Zacharias 3:7
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge, thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee some of them that are now present here to walk with thee.
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum : Si in viis meis ambulaveris, et custodiam meam custodieris, tu quoque judicabis domum meam, et custodies atria mea, et dabo tibi ambulantes de his qui nunc hic assistunt.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Τάδε λέγει Κύριος Παντοκράτωρ Ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς μου πορεύῃ καὶ ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασίν μου φυλάξῃ, καὶ σὺ διακρινεῖς τὸν οἶκόν μου· καὶ ἐὰν διαφυλάσσῃς τὴν αὐλήν μου, καὶ δώσω σοι ἀναστρεφομένους ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἑστηκότων τούτων.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- כֹּה אָמַ֞ר יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֗וֹת אִם בִּדְרָכַ֤י תֵּלֵךְ֙ וְאִ֣ם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֣י תִשְׁמֹ֔ר וְגַם אַתָּה֙ תָּדִ֣ין אֶת בֵּיתִ֔י וְגַ֖ם תִּשְׁמֹ֣ר אֶת חֲצֵרָ֑י וְנָתַתִּ֤י לְךָ֙ מַהְלְכִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָעֹמְדִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה
Haydock's commentary
Judge. The high priests were at the head till the Machabees. (Josephus, Antiquities xi. 4., and xx. 8.)
Yet the nation was, (Calmet) till Simon, (Haydock) always dependent; and the judges were under foreign kings or governors. (Calmet)
Give thee, &c. Angels to attend and assist thee. (Challoner)
They are promised to help the pastors of the Church. (Worthington)
They shall give information, ver. 9., and Exodus xxiii. 20. (Calmet)
Of them. Septuagint, "who shall converse in the midst of these who stand:" (Haydock) thy children shall succeed in the pontificate. (Theod.[Theodotion or Theodoret])
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Lactantius The Divine Institutes, Chap. XIV. Of the priesthood of Jesus foretold by the prophets
From which things it is evident that all the prophets declared concerning Christ, that it should come to pass at some time, that being born with a body of the race of David , He should build an eternal temple in honour of God, which is called the Church, and assemble all nations to the true worship of God. This is the faithful house, this is the everlasting temple; and if any one hath not sacrificed in this, he will not have the reward of immortality. And since Christ was the builder of this great and eternal temple, He must also have an everlasting priesthood in it; and there can be no approach to the shrine of the temple, and to the sight of God, except through Him who built the temple. David in the cixth Psalm teaches the same, saying: “Before the morning-star I begat Thee. …
St Ambrose Exposition of the Christian Faith, Chapter VII. Solomon's words, “The Lord created Me,” etc., mean that Christ's Incarnation was done for the redemption of the Father's creation, as is shown by the Son's own words. That He is the “beginning” may be understood from the visible proofs of His virtuousness, and it is shown how the Lord opened the ways of all virtues, and was their true beginning
50. It is clear, then, that the words “be ginning of His ways,” which, as it seems, we must refer to the mystery of the putting on of His body, are a prophecy of the Incarnation. For Christ’s purpose in the Incarnation was to pave for us the road to heaven. Mark how He says: “I go up to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.” Then, to give you to know that the Almighty Father appointed His ways to the Son, after the Incarnation, you have in Zechariah the words of the angel speaking to Joshua clothed in filthy garments: “Thus saith the Lord Almighty: If thou wilt walk in My ways and observe My precepts.” What is the meaning of that filthy garb save the putting on of the flesh?