The fourth of Zechariah's eight visions revealed
Joshua, the
high priest of Israel ("Jeshua" in
Ezra–Nehemiah), who was accused by
Satan ("the Adversary", acting as the prosecuting counsel in the heavenly court) but acquitted. His subsequent "cleansing" gives the sign that God will forgive and cleanse the community, signified by the renewal of the temple services.
Vision of the High Priest (verses 1–5) The prophet sees a real person, the high priest Joshua, unlike the symbolic objects seen in other visions. He is wearing dirty clothing, possibly referring to the clothes worn in
mourning. The replacement of Joshua's "filthy clothes" (verses 3–4) with new apparel gives the legitimation of the new temple and priesthood. The new clothes are "festal apparel", and a clean
priestly turban.
The Coming Branch (3:6–10) The resumption of the temple worship will lead to the coming of "the Branch" (
verse 8), who will restore the kingship into a new era (verse 10), when the iniquity of the land will be cleansed in one day (verse 9).
Verse 8 :
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, ::
thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: :
for they are men wondered at: ::
for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch. • "Thy fellows": The priests, who sat with the high priest in council (cf. ; , etc.), were not seen in the vision. • "Men wondered at": Septuagint: , "men observers of wonders;" Vulgate:
Quia viri portendentes sunt (cf. ); can be rendered, "men of portent, sign, or type," that the Revised Version has, "men which are a sign," those who foreshadow some future events, for good things to come; • "My servants the Branch": The double significance to the messianic meaning of the passage is emphasized by the collocation of the two keywords "servant" and "branch" (cf. ;
42:1, ;
43:10;
44:1,
2, ; ;
Jeremiah 23:5;
33:15). • "The Branch" (Hebrew:
tsemakh): generally seen as a reference to
Messiah, coming from the almost extinct royal line of David (
Zechariah 6:12;
Isaiah 4:2;
Isaiah 11:1;
Jeremiah 23:5;
Jeremiah 33:15). The word is translated by the Septuagint as , in the sense of "shoot" as well as "sunrise" (cf.
Jeremiah 23:5; ; ), and by the Vulgate as
orientem (similarly in the Syriac and Arabic; cf. ).
Aben Ezra noted that "many interpreters say this Branch is the Messiah: and he is called Zerubbabel, because he is of his seed, even as he is called David; and David my servant shall be their Prince for ever" (cf. ). ==See also==