Notes on Zechariah 3

Again this chapter divides into two unequal halves around each of the visions, 3:1-8 and 3:9-10.

An alternative division is with the mainline, where there are words to Zechariah about Joshua in 3:1-5 and then words to Joshua from 3:6-10, giving us two very equal halves.

But if we acknowledge both of these divisions (having/eating cake) the passage divides nicely into three parts:

1. 3:1-5 - a vision of Joshua the high priest
2. 3:6-8 - the instructions for Joshua
3. 3:9-10 - a vision of a stone for Joshua

The vision of the stone is embedded in the speech to Joshua, which seems like it is for him,
but Joshua is mentioned in the third person, which makes it seem like it's addressed to Zechariah.

3:1 setting

The verb ראה is used yet again to tell us that we are in a new vision. This time it's hiphil, so there's a more active sense: Zechariah is being shown this vision.
He is shown Joshua the High Priest (this title is repeated in full in 3:8) but also another figure: the accuser, standing there to accuse him. This verb עמד, as a participle, turns up six times just in this chapter, and five times in the first five verses (2x in 3:1, then vv3,4,5). Among other reasons this provides a contrast with v8 and those who are sitting. But the main reason is that this is a courtroom scene. Like Job 1-2, השטן (the accuser, "the satan") is there, before Yhwh or his divine messenger, to have a go at the accused, or, perhaps, to use the accused as a case study with which to accuse Yhwh.

I think, as with the theodicy discussions around Job, the accuser has issues with Yhwh's favouritism and uses people like Job and like Joshua to point the unfairness of this out. As the story goes on, Joshua, the high priest, is filthy. I guess the point is, how can someone dressed like this be the high priest? and, importantly, how does this reflect on Yhwh?

3:2 rebuke

The Satan doesn't get any speaking lines. Before he gets the chance to rebuke anyone, he himself is rebuked and is never heard from again. Yhwh has chosen Jerusalem (1:17; 2:16; 3:2) and he has evidently chosen Joshua, who was in the fire (i.e. Babylon) but has been plucked from the fire and is still on fire (i.e. he is deadly?). So yes, being in the fire is bad, but if the result is you are toughened and powerful, then Yhwh can use you powerfully. As he will.

3:3-5 cleansed

Joshua is identified as in filthy clothes, which are then removed, and then Zechariah chimes in, asking that clean headwear of some form (צָנִיף; cf מִצְנֶפֶת in Exo-Lev) be given him (3:5).

This replacing of filthy for clean garments is possible because of v4, the removal of Joshua's iniquity (עָוֹן). This is an interesting choice of lexeme. It is not ritual impurity from having been far from the temple and eating impure food, but speaks to deliberate misdeeds. There is no discussion of what this might be, simply that he had iniquity upon him, and that has now been removed. This acts as a synecdoche, looking forward to the removal of iniquity from the land (3:9). One difference is that in 3:9 the verb is מושׁ (depart, although qal qatal?), while in 3:4 it's the more normal עבר (in the hiphil).

If I had to land somewhere, I might point to Jude 23 which talks about clothing stained by corrupted flesh. Has Joshua's flesh been corrupted by being associated with iniquitous people and practices, even if he himself is without sin? 

3:6-7 command

The second half of ch3 is a command to walk in Yhwh's paths, with a double set of "if...then" constructions. IF you walk in my paths, and IF you guard my requirements, THEN you will govern my house, and THEN you will guard my courts.

The final line of v7 is a promise of a place among those standing here, whoever they may be. Who these people are is not explained. Could it be those who in v8 are sitting? The confusion over who was sitting (on a horse) and standing reigned in chapter 1, so maybe they are the same group? Or maybe those sitting (3:8) are other priests, while those standing (v7) are the heavenly court? I think this makes the most sense, but again, it's a vision, so it's anyone's guess.

3:8 branch

The command to Joshua continues with an imperative using his full title again. The divine messenger explains that Joshua and his friends/colleagues sitting before him will be מוֹפֵת (portents?) THAT he is bringing his servant, his branch (I think we are to assume the branch = Zerubbabel, although he is not yet mentioned).

The logical language here is a little confusing, as these men haven't yet done anything. It could just be their existence and location, which in and of themselves are wonders (another translation of מוֹפֵת) and proof that Yhwh is doing something big here, with the return of his people, the return of the priests (those sitting), the installation of the high priest (Joshua), and, immanently, the return of his servant, the branch.

3:9-10 stone

Another significant event or item is signalled with another כי הנה (cf כי הנני in v8). This new thing is the stone, a stone with eyes, seven of them, inscribed with an inscription. It doesn't tell us what the inscription might be. There are three options:

1. the next line: I will remove your iniquity in one day
2. the following line: sit under your vine and fig tree
3. the other inscription in the book: קדוש ליהוה (holy to Yhwh), from the final paragraph of Zechariah - 14:20

I like the iniquity one because it preaches well. It's also the closest in proximity. Technically נְאֻם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת (a declaration of Yhwh of Armies) is closer - maybe that's the fourth option? I also like the third one, although the word "inscribed" isn't actually in the text at 14:20 (it's implied, reflected in translations). Maybe the second one is the one which contextually makes the most sense.

The role of the stone seems to be similar to that of the horses of ch1. As they went around and surveyed the land, so too is the stone all-seeing, and it is the guarantee to Yehud that they can happily go and sit with their friends in their gardens and orchards. The horses declared that the land is at rest, the eyes on the stone know if anything is coming. Therefore the people can relax, finish building the temple, and enjoy life in the land, knowing their iniquity has been taken away, and will be able to be in perpetuity because Yhwh has cleansed and installed his high priest, who, along with the Davidide who is en route, aka the branch, aka Zerubbabel, will shepherd and govern this people.

Notes on Zechariah 2

When I say Zechariah 2 I'm talking about the Hebrew numbering; in English it's 1:18-2:13. Conveniently the Hebrew versification gives us two chapters of equal length. 

And, as with chapter 1, the basic division gives us two sections of unequal length. Chapter 1 was divided by the date formulas into 1:1-6 and 1:7-17. Chapter 2 is divided by the vision formulas into 2:1-4 and 2:5-17. However, as with the secondary division I suggested in chapter 1 (revealing 1-6; 7-11; 12-17), the second part of chapter 2 divides into two as the visions give way to a divine oracle. This reveals the following structure:

2:1-4 The vision of the four horns
2:5-7 The vision of the measuring man

2:8-17 The word for Daughter Zion

1. The four horns

The four horns are mentioned four times, with a fifth in the singular in the final line of v4 (Eng. 1:21). These horns are what Zechariah sees in this vision, and there are four of them, which could, depending on how you count horses, have somehow morphed out of the horses of chapter 1. It's interesting that in chapter 6 and the final vision, there are explicitly four chariots, while at least the first (and presumably the others too) had four horses, which are also four spirits. 

Apart from date formulas, it is only in chapters 2 and 6 where the number four appears. While I haven't yet started to think about the suggestion of a chiastic structure of the vision sequence, it does seem at this point that the first two visions somehow meld into the final vision. But as I say, I'll think about that after I get to the midway point of the book.

However, while the horses of ch1 were scouts, these horns are the powers which scattered Judah and Israel and Jerusalem. At first I thought this could be a way of speaking about the power of Yhwh but the four smiths (2:3-4) would seem to be the anti-horns and also working for Yhwh. Therefore the horns are the powers of the nations, perhaps identified with Assyria (Israel), Egypt and Babylon (Judah & Jerusalem) and I'm not sure who the fourth would be. Perhaps Persia? I know they're sort of God's means of return but that doesn't make them the good guys either. 

2:4 is a super confusing verse; it's also super long. It says something like:

And I said
   "What are these going to do?"
and he spoke and said
   "These are the horns which scattered Yehud
      such that a man's lip could not lift his head
   And these [the smiths?] are going to terrify them [the horns]
      to throw down the horns of the nations
      who raised up a horn against the land of Yehud, to scatter her."

I think the smiths probably represent the general vibe that Yhwh will sort them out. They are his agents for destroying evil powers. This also feels a bit like Daniel, with the kingdoms (some of whom have or even are horns) but at the end they are destroyed by God's agent of destruction and restoration.

2. The measuring man

With the same formula the next vision is a new scene, which reintroduces the measuring line of 1:16. However rather than Yhwh of Armies stretching out his line, it is this man in the vision. 

But while Yhwh promised to measure Jerusalem for a new fit-out, another divine messenger jumps in to stop him, not because he's doing something wrong, but because Yhwh's vision for his city has been enlarged, such that no wall could hope to enclose the multitude of man and beast which will be within it. Thankfully she will not be defenseless, but Yhwh will be a wall of fire around her. 

I'm not clear how this answers the question of the rebuild Zerubbabel is commissioned to do. Perhaps it is about priorities - don't fret about the wall, focus on the temple. The wall can wait, and maybe you won't even need it. 

There is a similar ring to the description of future Jerusalem and Jonah's Nineveh, with it not just being about people but animals (בהמה) too. The difference of course is that Yhwh does not promise to dwell in Nineveh, but he will be in Jerusalem: a fiery wall without and glory within. 

3. Daughter Zion

This final part is punctuated by the declaration formula (נאם־יהוה) and also divides quite nicely into בת־בבל (daughter Babel) and  בת־ציון (daughter Jerusalem). 

2:10-13 (Eng. 2:6-9) is a warning to flee and be free of Babylon, the land of the north (I guess you have to travel north to get east?), and then 2:14-17 (Eng. 2:10-13) are the promise of the new life in the restored land. 

The first section here thrice has the interjection הוי, which is sometimes "woe!" and sometimes just like it sounds: "oi!" McComiskey explains that with the verbal idea it precedes it has to be something similar, like "up!" or as the NIV puts it, "come!" The conjunction כי (ki - for) turns up here surprisingly for the first time in the book. It's five times in 2:10-13 and another three in 14-17, and clearly seems to providing some structure. 

In the second section שכן (to dwell) occurs twice, and this is the key promise. Yhwh will dwell among his people in his city in land. This reverses the departure of Yhwh from the temple in Ezekiel, and is the foundation upon which the future of Yehud as the reconstituted people of God can proceed. "He has roused himself from his holy dwelling" (2:17) in order to make Jerusalem again known as the place where he dwells. 

This is also the beginning of the promise which reaches its pinnacle in ch8, that of the nations coming in to be joined to Yehud and become with them the people of Yhwh. 

Conclusion

It is this final idea of Yhwh bringing in all the nations to his city to fill it to overflowing which ties the whole passage together. The destruction of the horns of the nations, the pausing of the wall rebuilding, the return from Babylon, all make sense as the future for God's people in God's place under God's rule is revealed. 

Notes on Zechariah 1

This term I'm going to be preaching through Zechariah. Last time I went through it in depth was in fourth year Hebrew, so back in 2011. I'm excited to get back into it. I will endeavour to put up some notes as I work through the Hebrew text.

1. Chapter 1

Zechariah 1 finishes after v17 in the Hebrew. The English includes four more verses before beginning chapter 2. It's really neither here nor there, although I think the return of the verb שוב (to return - this was a pun) in v16 means that paragraph is something of a bookend so 1:1-17 works as a complete unit.

2. שוב (to return)

The verb שוב (to return) sets off the first section as 1:1-6. שוב occurs four times: "return to me and I will return to you" (v3); "return (turn back) from your evil paths and from your evil deeds" (v4, cf v6b); "they returned" (v6a). We don't meet that verb again until v16, "I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion."

3. The vision in the middle

This vision is the first of many, and links to the next two visions, with the craftsmen (2:1-4 Heb; 1:18-21 Eng) and the bloke with the measuring line at the beginning of ch2 (Eng; 2:5 Heb). 

While the theme is straightforward (the earth has been observed and it all seems to be at peace, so you have no excuses to get to building), identifying the characters is not so easy. There could easily be a whole bunch: 

• Zechariah (9a)
• the angelic messenger (9b)
• the bloke on the horse (8a)
• a different person standing among the myrtles (10)
• some plural entities in who respond to the messenger - possibly the horses? (11)

I think it's possible there are fewer characters - the messenger could be on a horse, but then standing among the horses. As far as the plural goes, it could be that all the horses have their own riders, but this is a vision - why should it not be the horses talking?!

In any case, the horses have been galloping about the earth, התהלך בארץ (1:10-11), a phrase which Yhwh speaks to Abram in Gen. 13:17, promising him future ownership of wherever he walks, and similarly by Joshua to his men in Josh. 18. We will also hear it again in ch6 when we meet the horses again. This image of Yhwh having complete knowledge of earthly affairs is a consistent theme, and the purpose seems to be to encourage his people to act in light of this divine knowledge.

4. Mercy, goodness and compassion

In the final section, vv12-17 the trio רחם, טוב and נחם (mercy, goodness and compassion) occurs twice. First in v12-13 and then in v16-17, giving some shape to the whole. This also draws a contrast with the beginning, where rejection by their fathers led to the opposite of these things, but their return will again (again, עוד, occurs 3x in the final verse) mean all these things in abundance; Yhwh will again choose Jerusalem. 

In between this is a repeat of key words, similar to the first section with קצף in v2, now קצף occurs three times in v15 and קנא twice in v14. He was super angry with his people in v2,  but now he is super jealous for them, he is very angry with the nations (14-15). 

5. Conclusion

This chapter divides into three, bookended with שוב, with a central vision, and a contrast between judgement of forefathers in the beginning and compassion on the current generation at the end.