What Does Zechariah 6:14 Mean?
And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.
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
And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.THE KEY
The crown’s hidden function is remembrance: honor becomes a memorial held in the LORD’s house.
THE MEANING
A visible sign of honor becomes a lasting remembrance in the LORD’s house. The verse holds named people within a witness that outlasts the moment of display.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Honor ends when the public display ends; here the crowns remain as a memorial in the LORD’s temple.
THE ROOT
זִכָּרוֹן
zikaron
GROWS FROM
זכר
Remember, call to mind, bring into awareness.
“memorial” in this verse is zikaron. Here, remembrance is active: the crowns hold named people in view before the LORD. The names deepen the witness: חֵלֶם (Ḥēlem, possibly “dream,” though its derivation is uncertain), טוֹבִיָּה (Ṭoviyyah, “Yah is good”), יְדַעְיָה (Yeda‘yah, “Yah knows”), חֵן (Ḥen, “favor”), and צְפַנְיָה (Tsephanyah, “Yah has hidden or protected”).
ALSO GROWS
zākhar: Remember; call to mind.
זָכַר
The memorial carries the sense of actively bringing these people to mind before the LORD.
zēkher: Remembrance, mention, or renown.
זֵכֶר
The crowns preserve the named people as a lasting remembrance.
עֲטָרוֹת
ʿatarot
GROWS FROM
עטר
Surround, encircle, or crown.
A crown encircles the head as a sign of honor. Here the crowns’ purpose extends into the temple as a memorial, carrying that honor into remembrance.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāṭar: Surround or crown.
עָטַר
The verb gives the crown its encircling form and marks the people with honor.
ʿăṭārāh: Crown or wreath.
עֲטָרָה
The singular form shows the crown as a tangible sign that can be preserved as a memorial.
חֵן
ḥēn
GROWS FROM
חנן
Show favor; be gracious.
Hen’s name is also the Hebrew word for favor. His name joins the memorial’s personal names with the idea of favor, while the verse keeps each person distinct rather than anonymous.
ALSO GROWS
ḥānan: Show favor or be gracious.
חָנַן
This verb gives Hen’s name its sense of favor extended toward someone.
ḥannûn: Gracious; showing favor.
חַנּוּן
This related form keeps favor connected to the named person in the memorial.
THE PATTERN
A memorial keeps named people and deeds present before God through a tangible sign.
And you will set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the children of Israel, and Aaron will carry their names before the LORD on his two shoulders, for a remembrance.And this day will be for you a remembrance. You will keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations, a statute for the ages.And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.THE THREAD
And you will set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the children of Israel, and Aaron will carry their names before the LORD on his two shoulders, for a remembrance.“Memorial” in both verses is זִכָּרוֹן (zikaron), remembrance. In Exodus the stones carry Israel’s names before the LORD; here the crowns carry named people into the temple’s remembrance.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us