Zechariah 3:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zechariah 3:8
Hear 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.
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
Joshua
יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַye.ho.Shu.a'
H3091
Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
high
הַגָּד֗וֹלha.ga.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
priest
הַכֹּהֵ֣ןha.ko.Hen
H3548
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fellows
וְרֵעֶ֙יךָ֙ve.re.'Ei.kha
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
sit
הַיֹּשְׁבִ֣יםhai.yo.she.Vim
H3427
properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
before
לְפָנֶ֔יךָle.fa.Nei.kha
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
men
אַנְשֵׁ֥י'an.Shei
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural construct
at
מוֹפֵ֖תmo.Fet
H4159
a miracle · noun, common masculine singular absolute
forth
מֵבִ֛יאme.Vi'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
servant
עַבְדִּ֖י'av.Di
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
BRANCH
צֶֽמַחTze.mach
H6780
a sprout (usually concrete) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execut…
Zechariah 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of hi…
Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to th…
Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see…
Jeremiah 33:15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteous…
Isaiah 4:2 In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that a…
Isaiah 20:3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zechariah 3:8–end
As the promises made to David often slide insensibly into promises of the Messiah, whose kingdom David's was a type of, so the promises here made to Joshua immediately rise as far upward, and look as far forward, as to Christ, whose priesthood Joshua's was now a shadow of, not only in general, as it kept up the line of Aaron's priesthood, but especially as it was the reviving of that happy method of correspondence between heaven and earth, to which a great interruption had been given by the iniquity and captivity of Israel. Christ is a high priest, as Joshua was, for sinners and sufferers, to mediate for those that have been under guilt and wrath. And it was fit that Joshua should understand…
Hear--On account of the magnitude of what He is about to say, He at once demands solemn attention.
thy fellows that sit before thee--thy subordinate colleagues in the priesthood; not that they were actually then sitting before him; but their usual posture in consultations was on chairs or benches before him, while he sat on an elevated seat as their president.
they are--From speaking to Joshua He passes to speaking of him and them, in the third person, to the attendant angels (compare Zac 3:9).
men wondered at--Hebrew, "men of wonder," that is, having a typical character (Isa 8:18; Isa 20:3; Eze 12:11; Eze 24:24). Joshua the high priest typifies Messiah, as Joshua's "fellows" typify be…
O Joshua - thou, and thy fellows - Thy countrymen, who have now returned from your captivity, in a very wonderful manner. אנשי מופת anshey mopheth, figurative men, men whose office and ministration prefigured the Lord Jesus Christ; and therefore it is immediately added, "I will bring forth my servant The Branch." Abp. Newcome thinks this means Zerubbabel, so called because he was the grandson of Jehoiakim, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, Mat 1:12, and heir to the throne of Judah. The Chaldee has, "My servant the Messiah." See the note on Isa 4:2 (note). I think the word cannot apply to Zerubbabel, except as a type of Christ; in that sense it may be understood of him. See Zac 6:11, Zac 6:12.
The Church Fathers
Of Him He has also spoken by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, saying, "I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My Servant David, He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My Servant David a Prince among them." Now king David was already dead, and therefore the true David, the truly humble, the truly meek, the true Son of God, strong of hand, is announced by this name; he also is intended in the book of the prophet Zechariah, where God the Father says, "Behold I will send my servant, the Orient is His name." Did then His being "clothed in filthy garments" deprive the Sun of righteousness of the brightness of His Godhead?
(Verse 8, 9.) Listen, great priest Jesus, and your friends who dwell before you, for they are men who foresee. Behold, I will bring my servant the East, for behold, the stone which I placed before Jesus, upon it are seven eyes. LXX: Listen, therefore, great priest Jesus, and your neighbors who sit before your face, for they are men who observe wonders, that is, spectators of miracles, for behold, I will bring my servant the East, for the stone which I placed before Jesus, upon it are seven eyes. Our people in this place are being hindered by the Jews, because according to the context and the wording of the discourse, they should understand Jesus the priest as the son of Josedech, rather than the Lord and Savior. For if the discourse is about the Lord, and it is said about Christ: 'Hear, O great Jesus the priest', who is it referring to: 'Behold, I will bring forth my servant the East, who is called by another name, and he has been given before Jesus, and upon this stone there are seven eyes?' On the contrary, our opponents strive to assert that Jesus is the great High Priest, and the East, and the Stone, according to different understandings, are called Christ. But how this can be said of himself is very difficult to explain. Therefore, those who want Jesus to be the son of Josedech, the great High Priest, interpret his friends who dwell or sit before him, and who are men bearing signs, as his disciples and prophets. For prophets are placed as signs of future events. So what is it that Jesus and his friends are compelled to hear: I will bring my servant, the East, and the rest? Above, God had promised (or permitted) Jesus, the great high priest, that if he walked in his ways and kept his commandments, he would judge his house, guard his courts, and give him ministers of angelic dignity. Now he says the same to him and his friends, full felicity and perfect blessedness that will come when the East arrives, of whom it is written: Behold, a man named the East (Zach. VI, 12). And in Malachi: The sun of justice shall arise to you that fear my name, and health in his wings (Mal. IV, 2). And in Numbers: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall spring up of Israel (Num. XXIV, 17). In the Gospel also we read very clearly about Christ: In whom the Orient from on high hath visited us: To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct…
Dictionary and topics
Branch — A symbol of kings descended from royal ancestors (Ezek. 17:3, 10; Dan. 11:7); of prosperity (Job 8:16); of the Messiah, a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), the “beautiful…
Jeshua — (1.) Head of the ninth priestly order (Ezra 2:36); called also Jeshuah (1 Chr. 24:11). (2.) A Levite appointed by Hezekiah to distribute offerings in the priestly cities (2 Chr. 31:15). (3.) Ezra…
Nazareth — Separated, generally supposed to be the Greek form of the Hebrew netser, a “shoot” or “sprout.” Some, however, think that the name of the city must be connected with the name of the hill behind it,…
Titles And Names Of Christ · Branch — Branch
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Zechariah 3:8
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest,.... What he was about to say further concerning the bringing forth of the Messiah, the antitype of him, and of all the priests:
thou and thy fellows, that sit before thee; the Jews interpret (w) these of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, for whom wonders were wrought in delivering them from the fiery furnace; but rather they design the priests and the prophets, and chief men, that came up with Joshua out of the captivity; and especially the young priests that sat before him as his disciples, to be instructed by him in things belonging to the priestly office:
for they are men wondered at; or, "men of a sign" (x), or "wonder"; typical of Christ, the great Hi…
Zechariah 3:8
8. Hear 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
8. Audi nunc Jehoshua, sacerdos magne, tu et socii tui qui stant (vel, habitant) in conspectu tuo; quia viri portenti sunt isti; quia ecce prodire facio servum meum Gramen. (Ubi verti, quoniam viri portent sunt, potest ita resolvi oratio, quamvis sint viri portenti; sed de sensu Prophetae statim dicam.)
The angel shows here, that what had been hitherto shown to Zechariah was typical; for the reality had not as yet come to light, but would appear in its time. We have said that God's design was to lead the godly…
In these verses there follows a prophetic address, in which the angel of the Lord describes the symbolical action of the re-clothing of the high priest, according to its typical significance in relation to the continuance and the future of the kingdom of God. Zac 3:6. "And the angel of the Lord testified to Joshua, and said, Zac 3:7. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, If thou shalt walk in my ways, and keep my charge, thou shalt both judge my house and keep my courts, and I will give thee ways among these standing here. Zac 3:8. Hear then, thou high priest Joshua, thou, and thy comrades who sit before thee: yea, men of wonder are they: for, behold, I bring my servant Zemach (Sprout). Zac 3:9. For…
The high priest Jeshua and the other priests were symbols of greater realities. • Servant and Branch are both titles for the Messiah (Isa 42:1; 53:2; Jer 23:5; 33:15). As servant, the Messiah obeys God’s will by becoming a sin offering so that many might be made righteous (Isa 53:11; see Acts 3:13; 4:27). The Branch is a metaphor for kingship that identifies the Messiah as David’s descendant (Isa 11:1; Jer 23:5).
Rashi on Zechariah 3:8
you and your companions They were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
for they are men worthy of a miracle [Jonathan renders:] Men worthy to have miracles performed for them, for a miracle was performed for them, too.
for, behold! I bring My servant, the Shoot For now Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, is insignificant in the king’s court, but I will make his greatness burgeon. I will also give him favor in the eyes of the king, so that he will grant [Zerubbabel’s] request for the building of the Temple and the city, as explained in Nehemiah (1:1): “The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah.” Nehemiah was identical with Zerubbabel, as we say in Sanhedrin (38a).
