Zechariah 3:5
And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head,.... These are either the words of Jehovah the Father, who has all the angels at his command, and can order them to do what he pleases; always regards the intercession of Christ; is ever well pleased with his righteousness, and with his people, as clothed with it; and, where he gives grace, he gives more grace: a man clothed with Christ's righteousness is upon rising ground; he is in the way to great honour and glory: or, as some think, they are the words of the Angel of the Lord, the Messiah, continued, who willed, ordered, and commanded his ministering servants to do this, that Joshua might appear agreeably to the dignity of his office, and look great, as well as clean and neat: or rather they are the words of Zechariah the prophet; and design either the inward thoughts and secret wishes of his mind; or were an humble request of his, and was regarded; who, seeing something wanting to make Joshua a complete high priest, intercedes for it: so one saint rejoices in the restoration of another; and is so far from envying the gifts and graces of the greatest, that he wishes him more:
So they set a fair mitre upon his head; such as the high priest wore; on which was a plate of gold, and on it written "Holiness to the Lord"; and was an emblem of Christ being made sanctification to his people; see Exodus 28:4. The mitre was a garment of the high priest, a sort of covering for the head, a cap or turban: it was made of linen, and is called the linen mitre, Leviticus 16:4 and that which Joshua might have wore before, being stained and foul, it is requested that a "fair" or "clean" {l} one might be set upon his head. It consisted, as the Jewish writers say {m}, of sixteen cubits or ells, which were rolled up in the form of a Turkish turban; and has its name in Hebrew from its being thus rolled up. The account Josephus {n} gives of it is, that it was
"a cap or bonnet wore on the head, not rising up in a point, nor encompassing the whole head, but put on little more than the middle of it; and is called "masnaempthes" (it should be "mitznephet"); and is formed in such a manner, as to look like a crown, made of a linen web, like a swath or roller; for it is many times rolled about and sewed;''
and with which Jerom's account of it agrees; who says {o},
"the fourth sort of garment is a round cap or bonnet, such as we see painted on Ulysses, like a globe, circle, or sphere, divided in the middle, and one part set on the head: this we and the Greeks call a "tiara"; the Hebrews, "mitznephet": it has no point at top, nor does it cover the whole head to the hair, but leaves a third part of the forehead uncovered; and so bound with a lace at the back of the head, that it cannot easily fall from it: it is made of fine linen; and is so well covered with a linen cloth, (and which also Josephus takes notice of in the above place), that no traces of the needle appear without.''
It hid the seams, and the deformity of them: both the high priest and the common priests wore mitres, as appears from Exodus 28:4 and the difference between them, according to the Jewish writers {p}, seems chiefly to lie in the manner of rolling and wrapping them: the mitre of the high priest was wrapped about his head, as you roll a broken limb, roll upon roll, and did not rise up to a point, but was flat on his head; but that of the common priests consisted of various folds and rolls; which gradually rose up to a point, as a nightcap, or high crowned hat. Josephus {q} contrary to all other writers, makes the high priest to have two mitres; for he says, he had a cap like to the former, such as all the rest of the priests had, upon which another was sewed, variegated with blue, or a violet colour; which Braunius {r} thinks is a mistake of his, arising from the blue lace, with which the plate of gold, that had engraven on it Holiness to the Lord, was fastened to the mitre; or else that the place is corrupted, or has been interpolated by some other hand; since this would make the high priest to have nine garments, and not eight only; but Fortunatus Scacchus {s} takes the passage to be genuine, and argues from it for another mitre or cap, more worthy of the high priest; and which was peculiar to him, and was very curiously wrought, and on which the celestial globe was figured; and so Josephus says {t}, that the cap being made of blue or hyacinth, seemed to signify heaven; for otherwise the name of God would not have been put upon it. The son of Sirach, Ecclesiasticus 45:12 speaks very highly of this covering of the high priest's head, calling it
"a crown of gold upon the mitre, wherein was engraved Holiness, an ornament of honour, a costly work, the desires of the eyes, goodly and beautiful;''
as here a fair mitre:
and clothed him with garments; priestly ones, suitable to his office, which were in all eight; which were the linen breeches; the coat of linen; an embroidered girdle; a robe of blue; an ephod of gold; a breastplate curiously wrought, in which were the Urim and Thummim; a mitre of fine linen, and a plate of pure gold on it, Leviticus 8:7 and on the day of atonement he wore the four following extraordinary garments, breeches, coat, girdle, and mitre all of linen, Leviticus 16:4 {u}; all which were typical of the clothing of believers by Christ, by whom they are made priests unto God: "and clothed him with garments"; priestly robes, suitable to his office:
And the angel of the LORD stood by; to see all done according to his order; and not as a mere spectator, for he was concerned in clothing him himself; and he still stood to denote his constant care of Joshua, and his regard to him, and as having something more to say to him, as follows:
{l} rwhj Pynu kidarin kayaran, Sept.; "cidarim mundam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. aykd, Targum.
{m} Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 19.
{n} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 3.
{o} De Vestitu Sacerdotum ad Fabiolam, fol. 19. I.
{p} Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 2. Aben Ezra in Exod. xxviii. 36.
{q} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7.) sect. 6.
{r} De Vestitu Sacerdot. Hebr. l. 2. c. 21. p. 795.
{s} Sacr. Elaeochrism. Myroth. l. 3. c. 39. p. 995. Vid. Solerium de Pileo, sect. 12. p. 257.
{t} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 7.) sect 7.
{u} Maimon Cele Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 1, 2, 3.