Zechariah
Chapter 3
Fourth: Investiture of the High Priest
He showed me, then, the high priest Joshua, standing before the angel of the Lord. On Joshua’s right side stood Satan, ready to accuse him.
But the angel of the Lord said to Satan: “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem—may he rebuke you! Is not this man a burning brand snatched from the fire?”
Clad in dirty garments, Joshua stood before the angel,
who told those in front of him: “Take off his filthy garments.” Then, turning to Joshua, he said: “See, I have removed your guilt. Now I will clothe you with rich garments.”
He added, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they placed a clean turban on his head and clothed him as the angel of the Lord watched.
The angel of the Lord assured Joshua:
“Listen to this message from the Lord Sabaoth: ‘If you walk in my ways and obey my commands, you will govern my house and guard my courts, and I will give you free access among those standing here.
Listen carefully, O high priest Joshua, and your associates who are with you in council: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.
See, I am placing before Joshua a stone with seven eyes. I will engrave an inscription on it myself, and I will remove the guilt from this land in a single day.
On that day, you will invite each other to sit under your vines and fig trees.’ This is what the Lord Sabaoth says.”
Commentaries
Eight Visions.
The eight visions in this section are organized in a concentric or chiastic structure. The preceding verses (1:1-6) serve as an introduction, confirming the covenant (1:1-6), and conclude with a reference to the covenant established through the priest Joshua (6:12-15). In these visions, the Lord is presented as a warrior fighting against the kingdoms of the earth.
Fourth: Investiture of the High Priest.
At the center of this chiastic or concentric structure of these eight visions, the fourth and fifth contain explicit messianic content. This vision announces the restoration of the priesthood in the temple in the person of Joshua (1-7) and the coming of the “shoot or branch” with an intervention by the Lord who will forgive the guilt of the whole earth in a single day (8-10). The figure of the “shoot, branch, or seed” is already found in Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15, also pointing to the coming of a new king from the line of David.