Zechariah 4:6-9

4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ ¹  says the Lord who rules over all.”

Oracle of Response

4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? ²  Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple ³  capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ ⁴  because of this.” 4:8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me as follows: 4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ⁵  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Zechariah 8:9

8:9 “The Lord who rules over all also says, ‘Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, ⁶  so that the temple might be built.

Matthew 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ⁷  will not overpower it.

Matthew 26:61

26:61 and declared, “This man ⁸  said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

Mark 14:58

14:58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’”

Mark 15:29

15:29 Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

John 2:19-21

2:19 Jesus replied, ⁹  “Destroy ¹⁰  this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 2:20 Then the Jewish leaders ¹¹  said to him, “This temple has been under construction ¹²  for forty-six years, ¹³  and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 2:21 But Jesus ¹⁴  was speaking about the temple of his body. ¹⁵ 

John 2:1

Turning Water into Wine

2:1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana ¹⁶  in Galilee. ¹⁷  Jesus’ mother ¹⁸  was there,

Colossians 3:9

3:9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices

Ephesians 2:20-22

2:20 because you have been built ¹⁹  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ²⁰  with Christ Jesus himself as ²¹  the cornerstone. ²²  2:21 In him ²³  the whole building, ²⁴  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Hebrews 3:3-4

3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

Hebrews 3:1

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ²⁵  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ²⁶ 

Hebrews 2:4-5

2:4 while God confirmed their witness ²⁷  with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed ²⁸  according to his will.

Exposition of Psalm 8: Jesus and the Destiny of Humanity

2:5 For he did not put the world to come, ²⁹  about which we are speaking, ³⁰  under the control of angels.

[4:6]  ¹ sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).

[4:7]  ² sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).

[4:7]  ³ tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).

[4:7]  ⁴ sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).

[4:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).

[8:9]  ⁶ sn These prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all included at least Haggai and Zechariah, and perhaps others. The founding referred to here is not the initial laying of the temple’s foundations in 536 b.c. (Ezra 3:8) but the resumption of work two years before the time of the present narrative (i.e., in 520 b.c.), as vv. 10-12 make clear.

[16:18]  ⁷ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

[26:61]  ⁸ tn Grk “This one.”

[2:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[2:19]  ¹⁰ tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”

[2:20]  ¹¹ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.

[2:20]  ¹² tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.

[2:20]  ¹³ sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19 b.c. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of a.d. 27/28.

[2:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This Greek term is frequently used as a way of referring to Jesus in the Johannine letters (cf. 1 John 2:6; 3:3, 5, 7, 16; 4:17).

[2:21]  ¹⁵ tn The genitive “of his body” (τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, tou swmato" autou) is a genitive of apposition, clarifying which temple Jesus was referring to. Thus, Jesus not only was referring to his physical resurrection, but also to his participation in the resurrection process. The New Testament thus records the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as all performing the miracle of Christ's resurrection.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ sn Cana in Galilee was not a very well-known place. It is mentioned only here, in 4:46, and 21:2, and nowhere else in the NT. Josephus (Life 16 [86]) says he once had his quarters there. The probable location is present day Khirbet Cana, 8 mi (14 km) north of Nazareth, or Khirbet Kenna, 4 mi (7 km) northeast of Nazareth.

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother.”

[2:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ²⁰ sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.

[2:20]  ²¹ tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ²² tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.

[2:21]  ²³ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ²⁴ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “of our confession.”

[2:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “God bearing witness together” (the phrase “with them” is implied).

[2:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and distributions of the Holy Spirit.”

[2:5]  ²⁹ sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.

[2:5]  ³⁰ sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.