Zechariah 3:9

3:9 As for the stone 1  I have set before Joshua – on the one stone there are seven eyes. 2  I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 3 

Zechariah 10:6

10:6 “I (says the Lord) will strengthen the kingdom 4  of Judah and deliver the people of Joseph 5  and will bring them back 6  because of my compassion for them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and therefore I will hear them.

Zechariah 11:16

11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. 7  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep 8  and tear off their hooves.

1 sn The stone is also a metaphor for the Messiah, a foundation stone that, at first rejected (Ps 118:22-23; Isa 8:13-15), will become the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph 2:19-22).

2 tn Some understand the Hebrew term עַיִן (’ayin) here to refer to facets (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “faces” (NCV, CEV “seven sides”) of the stone rather than some representation of organs of sight.

sn The seven eyes are symbolic of divine omniscience and universal dominion (cf. Zech 1:10; 4:10; 2 Chr 16:9).

3 sn Inscriptions were common on ancient Near Eastern cornerstones. This inscription speaks of the redemption achieved by the divine resident of the temple, the Messiah, who will in the day of the Lord bring salvation to all Israel (cf. Isa 66:7-9).

4 tn Heb “the house.”

5 tn Or “the kingdom of Israel”; Heb “the house of Joseph.”

sn Joseph is mentioned here instead of the usual Israel (but see 2 Sam 19:20; Ps 78:67; 80:1; 81:5; Ezek 37:16; Amos 5:6, 15; 6:6) because of the exodus motif that follows in vv. 8-11.

6 tc The anomalous MT reading וְחוֹשְׁבוֹתִים (vÿkhoshÿvotim) should probably be וַהֲשִׁי בוֹתִם (vahashi votim), the Hiphil perfect consecutive of שׁוּב (shuv), “return” (cf. Jer 12:15).

7 tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

8 tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”