Zechariah 3 · ESV Study Bible

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

ZECHARIAH 3 [†]Then he showed me j Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and k Satan [1] standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2[†]And the LORD said to Satan, l “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has m chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this n a brand [2] plucked from the fire?” 3[†]Now j Joshua was standing before the angel, o clothed with filthy garments. 4[^][†]And the angel said to p those who were standing before him, q “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, r I have taken your iniquity away from you, and s I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5[†]And I said, t “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.

6And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured j Joshua, 7[†]“Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and u keep my charge, then you shall v rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among w those who are standing here. 8[^][†]Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for x they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring y my servant z the Branch. 9For behold, on a the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with b seven eyes, [3] I will c engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and d I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10[†]In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come e under his vine and under his fig tree.”

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:4 The Lord also acts to cleanse Joshua from his iniquity. He commands his servants to remove the filthy garments, so removing Joshua’s iniquity, and to clothe Joshua in pure vestments, garments suitable for him to wear in the presence of the King of kings. Since the filthy garments represent iniquity, these “pure vestments” represent a new righteousness imputed to Joshua.

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:5 Zechariah requests that the reclothing be completed by placing a clean turban on Joshua’s head, an act that has overtones of glory and royalty (Isa. 3:23; 62:3). Joshua’s reclothing in ceremonially pure festival garments in the presence of the angel of the LORD is a sign of God’s gracious acceptance of him and of the people he represented.

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:10 The coming Branch would definitively remove the “iniquity of this land,” resulting in the blessing of restored fertility and peace for the land. As at the height of the Solomonic Empire, each man would invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree (1 Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4).

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:8–9 The promise of divine attentiveness in the present was a shadow of greater things to come. Joshua and his friends, the priestly class, were men who are a sign: their very existence after the exile was an indication of God’s commitment to bless his people (v. 8). The future held an even greater blessing, the coming of my servant the Branch (v. 8), which would result in the complete and instantaneous removal of the iniquity of this land (v. 9). “The Branch” refers back to the prophecies of Jeremiah. The Lord had declared in Jer. 22:30 that none of Jehoiachin’s seed would sit on his throne, yet in Jer. 23:5 he nonetheless promised to raise up a righteous “Branch” for David (i.e., the Messiah), who would reign with justice and establish salvation for his people. The engraved stone was probably part of the high priest’s clothing, a gemstone with seven “facets” (esv footnote) fastened to the turban and inscribed with an inscription (Zech. 3:9). A similar ornament on Aaron’s turban was engraved with the words “Holy to the LORD,” which enabled Aaron to bear the iniquity of the people before the Lord (Ex. 28:36–38).

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:2 The Lord’s rebuke of Satan provides the most likely basis for the reflection on the nature of spiritual authority in 2 Pet. 2:11 (cf. Jude 9).

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:1–10 Vision Four: The Reclothing of Joshua. Here Zechariah sees Joshua, the high priest, allowed to represent the people before God and called to live faithfully, with the assurance that God is preserving his people for the messianic Branch.

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:7 Joshua is charged with a task and granted a promise. The Lord commanded him to walk in my ways and keep my charge, language that describes faithful behavior within a covenant context. If he did these things, then he would also rule my house and have charge of my courts, which involved ensuring that the worship in the temple was undefiled by idolatry (cf. Ezek. 44:23–24). Joshua would also receive the right of access among those who are standing here, that is, in the heavenly council gathered before the Lord. The Lord would not be silent or distant from his people any longer.

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:1 The fourth vision is located in the heavenly courtroom, where the angel of the LORD is seated as the judge. Joshua the high priest, one of the leaders of the returned exiles (Hag. 1:1; spelled “Jeshua” in Ezra and Nehemiah), is the defendant, and Satan, whose name means “the Accuser” or “the Adversary,” is the prosecutor.

ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON 3:3 Satan has a very strong case, for Joshua was not merely clothed with filthy garments but, more precisely, clothed in garments soiled with excrement, which would automatically defile the wearer. Joshua’s defilement posed a severe problem for the people, since he was the intermediary through whom their own defilement was to be removed on the Day of Atonement. Yet the Lord ruled Satan’s charges inadmissible before he could present them. The Lord’s election of Jerusalem and Joshua’s position as one “plucked from the fire” (v. 2; i.e., brought safely from the holocaust of exile) means that Joshua is free from any possible condemnation.