Zechariah 3

Also in Zechariah: “And the Lord showed me Jesus, that great priest, standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the devil was standing at his right hand to oppose him. And Jesus was clothed in filthy garments, and he stood before the face of the angel himself; and he answered them and said to them who were standing before his face, saying, ‘Take away his filthy garments from him.’ And he said to him, ‘Behold, I have taken away your iniquities.’ And put upon him a priestly garment, and set a fair miter upon his head.” Also Paul to the Philippians: “Who being established in the form of God, thought it not robbery that he was equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore also God exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things in earth, and of infernal things, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord in the glory of God the Father.”

Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE JEWS 12:2.13

For in that passage too, in giving the name of high priest to him who made with his own blood the priestly propitiation for our sins, he does not by the word made declare the first existence of the Only-begotten. But he says “made” with the intention of representing that grace which is commonly spoken of in connection with the appointment of priests. For Jesus, the great high priest (as Zechariah says), who offered up his own lamb, that is, his own body, for the sin of the world; who, by reason of the children who are partakers of flesh and blood, himself also in like manner took part with them in blood. ([This is] not in that he was in the beginning, being the Word and God, and being in the form of God, and equal with God, but in that he emptied himself in the form of a servant, and offered an oblation and sacrifice for us). He, I say, became a high priest many generations later, after the order of Melchizedek.

Against Eunomius 4:2

But because he forgot the commandment of God and fulfilled the will of the serpent, the devil held his hand and caused him to reach for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order to eat of the forbidden fruit. In him, judgment was pronounced on all, and the adversary began to stand at the right hand of all. Hence, that cursed form came forth against Judas: And let the Devil stand at his right hand (Psalm 108:6). If that curse is severe, then this blessing is the greatest, by which the chains of harsh curses are loosened. Therefore, the Lord Jesus placed the devil at His right hand, just as we read in the book of Zechariah (Zach. III, 1); for He had taken up the cause and place of mankind.

The Prayer of Job and David 3:10.27

1–5

(Chapter III - Verse 1 and following) And he showed me Jesus, the great high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord: and Satan was standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan: May the Lord rebuke you, Satan, may the Lord rebuke you who has chosen Jerusalem. Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire? And Jesus was clothed in filthy garments, and he stood before the face of the angel who responded and said to those who stood before him, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him, 'Behold, I have taken away your iniquity, and I will clothe you with rich garments.' And they put a clean turban on his head, and they put clean clothes on him. LXX: And the Lord showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan stood at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, 'The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!' Is not this man like a brand plucked from the fire? And Jesus was clothed with dirty clothes, and he stood before the face of the angel, and he answered and said to those standing before his face, saying: Take off the dirty clothes from him. And he said to him: Behold, I have wiped away your iniquities from you; and dress him in fine clothing, and put a clean turban on his head, and they put a clean turban on his head, and they surrounded him with garments. Before we come to the understanding of the spiritual intelligence, it must be said strictly and briefly how the Hebrews explained this passage. They want Jesus the great priest, whom the Greeks call ἀρχιερέα and the Latins call pontifex, to be understood as the son of Josedec, who presided over the people with Zorobabel. The adversary (for this is what Satan means) stood at his right hand to oppose him. And he rightly stood at his right hand, not at his left, because the accusation was true, since he himself had taken a foreign wife, as is written in Ezra and in Malachi, who follows this prophet, (1 Esdras 12 and Mal. 2). And the Lord said to Satan, the accuser and adversary, for he is the enemy and avenger, and the accuser of his brothers: Let the Lord rebuke you, Satan: for it is raining from the Lord: and let the Lord rebuke you, who chose Jerusalem. Therefore, since Jerusalem has now been chosen from among all the cities of Judah, with the Lord not imputing to her the sins she has committed, why do you attempt to bury Jesus, who escaped from the captivity of Babylon as if half burnt, like a tower which is commonly called a torch? But what follows, 'Jesus was clothed in dirty clothes,' is interpreted in three ways. Either because of illicit union, or because of the sins of the people, or because of the squalor of captivity. But the angel, before whose face Jesus stood, commanded the other angels on behalf of the Lord to take away from him the dirty clothes of which we have spoken above. When they had fulfilled the command, the same angel spoke again to Jesus: 'Behold, I have taken away your iniquity; these are the dirty clothes, and I have clothed you with new garments.' This refers to the joining of an Israelite wife to you, which the Seventy interpreted as 'ποδήρη,' which we can call a long tunic, because it flows down to the ankles and feet. And what follows: Place a clean headband over his head, because we read in Hebrew Saniph (), which is called by many a headdress, and in this they want the dignity of the priest to be understood, that he, having removed the filth of sins, may have a clean priesthood. This is how the Jews interpret it. But our argument is that the priest is great, to whom it is said: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. CIX, 4). But since he (the angel) cannot be seen by himself, he is shown to the prophet by the Lord standing before the angel of the Lord, whom they wish to be the angel of great counsel, not because one and another are, or that we should accept two persons in the Son; but that he is shown to be the same and as one, and is said to appear as if in the form of a defiled man and as if an angel, mediating between God and men. However, they attempt to show that he is not Jesus son of Josedech, because it is not appropriate in the present place for him to be called the son of Josedech, who in other places, and where Jesus is truly called the son of Josedech, is always considered under the name of the Father. Therefore, Jesus is seen standing and standing firmly; and Satan stood at his right hand to oppose him. For he was tempted in every way without sin. And in the Gospel, the tempter approaches him, always seeking to oppose him with his right hand and his powers. And that which follows: The Lord rebuke you, Satan, and the Lord rebuke you, who choose Jerusalem, they have said, because the Father and the Son are Lord, and in the 109th psalm we read: The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. The Lord speaks to another Lord, not because the Lord who speaks cannot rebuke, but because out of the unity of nature, when the other rebukes, he himself who speaks rebukes. For he who sees the Son, sees also the Father (John 14:9); and this is he who chose Jerusalem, the Church which contemplates the peace of the Lord. But the tower taken out of the fire can rightly be understood as one who, while he is in Babylon, is not consumed by the fire of Babylon, nor touched by the flame of this world. Therefore Moses also sees a great vision in the desert, in which the bush was burning, but was not consumed (Exodus 3). This Jesus was clothed in filthy garments; although he had not committed any sin, he was made sin for us, and he himself carries our infirmities, and suffers for us, and we thought of him as being in sorrow, and in wounds, and in anguish. But he was wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:4). And in the Apostle we read: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). Here in the twenty-first psalm it says: Far from my salvation are the words of my offenses (Psalm 22:1). And in the sixty-eighth psalm: O God, you know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from you (Psalm 69:6). All the garments that are called dirty will be taken away from him when he has washed away our sins, so that because he was clothed in dirty garments, we may hear after baptism: May your garments always be white (Eccl. IX, 8): and the whole Church of believers hears through Isaiah: Wash, be clean (Isa. I, 16). And she is prophesied about in the Song of Songs: Who is this that ascends, white (Cant. III, 6)? But take the incarnation of Him, which is from the earth, and is signified in the feet. Understand the clean robe over His head, understand the splendor of divine majesty, so that he may seem to be adorned as one and the same according to man, and according to God.

Commentary on Zechariah

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. [Zechariah 3:2] But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

You can search them out for yourself from sacred Scripture without my help. And it will become clearly evident to you that this likely is the age of which it was said, “Believe not in friends and trust not in princes,” and that the prophecy is now being fulfilled: “The leaders of my people have not known me; they are foolish and senseless children. They are wise to do evils, but to do good they have no knowledge.” We should rather pity such people than hate them and should rather pray for them than revile them. For we were created to bless and not to revile. Thus also Michael, when he was arguing with the devil over the body of Moses, did not dare to bring an accusation of blasphemy against him even for such a serious offense but said, “May the Lord rebuke you.” Even in Zechariah, we read something similar to this. “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan, and the Lord that chose Jerusalem rebuke you.” And so we also pray that those who refuse to be rebuked by their friends with humility may be rebuked by the Lord.

Against Rufinus 2.18

At the same, the reader should examine carefully that it does not say that the devil was standing triumphantly as a victor, but that he was at a halt in the contest and was being held in the battle line and in uncertainty—no, indeed, he was not victor, since he had not yet begun to fight. As for the words “to accuse him,” the devil was his adversary, just as we said, because Jesus was clothed in garments that were filthy with our sins. After Satan heard the command, “May the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!” he stood no longer on the right but retired behind him and crawled under his feet. Without delay, Jesus the high priest dons the long garment and is clothed in shining raiment, and in harmony with kingly authority—with the hands of Zerubbabel—[he] lays the foundation of the church and erects the spiritual Jerusalem.

Homilies on the Psalms, Alternate Series 61

This is also a type of our situation. Just as the avenging and wicked devil was very opposed to Joshua for being high priest and making intercession to God on behalf of the people, so in turn this same enemy was an opponent of Jesus the great high priest in the order of Melchizedek for taking away the sin of the world15 and wished to bring him down. It was, however, not Joshua the son of Jehozadak that rebuked him, but Joshua’s Lord; when he approached Jesus the Savior of the world, he was rebuked by him, as by his God and Lord, and hears, “Get behind me, Satan.”

Commentary on Zechariah 3:1-6

"But to give you the account of the revelation of the holy Jesus Christ, I take up again my discourse, and I assert that even that revelation was made for us who believe on Christ the High Priest, namely this crucified One; and though we lived in fornication and all kinds of filthy conversation, we have by the grace of our Jesus, according to His Father's will, stripped ourselves of all those filthy wickednesses with which we were imbued. And though the devil is ever at hand to resist us, and anxious to seduce all to himself, yet the Angel of God, i.e., the Power of God sent to us through Jesus Christ, rebukes him, and he departs from us. And we are just as if drawn out from the fire, when purified from our former sins, and [rescued] from the affliction and the fiery trial by which the devil and all his coadjutors try us; out of which Jesus the Son of God has promised again to deliver us, and invest us with prepared garments, if we do His commandments; and has undertaken to provide an eternal kingdom [for us]. For just as that Jesus (Joshua), called by the prophet a priest, evidently had on filthy garments because he is said to have taken a harlot for a wife, and is called a brand plucked out of the fire, because he had received remission of sins when the devil that resisted him was rebuked; even so we, who through the name of Jesus have believed as one man in God the Maker of all, have been stripped, through the name of His first-begotten Son, of the filthy garments, i.e., of our sins; and being vehemently inflamed by the word of His calling, we are the true high priestly race of God, as even God Himself bears witness, saying that in every place among the Gentiles sacrifices are presented to Him well-pleasing and pure. Now God receives sacrifices from no one, except through His priests."

Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXVI

Every soul that has been clothed with a human body has its own stain. But Jesus was stained through his own will, because he had taken on a human body for our salvation. Listen to the prophet Zechariah. He says, “Jesus was clothed with stained garments.” Zechariah says this to refute those who deny that our Lord had a human body but say that his body was made of heavenly and spiritual substance. They say this body was made of heavenly matter or, they falsely assert, of sidereal matter, or of some other more sublime and spiritual nature. Let them explain how a spiritual body could be stained, or how they interpret the passage we quoted: “Jesus was clothed with stained garments.” If this difficulty drives them to assume that the “stained garment” means the spiritual body, then they should be consistent and say this, that what is said in the prophecies has been fulfilled, that is, “an animal body is sown, a spiritual body rises.” Do we thus rise soiled and stained? It is an impiety even to think this, especially when one knows what Scripture says: “The body is sown in corruption but will rise in incorruption; it is sown in weakness but will rise in strength; our animal body is sown, but a spiritual body will rise.”Thus it was fitting that those offerings that, according to the law, customarily cleanse stain should be made. They were made for our Lord and Savior, who had been “clothed with stained garments” and had taken on an earthly body. Christian brothers often ask a question. The passage from Scripture read today encourages me to treat it again. Little children are baptized “for the remission of sins.” Whose sins are they? When did they sin? Or how can this explanation of the baptismal washing be maintained in the case of small children, except according to the interpretation we spoke of a little earlier? “No man is clean of stain, not even if his life upon the earth had lasted but a single day.” Through the mystery of baptism, the stains of birth are put aside. For this reason, even small children are baptized. For “unless a man be born again of water and spirit, he will not be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Homilies on the Gospel of Luke 14:4-5

Now who this one would be to whom God promised an eternal priesthood Zechariah has taught, even giving his name most clearly. For thus he spoke: “And the Lord God showed me Jesus the high priest standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the devil stood at his right hand to be his adversary. And the Lord said to the devil, ‘May the Lord that chose Jerusalem rule over you, and behold the brand plucked out of the fire!’ And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments, and he stood before the face of the angel. And he answered and said to them that stood around before his face, saying, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him, and put on him a tunic and sandals, and put a clean miter upon his head.’ And they clothed him with garments and put a clean miter upon his head. And the angel of the Lord stood and testified before Jesus, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord almighty: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charges, you shall judge my house. And I will give you some of them that are now present to walk with you.’ Hear, then, O Jesus, the high priest.”

Epitome of the Divine Institutes 4:14

Now in this, by that wondrous sacrifice, Elijah clearly proclaimed to us the sacramental rite of baptism that should afterwards be instituted. For the fire was kindled by water thrice poured upon it, so that it is clearly shown that where the mystic water is, there is the kindling, warm and fiery spirit that burns up the ungodly and illuminates the faithful. Yes, and yet again his disciple Elisha, when Naaman the Syrian, who was diseased with leprosy, had come to him as a suppliant, cleanses the sick man by washing him in the Jordan, clearly indicating what should come, both by the use of water generally and by dipping in the river in particular. For the Jordan alone of rivers, receiving in itself the firstfruits of sanctification and benediction, conveyed in its channel to the whole world, as it were from some fount in the type afforded by itself, the grace of baptism. These then are indications in deed and act of regeneration in baptism. Let us for the rest consider the prophecies of it in words and language. Isaiah cried, saying, “Wash you, make you clean, put away evil from your souls,” and David, “Draw nigh to him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed.” And Ezekiel, writing more clearly and plainly than them both, says, “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I give you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and my spirit will I put within you.” Most manifestly also does Zechariah prophesy of Joshua, who was clothed with filthy garments (to wit, the flesh of a servant, even ours), and stripping him of his ill-favored raiment, adorns him with the clean and fair apparel, teaching us by the figurative illustration that truly in the baptism of Jesus all we, putting off our sins like some poor and patched garment, are clothed in the holy and most fair garment of regeneration.

On the Baptism of Christ

There is much to be said on this subject. In the case of sinners, the devil is standing at the right side, but that is another matter for discussion. Whoever is a sinner has the devil standing at his right hand. Someone is raising the objection: How, then, in Zechariah is the devil said to stand on the right of Jesus [Joshua], the son of Jehozadak? “And Satan stood at his right hand.” How in Zechariah is it written that the devil stands at the right hand of the Savior? You appreciate that this is a problem. At the time that the devil stood at the right hand of the Savior, “Jesus,” holy Writ says, “was clad in filthy garments.” He was wearing our sins; he was wrapped up in the folds of our vices; that is why the devil was standing at his right side.

Homilies on the Psalms 36

Now when he speaks of “uncleanness” here, the mere perusal of the passage is enough to show that he meant “sin” to be understood. It is plain from the words, of what he is speaking. The same phrase and sense occur in the prophet Zechariah, in the place where “the filthy garments” are removed from off the high priest, and it is said to him, “I have taken away your sins.” Well now, I rather think that all these passages, and others of like import, which point to the fact that humanity is born in sin and under the curse, are not to be read among the dark recesses of the Manichaeans but in the sunshine of Catholic truth.

On Marriage and Concupiscence 2:50

6–7

(Vers. 6, 7.) And the angel of the Lord stood and testified to the angel of the Lord saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you walk in my ways and keep my custody, you shall also judge my house and keep my courts and I will give you those who walk among those who stand here. LXX: And the angel of the Lord stood and testified to Jesus saying: Thus says the Lord Almighty: If you walk in my ways and keep my commandments, and you shall judge my house; and if you keep my courtyard, I will give you those who dwell among those who stand here. Following the order of the proposed interpretation, the Hebrews understand the following words spoken to Jesus, son of Josedech, by the angel of the Lord: that after the removal of dirty garments and the restoration of the dignity of the priesthood, he is commanded according to what is written in the Gospel: 'Behold, you are healed, sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you' (John 5:14); and a reward is promised to him if he walks in the ways of the Lord and keeps His commandments, that he may be the judge of His house, that is, the high priest who perseveres in the temple and guards its courts and vestibules, and may the Lord grant him assistance from the number of the angels (who at that time stood before Him) to surround him and protect him from all enemy deceit. According to our companions who refer all these things to the Lord Savior, this seems difficult, what Jesus says by the angel: If he walks in the ways of the Lord and keeps his commandments, he himself should judge his house, and guard its courts, and the Lord will give to those who walk with him. This is easily resolved if we consider him who deigned to take the form of a servant (Philippians 2). And though he was rich, he became poor for us (2 Corinthians 8). Therefore, whatever is said about the members, is referred to the body: our progress is the victory of the Lord. And when we have reached the perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4), he will judge the house of God, according to what the Apostle said: But Christ as a son over His own house, whose house we are (Hebrews 3:6). And to Timothy: If I delay, that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (I Timothy 3:15). And not only will he judge his own house, but he will also keep the courts of the Lord, about which it is written: Worship the Lord in his holy courtyard (Ps. 28:2). However, he will judge or settle the matter with his lord, and according to the merits of each, some will be given ten cities and others five (Luke 19), and some will be appointed as prophets in the Church, and others as apostles, others as teachers, others performing miracles (1 Cor. 12), some having concern for the eyes, others for the hands, others for the feet, according to what we read: God stands among the gods' assembly; among them he judges gods (Ps. 82:1). He also gave him ministers of the number of the angels, who, being constituted in the flesh, are like unto the angels, and of whom the Apostle spoke: Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). For if the angels neither marry nor are given in marriage, and those who persevere in virginal continence are like unto the angels (Matt. 22), why should we not consider the apostles and the saints given by Jesus, who assist him in the Church, and never have wavering feet, but stand with the Lord standing?

Commentary on Zechariah

Of Him He has also spoken by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, saying, "I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My Servant David, He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My Servant David a Prince among them." Now king David was already dead, and therefore the true David, the truly humble, the truly meek, the true Son of God, strong of hand, is announced by this name; he also is intended in the book of the prophet Zechariah, where God the Father says, "Behold I will send my servant, the Orient is His name." Did then His being "clothed in filthy garments" deprive the Sun of righteousness of the brightness of His Godhead?

Letter 46:11

8–9

(Verse 8, 9.) Listen, great priest Jesus, and your friends who dwell before you, for they are men who foresee. Behold, I will bring my servant the East, for behold, the stone which I placed before Jesus, upon it are seven eyes. LXX: Listen, therefore, great priest Jesus, and your neighbors who sit before your face, for they are men who observe wonders, that is, spectators of miracles, for behold, I will bring my servant the East, for the stone which I placed before Jesus, upon it are seven eyes. Our people in this place are being hindered by the Jews, because according to the context and the wording of the discourse, they should understand Jesus the priest as the son of Josedech, rather than the Lord and Savior. For if the discourse is about the Lord, and it is said about Christ: 'Hear, O great Jesus the priest', who is it referring to: 'Behold, I will bring forth my servant the East, who is called by another name, and he has been given before Jesus, and upon this stone there are seven eyes?' On the contrary, our opponents strive to assert that Jesus is the great High Priest, and the East, and the Stone, according to different understandings, are called Christ. But how this can be said of himself is very difficult to explain. Therefore, those who want Jesus to be the son of Josedech, the great High Priest, interpret his friends who dwell or sit before him, and who are men bearing signs, as his disciples and prophets. For prophets are placed as signs of future events. So what is it that Jesus and his friends are compelled to hear: I will bring my servant, the East, and the rest? Above, God had promised (or permitted) Jesus, the great high priest, that if he walked in his ways and kept his commandments, he would judge his house, guard his courts, and give him ministers of angelic dignity. Now he says the same to him and his friends, full felicity and perfect blessedness that will come when the East arrives, of whom it is written: Behold, a man named the East (Zach. VI, 12). And in Malachi: The sun of justice shall arise to you that fear my name, and health in his wings (Mal. IV, 2). And in Numbers: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall spring up of Israel (Num. XXIV, 17). In the Gospel also we read very clearly about Christ: In whom the Orient from on high hath visited us: To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace (Luke I, 78). He himself is called the Rising Sun and the Cornerstone, because he unites both peoples and joins two walls into one house: He is the stumbling stone for unbelievers, of whom it is said in the Psalms: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone: This is from the Lord. On this stone, there are seven eyes, of which Isaiah speaks: A shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and reverence for the Lord, and his delight will be in the fear of the Lord. Those who want to understand the great High Priest, and his friends the Lord Savior, and his disciples, interpret them as men of miracles, and predictors, in such a way that they refer to the apostles (or disciples who have seen his mystical signs and have known the future from the present), while in the case of the man blind from birth (John 9), they interpret the restored eyes as referring to the Gentile people, and in the case of the woman with the flowing blood (Matthew 9), they explain that the Church is freed through the works of blood. Now, what follows is understood by lovers of history about Christ, that after Jesus, the son of Josedech, they say that Christ will come. For this is what it means to be before Jesus, that is, in His presence, and to be called a stone for strength and power, by which He will shatter all kingdoms, which we also read about in Daniel, when the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands (Dan. II).

Commentary on Zechariah

(Verse 10) Behold, I will plow her sculptured image, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the wickedness of that land in one day. On that day, says the Lord of hosts, each man will call his friend under the vine and under the fig tree. LXX: Behold, I will dig a pit, says the Almighty Lord, and I will investigate all the wickedness of that land in one day. On that day, says the Almighty Lord, each person will call their neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree. He had said above: behold the stone which I have given before Jesus, upon this one stone there are seven eyes. Now, accordingly, he preserves the metaphor from the stone, and says: I will engrave its sculpture; or I will carve its engraving. For what is written in Hebrew MaphatePhethee (), Aquila has interpreted as διαγλύψω ἄνοιγμα αὐτῆς, that is, I will carve its opening: Theodotion and Symmachus, I will carve its sculpture. And the sense is: I will make this stone be wounded by the key of the cross, and by the spear of the soldier, and in its passion I will take away the iniquity of the earth in one day, of which it is written: This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. CXVII, 24). On that day of the Passion of Christ, the man who is perfect in Christ will be called, and with the apostles he will ascend to the summit of the Lord's benevolence, his neighbor, whether they believe from among the Jews or certainly the multitude of the Gentiles, under the vineyard which is called Sorec, and of which he says in the Gospel: I am the true vine (John 15:1), and its fruit gladdens the heart of man, and under the fig tree, the most sweet fruits of the Holy Spirit, so that they may rest in eternal peace and, with the suppression of the world's turbulence and the bloodshed of warriors, know themselves to be under the reign of him whose mystical name in Solomon is peace. In the same session, the prophet Micah also mentions the vineyard and the fig tree, saying: 'In that day, each person will call their neighbor and their brother under the fig tree and their vineyard, and there will be no one to frighten them away' (Mic. IV, 4). And that which is written in the Septuagint: 'Behold, I will dig a pit,' we can understand as 'pit' or 'hole' for the carving of a stone, for everything that is carved is also dug. However, if someone does not want to interpret this more contentiously in reference to a stone, but rather to have its own beginning and its own opinion, let us say that God Almighty, on the day of the passion of His Son or (as the Jews believe, at the end of the world, when He comes to judge) will dig and bring forth each person's works and will touch the whole earth on the day of judgment; for this is the one day, and on that day each of the saints will call their companions and friends, who are also holy, to rest and to rejoice in the virtue of their works.

Commentary on Zechariah