Zechariah 3:1
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And he let me see Joshua, the high priest, in his place before the angel of the Lord, and the Satan at his right hand ready to take up a cause against him.
Webster's Revision
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
World English Bible
He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
English Revised Version (ERV)
And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
Definitions for Zechariah 3:1
Clarke's Zechariah 3:1 Bible Commentary
And he showed me Joshua the high priest - The Angel of the Lord is the Messiah, as we have seen before; Joshua, the high priest, may here represent the whole Jewish people; and Satan, the grand accuser of the brethren. What the subject of dispute was, we perhaps learn from Jde 1:9. Michael and Satan disputed about the body of Moses. This could not refer to the natural body of the Jewish lawgiver, which had been dead about owe thousand years; it must therefore refer to that body of laws given to the Jews by Moses, for the breach of which Satan, who was their tempter to disobedience, now comes forward as their accuser; that, exciting the justice of God against them, they may be all brought to perdition. There is a paronomasia here: -
Satan standing at his right hand to resist him - שטן Satan signifies an adversary. לשטנו lesiteno, to be his adversary, or accuser.
Barnes's Zechariah 3:1 Bible Commentary
And He - God, (for the office of the attendant angel was to explain, not to show the visions) "showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord;" probably to be judged by him ; as in the New Testament, "to stand before the Son of Man;" for although "standing before," whether in relation to man or God, , expresses attendance upon, yet here it appears only as a condition, contemporaneous with that of Satan's, to accuse him. Although, moreover, the Angel speaks with authority, yet God's Presence in him is not spoken of so distinctly, that the high priest would be exhibited as standing before him, as in his office before God.
And Satan - Etymologically, the enemy, as, in the New Testament, "your adversary the devil" 1 Peter 5:8, etymologically, the accuser. It is a proper name of the Evil one, yet its original meaning, "the enemy, was not lost. Here, as in Job, his malice is shown in accusation; "the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God, day and night" Revelation 12:10. In Job JObadiah 1:8-11; Job 2:3-5, the accusations were calumnious; here, doubtless, true. For he accused Job of what would have been plain apostacy Job 1:11; Job 2:5; Joshua and Zerubbabel had shared, or given way to, the remissness of the people, as to the rebuilding of the temple and the full restoration of the worship of God Ezra 3:1-13; 4. For this, Haggai had reproved the people, through them Haggai 1:1-11. Satan had then a real charge, on which to implead them. Since also the whole series of visions relates to the restoration from the captivity, the guilt, for which Satan impleads him with Jerusalem and Jerusalem in him, includes the whole guilt, which had rested upon them, so that for a time God had seemed to have cast "away His people" Romans 11:1. Satan "stands at his right hand," the place of a protector Psalm 16:8; Psalm 109:31; Psalm 121:5; Psalm 142:4, to show that he had none to save him, and that himself was victorious.
Wesley's Zechariah 3:1 Bible Commentary
3:1 And he - The Lord represented to me in a vision.Standing - Ministering in his office. The angel - Christ.