Zechariah 3

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:8

Portents. "Men wondered at." There are times when there are signs in the heavens and on the earth—prodigies which rouse attention. So in society. There are men who stand out from others. Their characters have a special significance. Their lives are prophecies. Perhaps most of the great men of the Bible were of thin sort. So here— I. REPRESENTATIVE OF THEIR GENERATION . They breathe the spirit of the age. The evil and the good, of their times, are seen in them at the highest.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:8-10

Messiah's mission. I. THE TIME OF HIS COMING DIVINELY FIXED . There was the ancient promise, and long waiting generations came and went. Manifold changes. Overturning of kingdoms and dynasties. The old stock of David seemed as good as dead. But life preserved. "Branch" destined to spring and bud in his season. There is "a time to every purpose ( Ecclesiastes 3:1 ). Christ. came "in the fulness of time." II. THE CHARACTER OF HIS WORK DIVINELY APPOINTED .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:8-10

The world's wants and God's provisions. "Hear, now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my Servant the BRANCH ," etc. It is admitted by most acknowledged expositors of Holy Scripture that the sacerdotal institutions of the Mosaic system were typical of gospel realities; they were, as St. Paul has it, the "shadows of good things to come." This passage undoubtedly points to the Messiah and his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:9

For behold. This gives the reason why the "Branch" is brought forth; the Church is to be firmly established and all iniquity to be abolished. The stone that I have laid (set) before Joshua. In the vision a stone is seen lying at the feet of Joshua, either the foundationstone of the temple, say the commentators, or the cornerstone, or the coping; or, as the Talmud testifies, a stone that rose some three fingers' measure above the ground, and upon which the high priest used to set the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:10

Shall ye call every man his neighbour, etc. In this cleansed and purified kingdom shall be found peace, happiness, and plenty, recalling the prosperous days of Solomon ( 1 Kings 4:25 ). (For a similar picture of prosperity, see Micah 4:4 , and note there.) This is fulfilled in Christ, who says to his true disciples, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" ( John 14:27 ). Dr. Wright notes, "We are told in the Talmud ('Yoma,' Zechariah 7:4 ) that when, on the great Day of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 3:1

And He - God, (for the office of the attendant angel was to explain, not to show the visions) “showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord;” probably to be judged by him ; as in the New Testament, “to stand before the Son of Man;” for although “standing before,” whether in relation to man or God, , expresses attendance upon, yet here it appears only as a condition, contemporaneous with that of Satan’s, to accuse him. Although, moreover, the Angel speaks with... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 3:2

And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee - Jerome: “This they so explain, that the Father and the Son is Lord, as we read in the Psalms 110:1-7, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand.” The Lord speaketh of another Lord; not that He, the Lord who speaketh, cannot rebuke, but that, from the unity of nature, when the Other rebuketh, He Himself who speaketh rebuketh. For “he who seeth the Son, seeth the Father also” John 14:9. It may be that God, by such sayings , also... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 3:3

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments - Such, it is expressed, was his habitual condition; he was one so clothed. The “filthy garment,” as defilement generally, is, in Scripture, the symbol of sin. “We are all as the unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” Isaiah 64:6. “He that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy - when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion” Isaiah 4:3-4. “There is a generation, pure in its... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 3:4

And He spake to those who stood before Him - the ministering angels who had waited on the Angel of the Lord to do His bidding.See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee - The pardoning words of the Lord to David by Nathan, “The Lord too hath put away thy sin” 2 Samuel 12:13. “And clothe thee with change of raiment, that is, such as were taken off and reserved for great occasions. As the filthy garments were not necessarily other than the high priest’s vesture, symbolically defiled... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 3:5

And I said, let them set a fair mitre on his head - This seems to have been purposely omitted, in order to leave something, and that, the completion of all, to be done at the intercession of the prophet. The glory and complement of the high priest’s sacrificial attire was the mitre with the “holy crown upon it and the plate of prate gold, on which was graven, Holiness to the Lord” Exodus 28:36-38; Exodus 29:6; which was to “be upon” the high priest’s “forehead, that he may bear the iniquity of... read more

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