Zechariah 6:11

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.

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 fro

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.