, shall accomplish this great work. Bear majesty, i. e., kingly glory and honor, for which חוֹר seems to be the proper and normal term (1Ch_29:25; Dan_11:21; Psa_21:5). Will sit and rule upon his throne. “The former denotes the possession of the honor and dignity of a king, the latter the actual exercise of royal authority” (Hengstenberg). The suffix in “his throne” refers not to Jehovah (Vitringa), which is too remote, but to the Branch himself, as is shown by the recurrence of the word in the next clause. And will be a priest. Ewald and Hitzig render, “there will be a priest upon,” etc., which s both arbitrary and unmeaning. Nearly all interpreters, ancient and modern, render as in the text, and understand the clause to mean, that the Branch would be both king and high priest on one and the same throne. Between them both. Not the Branch and Jehovah (Cocceius, Vitringa), nor the Branch and an ideal priest (Ewald, Bunsen), nor the royal and the priestly offices (Rosenmüller, Hengstenberg, etc.); but the king and the priest who sit upon the throne, united in one person, the Branch (Hengstenberg, Umbreit, Köhler). Upon this view, the counsel of peace cannot mean perfect harmony, for that would be a matter of course—yet Jerome, Michaelis, Maurer, and Hengstenberg favor this view,—but is a counsel which aims at or results in peace, like “the chastisement of our peace” in Isa_53:5, i. e., which has for its object our peace. The sense, then, is that the Branch, uniting in himself royalty and priesthood, will take such counsel as shall result in peace and salvation for the covenant people.

Zec_6:14-15. The Prophet having explained the meaning of Joshua’s coronation, now proceeds to give the reason why the silver and gold of which the crowns were composed, were to he obtained from the messengers of the Jews who lived at a distance from their native land.

Zec_6:14. And the crowns shall be. The crowns, after having been placed upon the head of Joshua, were not to become his personal property, but to be preserved in the temple as a memorial of the deputies from Babylon. The names of these persons are the same as those given in Zec_6:10, except the first and last; Helem standing for Heldiah, and Hen for Josiah. In the former case the two names are so nearly alike that there is a general agreement in the view which refers them to the same person, and considers the variation as a copyist’s error. In the latter, Keil and Köhler render the second name as an appellative noun with the sense of favor, and consider it a record of the gracious hospitality which the son of Zephaniah had shown to the deputies from Babylon. But this is certainly artificial, and it is better to assume that Josiah had this additional name. The object of depositing the crowns in the temple was not simply to do honor to the liberality of the contributors from Babylon, but also to extend the typical significance of the whole proceeding. These men, sending from afar their gifts for the house of God, were types of many who would one day come from heathen lands and help to build the temple of the Lord.

Zec_6:15. And they that are afar off. A manifest prediction that distant strangers should actively participate in setting up the kingdom of God. And ye shall know, etc. The occurrence of this result would be a proof of the divine origin of what is here predicted in word and deed. The last clause, and it will.…your God, is considered by Hengstenberg and Henderson as an aposiopesis, If ye will hearken, then—. This certainly gives an emphatic and spirited close to the prophecy, and grammatically agrees better with the form of the original than the supposition that a pronoun has been omitted as the subject of וְהָיהָ. The suppressed apodosis of course is, ye shall participate in all the blessings which the Branch is to secure. For other instances of aposiopesis, see Gen_31:42; Gen_50:15 (in Hebrew), and the very striking instance (Psa_27:13). The question, whether Zechariah really performed the symbolical action here enjoined, is left undecided by some (Hengstenberg, Keil), but there seems little reason to doubt that he did, since the crown was to be hung up in the temple as a memorial.

THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL

1. The favorite designation of the Messiah, Branch, reappears, with a considerable amplification of its meaning. An elaborate and costly double crown is placed upon the head of Joshua as the type of one who is merely a slender sprout or root-shoot, which grows up out of its own place. This was exactly true of the historical Christ. He did not descend from heaven in visible glory and greatness. He was not born in the purple, nor waited upon by princes and nobles. He did not enter our world with any show or pomp such as his deluded countrymen expected; but, although a lineal heir of David and able to trace his ancestry back to Abraham, he sprang from a decayed family and had a manger for his first resting-place. The Davidic trunk had fallen, and this was a mere sucker growing out of one of the upturned roots. Heaven indeed took notice of the event by the Star in the east, the visit of the Magi, and the songs of the Angels; but the world at large knew little and cared less about the birth at Bethlehem. After the same pattern was his further development. He grew up out of his place in lowly humiliation. For thirty years his home was in Galilee, in the house of a humble carpenter, and during all that time he was known simply as a reputable youth in a country village. An apocryphal Gospel tells marvelous stories of his infancy, but these are pure inventions. The man Christ Jesus grew up as a root out of a dry ground. And even after He commenced his ministry, and did such works as no other man did, and spoke as no other man spake, He was still but a Branch. Crowds at times gathered around Him, but in all cases they soon fell away. In general He was despised and rejected of men. This continued during his life, was especially marked in the circumstances of his death, and even long afterwards characterized his memory, since one of the best Procurators of Judæa could speak of Him as “one Jesus” (Act_25:19); and a century later the most illustrious14 of Roman historians knew of him only as the author of a pernicious superstition who himself had deservedly died a felon’s death. Yet this neglected and forgotten Branch was to accomplish some wonderful things.

2. One of these was to build the Temple of the Lord. His type, Joshua, was busily engaged in forwarding the erection of the new structure on Moriah, and that edifice, by successive additions in a long course of years, became a most stately and magnificent pile. But it was a far nobler building to which the Branch applied himself, one which was truly a habitation of God through the Spirit, one composed of living stones. The glory of the Temple at Jerusalem was that there the Most High manifested his presence; and all beauty of form and grace of ornamentation was valued only in so far as it rendered the house fit for the residence of God. Now the true temple, the spiritual house, is the actual dwelling-place of Jehovah, where He displays the fact, not by signs or symbols, not by a material Shekinah, but by the graces of his Spirit inwrought in the hearts and manifested in the lives of his people. He dwells not merely among them as a whole, but in each particular member. Ubi Spiritus, ibi ecclesia. These members vary widely in other respects, but they are all alike characterized by the indwelling of the Spirit, the source of their life and the bond of their connection with Christ, the head. Now it is this living temple which the Branch builds. He is, according to the common Scripture metaphor, the foundation, the corner-stone; but here he appears as builder. Sending forth his servants he began and still continues the work, collecting, shaping, and laying the materials, until already an innumerable multitude have been framed into such a structure as earth never saw before. The Church on earth has many imperfections, yet after allowing for all these, it is still a coetus Sanctorum, a civitas Dei, a holy temple in the Lord; and it bears witness in every part to the grace and skill of its great Founder. He, only He, did build, could build such a glorious edifice.

3. The source of his power and success is indicated in the very peculiar functions assigned to Him in the text. He is a priest upon his throne,—a combination wholly strange to the experience of the covenant people, and heretofore known to them only in the dim tradition from patriarchal days, of the mysterious Melchisedek who was at once king of Salem and a priest of the most high God. In the Branch, the Aaronic line and the Davidic line should both culminate. He should fulfill the highest ideal of each. As the one, real, atoning priest, he was to attain all ἐξουσίαν for the forgiveness of sins and the removal of guilt; and as the one, real, reigning king, he was to exercise all δύναμιν for the inward support and outward protection of his people. The two functions coincided in extent and object. Those for whom the priest offered and interceded, were the very parties over whom the king extended his beneficent reign. This counsel between the two offices, this harmony of aim and purpose, cannot but insure peace=the highest good, temporal and spiritual, of his people. The combination of right and power is irresistible. So it has been in all the past; so it will be in all the future. This man hath an unchangeable priesthood, and his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Heb_7:24; Dan_7:14). We can see the value of this combination more clearly by considering the consequences, if either function stood alone. Of what avail would be the pardon of sin, if there were no security against its recurrence and dominion in the future? The wiping out of the old score would simply make room for a new one. On the other hand, of what use would be the mastery of all concupiscence for the present and all time to come, so long as no provision was made for the arrearages of former transgression and guilt? The burden of the past would only be the more intolerable as its enormity would be the more clearly discerned and felt. We need a Priest and a King, and, blessed be God, we have them, with a resulting counsel of peace.

4. The calling of the Gentiles belongs to the building of the ideal temple. This is set forth typically by taking materials from Babylon for the double crown to be placed upon Joshua, and directly by the declaration that they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord. This very expression the Apostle Paul uses to designate the Gentile Ephesians (Eph_2:17), “you that are far off.” Zechariah faithfully echoes the words of all his predecessors as to the extent of the final dispensation of grace. The universality indicated in the first promise, and clearly expressed in the oft-repeated covenant with Abraham, was never lost sight of. Even amid the narrow restrictions and close lines of Judaism there were significant intimations that the barriers of race were only incidental and temporary (see on Zec_2:11), and that one day the light and life of Zion should extend to the ends of the earth. Just as Isaiah (Isa_60:2; Isa_60:6; Isa_60:9) sets forth the future triumph of the Gospel by representing huge caravans as journeying toward Zion, and the ships of Tarshish as engaged in transporting the sons of strangers thither with their silver and their gold, so our Prophet expresses the same truth by depicting the far-off nations as builders in the temple. As living stones they come, and insert themselves in the sacred edifice, being built upon “Jesus Christ Himself, in whom the whole building groweth into an holy temple in the Lord.” And not only that, but under the master-builder, they are the means of gathering others, and so lifting yet higher the walls of that spiritual house which is the temple of the living God. The chief upholders to-day of heathen evangelization are nations farthest off from the old seat of the theocracy.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Moore: The history of the world is arranged in reference to the destinies of the Church; and the agencies that control that history go forth from the seat of the Church’s great head, the unseen temple. Political changes are after all only the moving of the shadow on the earthly dial-plate that marks the mightier revolutions going forward in the heavens.

Bradley: The temple of Jehovah. If God so loves his Church as to call it his house, to dwell in it and delight in it; if He deems it so sacred as to call it his temple; if He sees so much grandeur and beauty in it as to speak of its glory; surely, we may find in it something to love, something to delight in, something to revere and admire.…He shall build. Christ is the builder. (1.) He forms the plan. (2.) He prepares the materials. (3.) He joins the materials together.

Jay: The temple is the Church of God. His people, therefore, should remember that all they have and all they are is the Lord’s; and that to take anything pertaining to a temple is not only robbery but sacrilege.…. Christ is the sole real builder. All others build only as instruments. Even Paul and Apollos were only ministers by whom men believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. Too often men are insensible of this, and begin like Melancthon, who supposed in his fervor that he should convert all who heard him.

Pressel: Every contribution toward the building up of the Church, coming from a true heart, has its memorial before God, and as a testimony before the world of the divinity of the Gospel.…The slowness of the far-off nations to enter into the kingdom of Christ, is due not so much to the hardness of their hearts as to the feeble attention of Christians to the voice of their God and Saviour.

Footnotes:

[7]Zec_6:10.—The infin. absol. לָקוֹחַ, used for the imperative, has no object, and is therefore to be considered as resumed in the לָקַחְתָּ of Zec_6:11. This requires us to view the latter half of Zec_6:10 as a parenthesis, which, as Pressel says, “is somewhat harsh but not harsher than we often find even in German” or in English.

[8]Zec_6:10.—גוֹלה, abstract for concrete=the exiles.

[9]Zec_6:10.—The repetition of בָאתָ is one of the eases which have subjected Zechariah’s style to the charge of being heavy and dragging.

[10]Zec_6:11.—This is noted by the Masorites as one of the twenty-six verses, each of which contains all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

[11]Zec_6:12.—יִצמַח—צֶמַח. Observe the paronomasia: “a sprout will sprout up.”

[12]Zec_6:13.—The first word is very emphatic, Even He and not another. So in the next clause, and He.

[13]Zec_6:15.—The aposiopesis is striking (cf. Luk_13:9), “And if it bear fruit—; and if not, then,” etc.

[14]Tacitus.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE RESULT OF THE VISIONS: THE CROWNING OF THE KING OF ISRAEL

Zec_6:9-15

The heathen being overthrown, Israel is free, and may have her king again. Therefore Zechariah is ordered-it would appear on the same day as that on which he received the Visions-to visit a certain deputation from the captivity in Babylon, Heldai, Tobiyah and Yedayah, at the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have just arrived; and to select from the gifts they have brought enough silver and gold to make circlets for a crown. The present text assigns this crown to Joshua, the high priest, but as we have already remarked, and will presently prove in the notes to the translation, the original text assigned it to Zerubbabel, the civil head of the community, and gave Joshua, the priest, a place at his right hand-the two to act in perfect concord with each other. The text has suffered some other injuries, which it is easy to amend; and the end of it has been broken off in the middle of a sentence.

"And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying: Take from the Golah, from Heldai and from Tobiyah and from Yedayah; and do thou go on the same day, yea, go thou to the house of Yosiyahu, son of Sephanyah, whither they have arrived from Babylon. And thou shalt take silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of And say to him: Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, Lo! a man called Branch; from his roots shall a branch come, and he shall build the Temple of Jehovah. Yea, he shall build Jehovah s Temple, and he shall wear the royal majesty and sit and rule upon his throne, and Joshua shall be priest on his right hand, and there will be a counsel of peace between the two of them. And the crown shall be for Heldai and Tobiyah and Yedayah, and for the courtesy of the son of Sephanyah, for a memorial in the Temple of Jehovah. And the faraway shall come and build at the Temple of Jehovah, and ye shall know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to you; and it shall be if ye hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God."

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

6:9-15 This authoritative message accompanies Zechariah’s eighth vision (6:1-8). Jeshua’s symbolic coronation as both king and priest was not an actual political arrangement for Judah; it probably symbolizes the coming of the Messiah, the Branch (6:12; cp. 3:8).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

God did not only at sundry times, but in divers manners, speak in time past by the prophets to his church. In the former part of this chapter he spoke by a vision, which only the prophet himself saw; here, in this latter part, he speaks by a sign, or type, which many saw, and which, as it was explained, was an illustrious prediction of the Messiah as the priest and king of his church. Here is,

I. The significant ceremony which God appointed, and that was the coronation of Joshua the high priest, Zac 6:10, Zac 6:11. It is observable that there should be two eminent types of Christ in the Old Testament that were both named Joshua (the same name with Jesus, and by the Septuagint, and in the New Testament, rendered Jesus, Act 7:45) - Joshua the chief captain, a type of Christ the captain of our salvation, and Joshua the chief priest, a type of Christ the high priest of our profession, and both in their day saviours and leaders into Canaan. And this is peculiar to Joshua the high priest, that here was something done to him by the divine appointment on purpose that he might be a type of Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both a king and a priest. Joshua was far from being ambitious of a crown, and the people of having a crowned head over them; but the prophet, to the great surprise of both, is ordered to crown Joshua as if he had been a king. And, as Zerubbabel's prudence and piety kept this from being any affront to him (as the setting up of a rival with him), so God's providence kept the kings of Persia from taking umbrage at it, as raising a rebellion against them. In doing what we are sure is God's pleasure, as this was, we may well venture men's displeasure. 1. Here were some Jews come from Babylon that brought an offering to the house of God, some of the captivity, here named to their honour, that came from Babylon on a visit to Jerusalem. They ought to have bidden a final farewell to Babylon, and to have come and settled with their brethren in their own land, and for their remissness and indifference in not doing so they thought to atone by this visit. Perhaps they came as ambassadors from the body of the Jews that were in Babylon, who lived there in ease and fulness; and, hearing that the building of the temple went on slowly for want of money, they sent them with an offering of gold and silver for the service of the house of God. Note, Those that by reason of distance, or otherwise, cannot forward a good work by their persons, must, as they are able, forward it by their purses; if some find hands, let others fill them. 2. Time and place are appointed for the prophet to meet them. They thought to bring their present to the priest, God's ordinary minister; but God has a prophet, an extraordinary one, ready to receive them and it, which would be an encouragement to them, who, in their captivity, had so often complained, We see not our signs, there is no more any prophet, and would invite them and others to re-settle in their own land, which then began to look like itself, like a holy land, when the Spirit of prophecy was revived in it. Zechariah was ordered to give them the meeting the same day they came (for when they had arrived they would lose no time, but present their offering immediately), and to bid them welcome, assuring them that God now accepted their gifts. He was to meet them in the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, who probably was receiver-general for the temple, and kept the treasures of it. They brought their gold and silver, to be employed about the temple, but God ordered it to be used in honour of One greater than the temple, Mat 12:6. 3. Crowns are to be made, and put upon the head of Joshua, Zac 6:11. It is supposed that there were two crowns provided, one of silver and the other of gold; the former (as some think) denoting his priestly dignity, the latter his kingly dignity. Or, rather, he being a priest already, and having a crown of gold, of pure gold, already, to signify his honour and power as a priest, these crowns of silver and gold both signify the royal dignity, the crown of silver being perhaps designed to typify the kingdom of the Messiah when he was here on earth, for then he was the King of Israel (Joh 1:49), but the crown of gold his kingdom in his exalted state, the glory of which as far exceeded that of the former as gold does silver. The sun shines as gold, when he goes forth in his strength; and the beams of the moon, when she walks in brightness, we call silver beams. Those that had worshipped the sun and moon shall now fall down before the golden and silver crowns of the exalted Redeemer, before whom the sun shall be ashamed and the moon confounded, being both out-shone.

II. The signification which God gave of this ceremony. Every one would be ready to ask, "What is the meaning of Joshua's being crowned thus?" And the prophet is as ready to tell them the meaning of it. Upon this speaking sign is grafted a prediction, and the sign was used to make it the more taken notice of and the better remembered. Now the promise is,

1. That God will, in the fulness of time, raise up a great high priest, like Joshua. Tell Joshua that he is but the figure of one that is to come, a faint shadow of him (Zac 6:12): Speak unto him in the name of the Lord of hosts, that the man whose name is The BRANCH shall grow up out of his place, out of Bethlehem the city of David, the place appointed for his birth; though the family be a root in a dry ground, yet this branch shall spring out of it, as in the spring, when the sun returns, the flowers spring out of the roots, in which they lay buried out of sight and out of mind. He shall grow up for himself (so some read it) propria virtute - by his own vital energy, shall be exalted in his own strength.

2. That, as Joshua was an active useful instrument in building the temple, so the man, the branch, shall be the master-builder, the sole builder of the spiritual temple, the gospel-church. He shall build the temple of the Lord; and it is repeated (Zac 6:13), Even he shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall grow up to do good, to be an instrument of God's glory and a great blessing to mankind. Note, The gospel-church is the temple of the Lord, a spiritual house (Pe1 2:5), a holy temple, Eph 2:21. In the temple God made discoveries of himself to his people, and there he received the service and homage of his people; so, in the gospel-church, the light of divine revelation shines by the word, and the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise are offered. Now Christ is not only the foundation, but the founder, of this temple, by his Spirit and grace.

3. That Christ shall bear the glory. Glory is a burden, but not too heavy for him to bear who upholds all things. The cross was his glory, and he bore that; so was the crown an exceeding weight of glory, and he bears that. The government is upon his shoulders, and in it he bears the glory, Isa 9:6. They shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father's house, Isa 22:24. It becomes him, and he is par negotio - well able to bear it. The glory of the priesthood and royalty had been divided between the house of Aaron and that of David; but now he alone shall bear all the glory of both. That which he shall bear, which he shall undertake, shall be indeed the glory of Israel; and they must wait for that, and, in prospect of it, must be content in the want of that external glory which they formerly had. He shall bear such a glory as shall make the glory of this latter house greater than that of the former. He shall lift up the glory (so it may be read); the glory of Israel had been thrown down and depressed, but he shall raise it out of the dust.

4. That he shall have a throne, and be both priest and king upon his throne. A throne denotes both dignity and dominion, an exalted honour with an extensive power. (1.) This priest shall be a king, and his office as a priest shall be no diminution to his dignity as a king: He shall sit and rule upon his throne. Christ, as a priest, ever lives to make intercession for us; but he does it sitting at his Father's right hand, as one having authority, Heb 8:1. We have such a high priest as Israel never had, for he is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, which puts a prevailing virtue into his mediation; he that appears for us within the veil is one that sits and rules there. Christ, who is ordained to offer sacrifices for us, is authorized to give law to us. He will not save us unless we be willing that he should govern us. God has prepared him a throne in the heavens; and, if we would have any benefit by that, we must prepare him a throne in our hearts, and be willing and glad that he should sit and rule upon that throne; and to him every thought within us must be brought into obedience. (2.) This king shall be a priest, a priest upon his throne. With the majesty and power of a king, he shall have the tenderness and simplicity of a priest, who, being taken from among men, is ordained for men, and can have compassion on the ignorant, Heb 5:1, Heb 5:2. In all the acts of his government as a king he prosecutes the intentions of his grace as a priest. Let not therefore those that are his look upon his throne, though a throne of glory and a throne of judgment, with terror and amazement; for, as there is a rainbow about the throne, so he is a priest upon the throne.

5. That the counsel of peace shall be between them both. That is, (1.) Between Jehovah and the man the branch, between the Father and the Son; the counsels concerning the peace to be made between God and man, by the mediation of Christ, shall be concerted (that is, shall appear to have been concerted) by Infinite Wisdom in the covenant of redemption; the Father and the Son understood one another perfectly well in that matter. Or, rather, (2.) Between the priest and the throne, between the priestly and kingly office of Jesus Christ. The man the branch must grow up to carry on a counsel of peace, peace on earth, and, in order to that, peace with heaven. God's thoughts towards us were thoughts of peace, and, in prosecution of them, he exalted his Son Christ Jesus to be both a prince and a Saviour; he gave him a throne, but with this proviso, that he should be a priest upon his throne, and by executing the two offices of a priest and king should bring about that great undertaking of man's reconciliation to God and happiness in God. Some think it alludes to the former government of the Jews' state, wherein the king and priest, separate officers, did take counsel one with another, for the maintenance of peace and prosperity in church and state, as did Zerubbabel and Joshua now. I may add, the prophets of God helping them. So shall the peace and welfare of the gospel-church, and of all believers, be wrought, though not by two separate persons, yet by virtue of two separate offices meeting in one - Christ purchasing all peace by his priesthood and maintaining and defending it by his kingdom; so Mr. Pemble. And his prophetic office is serviceable to both in this great design.

6. That there shall be a happy coalition between Jews and Gentiles in the gospel-church, and they shall both meet in Christ, the priest upon his throne, as the centre of their unity (Zac 6:15): Those that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord. Some understand it of the Jews that were now afar off in Babylon, that staid behind in captivity, to the great discouragement of their brethren that had returned, who wanted their help in building the temple. Now God promises that many of them, and some of other nations too, proselyted to the Jewish religion, should come in, and lend a helping hand to the building of the temple, and many hands would make light work. The kings of Persia contributed to the building of the temple (Ezr 6:8) and the furnishing of it, Ezr 7:19, Ezr 7:20. And, in after-times, Herod the Great, and others that were strangers, helped to beautify and enrich the temple. But it has a further reference to that temple of the Lord which the man the branch was to build. The Gentiles, strangers afar off, shall help to build it, for from among them God will raise up ministers that shall be workers together with Christ about that building; and all the Gentile converts shall be stones added to this building, so that it shall grow up to a holy temple, Eph 2:20-22. When God's temple is to be built he can fetch in those that are afar off and employ them in the building of it.

7. That the accomplishment of this will be a strong confirmation of the truth of God's word: You shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. That promise, that those that were afar off should come and assist them in building the temple of the Lord, was as it were the giving of them a sign; by this they might be assured that the other promises should be fulfilled in due time. This should be fulfilled now very speedily; it was so, for those that had been their enemies and accusers, in obedience to the king's edict, became their helpers and did speedily what they were ordered to do for the furtherance of the work, and by that means the work went on and was finished; see Ezr 6:13, Ezr 6:14. Now, by this surprising assistance which they had from afar off in building the temple, they might know that Zechariah, who told them of it before, was sent of God, and that therefore his word concerning the man the branch should be fulfilled.

8. That these promises were strong obligations to obedience: "For this shall come to pass (you shall have help in building the temple) if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. You shall have the help of foreigners in building the temple, if you will but set about it in good earnest yourselves." The assistance of others, instead of being an excuse for our slothfulness, should be a spur to our industry. "You shall have the benefit and comfort of all those promises if you make conscience of your duty." They must know that they are upon their good behaviour; and, though their God is coming towards them in a way of mercy, they cannot expect him to proceed in it unless they conform to his laws. Note, That which God requires of us, to qualify us for his favour, is obedience to his revealed will; and it must be a diligent obedience. We cannot obey the voice of God without a great deal of care and pains, nor will our obedience be accepted of God unless it be laboured by us.

III. The provision that was made to preserve the remembrance of this. The crowns that were used in this solemnity were not given to Joshua, but must be kept for a memorial in the temple of the Lord, Zac 6:14. Either they were laid up in the temple treasury or (as the Jews' tradition is) they were hung up in the windows of the temple, in the view of all, in perpetuam rei memoriam - for a perpetual memorial, for a traditional evidence of the promise of the Messiah and this typical transaction used for the confirmation of that promise. The crowns were delivered to those who found the materials (and some think their names were engraven on the crowns), to be preserved as a public testimony of their pious liberality and an encouragement to others in like manner to bring presents to the house of God. Note, Various means were used for the support of the faith of the Old Testament saints, who waited for the consolation of Israel, till the time, the set time, for it came.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This vision was given to Zechariah that he might inspire weak minds with better hope; for the Jews found that they were hardly pressed on every side by their neighbors, inasmuch as enemies rose up against them before and behind, so that there was no end to their troubles. Hence they who had returned from exile thought themselves wretched in such a state of things. They might indeed have lived in quietness among the Babylonians, and they had become accustomed to that kind of life, so that exile was not so very grievous to them. Thus then the favor of God was turned unto loathing, and was almost hated by them; for they thought it better to be deprived of their country, than to be daily exposed to new assaults. And further, the possession of the land was not of itself desirable, except with reference to the hope given them; that is, because God had promised by his Prophets that the kingdom of David would again be made glorious, and also that the grandeur and glory of the temple would be greater than ever before. When the Jews found themselves continually harassed by their enemies, they thought that all that had been promised was in vain. There is therefore no doubt but that many complaints and many clamors were everywhere raised. Hence that they might cease thus to murmur against God, this vision was given to the Prophet, in which he is bid to take silver and gold from four men, and to make two crowns to be set on the head of Joshua the high priest. The design was to make the Jews to feel assured, that the state of the people would be as safe as it was formerly, when the kingly office and the priesthood flourished: for these were the chief ornaments, or the two eyes, as it were, of the body — the priest, a mediator between God and men — and the king, sustaining the person of God in governing the people.

We hence see that by the two crowns is set forth the restoration of the Church: but we must also observe that the two crowns are placed on the head of Joshua, which was new and unusual. A mitre, we know, was given to the priests; and we know also that kings were adorned with a diadem; but no one individual was to wear a royal diadem and a sacerdotal mitre. Here then we find a union of royalty and priesthood in the same person, which had never before been the case; for God had in his law made a distinction between the two offices. We hence see that something unknown before is set forth by this prophecy, even this, that the same person would be both a king and a priest. For what Jerome says, among other things, that there might have been many crowns, is weak and frivolous; and further, he contradicts the words of the Prophet; for shortly after he subjoins, that there would be a counsel of peace between the two; that is, between royalty and priesthood. As to what the same author thinks, that there was one crown given to the high priest, it is also false; besides, he subverts as far as he can the whole doctrine of the Prophet. But I leave these trifles; for there is no ambiguity in Zechariah’s words when he says, that God commanded him to take silver and gold, that he might make two crowns to set on the head of the high priest. We now perceive the design of the Prophet as to the object of the prophecy, and also the meaning of the words.

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.

9. came unto me] There is no note of time. It may well have been shortly after the night on which Zechariah saw the visions, or the day on which he told them to the people.

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.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Either "the word of prophecy from the Lord", as the Targum paraphrases it; the visions being ended, the prophetic part of the book begins; and many excellent prophecies concerning the Messiah, and his kingdom, are contained in this and the following chapters: or an order from the Lord, which is expressed in the next verses Zac 6:10.

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Zechariah 6:10

zac 6:10

zac 6:10

zac 6:10Take of "them of" the captivity,.... That is, some of them that were returned from the captivity of Babylon, and who are mentioned by name:

even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon; either with Zerubbabel and Joshua, when they came from thence; or who were now just come from those that remained there:

and come thou the same day; this very day in which they were come from thence:

and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; where the above persons were; or where they were to go along with him: this Josiah might be either a goldsmith, and therefore the prophet is sent to him to make the crowns later mentioned; or else he might be a treasurer belonging to the temple, who had gold and silver in his hands, which had been put there for the use of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And the word of the Lord came to me - The visions being closed, Zechariah marks the change by adopting the usual formula, with which the prophets authenticated, that they spake not of themselves, but by the Spirit of God. The act enjoined is a symbolic act, pointing and summing up and interpreting the visions, as some of the visions had been already expanded by fresh revelations following immediately upon them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And: it appears not that this next thing hath any necessary connexion to that which the prophet last saw.

The word; the direction or command for the prophet to do something out of hand.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

THE SYMBOLICAL CROWNING OF JOSHUA, THE HIGH PRIEST, 9-15.

The series of symbolical visions is followed by a command to perform a symbolical act, which is so closely connected with the preceding visions that it seems best to consider this section a sort of appendix to them. The prophet is urged to adorn the high priest Joshua with a crown made of the silver and gold sent by the exiles from Babylon, and to proclaim him the type of “Branch,” who is about to appear in order to complete the temple and to rule over the people. His fame will spread quickly, and those that are afar off will come and join in the building enterprise.

9. The word of Jehovah came — Perhaps during the same night. How it came is not stated, perhaps through the interpreting angel.

Zec_6:10-15 state the contents of the word. That the command was carried out is not stated, but there is no reason why it should not have been.

Of them of the captivity — Literally, of the captivity. Of the exiles still dwelling in Babylon, who through the men named, Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, otherwise unknown, sent their gifts to the temple (compare Ezr_7:14-16; Ezr_8:26-30).

The same day — The day belonging to the night in which the revelation came (see on Zec_1:8), equivalent to this very day. According to the present Hebrew text these men were lodging in the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where the prophet is to meet them. The Hebrew text of 10b is very cumbersome, hence many consider it corrupt. Nowack suggests as an emendation, partly on the basis of Zec_6:14 and partly in order to retain the common meaning of the relative translated whither, “Take… of Heldai, and of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, and of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, who are come from Babylon.” The result is a smoother text.

11. Then take — R.V., “yea, take of them.” Of the men named the prophet is to take the gifts of silver and gold which they have brought.

Make — Cause to be made (Exo_25:11 ff).

Crowns — Margin R.V. reads the singular, “a crown.” The pronoun them which follows is not expressed in the Hebrew; it would be just as legitimate to supply the singular it. Since only one person is crowned, since a crowning of one person with two crowns seems unnatural, and since the verb “shall be” in Zec_6:14, which belongs to “the crowns,” is in the singular, it is better to follow the margin (compare Job_31:36). The plural may indicate that the crown is to be composed of two or more circlets, perhaps one of gold and one of silver.

Joshua — The same as in Zec_3:1 (compare Hag_1:1). Upon his head the crown is to be placed.

The action is explained in Zec_6:12.

Behold the man whose name is The Branch — The last word is without the article in the Hebrew (see on Zec_3:8), hence Branch is to be regarded as a proper name. It is impossible to identify Branch with the high priest. The context (compare also Zec_3:8; Zec_4:7) makes the latter only a type of the former, and in the succeeding clauses attention is called to the antitype, not to the type.

And he — Branch.

Shall grow up out of his place — Literally, from under him; margin R.V., “and it (or, they; the indefinite subject=things, everything) shall grow up (bud forth) under him,” that is, under Branch. An obscure expression. The first translation presents the greater difficulties; indeed, no satisfactory explanation has been offered. It is hardly sufficient to say, “compare for the meaning Isa_11:1; Isa_53:2,” for the expressions there are of a different character. It is equally difficult to get from the words the idea that Branch will “grow up from the ground out of obscure lowliness.” The translation offered in the margin is more satisfactory. The influence of Branch will be beneficial, and under his reign everything will revive and flourish. The promise of prosperity in the Messianic age is one found frequently in the prophetic books (compare Hos_2:21-22; Amo_9:13; compare Zec_1:17; Zec_2:1 ff.).

And he — Branch.

Shall build the temple of Jehovah — There is no warrant anywhere for making this temple the spiritual temple, the kingdom of God, as distinguished from the temple in Jerusalem, in the building of which Haggai and Zechariah are so deeply interested. The temple mentioned here is no other than the temple of Zec_4:7.

In Zec_6:13 the promise is repeated for the sake of emphasis.

He shall bear the glory — Of royalty. He will be clothed with regal majesty and splendor (compare Isa_9:6); he will, indeed, sit on the throne and rule as king.

He shall be a priest upon his throne — Margin R.V., “there shall be a priest upon his throne.” The former translation implies that Branch will combine in his person the priestly and kingly offices; the latter simply says that at the time when Branch will rule as king there will also be enthroned a priest, either upon a separate throne or upon the same throne with the ruler. The latter is supported by LXX., which reads “at his right hand” for “upon his throne.” The Hebrew permits either translation. Against the second it has been urged that if the high priest is a type of Branch he cannot very well typify a second person, who is to fill his own office. But this objection is by no means conclusive; besides, it is not necessary to think of Joshua as the type of the new high priest. If Zerubbabel is Branch (see below), it is quite probable that Joshua himself is in the mind of the prophet as occupying the high-priestly office in the Messianic era. This is in perfect accord with the teaching of Zechariah elsewhere; he always places Joshua by the side of Zerubbabel; nowhere does he give any hint that the one will supersede the other. To bring out the thought more clearly some insert “Joshua” as the subject: “and Joshua shall be a priest upon his throne,” or “by his side” (LXX.). On the whole, the marginal translation seems preferable. The last clause certainly favors the view that two distinct persons are meant.

And the counsel of peace — There will be peace and harmony between priest and king and they will plan together to promote the peace of the community.

Between them both — Between priest and king. Those who think that Branch is both king and priest interpret both of the two offices. In the past they have been apart, in Branch they will be united in one person, and between the two offices, which apparently pursue different ends, there will be perfect agreement, and both will labor for the same end. This interpretation, however, is less natural. In Psalm cx the Messianic king is represented as combining in his own person the kingly and priestly offices, but this thought seems foreign to Zechariah. Another interpretation makes “between them both” refer to the union between Jehovah and Branch, but this also is unsuitable.

It is not necessary to enumerate the many emendations that have been suggested, for they are not needed, nor do they improve the text. Here, as in Zec_3:8, Branch must be Zerubbabel, for the task assigned to both is the building of the temple (compare Zec_4:7 ff.). In what sense this and similar passages find their fulfillment in Jesus the Christ is pointed out in the comments on Mic_4:1-5, and at the close of the comments on Mic_5:15. The question may be raised, however, why the crown was not placed upon the head of Zerubbabel, if Zechariah saw in him the Messianic king. The most probable explanation is that the crowning of the civil ruler would have aroused the suspicion of the Persian government and would have invited disaster. The time for such step was not yet ripe. On the other hand, the crowning of the high priest might be looked upon by the authorities as a purely religious ceremony, without any threatening significance, while it would prove a consolation and inspiration to the Jews who were acquainted with the Messianic teaching of the earlier prophets.

14. After the performance of the symbolic act the crown is to be preserved in the temple, soon to be completed, as a memorial to the men who brought the gifts out of which it was made, but perhaps also so as to have it in readiness for the time when Zerubbabel himself should be crowned as Messianic king.

Crowns — See on Zec_6:11.

Helem — Probably a copyist’s error for Heldai (Zec_6:10), which Peshitto has preserved here.

Hen the son of Zephaniah — Undoubtedly the same person as Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, in Zec_6:10. Some commentators take Hen to be a second name of the same person; others (so margin R.V.) translate it as a common noun “for the kindness of the son of Zephaniah,” that is, for the kindness shown by him in receiving in his house the messengers from Babylon (but see on Zec_6:10). Still others consider Hen a copyist’s error for Josiah, and they think that the latter should be read here. Whether the emendation is accepted or not, there can hardly be any doubt that the same person is meant as in Zec_6:10.

15. Branch will not have to depend exclusively upon the few Jews now in Jerusalem to assist him in the building enterprise.

They that are far off shall come and build — The Jews still in exile, as well as foreigners who will be converted to Jehovah (compare Zec_2:11; Zec_8:20-23; Hag_2:7-8).

And ye shall know — As in Zec_2:9; Zec_2:11; Zec_4:9 (see there). The blessings promised in the symbolical act and in the visions will be theirs only if they diligently obey the words of Jehovah as proclaimed by Haggai and Zechariah, which means, primarily, if they will speedily rebuild the temple. The translation found in the English versions is the only one that can be given of 15b in its present position at the close of the chapter. But the Hebrew reads as if the whole were a protasis with the apodosis dropped out: “And it shall come to pass if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah, your God.…” If the apodosis has been lost it is difficult to say what it was.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 9-15. A symbolical action the crowning of the high priest.

The preceding visions having come to an end, they are now confirmed by a public act which should show the glory of the future temple, the acceptance of the members of the theocracy, and the King and Priest who Was to come. Came unto me. This was probably on the morning after the night of visions, or as soon as he had divulged them to the people.

Vers. 9-15. The ministry of Messiah.

"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying," etc. The series of striking visions which we have now been considering had a kind of "prologue" in Zec_1:1-6. We seem to have the corresponding "epilogue" here. It turns on the fact of the arrival (probably about the same season, no special note of time being given as in Zec_7:1) of certain visitors at Jerusalem, with offerings for the temple, from a "far" country, viz. "Babylon". (see vers. 10 and 15; and comp. Isa_39:3) And what we seem invited to notice, respecting these visitors, is

(1) the welcome;

(2) the instruction; and

(3) the promotion which they received.

I THE WELCOME ACCORDED THEM. This is shown in several ways.

1. As to their persons. They are mentioned by name, (ver. 10; comp. Exo_31:2 Exo_33:12 1Ki_13:2 Isa 45:3Jo Isa_10:3) including the name of the man who appears to have given them hospitality in his "house". (Mat_10:41) Also, if it be true, as some suppose from comparing vers. 10 and 14, that two among them had more names than one, the second name in each case being one assumed because containing in it, like all the rest (see Pusey), the name of Jehovah or Jah, (comp. Dan_1:7 Dan_4:8 Dan_5:12 Mic_4:5) it is, perhaps, worthy of notice that their names seem mentioned in full; thus showing, further, it may be, how God is pleased to notice and honour the very least thing that is done by us in remembrance of his Name. (Mar_9:41)

2. As to their offerings. These are not only not refused, but openly accepted a very great point, and by no means such a matter of course as we are sometimes inclined to suppose. (Gen_4:4, 5 Num_16:15 Exo_25:2 Exo_30:16 Exo_35:5, etc.) Also, when accepted, these offerings are honoured, and put to very dignified use, being employed to make "crowns" (ver. 11) for God"s chief minister then upon earth. (compare, in some respects, the box of ointment mentioned in Mar_14:8-9)

II THE INSTRUCTION VOUCHSAFED THEM. See what God says of Joshua, when thus adorned, as a type or sign, (comp. Zec_3:8) in vers. 12 and 13. With these two crowns on him, he seems to represent to us:

1. The appearance of the coming Messiah in his humiliation. We see him here

(1) as a man; ("Behold the Man!" ver. 12; Joh_19:5) and, therefore, as sharing to the full man"s nature and circumstances. ("growing up;" comp. Isa_53:2 Luk_2:51, Luk_2:52) We see him here

(2) as the Representative Man, the Son of man ("The Branch," Ver. 12), engaged, as such, in doing man"s work, viz. in saving men or bringing them to glory; (Heb_2:10, Heb_2:11) in other words, in "building" God"s "temple," or Church. (Mat_16:18)

2. The appearance of the coming Messiah in his glory. For example, we see him here

(1) as a Builder or Teacher, doing all by himself. Even he" (ver. 13). He, indeed, being such as he is] He, alone, having no one else with him! (see Isa_63:3, Isa_63:5) More especially and clearly we see him

(2) as both King and High Priest. This also foreshadowed by the case of Melchizedek. (Gen_14:18 Psa_110:4 Heb_7:14) This signified here by the interpretation apparently given to the two "crowns" in ver. 13 ("sitting and ruling on his throne," and being "a priest on his throne"); and possibly, also, by the intimation at the end of that verse, of perfectly harmonious cooperation, in his case, of these generally divided and even incompatible offices. This afterwards accomplished, as to his priestly office, when, by being "lifted up" on the cross, he drew all men to himself; (Joh_12:32, where note also the connection between the inquiry of the Greeks, so "far off," in vers. 20-23, and the "glorifying" of the Son of man in the subsequent verse) and, as to his kingly office, in that primary "building" up of his Church by the bestowment of the gifts mentioned in Act_2:33 and Act_5:31. Then most manifestly did he "bear" that twofold "glory" referred to here in ver. 13.

III THE SPECIAL PROMOTION CONFERRED ON THEM. As shown by the final destination of their offerings. After doing their duty, as "crowns" to Joshua, in a typical way, they were to have a perpetual place amongst the treasures of God"s house (ver. 14). This:

1. As a memorial." (Ver. 14) Future visitors should learn from them how these first visitors (as they appear to have been) had been welcomed. Possibly this may even help to account for the world wide habit which afterwards prevailed amongst the Jews in this respect. (Act_2:1-11, etc.; and compare, perhaps, Rom_16:5 Eph_2:12)

2. As a pledge. Placed in the restored temple, these crowns would be a kind of standing prophecy:

(1) Of the future calling of the Gentiles, when those now "afar off" should not only come and be welcomed, but should even help to build the true temple of God.

(2) Of the coming glory of Messiah. Then, i.e. when this ingathering of the Gentiles (Gen_49:10) has taken place, says the Angel-Jehovah here (in ver. 15), ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. (compare two clauses of Luk_2:31)

3. As a warning. "Ye shall know," if willing to know so it means. (see end of ver. 15; and comp. Dan_12:10 Joh_7:17)

See how these various considerations show the unity of the Bible.

1. As to its structure. Joshua, or Jesus, after the Exodus, brings the Israelites, as Moses could not do, into rest. Another "Jesus," after the Captivity, typifies, in Zec_3:6-10, the two natures of Christ; and, in this passage, his two offices of King and Priest. In the "fulness of time" a third "Jesus" arises, in whom all these things are fulfilled. Is there no evidence, in all this, of "design"?

2. As to its subject. Wherever we penetrate far enough beneath the surface, we find this one "Rock." Must it not, therefore, like the granite in geological formations, be the foundation of all?

3. As to its source. To what are we to attribute such singular unity of teaching, at such very different times, and in such very different circumstances, except virtual unity of origin, or of supervision, to say the least? Is not the true and only explanation in such passages as 2Pe_1:21 1Co_12:6-11.

Vers. 9-15. "Messiah the Prince.

"Behold.

I THE COMING MAN OF THE AGES. "Branch." Lowliness, and yet dignity. The heathens fabled that the Titans were sons of heaven and earth. Here is what they vainly imagined. "Grew up." Natural development. Perfection of humanity. Long the cry was, "He cometh." We see his shadow in every sacrifice. Find his presence in every prophecy. Hear his footfall in every promise. He was the Hope of Israel, and the Desire of all nations.

II CHARGED WITH THE NOBLEST MISSION. "Build personally and instrumentally. Many whom he honours as "fellow workers." Temple slowly rising. Grandeur and beauty gradually unfolding. Implies the union and fellowship of men as "living stones" in the great temple of humanity.

III DESTINED FOR THE GRANDEST EMPIRE. "The glory.

1. Priest. Power with God. "Forever, after the order of Melchizedek.

2. King. Power with men. The rule of righteousness and love.

3. The recompose of his sufferings. "Sit and rule." First the cross, then the crown. (cf. Heb_10:12, 13 1Pe_1:11)

IV DESIGNATED FOR IMMORTAL HONOUR. Heaven is the perfect state. What do we see there? Let St. John declare. (Rev_5:6) Even on earth, what honour to Christ! Every day, and especially on the Lord"s day, what prayers in his Name! what offerings to his praise and glory! In how many lands, by what various voices, with what measureless love, is his name breathed forth! "Behold the Man!" Let each heart answer, with adoring gratitude and joy, "My Lord and my God! F.

Vers. 9-15. The matchless Man in history.

"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the Captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day." The crowning, the work, and the position of Joshua spoken of in these verses are obviously employed to symbolize some coming Man who would be matchless in all history. Concerning this matchless Man, we are here taught

I THAT HE IS ONE WHOM HEAVEN COMMANDS THE PEOPLE TO HONOUR. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the Captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest." The prophet is commanded to go to certain of the more distinguished men who had returned from Babylonian captivity, representative men and envoys it may be. He was to take these men, whose names are here given, who were entertained in the house of another distinguished man, here called Josiah the son of Zephaniah. From that house the silver and gold which they had brought from Babylon were to be taken, with which crowns were to be made and placed upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest. By the general consent of expositors, this was a mere symbolical transaction a transaction pointing to some great Man whom Heaven will require all men to crown with the highest dignity. The spirit of hero worship is so strong in human nature that the servile multitudes of all times have been ready to fall down and render homage to most unholy characters. They hoist flags, ring bells, shout hurrahs, in honour of the laurelled butchers, crowned despots, and gorgeous millionaires. This is one of the worst features of human depravity, one of the greatest obstructions to the progress of men and nations. But here is a character symbolized by the name of Joshua, to whom the people are called upon by God himself to render honour. Who is this Man? Can you find him anywhere amongst the millions of your contemporaries in any land, or on the page of the history of the people of any time? anywhere but in the records of the four evangelists the Man Christ Jesus? "When he bringeth in the First Begotten into the world, he saith, Let all the angels of God worship him." And all heaven worships him. "I heard the voice of angels round about the throne," etc.

II THAT HIS PEDIGREE WAS STRIKINGLY SINGULAR, "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord." He is a "Branch;" he has root somewhere; he has life, and he grows. It is here said, "He shall grow up out of his place." The reference is to some Man who grows on the earth, who is not of the earth. What man on the earth can be said to have grown out of his place? The earth is the place of all men during their stay here. It is their native home. Only one such Man we know of the illustrious "Son of Mary." He came down from heaven and tabernacled on this earth, which was not his place. And here he grew in body and mind, in the favour of God and man. Though there was nothing congenial with his Spirit here, still he grew and became the Prince of life, the Conqueror of death, and the moral Commander of the race. A great soul, dominated by a supreme sympathy with the Supremely Good, can grow anywhere, in its place or out of it. It can subordinate the most. hostile external elements and forces to its own will and interests.

III THAT HE IS ONE WHOSE MISSION IS SUBLIMELY GLORIOUS. "He shall build the temple of the Lord," etc. Zerubbabol was now engaged in the work of rearing the material temple at Jerusalem; and a more glorious work than this is not given to man than to promote the public worship of God. The progress of nations is dependent upon morality, and morality is the growth of genuine religion. Philanthropy springs from piety; it is only as philanthropy grows that humanity can advance. Hence no work so transcendently important as that of promoting public worship, building temples, etc. Hence it is added here, "He shall bear the glory." The true promoter of public worship bears with him in every honest effort the glory, compared with which the glory of every other department of human labour pales into dimness. The building of the material temple is but the emblem of the rearing of the great spiritual temple And the Man here referred to is the Builder of that. There is one and only one, and that is Christ. He is not only the Builder, but the Creator of the materials, and himself the Foundation of the whole. "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, that is Jesus Christ." In doing this he bears the glory. "Now is the Son of man glorified." God is glorified in him. "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name," etc. St. Peter gives a beautiful description of this temple when he says, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Christ is the great Builder of the moral temple of the world, and no one else.

IV THAT HE IS ONE WHOSE POSITION AND FUNCTIONS ARE TRANSCENDENTALLY EXALTED. He is on a throne. "He is exalted far above all heavens." But he is there:

1. As a priestly King. On behalf of humanity before God, he holds the reins of universal dominion.

2. As a glorious Reconciler. "The counsel of peace shall be between them both." What does this mean? Not that there is a covenant of peace between him and his Father. They were never at variance. And to suppose any contract or covenant between them is to derogate Infinite Majesty. The "counsel of peace" between the Infinite Father and his alien and rebellious children. He is the Mediator between God and man. He is the Reconciliation, the Atonement. (But see in the Exposition (ver. 13) another explanation, and one more conformable to the context.)

V THAT HE IS ONE WHOSE POWER TO ATTRACT OTHERS TO HIS ENTERPRISE IS IMMENSELY GREAT. "And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you." "There can," says Dr. Wardlaw, "be no doubt here; to you who were far off, and to them that were near are the very terms of distinction between Gentile and Jew, which, in addressing the former, the apostle uses. "I will bring my sons from far,"says Jehovah, "and my daughters from the ends of the earth." The Gentiles were to be themselves stones in the building, and agents in the rearing of it. And this was fulfilled in the beginning of the gospel, in the ministerial activity and usefulness of many a Gentile convert; and it is fulfilling to this day in every Gentile nation where Christianity has formed a settlement, and in every heathen country to which missionaries are carrying the message of salvation, and gathering sinners into the Church of God. For that Church of God is his temple (the members of it, how widely soever scattered, being all "builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit"), in which "spiritual sacrifices" will be offered to him through Jesus Christ," in all time and forever!

CONCLUSION. "Behold the Man!" What manner of man is he? He stands alone, the majestic cedar amongst the saplings of the race, the sun amidst the satellites. He is the "Wonderful. 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 Crowning of the High Priest

v. 9. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

v. 10. Take of them of the captivity, exiled Jews living in Babylon, who had come up to Jerusalem at that time, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, as a committee of the Jews residing at Babylon, and come thou the same day and go into the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, who was showing these emissaries the hospitality of his house;

v. 11. then take silver and gold, evidently of the precious metals sent by the Jews of Babylon, and make crowns, a double crown or one of several bands, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest, as a type of the combined priesthood and kingdom which shall be conferred upon the Messiah;

v. 12. and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose name Is The BRANCH, the Zemach spoken of in 3:8; and He shall grow up out of His place, Jer 33:15, as a root out of a dry ground, Isa 53:2, and He shall build the Temple of the Lord, the real Sanctuary of Jehovah, the Church of the New Testament;

v. 13. even He shall build the Temple of the Lord, accomplishing His great work in spite of the lowliness of His origin; and He shall bear the glory, being adorned with kingly glory and honor, and shall sit and rule upon His throne, as the true King of His Church; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne, uniting in His person the offices of king and of priest; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both, the two offices being united in one person. Up. Psalms 110.

v. 14. And the crowns shall be to Helem, or Heldai, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen, the son of Zephaniah, to the hospitable, kindness of the son of Zephaniab, for a memorial in the Temple of the Lord, so that future generations would be reminded of the example of these two men. Moreover, the example of the messengers from Babylon was not to be forgotten.

v. 15. And they that are far off, like the men who had in this case brought their offerings, shall come and build in the Temple of the Lord, representatives of various heathen nations joining in the upbuilding of the Lord’s great spiritual Temple, His holy Church, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you, as the Messiah Himself says, Joh 3:16. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord, your God, this being added by way of admonition lest any one deliberately lose the blessings which are offered in and by the coming of the Messiah. Thus the establishment and growth of the Church of the New Testament is definitely sketched, also for the strengthening of our faith.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Take

This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. AT: "Yahweh gave a message to me. He said, 'Take" or "Yahweh spoke this message to me: 'Take" (See: Idiom)

Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah ... Jehozadak

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

this same day

"today"

take the silver and gold, make a crown

"make a crown with the silver and gold"

translationWords

word of God

sacrifice

exile

house

Josiah

Zephaniah

Babylon

silver

gold

crown

Joshua

high priest

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.