Commentary on Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah and Malachi John Calvin
MINOR PROPHETS
to the right of a king; it afterwards follows, ``Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedec.'' Though kings must then have been chosen from the family of David and the tribe of Judah, and though priests must have then been taken from the Levitical tribe, yet the Spirit foretold, that a king would come who was to be a priest, as had been the case with Melchisedec. This very thing is what the Prophet now confirms.
Zechariah being ordered to set the crowns on the head of Joshua, we are not so to regard this, as though Joshua had immediately undertaken the two offices of a king and a priest; for he was satisfied with his own: but the Prophet shows in the type what was to be looked for at the coming of the Messiah; for the time had not yet come, when Christ should receive the royal diadem, as it is said in Ezekiel, ---
away the diadem; set it aside, set it aside, set it aside, until he shall come, whose it is.'' (Ezekiel 21:26,27.)
We here see that the Prophet points out a length of time, during which the royal diadem was to be trodden as it were under foot. Though the royal crown had not yet laid in the dust sufficiently long, yet the Prophet did nothing presumptuously; for the Jews could not have conceived in their mind what is here promised, had not the typical priest come forth, wearing the two crowns. Nor could this have been so suitable to the person of Zerubbabel; for though he was of the family of David, and was a type of Christ, he had not yet the name of a king, nor had he any regal power: he could not therefore have been so suitable a person. It is then no wonder that God brought forth the high priest Joshua, who was a type and representative of Christ; and he brought him forth with a double crown, because he who was to come would unite, according to what follows, the priesthood with the kingly office.
Zechariah 6:12, 13
12. And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:
12. Et dic ad eum, dicendo (loquere ad eum, dicendo; repetitur bis idem verbum;) sic dicit Iehova exercituum, dicendo, Ecce vir, Germen nomen ejus; et e loco suo germinabit, et aedificabit templum Iehovae;
13. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
13. Et ipse aedificabit templum Iehovae, et ipse gestabit decus (vel, gloriam) et sedebit, et dominabitur super solium suum; et erit sacerdos super solium suum, et consilium pacis erit inter hos duos (vel, inter utrumque.)
The vision is now explained; for if the chief priest, without this explanation, had been adorned with two crowns, there must have been much talk among the people, ``What means this?'' God here shows that what he has commanded to be done to Joshua does not belong to him, but has a reference to another, Thou shalt say to him, Behold the Man, Branch is his name. It is the same as though the Prophet had expressly testified that Joshua was not crowned, because he was worthy of such an honor, or because he could look for royal dignity; but that he was to bear this honor