John Calvin Commentary Zechariah 6:9-11

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they are come from Babylon; yea, take [of them] silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest;" — Zechariah 6:9-11 (ASV)

This vision was given to Zechariah so that he might inspire weak minds with better hope, because the Jews found that they were hard-pressed on every side by their neighbors, since enemies rose up against them before and behind, so that there was no end to their troubles. Therefore, those who had returned from exile thought themselves wretched in such a situation.

They might indeed have lived in quietness among the Babylonians, and they had become accustomed to that kind of life, so that exile was not so very grievous to them. Thus, the favor of God was turned into loathing and was almost hated by them, for they thought it better to be deprived of their country than to be daily exposed to new assaults.

Furthermore, the possession of the land was not desirable in itself, except in relation to the hope given them; that is, because God had promised by His prophets that the kingdom of David would again be made glorious, and also that the grandeur and glory of the temple would be greater than ever before.

When the Jews found themselves continually harassed by their enemies, they thought that all that had been promised was in vain. There is therefore no doubt that many complaints and many clamors were everywhere raised. Therefore, so that they might stop murmuring against God in this way, this vision was given to the Prophet, in which he is commanded to take silver and gold from four men, and to make two crowns to be set on the head of Joshua the high priest.

The design was to make the Jews feel assured that the condition of the people would be as safe as it was formerly, when the kingly office and the priesthood flourished. For these were the chief ornaments, or the two eyes, as it were, of the body — the priest, a mediator between God and men — and the king, representing God in governing the people.

Thus, we see that the restoration of the Church is set forth by the two crowns. But we must also observe that the two crowns are placed on the head of Joshua, which was new and unusual. A mitre, we know, was given to the priests; and we know also that kings were adorned with a diadem. But no one individual was to wear both a royal diadem and a sacerdotal mitre.

Here, then, we find a union of royalty and priesthood in the same person, which had never before been the case, for God had made a distinction in His law between the two offices. Thus, we see that something previously unknown is set forth by this prophecy: namely, that the same person would be both a king and a priest.

For what Jerome says, among other things, that there might have been many crowns, is weak and frivolous. Furthermore, he contradicts the words of the Prophet, for shortly after he adds that there would be a counsel of peace between the two — that is, between royalty and priesthood. Regarding what the same author thinks, that there was one crown given to the high priest, it is also false; besides, he undermines as much as he can the whole doctrine of the Prophet.

But I leave these trifles, for there is no ambiguity in Zechariah’s words when he says that God commanded him to take silver and gold, so that he might make two crowns to set on the head of the high priest. We now understand the Prophet's design regarding the object of the prophecy, and also the meaning of the words.

Let us now inquire why the Prophet was instructed to take gold from four men, for he says, Take from the transmigration. The word הגולה, egule, is to be taken in a collective sense, as in many other places. Take then from the exiles, who have now returned from Babylon to their own country.

But he later mentions four men; and there is some abruptness in the passage, but nothing that obscures the meaning of the Prophet. For he says, Take from Heldai, and from Tobiah, and from Jedaiah; and then he adds, go in that day, enter the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.

The Prophet no doubt had been commanded to go to these four, and to enter the house of one of them. This is evident from the end of the tenth verse (Zechariah 6:10), where he says, who have come from Babylon. He had spoken only of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, and then he adds that they had come from Babylon.

I come now to the answer. Some interpreters think that these four men supplied the gold and the silver because they were leading men among the people and surpassed others in piety. Therefore, they think that these four men were chosen, as a mark of distinction, to supply the gold and the silver to make the crowns. But I conjecture from the end of the chapter that their weakness is highlighted here, because they were weak in faith, did not believe the promises of God, and thus disheartened others by their example.

It is indeed certain that they were men in high authority and surpassed all others, so that the eyes of all were fixed on them; this is certain. Yet their lack of faith is what is rebuked here, because they did not pay sufficient attention to God’s promises and thought themselves disappointed in their hope. For they had left Babylon, where they enjoyed great abundance, and returned to the holy land, only to find it uncultivated and desolate.

Indeed, great patience was required when they had to plow among thorns and brambles, for that land, as I have already said, had not been regularly cultivated. Those who had been sent from the East indeed lived here and there in it, but lions and wild beasts had come into it, so that the desolation of the land made much work necessary when the Jews returned.

I therefore do not doubt that the Holy Spirit here rebukes these four men, who ought to have been leaders and standard-bearers to others; on the contrary, they undermined the confidence of the common people. And this, I say, may be learned from the end of the chapter, where God commands the two crowns to be placed in the temple as a memorial to them, so that they might see there the condemnation of their unbelief, as we will show in its proper place.

The Prophet is instructed to set the two crowns on the head of the high priest. This, as I have said, was intended as a symbol to denote the union of the two dignities in the person of Christ. It was necessary until the coming of Christ to select the high priest from the descendants of Aaron, and it was also required that the kings should be from the seed of David, so that we observe a distinction between the royal office and the priesthood, not only regarding the persons but also regarding the families.

It would indeed have been a strange thing to see a king from the tribe of Levi, and it would have been contrary to God’s appointed order to see a priest from the tribe of Judah and from the family of David. Since, then, the king was adorned with his own diadem, and since the high priest had his own proper mitre, what could this mean, but that the same man was to wear two crowns? Undoubtedly, we observe that there is some change here in the past order of things, and that something unusual is presented. But there is nothing new in this, — that the Redeemer, who had been promised, should be eminent as a king and a priest. For this had been predicted in Psalm 110: Jehovah said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, — this is what belongs to the right of a king; it afterwards follows, Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedec. Though kings must then have been chosen from the family of David and the tribe of Judah, and though priests must then have been taken from the Levitical tribe, yet the Spirit foretold that a king would come who was to be a priest, as had been the case with Melchizedec. This very thing is what the Prophet now confirms.

Zechariah being ordered to set the crowns on the head of Joshua, we are not to regard this as if Joshua had immediately taken on the two offices of a king and a priest, for he was satisfied with his own. But the Prophet shows in the type what was to be expected at the coming of the Messiah. For the time had not yet come when Christ should receive the royal diadem, as it is said in Ezekiel:

Take away the diadem; set it aside, set it aside, set it aside, until he shall come, whose it is (Ezekiel 21:26, 27).

Here we see that the Prophet points out a length of time during which the royal diadem was to be trodden under foot, as it were. Though the royal crown had not yet lain in the dust sufficiently long, the Prophet did nothing presumptuously. For the Jews could not have conceived what is here promised had not the symbolic priest come forth wearing the two crowns. Nor could this have been so suitable to the person of Zerubbabel; for though he was of the family of David and was a type of Christ, he did not yet have the name of a king, nor did he have any regal power. He could not, therefore, have been so suitable a person. It is no wonder, then, that God brought forward the high priest Joshua, who was a type and representative of Christ. And He brought him forward with a double crown because He who was to come would unite, according to what follows, the priesthood with the kingly office.