Zechariah 6:12 - Transliteration:
Kai ereis pros auton Tade legei kyrios pantokratōr Idou anēr hō onoma Anatolē, kai hypokatōthen autou anatelei, kai oikodomēsei ton oikon kyriou.
Word-for-word translation from the Greek:
"And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the Lord Almighty: "Behold, a man; his name is Anatolē (Rising/Rising Sun/East/Branch), and from under him he shall rise up, and he shall build the house of the Lord."'"
Zechariah 6:12 (English - Common Translation from Hebrew)
Standard English (e.g., ESV):
"And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD."'"
Key Analysis & Connection to the New Testament
The Greek "Ἀνατολή" (Anatolē): This is the most significant element. The Greek translators used this word, which fundamentally means "rising" (like the dawn or sun) or "east" (where the sun rises), to translate the Hebrew title "צֶמַח" (Tsemach), meaning "Branch" or "Shoot." This created a rich, composite messianic title combining the ideas of a life-giving Branch from the line of David (Isa. 4:2, Jer. 23:5) and the "Sun of Righteousness" who rises with healing (Mal. 4:2).
New Testament Fulfillment: The Gospel of Luke directly alludes to this Greek phrasing, applying it to Jesus Christ:
"Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise (ἀνατολὴ) from on high will visit us" (Luke 1:78, ESV).
This is the Blessing of Zechariah (John the Baptist's father), explicitly connecting Jesus to the "Anatolē" prophesied by Zechariah. He is the divine visitation, the Dawn from heaven.
The Builder of the Temple: The verse's second promise—"He shall build the temple of the LORD"—is understood in the New Testament as being fulfilled not in a physical building (Herod's Temple was standing as Zechariah wrote), but in Christ building his spiritual temple, the Church (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-5). The man crowned in Zechariah 6 (Joshua the high priest, as a symbolic type) points forward to the Messiah who would be both King and Priest to build God's true dwelling place among His people.
Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, in his Theology drawn from the Idea of Life, says "In that place Zech. 6, rather the life and germination of new life through Christ, called Tsemach or germ, is looked to (V. 12), so that the Pontificate of Christ is subordinated to the new creature. Christ is there regarded not only as the architect of the creature, but as the germ and vegetating principle of the temple not made with hands and of the whole new creature, and if that counsel of peace signifies a pact between the Father and the Son, then that counsel in a certain infinite way consults concerning the vegetable life to be newly implanted in creatures through grace."
This is significant for the Global School's work with the Renewed Foundation Stone, because it emphasizes and connects in a living way with the spiritual temple that is being formed anew today. This temple and its foundation stone is formed out of his being, and our joined beings. We gather in the etheric temple, which is made out of his vegetating etheric principle or seed. He is creating in us a whole new human creation through his grace or life spirit. He is creating out of us, and in us, and with us, and whole new future human being. This is the rising of the earthly human sun from below and above and around. Thus the blessing of Zechariah carried down through the ages continues to work in new seeds.
Read more in the work of Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon.
