What Does Zechariah 6:13 Mean?
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD, and he shall bear the weight, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of wholeness shall be between them both.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.THE KEY
The verse places priesthood on the throne and names wholeness as the counsel joining the two.
THE MEANING
The figure builds the LORD’s temple, bears majesty, and rules from a throne where he also serves as priest. Royal authority and priestly service meet in one image, with wholeness as the counsel between “them both.” The verse leaves the exact referent of “them both” open.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
To be complete or sound, and to bring something into wholeness.
English “peace” can sound like only a pause in conflict, but shalom grows from a root of completeness and making sound. The “counsel of peace” is counsel ordered toward wholeness, though the verse leaves open exactly who “both” names.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: whole, complete, sound
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows that peace can describe a state of wholeness, not merely quiet.
shillem: to repay, recompense, or make good
שִׁלֵּם
The same root can describe setting something right, giving shalom a shade of restored order.
יִשָּׂא
yissa
GROWS FROM
נ־שׂ־א
n-s-ʾ
To lift, carry, or take up.
The verse’s “bear” is an active carrying: the ruler bears majesty as something entrusted to him. A related word for a prince shares this root of lifting, joining the image of carrying with the elevation of rule.
ALSO GROWS
nasi: prince, chief, leader
נָשִׂיא
This title shares the lift-and-carry root, linking elevated authority with what the ruler bears.
massa: burden, load; also an oracle
מַשָּׂא
A related word names what is carried, underscoring that majesty can be borne as a charge.
עֲצַת
ʿatsat
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ץ
y-ʿ-ṣ
To advise, plan, or deliberate.
The wording makes peace the content of the counsel between the two, rather than merely a result that follows rule. The root connects that wholeness with deliberate guidance.
ALSO GROWS
ʿetsah: counsel, advice, plan
עֵצָה
This noun names the deliberation whose content the verse calls peace.
yoʿets: counselor, adviser
יוֹעֵץ
The related role of adviser makes the verse’s peace sound like shared guidance, not simply an absence of conflict.
THE PATTERN
Scripture joins royal rule and priestly mediation in one figure, so that authority includes priestly service.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was the priest of God Most High.The LORD swears and will not relent. You are a priest for the ages, according to my word, Melchizedek.For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he returned from the striking down of the kings, and spoke a good word over him.THE THREAD
The LORD swears and will not relent. You are a priest for the ages, according to my word, Melchizedek.Psalm 110:4 names an enduring priesthood after Melchizedek, whose kingship and priesthood appear together in Genesis. Beside Zechariah, it opens the image of a throne where royal rule and priestly service meet.
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