Zechariah 6:11

Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:9-15 Some Jews from Babylon brought an offering to the house of God. Those who cannot forward a good work by their persons, must, as they are able, forward it by their purses: if some find hands, let others fill them. Crowns are to be made, and put upon the head of Joshua. The sign was used, to make the promise more noticed, that God will, in the fulness of time, raise up a great High Priest, like Joshua, who is but the figure of one that is to come. Christ is not only the Foundation, but the Founder of this temple, by his Spirit and grace. Glory is a burden, but not too heavy for Him to bear who upholds all things. The cross was His glory, and he bore that; so is the crown an exceeding weight of glory, and he bears that. The counsel of peace should be between the priest and the throne, between the priestly and kingly offices of Jesus Christ. The peace and welfare of the gospel church, and of all believers, shall be wrought, though not by two several persons, yet by two several offices meeting in one; Christ, purchasing all peace by his priesthood, maintaining and defending it by his kingdom. The crowns used in this solemnity must be kept in the temple, as evidence of this promise of the Messiah. Let us not think of separating what God has joined in his counsel of peace. We cannot come to God by Christ as our Priest, if we refuse to have him rule over us as our King. We have no real ground to think our peace is made with God, unless we try to keep his commandments.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And make crowns - Or a "crown" , as in Job, "I would bind it as a crown unto me," and our Lord is seen in the Revelation, "on His Head were many crowns" . The singular is used of "a royal crown" , apparently of a festive crown ; and figuratively; (Job 19:9, (plur. Job 31:36) Proverbs 4:9; Proverbs 12:4; Proverbs 14:24; Proverbs 16:31. Proverbs 17:6); even of Almighty God Himself as a crown ; but no where of the mitre of the high priest.

The characteristic of the act is, that "the crown" or crowns (it is not in the context said, which) were placed on the head of the one high priest, Joshua; "and thou shall place" (it or them, it is not said which) "upon the head of Joshua son of Josedech the high priest, and shalt say unto him." If crowns were made of each material, there were two crowns. But this is not said, and the silver might have formed a circlet in the crown of gold, as, in modern times, the iron crown of Lombardy, was called iron, because it had "a plate of iron in its summit, being else of gold and most precious" . In any case the symbolical act was completed by the placing of a royal crown upon the head of the high priest. This, in itself, represented that He, whom he and all other priests represented, would be also our King. It is all one then, whether the word designate one single crown, so entitled for its greatness, or one united royal crown, that is, one crown uniting many crowns, symbolizing the many kingdoms of the earth, over which our High Priest and King should rule.

Either symbol, of separate crowns "the golden at Rome." Du Cang. Otto of Frisingen said that Frederic received 5 crowns; the first at Aix for the kingdom of the Franks; a second at Ratisban for that of Germany; a third at Pavia for the kingdom of Lombardy; the fourth at Rome for the Roman empire from Adrian iv; the fifth of Monza for the kingdom of Italy." In our own memory, Napoleon I. having been crowned in France, was crowned with the iron crown at Monza), or an united crown , has been used in the same meaning, to symbolize as many empires, as there were crowns.

On Zerubbabel no crown was placed. It would have been confusing; a seeming restoration of the kingdom, when it was not to be restored; an encouragement of the temporal hopes, which were the bane of Israel. God had foretold, that none of the race of Jehoiakim should prosper, "sitting on the throne of David, or ruling any more in Israel." Nehemiah rejects the imputation of Sanballat, "Thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem," There is "a king in Judah." He answers, "There are no such things done as thou sayest; and thou feignest them out of thine own heart" Nehemiah 6:6-8. But Isaiah had foretold much of the king who should reign: Zechariah, by placing the royal crown on the head of Joshua, foreshowed that the kingdom was not to be of this world. The royal crown had been taken away in the time of Zedekiah, "Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take away the crown; this shall not be this; exalt the low and abase the high; an overthrow, overthrow, overthrow will I make it; this too is not; until he come whose the right is, and I will give it" (Ezekiel 21:31-32 (Ezekiel 21:26-27 in English)).

But the Messiah, it was foretold, was to be both priest and king; "a priest after the order of Melchizedec" Psalm 110:4, and a king, set by the Lord "upon His holy hill of Zion" Psalm 2:6. The act of placing the crown on the head of Joshua the high priest, pictured not only the union of the offices of priest and king in the person of Christ, but that He should be King, being first our High Priest. Joshua was already high priest; being such, the kingly crown was added to him. It says in act, what Paul says, that "Christ Jesus, being found in fashion as a man, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him" Philippians 2:8-9.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. The high priest wore a crown above the miter (Zec 3:5; Le 8:9). Messiah shall wear many crowns, one surmounting the other (Re 19:12). It was a thing before unknown in the Levitical priesthood that the same person should wear at once the crown of a king and that of a high priest (Ps 110:4; Heb 5:10). Messiah shall be revealed fully in this twofold dignity when He shall "restore the kingdom to Israel" (Ac 1:6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Then take silver and gold: this reiterating the command both confirms and explains the former command.

Make crowns; two, the one of silver, the other of gold.

Set them, put both of them, i.e. one after the other,

upon the head of Joshua, who now in this circumstance stands a type of Christ, King and Priest for ever for his people, and this extraordinary act was to represent something extraordinary in the Messiah.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then take silver and gold, &c. Which the Jewish writers suppose were brought by the above men from their brethren in Babylon, as a free will offering towards the building of the temple:

and make crowns; two at least, one of silver, and another of gold; the one to be put upon the head of Joshua the high priest; the other upon the head of Zerubbabel, as Kimchi conjectures; though, according to the text, they seem to be both, or all of them, be they as many as they will, to be put upon the head of Joshua; and may signify the different states of the priesthood in the present time, and when in its pristine glory; or that both the crown of the priesthood and the crown of the kingdom should meet in his antitype Christ, who is said to have on his head many crowns, Revelation 19:12. The Targum renders it, "thou shalt make a great crown"; as if only one crown was to be made of gold and silver mixed together; and so the Arabic version renders it; but more are certainly meant, for it follows:

and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest; on whose head a fair mitre was set; see Zechariah 3:5 and with the mitre was wore by the high priest the holy crown, made of pure gold; and which was no other than the plate or "flower" of gold, on which was engraved "Holiness to the Lord", Exodus 28:36 and this, according to the Jewish writers (b), was a plate of gold two fingers broad, and reached from ear to ear; though Josephus (c) seems to give a different account of it; he says,

"the golden crown surrounds (either the mitre, or perhaps rather the forehead or temples); and on it were three rows of cups or flowers, like those of the herb we call "saccharus"; and the Grecian botanists "hyosciamus";''

or henbane; and after describing the herb, and the figure of the buds, cups, or flowers of it, he adds,

"like to these is made a crown reaching from the hinder part of the head unto both temples; for the flowers do not encompass the forehead; but there is a golden plate, which has the name of God engraved in sacred letters;''

which seems to disagree with the accounts of other Jewish writers; unless, as Braunius (d) observes, they may be thus reconciled, that the crown was nothing else but the plate that was two fingers broad, and was in length from ear to ear; so that about the temples it was ornamented with three rows of henbane flowers on each side: and these three rows may give occasion for the use of the word in the plural number; and some have called it a triple crown (e); and Popish writers fail not to improve it in favour of the crown their pontiff wears; and Lyra (f) speaks of little crowns or coronets, even in the mitres of the common priests; which (he says) were circles in the lower part of them so called; wherefore the rows of flowers in the high priest's crown, from whence it might be called a flower, might with more propriety bear that name. Philo the Jew (g), speaking of the golden plate, says it was like a crown engraven with four letters of the name (Jehovah); and further observes, that

"the mitre under it kept the plate from touching the head, on which the "cidaris" or diadem was put; for it was like the cidaris which the eastern kings used for a diadem:''

and indeed this crown, and the three rows of flowers in it, were a hieroglyphic or emblem of the threefold office of Christ, whom the high priest represented, kingly, priestly, and prophetic; and so may be fitly signified here by crowns in the plural number; and it is usual with the Jewish writers to speak of three crowns, the crown of the law, the crown of the kingdom, and the crown of the priesthood (h); and very probably from the high priest among the Jews wearing crowns it was that the priests among the Heathens had the same ornaments on their heads; and to be crowned was with them the same as to exercise the office of priesthood (i), and who was an eminent type of the Messiah, and in this of having crowns put upon his head, as the following words show.

(b) Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 9. sect. 1. Jarchi in Exodus 28.36. (c) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 7. (d) De Vestitu Sacerdot. Hebr. l. 2. c. 28. sect. 18. p. 807. (e) Fortunatus Scacchus in Myrothec. l. 3. c. 40. p. 1000. Solerius de Pileo, sect. 13. p. 266. (f) In Exodus 39.27. (g) De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 670, 671. (h) Pirke Abot, c. 4. sect. 13. (i) Paschalius de Coronis, l. 4. c. 13.

Geneva Study Bible

Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the {m} head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

(m) Because this could not be attributed to any one according to the Law, therefore it follows that Joshua must represent the Messiah, who was both Priest and King.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. crowns] The plural may perhaps be used for one crown (a crown, R. V. margin), as it is apparently in Job 31:36. Or there may have been two wreaths or fillets, possibly one of each precious metal, woven into a crown. In Zechariah 6:14 where the word again occurs it is joined with a verb in the singular: lit. the crowns (it) shall be. In any case it refers exclusively to the royal crown or crowns (Revelation 19:12). The High-priest’s mitre is never called a crown.

Josedech] Jehozadak. R. V.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - Silver and gold. That which had been brought from Babylon. However unwilling the Jews were to let the Samaritans take part in the good work, they were quite ready to receive contributions from their brethren in the dispersion, and likewise from heathen kings and princes (see Ezra 6:8, etc.; Ezra 7:15, etc.). Make crowns. The prophet was to get the crowns made (comp. Exodus 25, passim). The plural may here be used intensively for "a noble crown," as in Job 31:36; or it may signify the two metals of which the crown was made, two or more wreaths being intertwined to form it. It is certain that only one crown was to be made, and that that was to be placed on Joshua's head. There is no mention of Zerubbabel in the passage; so the plural cannot be taken to intimate that there was a crown for the high priest and a crown for the princely ruler, as Ewald and Bunsen assert. These critics, followed by Hitzig and Wellhausen, supply the passage thus: "on the head of Zerubbabel and on the head of Joshua." Zerubbabel had no kingly position. Rather, all mention of Zerubbabel is expressly excluded, in order to denote that in the Person of him whom Joshua symbolized, the offices of priest and king were united (Psalm 110). We may note that in Revelation 19:12 Christ is said to have on his head many crowns, by which is meant a diadem composed of many circlets. The high priest's mitre is never called a crown. That which was placed on Joshua's head was a royal crown, a token of royal dignity, not his own, but his whom he represented - Christ the eternal Priest, the universal King. Zechariah 6:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The series of visions closes with a symbolical transaction, which is closely connected with the substance of the night-visions, and sets before the eye the figure of the mediator of salvation, who, as crowned high priest, or as priestly king, is to build the kingdom of God, and raise it into a victorious power over all the kingdoms of this world, for the purpose of comforting and strengthening the congregation. The transaction is the following: Zechariah 6:9. "And the word of Jehovah came to me thus: Zechariah 6:10. Take of the people of the captivity, of Cheldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedahyah, and go thou the same day, go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they have come from Babel; Zechariah 6:11. And take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jozadak the high priest." By the introduction, "The word of the Lord came to me," the following transaction is introduced as a procedure of symbolical importance. It is evident from Zechariah 6:10 and Zechariah 6:11 that messengers had come to Jerusalem from the Israelites who had been left behind in Babel, to offer presents of silver and gold, probably for supporting the erection of the temple, and had gone to the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. The prophet is to go to them, and to take silver and gold from them, to have a crown made for Joshua the high priest. The construction in Zechariah 6:10 and Zechariah 6:11 is somewhat broad and dragging. The object is wanting to the inf. absol. לקוח, which is used instead of the imperative; and the sentence which has been begun is interrupted by וּבאת וגו, so that the verb which stands at the head is resumed in the ולקחתּ of Zechariah 6:11, and the sentence finished by the introduction of the object. This view is the simplest one. For it is still more impracticable to take לקוח in an absolute sense, and either supply the object from the context, or force it out by alterations of the text (Hitzig). If, for example, we were to supply as the object, "that which they are bringing," this meaning would result: "accept what they are bringing, do not refuse it," without there being any ground for the assumption that there had been any unwillingness to accept the presents. The alteration of מחלדּי into מחמדּי, "my jewels," is destitute of any critical support, and מחלדּי is defended against critical caprice by the לחלם in Zechariah 6:14. Nor can מאת הגּולה be taken as the object to לקוח, "take (some) from the emigration," because this thought requires מן, and is irreconcilable with מאת, "from with." Haggōlâh, lit., the wandering into exile, then those who belong to the wandering, or to the exiled, not merely those who are still in exile, but very frequently also those who have returned from exile. This is the meaning here, as in Ezra 4:1; Ezra 6:19, etc. Mecheldai is an abbreviation for מאת חלדּי. Cheldai, Tobiyah, and Yedahyah, were the persons who had come from Babylon to bring the present. This is implied in the words אשׁר בּאוּ מב, whither they have come from Babel. אשׁר is an accus. loci, pointing back to בּית. We are not warranted in interpreting the names of these men symbolically or typically, either by the circumstance that the names have an appellative meaning, like all proper names in Hebrew, or by the fact that Cheldai is written Chēlem in Zechariah 6:14, and that instead of Josiah we have there apparently chēn. For chēn is not a proper name (see at Zechariah 6:14), and chēlem, i.e., strength, is not materially different from Cheldai, i.e., the enduring one; so that it is only a variation of the name, such as we often meet with. The definition "on that day" can only point back to the day mentioned in Zechariah 1:7, on which Zechariah saw the night-visions, so that it defines the chronological connection between this symbolical transaction and those night-visions. For, with the explanation given by C. B. Michaelis, "die isto quo scil. facere debes quae nunc mando," the definition of the time is unmeaning. If God had defined the day more precisely to the prophet in the vision, the prophet would have recorded it. Zechariah is to have given to him as much of the silver and gold which they have brought with them as is required to make ‛ătârōth. The plural ‛ătârōth does indeed apparently point to at least two crowns, say a silver and a golden one, as C. B. Michaelis and Hitzig suppose. But what follows cannot be made to harmonize with this. The prophet is to put the ‛ătârōth upon Joshua's head. But you do not put two or more crowns upon the head of one man; and the indifference with which Ewald, Hitzig, and Bunsen interpolate the words זרוּבבל וּבראשׁ after בּראשׁ, without the smallest critical authority, is condemned by the fact that in what follows only one wearer of a crown is spoken of, and in Zechariah 6:13, according to the correct interpretation, there is no "sharp distinction made between the priest and the Messiah." The plural ‛ătârōth denotes here one single splendid crown, consisting of several gold and silver twists wound together, or rising one above another, as in Job 31:36, and just as in Revelation 19:12 (ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ διαδήματα πολλά) Christ is said to wear, not many separate diadems, but a crown consisting of several diadems twisted together, as the insignia of His regal dignity.