Ezra 6:14-15

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ¹  Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth ²  year of the reign of King Darius.

Zechariah 4:9

4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ³  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zechariah 6:13-15

6:13 Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest ⁴  with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything. 6:14 The crown will then be turned over to Helem, ⁵  Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen ⁶  son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 6:15 Then those who are far away ⁷  will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God.”’”

¹ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

² sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

³ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).

⁴ sn The priest here in the immediate context is Joshua but the fuller and more distant allusion is to the Messiah, a ruling priest. The notion of the ruler as a priest-king was already apparent in David and his successors (Pss 2:2, 6-8; 110:2, 4), and it finds mature expression in David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, who will combine both offices in his kingship (Heb 5:1-10; 7:1-25).

⁵ tn “Helem” is probably the same individual as “Heldai” in v. 10. Since the MT and the major ancient versions leave the apparent conflict unresolved it is probably best to view “Helem” as interchangeable with “Heldai” (cf. “Heled” in 1 Chr 11:30 with “Heleb” [2 Sam 23:29] and “Heldai” [1 Chr 27:15]). A number of modern English versions use “Heldai” here (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

⁶ tn Since the “son of Zephaniah” in v. 10 is Josiah, it might be best here to understand “Hen” in its meaning “grace” (חֵן, khen); that is, “Hen” is a nickname for Josiah – “the gracious one.” A number of modern English translations use “Josiah” here (e.g., NCV, NRSV, NLT).

⁷ sn Those who are far away is probably a reference to later groups of returning exiles under Ezra, Nehemiah, and others.