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CHAPTER III.

1. "And he showed me," &c.-Satan is spoken figuratively of Sanballat and his companions, who were adversaries to them, and caused them to stop from their work. Jonathan has thus interpreted it, "And the sinner* stood at his right hand to oppose him.

2." And the LORD, П, said."-This is said of the angel, who is called by the name of his master, and so, in the history of Gideon, and other places. †

"The Lord rebuke thee."-This refers to God, blessed be He.

"That hath chosen Jerusalem," to build it, and thou canst not resist him.

"Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”—As a burning brand which is removed from the fire, that it may not burn any more, so was this man (Joshua) delivered from the fire of captivity to come to Jerusalem, and to build the house, and to minister therein. And our rabbies of blessed memory, have interpreted it of him, according to the literal sense, that he was along with Zedekiah and Ahab, when the king of Babylon burned them in the fire, and they were burnt, but he was delivered, as is said in that D'rash, § and so Jonathan has interpreted. ||

3. "Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments.' This is explained parabolically of his sons, who married strange women, and so is the interpretation of Jonathan,

* Buxtorf says, "6 By Synechdoche for Satan, because he sins, and makes others to sin."-Lex. Talm.

This is another most important admission, and, at the same time, a precaution against the idea of a plurality, here so plainly intimated. See Talm. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93, col. 1.

§ Drash, signifies a mystical interpretation. Jonathan says nothing of this fable.

"Joshua had sons who had married women, not lawful for the priesthood." And so our rabbies of blessed memory have said, "That on account of this sin, that his sons married women unsuitable for the priesthood, and that he did not restrain them, therefore it is said, 'Joshua was clothed with filthy garments;' not that it was Joshua's way to wear filthy garments, but that his sons took women unsuitable for the priesthood, and he did not restrain them." And so it is written in Ezra, "And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives, namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren." (Ezra x. 18.)

“And he answered," † i. e. the angel. He said to the other angels who were standing before him, for he was greater than they, and he it was who sent them. And the Targum of Jonathan has, "To those who served before him."

"Take away."-A type, that they should separate from the strange wives.

"Thine iniquity."-The filthy garments represented the iniquity.

nishņe signifies changes of pure raiment, and this also represents, in a parable, the merits (of his good actions), that is to say, when the iniquity is put away, thy merits will appear. And Jonathan has interpreted thus, "I will clothe thee with merits."

5. “ And I said."-The prophet Zechariah says, I said to the angel that they should set a fair mitre upon his head. As thou hast commanded to take away the filthy garments from off him, and to clothe him with change of raiment, command also, that they should put a fair mitre on his head, that he may be consecrated as high-priest, for the mitre was worn on his head. ‡

* The negative appears to be omitted in the Hebrew.

↑ Kimchi has, " And the angel answered."

i. e., The mitre was peculiar to the high-priest.

"And clothed him with garments" (must be taken to mean) And they had already clothed him with garments; for before any mention is made of Zechariah, it was already said, “And I will clothe thee with change of raiment." (Ver. 4.) And thus (the Vau, "and," has a similar force) in Exod. xvi. 20, we yin "And it bred worms, and it stank;" i. e., for it already stank, for every thing stinks before it breeds worms. And again in Isaiah Ixiv. 4, (5) MAY APR MAN, "Behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned," + and other like passages.

"And the angel of the Lord stood by."-According as he saw in the prophetic vision, for until they had set the pure mitre upon his head, the angel of the Lord stood, so as not to move from his sight.

6. "And the angel of the Lord protested."-He protested to him concerning this thing. And thus [we find the word used] in Deut. viii. 19, "I protest unto you, that ye shall surely perish;" and again, Gen. xliii. 3, "The man did solemnly protest unto us." The letter y is pointed with pathach, because it is a guttural. According to the rule, it ought to have had a segol (1721),

And he brought back all the " וַיָּשָׁב אֶת כָּל-חָרְכֶשׁ as

BIT

goods." (Gen. xiv. 16.)‡

7." Thus saith the Lord Thou shalt judge my house."-Inasmuch as he was High-Priest, and the other priests were to act by his command. "And I will give thee" (?), expresses the future, and the Vau is used as in Exod. xix. 16, 7, "And it came to

* Compare Noldius and Gesenius in 1.

+ In Hebrew, "We have sinned," but our translators knew this signification of the 1, and translated as Kimchi here proposes. Here, in Zechariah, they have not done so, for it does not appear from the text that Joshua had been already clothed. The angel had given the command, but there is nothing to compel our belief that the command had been already executed.

Consult Gesen. Lehrgeb.

pass on the third day;" and in Gen. xxii. 4, ","And Abraham lifted up his eyes."

*

"Places to walk among those that stand by."-They were the angels who stand and endure for ever; and this means, thou shalt walk amongst them, i. e., his soul, when it should be separated from his body. The Targum of Jonathan says, "In the resurrection of the dead I will revive thee," &c. †

8. "Hear now, thou, other priests.

and thy fellows." - The

"For they are men of sign.”‡ They are worthy of having a sign wrought for them by their hands. And our rabbies of blessed memory have thus interpreted, "Who are men of sign or miracle? They are those for whom a miracle was wrought, i. e., Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah." §

"For behold, I will bring my servant, the Branch.”This is Zerubbabel. || (Literally, "I am bringing.") The

It is a Vau conversive.

And give thee feet to walk among these seraphs.

The marginal translation.

§ Talm. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93, col. 1.

Kimchi here follows Rashi in interpreting "My servant, the Branch" of Zerubbabel. Their reason for this probably was, that if they acknowledged the person thus designated in this chapter to be the Messiah, they must have made the same admission in the parallel passage, chapter vi. 12; and by so doing, they would have admitted that Messiah was to be a priest as well as a king. Perhaps they also saw some polemical danger in this chapter, in connecting the promise of the Messiah, with the promise, occurring in the next verse, remove the iniquity of the land in one day," which would seem to favour the Christian doctrine, that the Messiah " by one offering, perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Heb. x. 14.) But however that be, the interpretation which they propose is not tenable,

To

1st, Because it departs from the old received interpretation of the Jewish Church. Both Kimchi and Rashi admit that there was an interpretation referring this passage to the Messiah; and Jonathan, in his Targum, interprets both these passages of the Messiah.

2d, Because it contradicts the analogy of the prophetic language.

reason why it is said, "I am bringing" when he was already come, is, to signify that his dignity should increase still more, and his greatness should grow as a branch from the ground, which goes on growing; and thus it is said below (vi. 12), " Behold the man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord." And so Haggai, the prophet says, "I will take thee, O Zerubbabel," &c. (Haggai ii. 23.), as we have explained. But there are some who interpret "The Branch," of the Messiah, the King, and then the meaning is, Although I now give you this salvation, I will bring to you a greater salvation, in the time that I bring my servant the Branch. A mystical interpretation has also been given, whereby it appears that Menachem* (comforter) is the name of the Messiah; for Menachem is, by Gematria,† Tsemach Messiah is elsewhere called "The Branch," as in Isaiah iv. 2, and Jeremiah xxiii. 6, in both which passages Kimchi himself freely admits that "Branch" means the Messiah.

3d, Because the words do not agree with the circumstances of Zerubbabel. God says, "I will bring my servant, the Branch." But, as Abarbanel remarks, Zerubbabel had come long before, and was already a prince among them. Kimchi felt this difficulty, and, therefore, tries to twist the words to mean, "that his dignity should increase still more, and his greatness should grow as a branch," &c. But Abarbanel remarks again, that God does not say that he will make him great, but that he will bring him; and adds, that "after this prophecy Zerubbabel attained to neither royalty, dominion, or other dignity, more than he already possessed." (See Abarbanel Comment. in loc.)

* Menachem (comforter) is said to be the name of Messiah in the Talm. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98, col. 2, where the words, " The comforter (Menachem) that should relieve my soul, is far from me" (Lam. i. 16.), are cited in proof.

+ Gematria is the same word as "geometry;" but in Jewish writings it designates a certain species of Cabbalistic interpretation, the principle of which is, that two words, whose letters amount to the same numerical value, signifying the same thing. Thus Menachem, consisting of =40, 50, п=8, D=40, amounts to 138. Tsemach, "branch," makes the same amount, for 90, 40, 8. A curious instance