Bible Strands
Zechariah 3:9
See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts addresses Joshua the high priest and his priestly companions, situating the promise within the immediate vision of Joshua’s restoration and the future peace of the land (Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 3:10).
The words — The text centers on אֶ֗בֶן ('E.ven, "stone") and נָתַ֙תִּי֙ (na.Ta.ti, "I have set"), describing a stone placed before Joshua upon which seven eyes are fixed.
The thread — The "seven eyes" motif recurs in Zechariah 4:10 as the LORD’s agents scanning the earth, while the theme of removed guilt echoes Jeremiah 50:20’s promise that Israel’s iniquity will be sought but found none.
Why it lands — The passage states that God will personally engrave an inscription on the stone and eliminate the land’s iniquity in one day. It requires the reader to recognize divine initiative in both judicial cleansing and the establishment of the coming ruler.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 4:10 For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”
- Jeremiah 50:20 In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
- Revelation 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
- Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- Psalms 118:22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
- Jeremiah 31:34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
- Romans 9:33 as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Hebrews 9:25 Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.
- 1 Peter 2:4 As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,