Charles Ellicott Commentary Zechariah 3:9

"For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day." — Zechariah 3:9 (ASV)

The stone. —If this were the meaning of the original, the words upon one stone should have been upon that stone. But the stone means the stones, the singular noun being used as a noun of multitude, as it is in Genesis 11:3; Exodus 39:10. The stones are the material stones with which the House was to be built; their being laid before Joshua is used to represent the whole command to build the House.

Upon one stone. —Better, upon one particular stone (for this use of the numeral “one,” compare to Note on Zechariah 14:7), that is, either the foundation-stone laid in the time of Cyrus, or the stone on which the Ark had formerly stood (Jewish tradition), or the head-stone, or chief corner-stone; or, possibly, upon each stone (for this construction compare to Ezekiel 1:6; Ezekiel 10:14, and my Hebrew Student's Commentary on Zechariah, p. 37)—namely, upon the whole scheme and process of re-building.

Seven eyes. —Ewald supposes the seven eyes to have been engraved on the stone, and thinks that they represent the seven spirits (Revelation 1:4). But it seems more probable that they represent the all-embracing, and here special, providence of God (Zechariah 4:10). The expression to put the eyes upon is used in Jeremiah 39:12; Jeremiah 40:4, in the sense “to protect,” “take care of.” The completion of this material building was an important era in the train of events, which, under Divine providence, was preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah. (See a further development of the meaning of “building” in Zechariah 6:12-13.)

Engrave its engraving. —As the graving of the figures, etc., puts the finishing touch to precious stones (Exodus 28:36), so the expression is here used to denote putting the final stroke to the work of rebuilding. It is impossible to take And I will remove, etc., as the sentence engraved on the stone, as many have done; for such an inscription could not possibly commence with vâv conversive and the perfect. Job 19:25, Yet I know, my Vindicator liveth, is in no sense a parallel case (see Delitzsch in loc.). Septuagint, ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ὀρύσσω βόθρον, “lo! I am digging a trench,” misreading the word “graving.”

In one day. —The day when the Temple should be completed and consecrated. The successful completion of this great work would be a sign and seal of the forgiveness of the past iniquity of the land. In one day cannot refer to “the day of Golgotha” (Hengstenberg), for how could Zechariah 3:10 be applied to that day? How could Zechariah 12:10 and following, and Zechariah 3:9-10, be possibly referred to the same event? For and I will remove, Septuagint, καὶ ψηλαφήσω, confounding the verb, which means “to remove,” with a somewhat similar verb, meaning “to grope after.”