Zakharia 3:1

Vision Four: The Priest

3:1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest ¹  standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan ²  standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Zakharia 3:5

3:5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby.

Zakharia 3:8

3:8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you ³  are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch. ⁴ 

Zakharia 6:10-11

6:10 “Choose some people ⁵  from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ⁶  6:11 Then take some silver and gold to make a crown ⁷  and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

Zakharia 6:13

6:13 Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest ⁸  with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything.

Zakharia 7:3

7:3 by asking both the priests of the temple ⁹  of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, ¹⁰  fasting as we have done over the years?”

Zakharia 7:5

7:5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh ¹¹  months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed?

Zakharia 12:12

12:12 The land will mourn, clan by clan – the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan ¹²  by itself and their wives by themselves;

[3:1]  ¹ sn Joshua the high priest mentioned here is the son of the priest Jehozadak, mentioned also in Hag 1:1 (cf. Ezra 2:2; 3:2, 8; 4:3; 5:2; 10:18; Neh 7:7; 12:1, 7, 10, 26). He also appears to have been the grandfather of the high priest contemporary with Nehemiah ca. 445 b.c. (Neh 12:10).

[3:1]  ² tn The Hebrew term הַשָּׂטָן (hassatan, “the satan”) suggests not so much a personal name (as in almost all English translations) but an epithet, namely, “the adversary.” This evil being is otherwise thus described in Job 1 and 2 and 1 Chr 21:1. In this last passage the article is dropped and “the satan” becomes “Satan,” a personal name.

[3:8]  ³ tn Heb “these men.” The cleansing of Joshua and his elevation to enhanced leadership as a priest signify the coming of the messianic age.

[3:8]  ⁴ sn The collocation of servant and branch gives double significance to the messianic meaning of the passage (cf. Isa 41:8, 9; 42:1, 19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 21; Ps 132:17; Jer 23:5; 33:15).

[6:10]  ⁵ tn The words “some people” are supplied in the translation. The Hebrew verb translated “choose” (alternatively “take” [NAB, NIV]; “collect” [NRSV, CEV]) has no direct object specified in the text. Some translations supply “silver and gold” (NIV, NRSV) or “an offering” (NASB).

[6:10]  ⁶ sn Except for Joshua (v. 11) none of these individuals is otherwise mentioned and therefore they cannot be further identified.

[6:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “crowns” (so KJV, ASV; also in v. 14). The Hebrew word for “crown” here is עֲטֶרֶת (’ateret), a term never used in the OT for the priestly crown or mitre. Thus, the scene here describes the investing of the priest with royal authority.

[6:13]  ⁸ sn The priest here in the immediate context is Joshua but the fuller and more distant allusion is to the Messiah, a ruling priest. The notion of the ruler as a priest-king was already apparent in David and his successors (Pss 2:2, 6-8; 110:2, 4), and it finds mature expression in David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, who will combine both offices in his kingship (Heb 5:1-10; 7:1-25).

[7:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[7:3]  ¹⁰ sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586 b.c., almost exactly 70 years earlier (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8).

[7:5]  ¹¹ tn The seventh month apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jer 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 b.c.

[12:12]  ¹² sn By the time of Zechariah the line of descent from David had already been transferred from the Solomon branch to the Nathan branch (the clan of the family of Nathan). Nathan was a son of David (2 Sam 5:14) through whom Jesus eventually came (Luke 3:23-31). Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry back through Solomon (Matt 1:6-16) but apparently this is to tie Joseph into the Davidic (and thus messianic) line. The “official” descent of Jesus may be viewed as passing through Solomon whereas the “physical” descent came through Nathan.