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Zechariah

About this book
Chapter 3

1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord,⁠ with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.⁠ 2 The Lord said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?”⁠ 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood there before the angel. 4 The angel spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you in fine clothing.”⁠ 5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby. 6 Then the angel of the Lord exhorted Joshua solemnly: 7 “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘If you follow my ways and keep my requirements, you will be able to preside over my temple and attend to my courtyards, and I will allow you to come and go among these others who are standing by you. 8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch.⁠ 9 As for the stone I have set before Joshua—on the one stone there are seven eyes. I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘everyone will invite his friend to fellowship under his vine and under his fig tree.’”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Zechariah 3:4 and Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Zechariah, an angel answers Satan's accusation by replacing the high priest Joshua's filthy clothes with clean ones. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham also exchanges his corruption for clean clothing, the heavenly garment Azazel once wore.

Passages

Zechariah 3:4

Hebrew Bible
1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood there before the angel. 4 The angel spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you in fine clothing.” 5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Zechariah

Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 and through you comes every evil spirit of lies, and through you come anger and trials for the generations of godless people; 10 for God, the Eternal, Mighty One, has not allowed the bodies of the righteous to be in your power, so that in this way the life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be made certain. 11 Listen, counselor, leave me in shame. For you have not been allowed to tempt all the righteous. 12 Leave this man! 13 You cannot deceive him, because he is an enemy of you and of those who follow you and love what you want. 14 For look, the garment that was once yours in heaven has been set aside for him, and the mortality that was his has been transferred to you."
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... In Zechariah the soiled garment of the priestly figure is simply exchanged for a pure one. In the Apocalypse of Abraham the transformational pattern is radicalized. The priestly initiate’s “soiled” gar- ments are not simply exchanged for pure ones; they are transferred to Azazel, recalling the Yom Kippur ritual, in which the sin of humanity is transferred to the scapegoat. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 140.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Zechariah 3:4 and Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14

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