Zechariah 3:1-10 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

The Trial of Joshua. Several corrections are necessary in this paragraph, some of which are confirmed by the LXX. In Zechariah 3:2 read, And the angel of the Lord said. In Zechariah 3:4 f. read with LXX, Take the filthy garments from off him (And he said unto him, Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee); and clothe him with rich apparel, and set a fair mitre, etc. In Zechariah 3:8 we should probably read, Thou and thy fellows which sit before thee are men which, etc. Among the Hebrews any disaster was regarded as a sign of Divine displeasure or, to use a common Heb. figure of speech, a sign that the Lord was bringing a charge against the person afflicted. The satan or opponent for here, as in Job, the word is not a proper name is not a devil but an angel, perfectly obedient to the Lord and commissioned by Him to test men's sincerity by bringing misfortune upon them. He may therefore be regarded as the angel of trial. A representation of the High Priest as upon his trial implies that he has been visited with some misfortune, the nature of which is indicated by his filthy garments, i.e. garments in which it would be impossible for a priest to minister. In other words, an attempt has been made, whether successfully or not, to turn Joshua out of the High-priesthood. The parenthesis in Zechariah 3:4, which may be a later insertion, does not necessarily imply actual misconduct on Joshua's part; for according to Heb. idiom, iniquity or guilt rested upon every accused person until he was acquitted. The angel of the Lord, who is the presiding judge, confirms Joshua in the High-priesthood, so long as his conduct is worthy of his office, and gives him a definite sphere of action (places to walk in, not a place of access) among the Lord's messengers or angels. Joshua is further informed that he and his assistants who have preserved a priesthood in Jerusalem are an earnest that the monarchy will not be extinguished but that the Lord will fulfil the anticipation of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:5 ff.) and produce a shoot (mg., not branch) from the root of the cut-down tree of David which in time will itself develop into a tree. As Haggai (Haggai 2:23) expects to see in Zerubbabel a reversal of the woe pronounced by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 22:24) upon Jehoiachin, so Zechariah expects to see in him a fulfilment of Jeremiah's prediction of a restored monarchy. This passage indeed is probably the first clear instance of the expression of a hope based upon a definite prophecy, so that Jeremiah 23:5 ff. may be regarded as the starting-point of Messianic hope. The latter part of the paragraph is apparently mutilated, for the stone mentioned in Zechariah 3:9 as known has not been mentioned before; moreover that land can scarcely be right. The reference to the stone is obscure, but a clue may be found in Zechariah 6:9-14. We are probably to understand a gem which is committed to Joshua's keeping until it can be worn by Zerubbabel as one of the insignia of royalty. The seven eyes are either seven surfaces or facets, or more probably seven circles, possibly representing seven stars, engraved upon the stone as upon a signet. Zechariah 3:10 is one of those descriptions of the good time to come which later editors have so plentifully inserted in the prophetic books. It is clearly addressed to the people generally, whereas the preceding verses are addressed to Joshua.