Zechariah 3:5 - Exposition

I said. If this is the true reading (which Ewald doubts), we must consider that the prophet, excited by what has passed, cannot stand by as a mere spectator, but feels constrained to take part in the scene, and to request that the change of garments may be completed by the addition of the fair head dress. The LXX . omits the word, continuing the address to the attendant. The Vulgate has, et dixit. So the Syriac and the Targum and some few manuscripts. But the received reading is confirmed, as Dr. Alexander points out, by the change in the mood of the following verb from the imperative to the optative, "let them put," "would that they put." There is nothing incongruous in the prophet thus intervening in his own person. Thus Isaiah, in the midst of a solemn vision, gives vent to his feelings ( Isaiah 6:5 ), and St. John in the Apocalypse often mingles his own sentiments and actions with what he beheld (comp. Revelation 5:4 ; Revelation 10:9 ; Revelation 11:1 ). Mitre ( tsaniph ); Septuagint, κίδαριν : so the Vulgate, cidarim. This is not the same word as that used in Exodus 28:4 , etc. (which is mitsnepheth ), for the official head dress of Aaron, though it is probably a synonym for it; and the prophet's wish is to see Joshua not only reinstated in his office and dignity, but found holy also. For the fair linen mitre, or tiara, was that which bore upon its front the golden plate inscribed, "Holiness unto the Lord" ( Exodus 28:36-38 ), and therefore showed that he was qualified to intercede for the people. Stood by. The Angel of Jehovah continued standing in his place, contemplating, sanctioning, and directing what was being done.