Zechariah 6:9-15

The Crown and the Temple

9 And the word of the LORD came to me:
10 "Take from the exiles 1Heldai, Tobijah, and 2Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of 3Zephaniah.
11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, 4and set it on the head of 5Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
12 And say to him, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is 6the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and 7he shall build the temple of the LORD.
13 8It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD 9and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a 10priest on his throne, 11and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."'
14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as 12a reminder to 13Helem,[a]14Tobijah, 15Jedaiah, and Hen 16the son of Zephaniah.
15 17"And those who are far off shall come and 18help to build the temple of the LORD. 19And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 20And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God."

Zechariah 6:9-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 6

This chapter contains a vision of four chariots, and the explanation of it; and an order to make crowns of gold and silver for certain uses mentioned; and a famous prophecy concerning the Messiah as the builder of the temple, the church. The chariots are described by their number, four; by the place, the mountains, from whence they came out; and by the different colour of the horses in each of them, Zec 6:1-3 upon the prophets inquiry what these were, an explanation is given of them; and they are said to be the four spirits of the heavens; and are described by their situation, standing before the Lord of the whole earth; by their mission from him; by each of the places to which they were sent; and by their success, or by the good effects produced, at least by some of them, Zec 6:4-8 then follows the order to make the crowns; and it is declared what they should be made of, gold and silver; from whom they were to be had, and who were to be concerned herein; and what was to be done with them; they were to be put upon the head of Joshua the high priest, Zec 6:9-11 who, being an eminent type of Christ, a prophecy concerning him is ordered to be delivered to him; who is described by his name, the man, the Branch; by the place he should grow up from; by the work he should do, building the temple of the Lord; by the glory he should have on account of it; and by the offices of King, Priest, and Prophet, he should execute, Zec 6:12,13 and after this was done, then the crowns were to be laid up in the temple of the Lord for a memorial, by the four men above mentioned, Zec 6:14 and though the Messiah is the chief builder of the temple, the church, yet it is suggested that others, and even Gentiles, should come and build in it; and which when done, it would be evident that the prophet had his mission to the Jews of the Lord; and the chapter is closed with a promise of the accomplishment of all this, should they diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord, Zec 6:15.

Cross References 20

  • 1. [ver. 14]
  • 2. Nehemiah 7:39
  • 3. 2 Kings 25:18
  • 4. [Zechariah 3:5]
  • 5. Zechariah 3:1
  • 6. See Zechariah 3:8
  • 7. [Matthew 16:18; Hebrews 3:3]; See Ephesians 2:20-22
  • 8. [See ver. 12 above]
  • 9. Psalms 21:5; Ezekiel 21:27
  • 10. Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 3:1
  • 11. [Haggai 2:9]
  • 12. Exodus 12:14; [Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9]
  • 13. [ver. 10]
  • 14. ver. 10
  • 15. ver. 10
  • 16. ver. 10
  • 17. Isaiah 57:19; [Ephesians 2:13, 19]
  • 18. Isaiah 60:10
  • 19. See Zechariah 2:9
  • 20. See Deuteronomy 30:1-3

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. An alternate spelling of Heldai (verse 10)
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.