Zechariah 6:10

Take of them of the captivity, &c.— Take a gift from the captives of the family of Heldai, namely from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah, and come, &c. into the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, who is come from Babylon; Zechariah 6:11 even take the silver and the gold, &c. The persons here spoken of were those who brought the gold from Babylon, destined for the temple. Bishop Chandler observes, that the prophet's speech is directed to Joshua only; the two crowns are put only on the head of Joshua; to him only it is said, Behold the man whose name is the Branch; as much as to say, "Behold the sign of the Branch whom I promised to David in Solomon, and by the prophets after David to the Jews, by the name of the Branch."—He shall grow up from under him, out of David's root, his tribe and family; and shall build the temple which the Lord delights in, and act therein both as king and priest, (Zechariah 6:13.) that there be no more clashing of jurisdictions between the two dignities. Not a word of Zerubbabel in all this; the whole action and discourse centers in Joshua. Zerabbabel was then head of the captivity, and in right their king; but he enjoyed neither the name nor ensigns of majesty, nor had he the authority of the kings of Persia, though their substitute, to enforce obedience to the Jewish laws: such authority was not granted to the Jews before the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus. The jurisdiction bring then voluntary, it seems to have lain chiefly in the high-priest, as being best able to carry it on without civil sanctions; and in his assistants in counsel, of which Zerubbabel was principal. At least, there is nothing said of Zerubbabel in this book but what is ministerial: and the temple being finished, his commission probably was recalled, and he remanded to Babylon, where, as the Jews say, he died. For this cause Zechariah might pass by Zerubbabel, and prefer Joshua to be the representative of the Branch to come; but especially, lest in crowning one of the house of David the people should mistake him for the Messiah, and raise a jealousy of him in the Persians. To provide against these consequences, he put the crowns on a high-priest from whose tribe the Messiah was known not to descend. Thus he was secure that they would suppose Joshua to be nothing more than a type of the Messiah; and that he was crowned, not for his own sake, but in figure of another who should in truth be king. They must be led to such a judgment, the rather from the prophet's address to Joshua and his assessors, chap. Zechariah 3:8. Joshua being distinguished as one of those typical persons meant by men of wonder, when the prophet, directing God's words to him, who was in no sense the Branch they expected, adds, Behold my servant the Branch, it was hardly possible they should misconstrue his words, or fancy that Joshua was principally intended in the prophesy. See Bishop Chandler's Defence, p. 200. Houbigant in the 11th verse, instead of crowns, reads crown.