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Who was Joshua the high priest? (Jeshua son of Jehozadak)

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Short answer

Joshua son of Jehozadak was the first high priest after the return from exile in Babylon. With the governor Zerubbabel he rebuilt the altar and began the second temple, around 538-516 BC.

He is a different man from Joshua son of Nun, Moses' successor who led Israel into Canaan, they are separated by roughly eight centuries.

⚠️ He appears under several spellings, and it is one man. The given name is Joshua in Haggai and Zechariah but Jeshua in Ezra and Nehemiah; his father's name is Jehozadak in Haggai, Jozadak in Ezra, and Josedech in the King James. All four of those forms name the same two people, and a reader moving between the books is not looking at two priests. The variation is checkable directly: compare Haggai 1:1 with Ezra 3:2 across the translations in the reader.

Question

Who was Joshua the high priest? (Jeshua son of Jehozadak)

Analysis

The vision of the filthy garments (Zechariah 3)

Zechariah sees Joshua standing before the angel of the LORD with the accuser at his right hand to oppose him, and dressed in filthy clothes. The accuser is rebuked, the soiled garments are taken away, and Joshua is clothed afresh and given a clean turban (Zechariah 3:1; Zechariah 3:2; Zechariah 3:3; Zechariah 3:4; Zechariah 3:5).

The scene is usually read on two levels at once, and both are in the text: Joshua personally, a priest who had come out of exile and could not have met the purity the office demanded, and the priesthood and people he represented, since a high priest stood for the nation. He is then charged with conditions and a promise (Zechariah 3:6; Zechariah 3:7).

The Branch, and a crown (Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:11-Zechariah 6:13)

Joshua and his fellow priests are called men who are a sign, and God announces that he will bring his servant the Branch (Zechariah 3:8). Later Zechariah is told to make a crown, set it on Joshua's head, and say that the man named the Branch will build the temple of the LORD, bear royal honour, and be a priest on his throne, with peace between the two offices (Zechariah 6:11; Zechariah 6:12; Zechariah 6:13).

That last part is the striking thing in an Israelite setting: kingship and priesthood were deliberately kept apart, kings came from Judah, priests from Levi, and a king who took priestly duty on himself was rebuked for it (2 Chronicles 26:16; 2 Chronicles 26:18). A single figure holding both is presented here as something new.

How to read it is contested. Some hold that the crowning enacts a promise about a coming figure, with Joshua standing in as a living sign, and Christian readers have long connected the Branch to Jesus, who is described in the New Testament as a priest of a different order than Levi's (Hebrews 7:14; Hebrews 7:15; Hebrews 7:16). Others read it as concerning Zerubbabel, the Davidic heir of the moment, with the text as it stands reflecting a later shift; and Jewish interpretation generally keeps the Branch as a messianic expectation not identified with Jesus. This reference sets the readings side by side and endorses none.

Kept in the record

Ezra 10:18 lists sons of Joshua among the priests who had married foreign wives and had to put the matter right. The books that honour him do not tidy his household out of the account, and the point is worth keeping for what it shows about how these records were written.

Why the two Joshuas get confused

Both names are the Hebrew Yehoshua, and the New Testament Greek form of that name is the same one rendered Jesus, which is why older English Bibles read Jesus at Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 where Joshua son of Nun is meant. Three distinct things share one underlying name: the conqueror, this high priest, and Jesus of Nazareth.

PersonWhenKnown for
Joshua son of Nunc. 13th-12th century BCMoses' successor; Jericho and the settlement of Canaan
Joshua/Jeshua son of Jehozadakc. 538-516 BCFirst high priest after the exile; the second temple; Zechariah's visions

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Haggai 1:1bsb

    In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, stating

  • Ezra 3:2bsb

    Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

  • Ezra 2:2bsb

    accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

  • Nehemiah 7:7bsb

    accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

  • Ezra 3:3bsb

    They set up the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD — both the morning and evening burnt offerings — even though they feared the people of the land.

  • Ezra 3:8bsb

    In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD.

  • Ezra 5:2bsb

    Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.

  • Haggai 1:12bsb

    Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. So the people feared the LORD.

  • Haggai 1:14bsb

    So the LORD stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and began the work on the house of the LORD of Hosts, their God,

  • Haggai 2:4bsb

    But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts.

  • Zechariah 3:1bsb

    Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

  • Zechariah 6:11bsb

    Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.

  • Zechariah 3:2bsb

    And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?”

  • Zechariah 3:3bsb

    Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.

  • Zechariah 3:4bsb

    So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

  • Zechariah 3:5bsb

    Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the LORD stood by.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

Who was Joshua the high priest? (Jeshua son of Jehozadak) · Bubble Bible