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As for the stone[a] I have set before Joshua—on the one stone there are seven eyes.[b] I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 3:9 sn The stone is also a metaphor for the Messiah, a foundation stone that, at first rejected (Ps 118:22-23; Isa 8:13-15), will become the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph 2:19-22).
  2. Zechariah 3:9 tn Some understand the Hebrew term עַיִן (ʿayin) here to refer to facets (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “faces” (NCV, CEV “seven sides”) of the stone rather than some representation of organs of sight.sn The seven eyes are symbolic of divine omniscience and universal dominion (cf. Zech 1:10; 4:10; 2 Chr 16:9).
  3. Zechariah 3:9 sn Inscriptions were common on ancient Near Eastern cornerstones. This inscription speaks of the redemption achieved by the divine resident of the temple, the Messiah, who will in the day of the Lord bring salvation to all Israel (cf. Isa 66:7-9).

The Refinement of Judah

13 “In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty[a] of David and the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 13:1 tn Heb “house” (so NIV, NRSV), referring to dynastic descendants.
  2. Zechariah 13:1 tn Heb “for sin and for impurity.” The purpose implied here has been stated explicitly in the translation for clarity.sn This reference to the fountain opened up…to cleanse them from sin and impurity is anticipatory of the cleansing from sin that lies at the heart of the NT gospel message (Rom 10:9-10; Titus 3:5). “In that day” throughout the passage (vv. 1, 2, 4) locates this cleansing in the eschatological (church) age (John 19:37).