Zechariah 3

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest. Joshua was standing in front of the angel of the LORD, and Satan was standing at Joshua's right side to bring charges against him.

1And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

NoteJoshua here is not the Joshua of the conquest; he is the chief priest in Jerusalem around 520 BC, after the Judeans returned from exile in Babylon and began rebuilding the ruined temple. The scene is a courtroom. "Satan" translates Hebrew ha-satan, "the accuser" or "the adversary", in this book a title for the prosecuting figure rather than a personal name, and the right-hand side of the accused was the accuser's standing place at a trial. LORD printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, written in Hebrew with four consonants and traditionally left unpronounced when read aloud.

2The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn't this man a burning stick pulled out of the fire?"

2And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

NoteA half-burnt stick snatched out of a fire was a stock image for something rescued at the last possible moment and still scorched by what it went through: Jerusalem and its priesthood had barely survived Babylon's destruction of the city. "Rebuke" is a courtroom word here, an authoritative order that silences the accuser and stops the case, not a telling-off.

3Now Joshua was wearing filthy clothes as he stood there in front of the angel.

3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

NoteThe Hebrew word for these clothes is unusually crude, used elsewhere of garments fouled with excrement. A priest could serve only in clean garments, so filthy clothing was not merely undignified but disqualifying; in this trial scene the soiled clothes stand for the guilt being charged against him.

4The angel spoke to those standing in front of him and said, "Take the filthy clothes off him." Then he said to Joshua, "Look, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will dress you in fine clothes."

4And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

NoteRemoving and replacing someone's clothing was how a change of legal or official status was made visible; "change of raiment" in older English means a fresh set of garments, here rich or festal ones. "I have taken your guilt away" is the verdict being pronounced: the charge and its liability are canceled.

5And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and dressed him in the clothes, while the angel of the LORD stood nearby.

5And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

NoteThe turban was part of the high priest's official dress, the headpiece that marked out who he was; the King James "fair mitre" means a clean, pure one. This is the only point in the vision where the watching prophet speaks instead of simply reporting what he sees.

6Then the angel of the LORD gave Joshua this solemn charge:

6And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,

Note"Protested" in 1611 English meant solemnly declared or formally charged, the opposite of the modern sense of objecting. What follows is a charge laid on Joshua, like terms read out to someone taking office.

7"This is what the LORD of Armies says: If you live the way I tell you to live, and if you do the duty I have given you, then you will govern my house and take care of my courtyards. And I will give you a place to come and go among these who are standing here.

7Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.

Note"LORD of hosts" means the LORD of armies, the heavenly forces at his command. To "judge my house" is to administer the temple and settle the cases brought to it, and the courts are the open courtyards of the temple complex where worship actually took place. The last promise is disputed in the Hebrew: it appears to grant Joshua the right to come and go among the heavenly attendants standing in this vision, something ordinarily reserved for them.

8Listen now, Joshua the high priest, you and your companions who sit in front of you. These men are a sign of what is coming. Look, I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.

8Hear 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.

Note"Men wondered at" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning men who are a sign or portent, people whose situation points beyond itself to something coming. "The Branch" renders Hebrew tsemach, a green shoot sprouting from a stump or root. It is used elsewhere as a title for a coming king descended from David (as in Jeremiah 23:5); the image had force because Babylon had cut the royal line down like a felled tree, and no king was ruling in Jerusalem when Zechariah spoke.

9Look at the stone I have set in front of Joshua. On that one stone there are seven eyes. I will cut an inscription into it, says the LORD of Armies, and I will take away the guilt of this land in a single day.

9For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

NoteThe stone is not identified, and interpreters have read it as a foundation stone or finishing stone of the temple then being rebuilt, or as a jewel in the priest's regalia. The Hebrew behind "seven eyes" can mean eyes, or faces and facets of a cut stone, or springs of water; the ambiguity is in the original. Cutting an inscription into a stone was standard work on precious gems in priestly dress, which carried the engraved names of the tribes of Israel.

10On that day, says the LORD of Armies, each of you will invite your neighbor to sit with you under your grapevine and your fig tree."

10In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

NoteInviting a neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree was a set phrase for settled peace and prosperity: no armies passing through, each household secure on its own land long enough for slow-growing vines and fig trees to mature and bear.