Branch and Stone

The “seven-eyed” stone in Zechariah 3:9 has been variously interpreted – for example, as the crown on the head of the high priest Joshua (the seven eyes being the letters engraved on the crown), as the kingdom of God, as a stone with seven “springs” (in Hebrew, the same word is used for “eye” and “spring”).

The sequence of verses 8-9 suggest that the Branch and the stone are related and perhaps one and the same. That is, the stone, whatever else may be involved, is the Davidic Messiah, the stone cut without hands that demolishes the empires of the ancient world and grows into mountain, the stone in the wilderness that flows with seven spirits of God, the stone that is Yahweh the Rock.