Zechariah 3:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-7

There was a Joshua that was a principal agent in the first settling of Israel in Canaan; here is another of the same name very active in their second settlement there after the captivity; Jesus is the same name, and it signifies Saviour; and they were both figures of him that was to come, our chief captain and our chief priest. The angel that talked with Zechariah showed him Joshua the high priest; it is probable that the prophet saw him frequently, that he spoke to him, and that there was a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 3:3

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments ,.... Having fallen into sin. The Jewish writers F26 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93. 1. interpret this of the sin of his children in marrying strange wives, Ezra 10:18 or he had married one himself, as Jerom from the Jews, on the place; or a whore, as Justin Martyr F1 Dialog. cum Trypho, p. 344. suggests; or had been slothful and sluggish in rebuilding the temple; and, be it what it will, Satan had aggravated it, and represented him as a... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 3:3

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments - The Jewish people were in a most forlorn, destitute, and to all human appearance despicable, condition; and besides all, they were sinful, and the priesthood defiled by idolatry; and nothing but the mercy of God could save them. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 3:3

Verse 3 Zechariah adds here another thing, — that Joshua had on mean garments, but that new garments were given him by the angel’s command. And by this he means, that though the priesthood had been for a time contemptible, it would yet recover whatever dignity it had lost. But he ever leads the minds of the faithful to this point, — to look for what they did not then see, nor could conjecture from the state of things at that time. It is certain that the sacerdotal vestments, after the return... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-5

The priesthood restored. "And he showed me Joshua the high priest," etc. Here begins a new vision, which, like that described in Zechariah 2:1-4 , takes us back to the date of utterance. In that we saw the restoration of the ancient city Jerusalem. In this we seem shown the restoration of the ancient Levitical priesthood. For seventy years the functions of that priesthood appear to have been in abeyance. Nowhere in Daniel and Ezekiel do we read of sacrifices being offered by the children... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-5

Satan and Christ. Joshua was the representative of the people, not personally, but in his public character. What was done to him in a figure was to be done to them and for them in fact. The great object was to restore confidence in God and in his servants, and to raise the hopes of the people that the work of grace would triumph in spite of all opposition. I. THE POWER OF SATAN TO RESIST . The adversary. Cunning and strong. Maliciously working as he has done from the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-6

The good man on earth in his intercessory function. "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him," etc. Our prophet here delivers to the Jews who had been restored from Babylon a vision which he had witnessed, in order to encourage them in the work of rebuilding the temple. The scene of the vision seems to have been the precincts, of the temple. He saw Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Lord on... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-10

§ 6. The fourth vision: Joshua the high priest before the angel. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:3

Clothed with filthy garments. The soiled, or dark mourning garments represent not so much the low estate to which the Aaronic priesthood had been reduced, as the defilements of sin with which Joshua was encompassed, especially, perhaps, his error in allowing his descendants to intermarry with heathens ( Ezra 10:18 ). But the sin was not only personal; he appeared laden with the guilt of the priesthood and his people. He is a type of Christ in this. Christ, indeed, was without sin; yet he... 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

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 3:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 3:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 3:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:1-10

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 3:3

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

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