Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Zechariah sees four chariots, and in them four kinds of horses, namely red, black, white, and dappled, portending four monarchies succeeding one another in order, namely those of the Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, which were succeeded by the stable and eternal kingdom of Christ. Whence secondly, at verse 9, he is commanded to make a golden crown and to place it on the head of Joshua the priest, and he hears: 'Behold the man whose name is the Branch' (in Chaldaic, Messiah), 'and under Him He shall spring up, and He shall build a temple to the Lord.'
The occasion of this vision was this: Zechariah had seen at the end of the preceding chapter the amphora upon which impiety sat being transferred to Babylon, and there being placed on a base as in a stable location. Now he sees the other kingdoms contending against this impiety and the impious empire of Babylon, and wresting it from her. For Cyrus and the Persians captured and devastated Babylon. Then Alexander the Great defeated Darius and the Persians near Babylon, and by that means took the empire of Babylon from the Persians and transferred it to the Greeks. Finally the Romans claimed for themselves that same empire taken from the Greeks. This is what the Prophet hears from God at verse 8: 'Behold, those who go forth into the land of the North (into Babylon which lies to the north of the Jews) have made My spirit to rest in the land of the North.'
Daniel had beheld these same things a little before, in chapter II, 32, where in the likeness of a fourfold statue he saw these four monarchies. And in chapter VII, 3, where he saw the same depicted under the likeness of four beasts, namely a lioness, a bear, a leopard, and a fourth horrible and varied one: which vision occurred a few years before Zechariah, namely in the first year of Belshazzar, as is said there in verse 1, who shortly after was overthrown by Cyrus when he conquered Babylon. But this vision of Zechariah's occurred under Darius Hystaspes, who succeeded Cyrus in the empire of Persia after the seven-year reign of Cambyses, and conquered the rebelling Babylon again. Therefore Zechariah alludes to these visions of Daniel: whence he saw the same four winds which Daniel saw in chapter VII, 2, contending with one another; and the four beasts portending the four monarchies preceding and ending in the eternal kingdom of Christ.
For the first beast of Daniel corresponds to the red color of Zechariah's horses: for a lioness is red. The second beast of Daniel, namely the bear, corresponds to the black color of Zechariah's second horses: for bears are black. The third beast of Daniel, namely the leopard, corresponds to the white color of Zechariah's third horses: for a leopard is speckled with white spots. The fourth varied beast of Daniel corresponds to the fourth dappled horses of Zechariah. St. John followed Daniel and Zechariah in Apocalypse VI, where he saw the four kingdoms to come after Christ depicted by four horses: the first, white; the second, red; the third, black; the fourth, pale. See the comments there.
Vulgate Text: Zechariah 6:1-15
1. And I turned, and I lifted up my eyes, and I saw: and behold four chariots going forth from between two mountains: and the mountains were mountains of brass. 2. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, 3. and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot dappled horses, and strong. 4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me: What are these, my lord? 5. And the angel answered, and said to me: These are the four winds of heaven, which go forth to stand before the Ruler of all the earth. 6. That in which were the black horses went forth into the land of the North: and the white went forth after them: and the dappled went forth to the land of the South. 7. And those that were most strong went forth, and sought to go, and to run to and fro through all the earth. And He said: Go, walk through the earth: and they walked through the earth. 8. And He called me, and spoke to me, saying: Behold, those who go forth into the land of the North have made My spirit to rest in the land of the North. 9. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 10. Take from the captivity, from Heldai, and from Tobias, and from Idaias, and you shall come on that day, and shall enter the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah, who came from Babylon. 11. And you shall take gold and silver:
and you shall make crowns, and you shall set them on the head of Joshua the son of Josedech the high priest, 12. and you shall speak to him, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: Behold the man whose name is the Branch: and under Him He shall spring up, and He shall build a temple to the Lord. 13. And He Himself shall build a temple to the Lord: and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and shall rule upon His throne: and He shall be a priest upon His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 14. And the crowns shall be for Helem, and for Tobiah, and for Idaiah, and for Hen, the son of Zephaniah, a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 15. And those who are far off shall come, and shall build in the temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if hearing you shall hear the voice of the Lord your God.
Verse 1: And I Turned, And I Lifted Up
1. AND I TURNED, AND I LIFTED UP. — 'Turned,' that is, again, or once more I lifted up my eyes and saw a new vision: for the verb, or rather the participle, is used for an adverb, through an enallage customary among the Hebrews. So Vatablus. Whence from this passage it is not clear whether this vision immediately succeeded the vision of the preceding chapter, or after a greater interval of time.
AND BEHOLD FOUR CHARIOTS. — Theodoret, whom Palacius and a Castro follow, understands the four chariots as four troops of angels, procuring the affairs and welfare of the Jews. For in chapter I, 8, he saw in similar fashion dappled, white, and red horses, which represented the guardian angels of the Jews, as I said there. For these stand before the Lord, as is said in verse 5, to carry out His various commands concerning the governance of His people, according to that saying of Habakkuk III, 8: 'Who will ascend upon Your horses: and Your chariots are salvation.' And Psalm LXVII, 18: 'The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands multiplied, thousands of them that rejoice: the Lord is in them in the holy place.' Whence also Elijah was caught up into heaven in a chariot of fiery horses, that is, of angels, IV Kings II, 11. And chapter VI, 17, Elisha, besieged by the Syrians, 'saw the mountain full of horses and fiery chariots round about him,' namely of angels, to protect him.
Now a Castro applies and explains these four chariots, that is, troops of angels, in detail from Theodoret: The red horses, he says, signify avenging and blood-stained angels, who having gone forth from the Lord remained in Judea, to avenge and protect the Jews by their power against their enemies. The chariot of angels which was borne by black horses was sent into the land of the north, to destroy the Babylonians, the enemies of the Jews, through the Medes and Persians. The chariot of white angels was sent after the former, to lead back into their homeland the Jews who had been granted freedom through those same Persians, rejoicing. The chariot of dappled angels was sent toward the south, to restrain the enemies of the Jews who envied their prosperity, according to the variety of nations, lest they harm them in any way.
But the common opinion of the Fathers and interpreters is that these four chariots signify the four monarchies contending over the impious empire of Babylon, which God by His providence successively brought into being, governed, and changed at will for His own power and glory, especially regarding His people, to be chastised, or protected and advanced through them, to be displayed to the whole world: and so the red horses denote the monarchy of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the black horses the Persians, the white the Greeks, and the dappled the Romans. So St. Jerome, Cyril, the Chaldean Paraphrase, Remigius, Haymo, Hugh, Albert, Lyra, Vatablus, Arias, Ribera, Sanchez, Fernandius, and others throughout.
The reason for this symbol of chariots is that the aforementioned monarchies used chariots in war and fought from them: the chariots therefore signify that these monarchies obtained their empires by their warlike strength, force, and tyranny. For by the chariots he means their charioteers and riders, as also in chapter I, 8, namely the monarchs themselves, and their generals and soldiers riding in chariots, both for making war and for triumphing to display their pomp and glory, unless you say with Sanchez that these chariots are driven not by men but by beasts; because the monarchies were beastly and tyrannical, seeming to have imitated, indeed to have put on, the nature and character of the beasts to which they are compared and by which they are represented. Whence also Daniel in chapter VII, 3, saw them represented by four beasts, which I reviewed a little earlier.
Moreover, just as a charioteer can, by loosening, tightening, or turning the reins, at will drive, stop, and steer the chariot in any direction, so kings and monarchs govern the peoples subject to them by their laws, decrees, prudence, counsel, and command, and direct them according to their will. And because a triumph is like a certain temporary kingdom, decreed for generals on account of a victory won, therefore those celebrating a triumph were carried in a chariot, as temporary kings.
Moreover, that the ancients fought in chariots, and hence the chariot is a symbol of war and of a kingdom won by war, is clear from Psalm XIX, 8: 'Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God.' And Nahum III, 2: 'The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rushing wheel, and of the neighing horse, and of the burning chariot.' And Song of Songs I, 8: 'To my cavalry among the chariots of Pharaoh have I likened you.' Thus Virgil sings of Turnus in Aeneid XII: He calls for horses and arms together, and proudly with a leap Springs into the chariot, and plies the reins with his hands.
So Isaiah in chapter XXI, 7, saw in chariots one riding a camel and one riding a donkey, that is Darius and Cyrus invading Babylon. Finally Ezekiel saw the cherubic chariot as it were the chariot of God, proceeding to the destruction of Jews and Gentiles, attended by four living creatures, a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. Here belongs that saying of Deuteronomy chapter XXXIII, verse 26: 'The rider of heaven is your helper;' for heaven is as it were the war chariot of God.
Mystically, Clarius, Burgensis, and some ancient writers cited by St. Jerome understand the four chariots as the four Gospels, proclaimed and spread throughout the world in four ways by four kinds of heralds. For the red horses signify the apostles and martyrs, who sealed the Gospels with their blood. The black horses signify the prophets and doctors, who having entered into the deep and, as it were, hidden in dark caverns mysteries of God, and there as if clad in black, preached them in the world, but darkly, that is obscurely, and as through a glass and in an enigma, as the Apostle says in I Corinthians XIII, 12. The white yoke-horses signify virgins, made white by virginity as by lilies. The dappled and strong horses signify confessors illustrious with various gifts of God. For all these, as it were chariots of God driven and impelled by the wind and rush of the Holy Spirit, subjected all nations to Christ.
For just as God by chariots, that is by the monarchs of the Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, subjected the world, so much more did He by His ineffable providence through the fourfold saints subject the same world to Christ, into whose kingdom all kings and kingdoms have ceased.
FROM BETWEEN TWO MOUNTAINS. — These two mountains are a symbol of the power and providence of God, whose two parts, and as it were mountains, are mind and will, that is wisdom and decree, or disposition and definition, or foreordination and execution. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: These four chariots, that is monarchies, were held and enclosed by the power and providence of God, as if they were fenced in by brazen mountains, that is, most strong and impenetrable, until God relaxed His hand and gave them the power to go forth, to seize empire and subject other nations to themselves. He alludes, says Mariana, to Mount Taurus, or the Caucasus, where two ridges of the mountain meet in a narrow pass, like iron gates, of which Hegesippus speaks in Book V, chapter 50. The place is so called, not because there are gates there, but because of the fortification. For properly from these mountains there went forth their inhabitants the Persians, who had been the first and chief in devastating this kingdom of Babylonian impiety, and therefore they 'made the Spirit of God to rest,' as is said in verse 8.
For in a similar way, God's providence by its wisdom and will, as by two iron mountains meeting together, contained these monarchies, just as the Poets fable that the winds (to which these monarchies are compared in verse 5) are shut up in caves and mountain hiding-places by Aeolus, who seems to have borrowed this fable from here, about which Homer speaks in Odyssey XX, and from him Virgil in Book I of the Aeneid: Here in a vast cavern king Aeolus With his authority restrains the struggling winds and roaring storms, And curbs them with chains and prison. If he did not, they would swiftly carry with them Seas and lands and the deep heavens.
Whence secondly, Vatablus understands these mountains as the strength of those kings and nations, who won their monarchy by their warlike valor. In a similar way Arias understands them as the counsel and industry of the same, which in wars often prevails over strength.
Mystically, Albert, Lyra, and Hugh understand the two mountains as Israel and Judah, from whom the Prophets went forth, who as brazen mountains, that is, strong and unconquered, certainly and infallibly predicted the beginning, progress, and end of these monarchies. Allegorically, the two mountains are the two testaments, the old of Moses and the new of Christ. For these are as it were two unshakable and irrefutable mountains, from which the four Gospels went forth, which occupied the whole world. So Clarius and Burgensis.
OF BRASS, — that is, strong and hard like brass. R. David incorrectly translates it as 'of steel.' For the Hebrew nechoset means brass, not steel, and brass is equally a symbol of hardness as steel.
Verse 2: In The First Chariot Red Horses
2. IN THE FIRST CHARIOT RED HORSES. — Mariana takes the red horses, as being the strongest, to represent the Roman monarchy, which although last in order, was first in strength and valor: whence it is placed first here. But all others take the red horses as the monarchy of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, which in reality was first. They are called red, both because they were bloodthirsty and cruel, especially toward the Jews, whom they stripped of city, temple, liberty, and life (hence that celebrated, dire, and miserable captivity of the Jews in Babylon for seventy years: so St. Jerome, Remigius, Hugh, Lyra, and others); and because they used red garments, that is purple and scarlet, as is clear from Nahum II, 3: 'His shield is fiery, the men of his army are in scarlet.' And St. John calls Babylon a purple-clad harlot, Apocalypse XVII, 3, and chapter XVIII, 16: 'Woe,' he says, 'that great city, which was clothed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet.' For this color marks and sharpens the ardor of the soul for battle: whence red horses are more spirited, more alert, and more courageous. For the red color is fiery and reflects the splendor of fire, and that better than rubeus [dark red], which nevertheless is an indicator of zeal and sharpness, as Alciatus testifies in emblem CXVII, when he says: But the red cloak adorns armed cavalry.
For this reason, after the Chaldeans, other nations also going to war used red garments, such as the Persians, as Xenophon attests in Book VII of the Cyropaedia: and the Greeks, as Aelian attests in Book VI, chapter VI, especially the Lacedaemonians. Alexander ab Alexandro demonstrates the same more fully from Plutarch, Aelian, and Valerius in Book I, Genial Days XX, and there also Tiraquellus.
But because the Babylonians were the first to use purple or scarlet garments in war, whom then the Greeks and Persians imitated; hence this color is assigned to the Babylonians. So Arias and others. Moreover, what these red horses did, Zechariah does not declare, both because they had already passed; and because it was sufficiently known to the Jews recently returning from Babylon, says St. Jerome; and because their deeds were harmful and fatal to the Jews, says Cyril. But the angel here shows joyful things to Zechariah, to encourage and console the afflicted Jews. Allegorically, Clarius says: The red horses which did not go forth elsewhere signify St. James, St. Stephen, and the first similar heralds and champions of Christ, who among the cruel and bloodthirsty Jews preached the Gospel of Christ: and having been killed for it by them in Judea, reddened with their own blood, they went forth from earth to heaven and nowhere else.
IN THE SECOND CHARIOT BLACK HORSES. — The black horses designate the Persians: because they brought more horror and grief than damage and slaughter upon the Jews; as Cambyses, who impeded the building of the temple; and Ahasuerus the husband of Esther, who, seduced by Haman, condemned all the Jews to death. So St. Jerome. Arias adds that the Persians customarily wore dark and black garments, and hence are called 'dark,' as if 'pusicum' and 'persicum' [playing on the similarity of words]. But this is not clear from history; indeed Xenophon, in the passage already cited, asserts that they used scarlet in war.
Verse 3: In The Third Chariot White Horses
3. IN THE THIRD CHARIOT WHITE HORSES. — The white horses denote Alexander, Ptolemy Philadelphus, and the Greeks, who were merciful and benevolent toward the Jews, to such an extent that Alexander prostrated himself and worshiped Jaddua the high priest, as Josephus attests in Book XI of the Antiquities, last chapter. For although Antiochus Epiphanes, who was of Greek origin, afflicted the Jews, yet this affliction was of short duration, and in it the Maccabees were illustrious and renowned for their victories. Cyril adds that the Greeks are denoted by the white color, both because they generally wore white garments; and because they had a clear and open language, foreign to the darkness and obscurity of barbarians; and because they loved delicacies and banquets, of which white clothing was the symbol: for this was the festive, convivial, and joyful garment; and because in wars they were fortunate and victorious, as is evident from Alexander: for white was the garment of those celebrating triumphs.
IN THE FOURTH CHARIOT DAPPLED AND STRONG HORSES. — Mariana takes the dappled horses as the Egyptians: for these ruled broadly to the south over Egypt, and the neighboring Syrians and Ethiopians, and were powerful and celebrated. But all others take this fourth chariot as the monarchy of the Romans. For this was powerful and strong, as well as varied, both in governance, because at the beginning it was monarchical under kings, then aristocratic under consuls, afterwards democratic under tribunes of the people, again monarchical under emperors, and this from various nations: for some were Italians, others Spaniards, others Gauls, others Greeks, etc.; and because the Romans were of varied dispositions, as well as attitudes toward the Jews: for in part they were benevolent toward them, such as the Roman Senate in the time of the Maccabees, when it established an alliance with them; likewise Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius; in part hostile and cruel, such as Pompey, Caligula, Nero, Vespasian, and Hadrian. So St. Jerome.
For 'dappled' the Hebrew is berudim, that is 'hail-spotted,' that is, speckled and variegated with white spots like hailstones, which the Latins call guttati [spotted], as Martial in Book V, Epigram CIV, calls Numidian fowl 'spotted.' Whence the Syriac translates 'of mottled fleece, or approaching a flame color'; the Arabic of Antioch, 'of the color of cochineal, or of purple.' Again for 'strong' the Hebrew is amutsim, which Aquila translates krataioi, or, as St. Jerome reads it, kraipnoi, that is powerful, robust; the Septuagint, psaroi, that is 'starling-colored,' namely the colors of the starling bird: for this is called psaros; or 'swift,' from the verb psairein, whence aipseros. The Chaldean translates kitmanin, which the Royal Bible renders as 'of ash color': better others translate it as 'crushing' or 'grinding to pieces,' reducing to ashes, according to what Daniel says about the same in chapter II, 40: 'As iron crushes and subdues all things, so it shall crush and grind all these.'
The origin of this double translation is that the Hebrew amutsim properly signifies 'strong,' and therefore 'swift,' as the Septuagint translates, and 'crushing all things,' as the Chaldean translates. But some, among whom is Arias, took amutsim for chamutsim, that is 'leavened,' namely ash-colored, for leaven is of this color; or 'starling-colored,' as others translate from the Septuagint, for starlings are likewise of ashen color. Whence the Syriac, also the Vatican text, omits the word 'strong.' But the former reading amutsim, that is 'strong,' is the true and genuine one. Furthermore, Arias takes the ash-colored as the Turks, Arabs, and Saracens, who have an ashen complexion; especially the Ottomans. For these occupied a great part of the Roman Empire by their strength, which their law, namely the Quran, instills in them: for it commands them to propagate their sect by arms. But these cannot be reckoned as Romans, since they are sworn enemies of the Romans; nor the strongest, since European Christians are far stronger than they, as is evident in battles. Moreover, this sect of Mohammed is foul and base, and not worthy of these oracles and praises of Zechariah.
Mystically, Alcazar in chapter VI of the Apocalypse, note 5, page 444, takes the four-colored horses and chariots as four endowments and virtues, by which the Apostles and apostolic men, as it were chariots of Christ, subjected the whole world to Him; namely that the white horses denote apostolic immaculate holiness, the red ones ardent zeal, the dappled ones wisdom, and the black ones modesty.
On whiteness see Alciatus, emblem CXVII: The white robe belongs to a sincere soul and a pure mind. Red denotes ardor: because this color is fiery and igneous. The dappled signify the eternal wisdom of God, which distinguished that variety of Apostles and faithful with such beauty: for manifold color is a multiform art and wisdom. For the spirit of wisdom is manifold, Wisdom VII, 22. The black color signifies modesty; whence clerics and monks of St. Basil, Benedict, Augustine, etc., are clothed in black, according to that saying of the Song of Songs V, 11: 'His locks are black as a raven,' where Delrio from Hesychius, Bernard, Alcuin, Bede, Haymo, and Anselm shows that blackness is a symbol of a despised thing, and of what is despicable in outward appearance, which is the foundation of humility and modesty, according to that saying of the Song of Songs I, 5: 'I am black, but beautiful.'
From these chariots of Zechariah seem to have arisen the four factions of Circus charioteers, distinguished by the same number of colors, which among the Romans and Greeks often excited grave tumults. For there were charioteers, some in white, others in red, others in green, others in blue, about all of which there are extant epigrams in Book V of the Anthology, and Dio in Book LIX, and Suetonius in Vitellius, chapter XIV. For the whites correspond to the white chariots of Zechariah, the reds to the red, the greens to the black, the blues to the dappled. For the 'prasinus' [green] color is leek-green, or green, which is composed of yellow and black, as Plato attests in the Timaeus. The 'venetus' [blue] color was called cyan, or cerulean and sea-colored, says Vegetius: for the sea on account of its waves and the reflection of the sun's rays displays various colors, but especially cerulean. Whence Arias thinks that Zechariah's dappled horses were ash-colored, which approach cerulean.
Moreover, by these four colors they seem to have represented the four elements and their mutual conflicts and struggles, namely: by red, fire; for the red color belongs to fire and is fiery: by white, air; for serene air grows white: by the blue, or cerulean, water and the sea: by the green, or leek-green, earth, producing plants and leeks. For God, the supreme charioteer of the universe, moderates these four elements, and sets them against each other and tempers them. Whence concerning the origin of the Blues and Greens we read thus in ancient historical compilations, Vatican Codex 96: 'Oenomaus first invented the colors of the Circus, by which he represented as it were a contest of earth and sea. Lots were cast; whoever it fell to play the part of earth in the contest put on a green garment; but whoever played the part of the sea put on a cerulean one. Oenomaus established this contest on the twenty-fourth day of March. And if the green color won, all hoped for the fertility of the earth; if the cerulean, for calm navigation of the sea. Therefore farmers wished victory for the green color; sailors for the cerulean.'
Verse 5: These Are The Four Winds
5. THESE ARE THE FOUR WINDS. — That is, like the four winds: for the Hebrews often omit the kaph, which is the note of comparison, as if to say: These four chariots, that is monarchies, will conflict with one another like contrary winds, and violently and swiftly like winds will overturn everything, wherever they rush in: finally they will pass swiftly and cease, as winds do. He alludes to Daniel VII, 2, where Daniel likewise saw these four kingdoms depicted by four winds contending in the sea, as if to say: These chariots are like the four winds shown to Daniel: for as the sea is disturbed by winds, so the earth by chariots. So Theodoret, Vatablus, Sanchez here, and Pererius on Daniel VII, 2. In a similar phrase God is said to have stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, I Ezra I, 1, and the spirit of the kings of the Medes, Jeremiah LI, 11.
Moreover St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, and Vatablus, understand the four winds as the four regions, or climates of the world, to which these chariots went forth, to subject them to themselves. Whence Vatablus translates: 'These are the chariots which go forth to the four winds, or regions of the colors'; and the Chaldean: 'These are four kingdoms, which are in the four winds of heaven.' Finally, for 'winds,' the Hebrew is ruchot, that is 'spirits,' such as are angels, as well as winds. Whence Theodoret, Palacius, and a Castro, by these chariots and winds understand the guardian angels of kingdoms, namely of the four monarchies, of whom it is said in Psalm CIII, 4: 'Who makes His angels spirits,' and these stand before the Lord. This meaning amounts to the same thing. For what is said of angels is said and understood of the monarchies committed to them.
Morally, learn here that kingdoms and powers of this world have the nature of winds, as well as of chariots, both because they are mighty and powerful in arms; and because they are swift; and because they soon vanish. Foolish therefore is he who pursues winds, which he cannot catch, and if he could, could not hold for long, says Sanchez. You see a prince's chariot with four or six swift horses swiftly racing by; think that so pass all the principalities of the world. You feel the winds flying most swiftly through the air; think that in like manner kings and kingdoms fly by, and all the peaks of dignities: 'Every reign is a short life,' says the Wise Man.
TO STAND, — as if ready to receive and carry out His commands. For God punishes whom He wills through them; indeed He always punished and overthrew the former by the latter, as the Chaldeans by the Persians, the Persians by the Greeks, the Greeks by the Romans. See the comments on Isaiah chapter X, 5, and Jeremiah chapter XXV, 9 and following. Where note that all men, however wicked they may be, as were many of these monarchs, being tyrants, stand before God as His instruments and lictors, either to defend His people or to chastise the impious. The Hebrew is mehitiatseu, that is 'from standing'; Pagninus and the Zurich version render it 'from the place where they stood before the Lord'; our Vulgate with the Septuagint better translates 'for the purpose of standing,' that is 'to stand': because the Hebrew min often signifies 'for the purpose of,' and sometimes is taken for le, that is 'to.' For these particles and servile letters are not rarely interchanged among themselves through enallage: therefore mehitiatseu, that is 'from standing,' is the same as lehitiatseu, that is 'to stand,' so that they may stand.
Verse 6: The Black Horses Went Forth Into The Land Of The North
6. THE BLACK HORSES WENT FORTH INTO THE LAND OF THE NORTH. — The black horses signify the Persians who devastated Babylon, which is to the north of Judea, as I said at verse 2. AND THE WHITE WENT FORTH AFTER THEM. — Denoted are Alexander and the Macedonians, who succeeded the Persians in the monarchy and wrested it from them near Babylon: for the seat of the Persian Empire was Babylon, says Vatablus. Whence near it at Arbela Alexander routed the forces of Darius Codomannus (who was the last monarch of the Persians), and therefore was proclaimed king of Asia on the spot, and entering Babylon as victor, subjected all its dominions to himself, as Curtius attests in Book V, and Plutarch in the Life of Alexander.
AND THE DAPPLED WENT FORTH TO THE LAND OF THE SOUTH, — as if to say, the Romans went forth into Egypt: for this lies to the south of the Holy Land, namely Judea, in relation to which Scripture customarily describes and assigns the regions of the world. Vatablus and Arias think this was done by Julius Caesar, who first conquered Egypt. Better, others judge it was done by Augustus, Julius's successor: for Augustus by the victory at Actium routed Antony and Cleopatra, and so extinguished the kingdom of the Greeks, namely the Ptolemies, in Egypt, and transferred it to himself and the Romans. Whence he was the first to make Egypt a province, as Suetonius attests in his Life, chapters XVII and XVIII, which Julius had not dared to do. Then therefore, with the third monarchy of the Greeks overthrown, the fourth of Augustus and the Romans began. Whence shortly after, from Augustus as now monarch, there went forth a decree that the whole world should be enrolled. So St. Jerome, Ribera, Sanchez, Fernandius, and others.
Verse 7: And Those That Were Most Strong
7. AND THOSE THAT WERE MOST STRONG. — In Hebrew haamutsim, that is 'those strong ones' par excellence, of whom he spoke in verse 3, as if to say: From the fourth chariot the most strong horses, namely the mightiest of the Romans, by the nod of God will walk through, that is, by walking through will subjugate (as I showed in chapter I, 11) all the earth. Such successively were Scipio, Pompey, Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian, Trajan, Constantine, Theodosius, etc. For the Romans, growing gradually in arms and strength, became most strong and occupied very many nations. So St. Jerome, St. Cyril, Theodoret, Lyra, Hugh, Vatablus, and others.
Arias takes the 'most strong' as the Turks and Ottomans, as I said at verse 2. Better, Ribera takes them as the Goths, who were stipendiaries of the Romans, and defended and propagated their empire, and rendered notable service to Maximinus fighting against the Parthians, to Constantine against Licinius, and to Honorius. But the Goths were not Romans, and under Honorius they broke the alliance and, turning into enemies, devastated Italy, Spain, and Africa, and even Rome itself, under Alaric and Gaiseric their generals and kings. And so on account of their population, poverty, and barbarism, they were the greatest plunderers of the Romans and the nations allied with them for many centuries. See Orosius Book VII, chapter XIX and following.
Again, the Goths did not walk through, that is, occupy the whole earth. Unless you say with Sanchez that by the Goths are meant the kings of Spain, who are descended from the Goths; for these gradually and widely propagated their empire, and indeed extended it through America, Peru, Brazil, and the whole New World. For they occupied the West Indies, and many territories in the East, with admirable boldness, as well as with strength and victories illustrious to the point of wonder. But the kings of Spain never (except under Charles V, in whom the kingdom of Spain was united with the Roman Empire) were, or were named, emperors of the Romans. And by equal reasoning we could call 'most strong' Pepin, Charles Martel, and especially Charlemagne, and his successors the kings of Austrasia, the Franks, and the Germans, who truly in fact and in name were kings and emperors of the Romans, and either propagated or restored their empire far and wide through Austrasia, Gaul, Germany, Saxony, Holland, England, Denmark, and Sweden; as under Duke Godfrey of Bouillon they recovered Syria and the Holy Land.
Add that these chariots of Zechariah, as also the fourfold statue of Daniel chapter II, properly signify the monarchies and monarchs who preceded Christ: for they were seen by Daniel in verse 44 to end in Christ and the kingdom of Christ, just as here Zechariah also saw them terminate in the Branch, that is in Christ, in verse 12.
Verse 8: Behold, Those Who Go Forth Into The Land Of The North
8. BEHOLD, THOSE WHO GO FORTH INTO THE LAND OF THE NORTH, — namely the Persians, who under Cyrus, and again under Darius Hystaspes, in the time of Zechariah the prophet, devastated Babylon. So Lyra, Vatablus, Arias, and others. The Hebrews, St. Jerome, Haymo, and Remigius add that this was done not only by the black horses, that is the Persians, but also by the white, that is the Greeks. For Alexander near Babylon overthrew Darius, and as victor entered Babylon after bringing it under his power, as I said at verse 6. THEY HAVE MADE MY SPIRIT TO REST IN THE LAND OF THE NORTH. — 'Spirit,' that is fury, as the Septuagint translates, as if to say: The Persians satisfied My wrath, and while I was angry at the Chaldean tyrants, when they devastated them, they fulfilled My vengeance; and so they calmed My spirit which desired just vengeance.
For since Zechariah, in the preceding chapter, last verse, had said that the amphora of impiety and idolatry had been placed and elevated in Babylon, hence he says here that in its punishment the spirit of God came to rest, by which He was indignant that a rival idol should rule in Babylon: and therefore with it and its idol destroyed, the spirit, that is the will of God for vengeance, was calmed and pacified, indeed consoled, refreshed, and gladdened: just as a man who has been injured, and therefore is angry and raging, rages so long until he avenges himself on the enemy who injured him; but once the vengeance is accomplished, this fury, as if sated with the enemy's blood, subsides. So Theodoret, Haymo, Remigius, Lyra, Hugh, Arias, and Vatablus.
Differently, St. Jerome from the Hebrews: 'This spirit,' he says, 'is understood as prophetic,' as if to say: The Persians made My prophecies, by which I had threatened destruction upon Babylon, come to rest in it: because by destroying Babylon, they fulfilled them and put them into execution.
Note: These things are said for the consolation of the Jews, who had been devastated by the Babylonians and carried off to Babylon; and to stir up hatred of impiety and idolatry (of which Babylon was the capital), so that the Jews might abominate it, as they afterward did abominate it, and therefore mention is made here only of the deeds accomplished by the chariots in Babylon, namely of the vengeance carried out upon it.
Morally, learn here how holy and pleasing to God is justice and the just punishment of crimes. Let princes, magistrates, judges, praetors, etc., learn from this passage that when they punish the wicked, especially persecutors of the faithful and pious, such as the Chaldeans were, they cause the spirit, mind, will, justice, and wrath of God to rest, which before the vengeance is carried out hisses, seethes, boils, and brews a thousand thunderbolts of threats and curses in His heart, both against the wicked and against the princes and judges who do not punish them, but tolerate or ignore them, according to that saying of Amos, chapter II, 13: 'Behold, I will groan under you, as a wagon groans that is loaded with hay.' And chapter III, 8: 'The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy?' See the comments there.
Verse 10: Take From The Captivity
10. TAKE FROM THE CAPTIVITY, — namely from the Jewish captives, who either in themselves or in their parents, seventy years before, had been carried off to Babylon by the Chaldeans and migrated there, and still dwell and have established their home there. For they sent gifts to be offered in the temple at Jerusalem through Heldai, Tobiah, Idaiah, and Josiah. The abstract is used for the concrete in the Hebrew manner, namely 'captivity' for those who formerly migrated. It is a hysterologia. For the words should be arranged thus: Come, O Zechariah, to the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah, on the day when Heldai, Tobiah, and Idaiah, who have recently come from Babylon, are about to offer gifts, and from them you shall take gold and silver, which the Jews who formerly migrated to Babylon and still dwell there, send as a gift through them and offer to the temple, so that from it you may make crowns to be placed on the head of Joshua the priest.
YOU SHALL COME TO THE HOUSE OF JOSIAH THE SON OF ZEPHANIAH. — Hence it appears that only the three previously named offered these gifts, namely Heldai, Tobiah, and Idaiah, but in the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah, who was either the temple custodian, as the Hebrews maintain; or the treasurer, and was collecting money for the building and expenses of the temple, as Cyril, Haymo, and Remigius say; or certainly he was a goldsmith, who was going to make the crowns from this gold.
Whence also Josiah's name, along with the other three, was inscribed on the crowns under the name Hen, as is clear from verse 14. Theodoret however thinks that Josiah was the fourth, who returning with the other three from Babylon, offered these gifts; for there immediately follows: 'Who came from Babylon,' where the relative pronoun 'who' refers both to Josiah, who immediately preceded, and to the three others: unless you say it is a hysterologia, and through it the 'who' refers only to the three who were named before, as St. Cyril judges. Therefore Josiah seems to Theodoret to have been the chief of these four envoys; or at least their host, so that the other three were lodged in his house. The Hebrews, St. Jerome, Remigius, Albert, and Hugh favor this, who report that these four envoys were Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. But this is very doubtful: for Daniel does not seem to have been able to prolong his life that far. For in the third year of Cyrus he was a hundred years old, as I showed in the Proem to Daniel, and then he seems to have died; or certainly, as Isidore reports in his Life, he died in the first year of Darius Hystaspes, when he was already one hundred and eleven years old. But Zechariah received these oracles after the beginning of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, as is clear from chapter I, 1.
AND YOU SHALL MAKE CROWNS. — By 'crowns' understand one great crown, composed of two or three partial crowns: for it was placed on the head of Joshua the priest alone, just as on the head of the Roman Pontiff is placed a tiara distinguished by a triple crown, which the common people call the 'regnum,' for reasons I shall presently give. Whence the Chaldean translates: 'You shall make a great crown.' And the Septuagint in verse 14: 'There shall be a crown.' Therefore this crown of Joshua seems to have been one total crown, composed of other partial ones, or adorned with them like a double or triple diadem, to signify the twofold dignity and power of Joshua, namely ecclesiastical and civil, that is, the pontificate and the principate; or threefold, that is, manifold, full, and all-encompassing.
For after the return from Babylon, the supreme power, both civil and sacred, was in the hands of the priests, as I taught above from Josephus, Book XI of the Antiquities, chapter IV, and is evident in the Maccabees, who were simultaneously priests and princes of the people; and in Eliakim, or Joakim the priest in the time of Judith, who as prince arranged the Jews against Holofernes, and commanded them to hold the narrow passes of the mountains through which the enemy was to pass, Judith XV. Hence in the histories of Josephus and Ezra, Book II, 12, and in the public records, the descendants and successors of Joshua are described, not of Zerubbabel. So Abulensis on I Chronicles chapter VI, Question VIII, Genebrardus in his Chronology, Sanchez, and others.
Arias considers that these partial crowns were of plainly different material, namely that one was of gold, the other of silver: The golden one, he says, signified the pontificate, the silver the principate. For the latter is inferior to the former, just as silver is to gold. Others think that two complete crowns were made here, namely one for Joshua the priest, the other for Zerubbabel the prince, both of gold and silver mixed together. So the Hebrews, St. Jerome, Remigius, Albert, Hugh, and a Castro. But there is no mention of Zerubbabel here: for the whole prophecy is directed to Joshua the priest: 'You shall place,' it says, 'on the head of Joshua.' Therefore either one crown, girded and distinguished by two smaller ones, was placed on his head; or, if you prefer two complete ones, say they were placed successively, namely first one, then the other placed on him, as Cyril, Theodoret, Rupert, Lyra, Vatablus, and Clarius think; just as the emperor is now first crowned with an iron crown, then a silver one, finally a golden one.
Yet the more elegant and more august form will be if we say it was one crown, but adorned with two or three partial ones, such as the Roman Pontiff's. For he wears a triple crown: first, because he is the spouse and prince of the Church, which is the conqueror, triumpher, and ruler of the whole world; second, because he represents King Christ as His vicar: just as therefore the kingdom of Christ surpasses all kingdoms, so it was fitting that this diadem should surpass all diadems; third, because he presides over the three parts of the world: Asia, Africa, and Europe; fourth, because the number three is a symbol of supreme equity, which is required in a Pontiff: for the triad is the first resolution of the discordant dyad, and the balance of numbers, of justice, and of all things; fifth, because it represents the Holy Trinity, of which he is the priest and pontiff; sixth, because the triad signifies the consummation of all virtues and things, which was in Christ, and in its own measure should be in the Pontiff.
Ovid, speaking about the dignity of the crown in Book V of the Fasti, sings thus: That crown commends the fasces given and the curule ivory: That crown triumphs high on crowned horses. Then because the crown admonishes the pontiff and prince of perfect and excellent virtue, namely that there should be nothing in him that is not complete and perfect in every respect; for the form of the crown is most perfect, being a circle returning everywhere into itself. Again, that he should shine with heroic deeds like the sun; for the sun wears a radiant crown upon its head. For, as Virgil says in his epigram On the Rising Sun: The Sun puts forth his distinguished head with its burning crown of rays, Rising from the watery depths of Tethys.
Finally, here it is fitting to exclaim with Prudentius in the Peristephanon: O threefold honor, O triform summit, By which the head of our world is raised up. Perennial ornament of the Christian world! This is that sublimity of majesty, the efficacy of the triple crown, of that triple, I say, and incomparable diadem; so Paschalius, On Crowns, Book IX, last chapter. Therefore these crowns of Joshua the son of Josedech seem to have been similar, because they represented the crowns and kingdom of Christ, just as the triple crown of the Pontiff represents that same thing: that triple crown therefore was here typically figured and foreshadowed in the crowns of Joshua the Priest, especially because ataroth, that is 'crowns,' is plural, not dual, and therefore signifies more than two, three rather than two.
YOU SHALL SET THEM ON THE HEAD OF JOSHUA THE SON OF JOSEDECH, — the priest: for it speaks of him literally; for he could not place it on the head of the Branch, that is of Christ, as some wish; for Zechariah could not see or touch Christ, as He was not yet born. Therefore here God literally commands him to place the double or triple crown on the head of Joshua, as pontiff and prince; both so that it might literally signify that he would be glorious in this new temple, and thus encourage him to complete and adorn its construction; and for the sake of mystery, namely that he might be a type of Jesus Christ the priest and king, and represent His priesthood and kingdom. For that Christ was king is clear from Psalm II, 6: 'I have been appointed king.' And Luke I, 32: 'The Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father: and He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever.' That He was also priest is clear from Psalm CIX, 4: 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'; and the Apostle teaches the same throughout the epistle to the Hebrews.
Moreover, the crown is the insignia and emblem of the pontiff, as well as of the king, both because each is as it were a certain earthly god placed at the highest pinnacle of dignity, as well as of governance. For crowns anciently belonged properly to the gods.
Mystically, pontiffs and princes who, after the manner of Christ, rightly exercise the pontificate and principate they received from Him, place the pontifical and royal crown on the head of Jesus Christ: because they promote, increase, and adorn His priesthood and kingdom which He holds in the Church. As a symbol of this, twenty-four elders, representing as it were the patriarchs and pontiffs of both the New and Old Testaments, Apocalypse IV, 10, 'fell down before Him who sat on the throne, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honor, and power.' The same, in their own measure, do the holy martyrs, priests, religious, virgins, and indeed all the faithful, when by struggling with the world, the flesh, and the devil, they overcome them and triumph over them, when they ascend to the heights of virtue, when they accomplish heroic works. Therefore when you conquer a fierce temptation, when you trample the suggestion of the devil, when you bridle the movements of anger, when you trample pride, gluttony, lust, sloth, you place a crown on the head of Christ; by which He is more adorned and rejoices more than if you offered Him one of gold or gems.
This is what Isaiah says in chapter LXII, 3: 'You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.' Moreover, these crowns are offered by those who return from Babylon to Jerusalem, that is from sin to the state of grace through penance: 'for as we make progress,' says St. Jerome, 'and return to better things, through each of our virtues the Lord is crowned, indeed when we are crowned with the virtue of penance, the Savior receives a crown in each one.' Thus the Apostle says to the Philippians in chapter IV: 'My joy and my crown.' Much more may God say of the saints: You are My joy and My crown; and in turn, let each saint, stirring his soul to the praise and thanksgiving of God, say of Him with the Psalmist in Psalm CII, 4: 'Who crowns you with mercy and compassion,' as if to say: It is God who, with your very works of mercy and virtue, which you weave as a crown in His honor, crowns you yourself. For what else are our good works, but gifts of God? says St. Augustine.
Verse 12: Behold The Man Whose Name Is The Branch
12. BEHOLD THE MAN WHOSE NAME IS THE BRANCH. — The Hebrews cited by St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Albert, and Hugh understand the Branch as Zerubbabel, who, as though dead in Babylon, returning thence began as it were to rise and flourish again, when he became prince of the returning people. Whence they think the other crown was placed on him by Zechariah. So they apply and explain this whole verse to him: Zerubbabel with Joshua, as a new branch and new sun of the people, will build and complete the temple for the Lord, and will bear the other crown, because he will have the ducal throne for governing the civil affairs of the people; just as Joshua the priest will have the pontifical throne for moderating sacred affairs. Moreover between these two, namely between the pontiff and the prince, there will be the counsel of peace and the greatest union.
But the 'Branch,' in Hebrew tsemach, that is 'sprout,' is a proper name of Christ, as I showed in chapter III, 8; for there, as well as here, the whole discourse is directed to Joshua the son of Josedech, the antitype and counterpart of Jesus Christ, and no mention is made of Zerubbabel. Whence the Chaldean translates: 'Behold a man whose name is Messiah'; so also the ancient Rabbis cited by Galatinus, Book III, chapter XVI. So also St. Jerome, Haymo, Albert, Rupert, Vatablus, and Lyra, though Lyra alone incorrectly also takes the Branch as Joshua the son of Josedech.
Now the meaning is, as if to say: I place this crown on you, O Joshua, son of Josedech, not for your own sake, but for the sake of the Branch, that is Christ, so that you may bear His type, and represent His priesthood and principate. Vatablus thinks Christ is called the Branch because He, being recently born, 'was advancing in age, and wisdom, and grace before God and men,' as Luke says; and because He grew into the Church, as I shall presently say. Whence the Syriac translates: 'Behold a man, and his name is the Rising, and from beneath he shall rise'; the Arabic of Alexandria: 'Behold a man, his name is the Rising, he shall hasten suddenly, and shall build a house to the Lord.'
AND UNDER HIM. — In Hebrew mittachtan, that is 'from under Him He shall spring up,' as if to say: Christ will be and will be called the Branch: because under Christ, and from Christ, as from a root, there will rise up and germinate, as it were secretly and gradually without being noticed, a multitude of branches, that is of the faithful, so that He will spread into a great tree; for He Himself will build the temple, that is the Church, for the Lord. So St. Jerome. Whence the Chaldean translates: 'Messiah is His name, who is to be revealed, and magnified, and will build the temple of the Lord.' This is what Christ says in John chapter XII, 24: 'Unless a grain of wheat falling into the ground dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.' Whence St. Bernard, sermon 15 on the Song of Songs: 'Let the grain die, then, and let the harvest of the nations rise up.'
Symbolically, Lyra says: In the nativity of Christ, under Him who is God He shall rise and be born as man; and conversely, under the man rising and being born, God shall as it were rise and be born. For God arose and was as it were born to us, when the man Christ was born, in whom the divinity lay hidden, which by hypostatically uniting humanity to itself, seemed with it silently as it were to be born and to arise on earth.
Tropologically, St. Gregory in Book XX of the Moralia, chapter XVIII, or according to another edition, chapter XXI: 'The Branch,' he says, 'is His name. For since light rises from the East, He is rightly called the Branch, by the light of whose justice the night of our justice is illuminated.' Hear also St. Ambrose in his book On Paradise, chapter III: 'Paradise,' he says, 'was to the East in Eden, that is, according to Christ, who poured forth a certain radiance of eternal light, and is in Eden, that is, in delight.'
Anagogically, Rupert says: In the resurrection Christ was to be the Branch; because thenceforth He would always be in the rising, never in the setting. For when He shall have died, He will arise in the underworld to those who fear the name of the Lord; and ascending, He will arise alive to earth and heaven, never again to die, and through Him the multitude of believers will be expanded, and in the glory of the rising He will be magnified. Again, He will rise from under Himself, that is not by another's power, but by His own, namely of His divinity, He will rise, and will spread Himself and His Church throughout the whole world.
Finally St. Chrysostom, in his homily on these words of Zechariah, at the end of volume I, reads and explains it differently, namely thus: 'Behold the man whose name is the Branch, under His shadow the sun will rise; He Himself will come to save His people.' 'What kind of name,' he says, 'is the Branch? Delightful, sweet, pleasant. Let us always desire this, that having turned from the West, intent upon the East, we may acknowledge God almighty. Under His shadow the sun will rise. And truly under His shadow the brightness of His divinity arose, who placed His tabernacle in the sun. Because light came into the world, it radiated upon our dark minds, the things of earth were made clear, hidden things were manifested, dark things opened up, so that light might arise for us. Because we who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, light has arisen for us. This sun is not cloudy, nor covered over, not rising and setting; but that sun of justice, who by His coming illuminated the whole axis of the world, what else did He do but make for the Father and for Himself a chosen people, having given the pledge of the Holy Spirit?'
AND HE SHALL BUILD A TEMPLE TO THE LORD. — He alludes to the temple rebuilt by Joshua and Zerubbabel, as if to say: Just as these rebuild the material temple of Solomon, so the Branch, that is Jesus Christ, will build a spiritual temple, namely the Christian Church, for God. Whence He confirms the same by repeated assertion, when He adds: 'And He Himself shall build (in Hebrew it is the same verb as before, but in the future, namely yibne, that is 'He shall build') the temple for the Lord,' as if to say: Certainly He Himself, as He will begin it, so He will complete the building of the temple, that is of the Church of God. Mystically, by this repetition is signified a double temple, namely the Church militant and the Church triumphant, to be built by Christ. So St. Jerome, Rupert, Lyra, Clarius, and Vatablus.
Verse 13: And He
13. AND HE (the Branch, not Zerubbabel, as the Hebrews and Theodoret would have it, but Christ) SHALL BEAR THE GLORY, — namely the crown of glory, that is, of the glorious pontificate and kingdom, according to Psalm XX, 4: 'You have set upon His head a crown of precious stone.' Whence explaining, he adds: 'And He shall sit, and shall rule upon His throne, and He shall be a priest upon His throne.' Now this glory Christ obtained in a beginning way in this life; whence the Prophet signifies here that the four chariots, that is monarchies, ended in the kingdom of Christ, of whom he says: 'He shall rule upon His throne,' but fully this glory, dominion, and kingdom Christ obtained after the resurrection, when having overcome death, sin, and the devil, He ascended triumphant into heaven, and there sits at the right hand of the Father, as King of kings and Lord of lords, leading after Him the hosts of all the saints to eternal glory and triumph. So St. Jerome, Rupert, Arias, and Vatablus.
St. John beheld this glory of Christ in Apocalypse, chapter V, 12, when he heard the angels and all the saints acclaiming Him: 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and divinity (the name and fame of divinity, and its glory, worship, and adoration), and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.' And immediately: 'And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard all saying: To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen.' See the comments there. Where St. John seems to allude to this passage according to the Septuagint, who for 'glory' translate 'virtue,' about which St. Jerome says: 'By one it is written epidoxotes, by another epiprepeia, by another aphita, by another doxa, which mean either 'illustrious,' or 'beauty,' or 'virtue,' or 'glory,'' all of which and more St. John encompassed.
AND THE COUNSEL OF PEACE (that is, supreme peace, union, and concord; for prudent counsel establishes this, and this must be defended and preserved by every counsel), SHALL BE BETWEEN THEM BOTH, — namely between Joshua the priest and Zerubbabel the prince, say St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Lyra, and Hugh from the Hebrews. But no mention of Zerubbabel is made here: whence he cannot be pointed out with Joshua by the demonstrative pronoun 'them.' I say therefore that 'them' points to the two thrones, or two seats, namely of the pontificate and the principate; for although 'seat' in Latin is neuter in gender, yet the Hebrew kisse, that is 'throne' or 'seat,' is masculine. So St. Jerome, Rupert, Vatablus, Clarius, and Arias.
Or better and more fittingly to the matter, as well as to the Latin translation, 'them' points to the prince, who, as preceded, 'shall sit and shall rule upon his throne,' and the priest, of whom it immediately adds: 'And he shall be a priest upon his throne,' as if to say: In Christ there shall be the greatest consensus and concord between the prince sitting on the royal throne and the priest sitting on the pontifical throne; because Christ will be both, and will unite in Himself both dignities of the pontificate and the kingdom: as a type of which thing, Joshua the son of Josedech, in verse 11, received a double crown, namely of the priesthood and the principate, to portend that both powers would be united in Christ. For previously, when these powers were divided, there was often strife and dissension between pontiffs and kings, as is evident from the Books of Kings.
Some explain it thus, as if to say: There will be the greatest consensus between Joshua Josedech and Jesus Christ, such as exists between an image and its model, between an idea and its construction, between a type and its antitype. But this is typical and mystical rather than literal and genuine. Therefore what I said earlier is the literal sense, which the Syriac favors, translating: 'And a counselor (giving counsel and advising) of peace shall be between those two'; and the Arabic of Antioch more significantly: 'And a kingdom of peace shall be over them all'; and the Arabic of Alexandria: 'And there shall be a counsel of concord between them.'
Verse 14: And The Crowns Shall Be For Helem And Tobiah
14. AND THE CROWNS SHALL BE FOR HELEM AND TOBIAH, etc., — as if to say: After you have placed the aforementioned crowns on the head of Joshua, you shall take them off and consecrate them, and place them in the temple, with the names of those four men who contributed gold and silver for them inscribed on them, namely Helem, Tobiah, Idaiah, and Hen, as a perpetual memorial of them; because these crowns are henceforth to be kept in the temple, that is in the house of the pontiff, as if to say: The pontiff who presides over the temple will henceforth also preside over the kingdom, and will be king or prince: both so that they may be a 'memorial,' namely that there may be eternal memory and praise of those who by this offering tacitly acknowledged the kingdom and priesthood both of Joshua the son of Josedech, and in him of Jesus Christ, and professing this, consecrated themselves and their possessions to Him. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, and Lyra.
Note: He who in verse 10 is called Heldai, is here called Helem; and he who there is called Josiah, is here called Hen. For they had two names. Moreover, these names, because they are shorter rather than those former longer ones, were inscribed on the crowns.
Morally, learn here how pleasing it is to God to offer one's wealth to the temple and to persons consecrated to it, inasmuch as He wills that their names be inscribed on the gifts, for their enduring fame and glory, so that by these crowns not so much God, as the offerers themselves, may seem to be crowned by God.
Mystically, St. Jerome says: Heldai, in Hebrew, is interpreted as 'supplication of the Lord'; Tobiah, 'good of the Lord,' or 'pleasing to the Lord'; Idaiah, 'known of the Lord.' For Heldai he substituted Helem, which is interpreted as 'dream': and in the fourth place he added Hen, that is 'grace'; because Daniel in chapter II, by the invocation and grace of God, obtained the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. For the Hebrews report that Heldai, Tobiah, Idaiah, and Hen were Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. Mystically therefore by these etymologies it is signified that to those who approach the Lord and beseech Him, and are pleasing to God, and therefore are known to God, there is given Hen, that is grace, and gifts, which are signified by the name of grace: and Helem, that is 'dream,' that is the delights of the bride and rest in the embrace and bosom of the Lord, according to that saying of the Song of Songs V, 2: 'I sleep, and my heart keeps watch.' And chapter III, 5: 'I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor awaken the beloved, until she herself pleases.'
The Septuagint agrees with this, translating for Heldai 'those who wait'; for Tobiah, 'the useful'; for Idaiah, 'those who know.' Whence they translate thus: 'The crown shall be for those who wait, and for his useful ones, and for those who have known it, and for the grace of the son of Zephaniah, and for a hymn in the house of the Lord.' Explaining these words, St. Jerome says thus: 'The crown, that is the badge of victory, when Christ shall have been crowned, is also promised to those who await Him (according to the saying of Paul in II Timothy IV, 8: For the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me on that day: and not only to me, but also to those who love, and therefore await, His coming) and understand the usefulness of their former captivity, and know all the mysteries of God, so that they may be in the grace of the son of Zephaniah, that is, of the visitation of the Lord. And those who in Babylon said: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion — after they shall have returned to Jerusalem, let them take up the psaltery and tympanum, and sing in the Church of the Lord: and those who through greater sins were far from Judea and truest confession, through their individual advances let them build the house of the Lord. But all things that are promised shall come to pass, if they are willing to hear the Lord, and having done penance, continue in good works.'
Whence Tertullian in Book IV Against Marcion, chapter XXXIX, reads: 'But the crown shall be for those who have endured,' as if to say: Endurance will bring forth a crown for the patient and the martyrs.
Morally, let princes learn here that they ought to cultivate concord with the Church and the Pontiffs, inasmuch as their dignity is inferior and subordinate to theirs, and so connected and united in Christ, 'that neither may royal eminence depress priestly dignity, nor priestly dignity depress royal eminence; but in the glory of the one Lord Jesus let both agree,' says St. Jerome; and then they will be fortunate and happy. Thus Saul was happy as long as he obeyed the admonitions of Samuel: but when he departed from them, he deprived himself and his family of life and kingdom. Thus Joash, as long as he obeyed Jehoiada, was pious and fortunate; but when he killed his son Zechariah, he himself was soon also killed, II Chronicles XXIV, 25. Thus Uzziah, because he invaded the priesthood, burning incense, was struck with leprosy, II Chronicles XXVI, 19. Thus Jeroboam, Ahab, Jehu, and the other kings of Israel, because they made a schism from the pontiffs and the temple, were all without exception punished in kingdom and life. Thus Constantine, following the teaching of Sylvester, became glorious. Thus Gratian, Valentinian, Theodosius, disciples and followers of St. Ambrose, obtained a celebrated name on earth and in heaven. Thus Charlemagne, a wonderful devotee and defender of the Roman Church and Pontiff, obtained the surname 'the Great' by his victories and achievements.
Let princes therefore follow that counsel, indeed command, which St. Louis, the wise and pious king of France, dying left in his testament to his son and successor Philip: 'Be always,' he said, 'and in all things devoted and obedient to the Roman Church and the Pontiff, and honor him as your spiritual father.'
AND THOSE WHO ARE FAR OFF, — as if to say: Those who are distant from Jerusalem and the temple, and dwell in remote places, stirred by the example, memory, and glory both of others and of those four men who brought gold from Babylon and offered it to the temple, will themselves also bring their gifts, to promote the building and adornment of the temple. So the Hebrews, Theodoret, St. Jerome, Remigius, Albert, and others. Thus Darius and Artaxerxes sent expenses and oblations to the temple, as Ezra narrates in Book I, chapters VI and VII.
Allegorically, as if to say: When Christ will build the Church, and in it will be as it were crowned by God as Pontiff and prince, the Gentiles will come from the distant parts of the world, who until then had been far from God, from Christ, from heaven, and from salvation, to promote this building of His Church. For from the Gentiles were created bishops, doctors, pastors, etc., who by word and example built and propagated the Church of Christ. So St. Jerome, Rupert, and Arias. This is what the Apostle says in Ephesians II, 13: 'You who were far off have been made near in the blood of Christ.' Whence he infers in verse 17: 'Therefore you are now no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints, and members of the household of God.' Isaiah, foreseeing these coming from afar, in chapter LX, 1, exults and cries: 'Arise, be enlightened, Jerusalem: for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they have come to you: your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall rise up from your side.'
AND YOU SHALL KNOW, — as if to say: When you see these oracles of mine actually fulfilled, and especially crowds from distant cities and nations flocking to the temple, and offering their gifts in it, then you shall know that I Zechariah, who predicted these things, predicted them not from myself, but sent and inspired by God, and at the same time you will believe that the things I predicted about the Branch, that is Christ, I predicted from God, and therefore the same will be fulfilled with equal certainty in their own time; for these are the words of Zechariah about Christ, as is evident; not of Christ about Himself, as Eusebius thought in Book V of the Demonstration, chapter V.
AND THIS SHALL COME TO PASS, — as if to say: These prosperous and glorious things will befall the temple, and consequently you, O Jews, but under this condition, namely if you obey the law and voice of God; but if you are disobedient and rebellious to Him, do not accuse me of falsehood if God revokes these promises, both His and mine. So Theodoret. Mystically, as if to say: If you are willing to hear and receive Christ and the voice and doctrine of Christ, O Jews, you will know that I prophesied truly about Him under the name of the Branch, and about His temple, that is the Church, and you will become partakers of all His blessings, which He Himself will bring from heaven to earth with Him: but if you reject Him, He Himself will revoke these His blessings from you, and transfer them to the nations.