Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
- KJV And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
- NKJV Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
- NASB Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right to accuse him.
- NLT Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Zechariah's fourth vision: Joshua the high priest stands before the angel, with Satan accusing him. It pictures the people's guilt under attack from the adversary.
Overview
Joshua represents the priesthood and the whole nation standing before God, while Satan ('the adversary') accuses them of sin. The scene unveils the spiritual reality behind Israel's standing with God. It foreshadows the gospel courtroom where sinners are accused yet defended, pointing to Christ who silences every accusation against His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 33
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Luke 22:31Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
- Rev 12:9–10And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
- Ps 109:6Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
- Job 2:1–8On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.
- Job 1:6–12One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
- Hag 1:1In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, stating
- 1 Chr 21:1Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
- Luke 21:36So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- Hag 2:4But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Zech 6:11Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.
- 2 Chr 29:11Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Zech 3:8Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Zech 1:13So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.
- Zech 1:9“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”
- Ezek 44:15But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ezek 44:11Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.
- Ps 106:23So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Ezra 5:2Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.
- Jer 15:19Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.
- Hos 12:4–5Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—
- Zech 1:19So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
- 1 Sam 6:20The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”
- Zech 2:3Then the angel who was speaking with me went out, and another angel came out to meet him
- Hag 1:12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. So the people feared the LORD.
- Acts 7:30–38After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
- Exod 23:20–21Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
- Deut 18:15The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.
- Deut 10:8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
- Exod 3:2–6There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.
- Gen 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
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Christ at the center
The Branch who is both priest and king, the shepherd struck and the flock scattered, the king coming humble on a donkey, the one they pierced, the fountain opened for sin — Zechariah is dense with Christ.
How Zechariah 3:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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