Zechariah 3:8

3:8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you 1  are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch. 2 

Zechariah 4:7

Oracle of Response

4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? 3  Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple 4  capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ 5  because of this.”

Zechariah 8:13

8:13 And it will come about that just as you (both Judah and Israel) were a curse to the nations, so I will save you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid! Instead, be strong!’

1 tn Heb “these men.” The cleansing of Joshua and his elevation to enhanced leadership as a priest signify the coming of the messianic age.

2 sn The collocation of servant and branch gives double significance to the messianic meaning of the passage (cf. Isa 41:8, 9; 42:1, 19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 21; Ps 132:17; Jer 23:5; 33:15).

3 sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).

4 tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).

5 sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).