Zechariah 6:12

The man. — Better, a man, as in Isaiah 32:2.

Branch. — See Note on Zechariah 3:8.

Shall build. — This verb is often used in a figurative sense: e.g., of a family (Genesis 16:2). Since Zerubbabel is not even mentioned in this passage, Zechariah’s hearers could not possibly have thought that this symbolical action was merely a repetition of the promise of Zechariah 4:9, but must have perceived that the building of the Temple here spoken of referred to something of a higher nature than the material building then in progress.