Psychological Interpretation of the Book of Zechariah

Gustve Dore, Zecharia 6:5

IT MAKES sense to consider interpreting the visions in the Book of Zechariah at a psychological-allegorical level.  By ‘psychological’ I don’t mean in terms of modern materialist/reductionist psychology, but more along the lines of Platonic and ascetical psychology.  As previously discussed, Philo of Alexandria employed this level of interpretation with great success, and his work strongly influenced Patristic and medieval allegorical commentary of Scripture.  So there’s nothing radical or unorthodox about my proposal.

Still, despite believing this is a sound level of analysis, I’m hesitant to proceed for two reasons. The first is that I don’t perceive much ambient interest in this topic: it rather amazes me that more people today aren’t interested in Philonic interpretation as a way to better understand and apply the truths of Scripture.  Second, maybe allegories don’t need to be interpreted — but, rather, the whole purpose of visionary and apocalyptic literature is to communicate directly with the unconscious or subconscious mind using symbols.

Therefore let me take the middle path: to outline only some leading ideas — enough to suggest the lines along which a fuller interpretation might proceed.

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Introduction

The Book of Zechariah contains 14 chapters.  It was written by at least two different people.  Chapters 9−14 are distinct from the others, and Chapters 7−8 are potentially distinct from Chapters 1−6.  Chapters 1−8 were potentially written in the 6th century during the period of exile, and the rest in the 5th century in the post-exilic period.  Alternatively, at least Chapters 9−14 may date from the Hellenistic period.

Our guiding hermeneutic premises are:

• All persons referred to symbolize elements of the individual soul.  That is, a special case of the literary device of personification is employed.

• All Scripture refers to the salvation of the soul.  At one level, salvation involves a re-integration and re-harmonization of the soul, restoring it from its fragmented condition brought about by sin and fall from God.

• Israelites symbolize the holy and virtuous dispositions of the soul.

• The enemies of Israel symbolize our sinful, vicious and refractory dispositions. (It is to these Psalms 2:1 refers when it asks, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?)

• Salvation involves, among other things (1) a renewed commitment of our inner Israelites to love and seek God and (2) punishment, ‘scattering’ and even destruction of our base elements.  This is somewhat complicated, of course, because, in a real sense, both the inner Israelites and the inner enemies *are* us.

• Amongst the virtuous elements or dispositions of our soul are certain leading ones — which help organize or guide the others.  For Philo, Moses symbolizes one such leading element.  In Zechariah, a new figure is presented:  Joshua, a High Priest, who helps effect salvation.  Traditionally this Joshua is interpreted as a symbol for Jesus Christ.  At a psychological level, we might understand him as symboizing an inner ‘image’ of Jesus Christ, a new addition to the personality, who helps lead the psyche to salvation.  Again, to speak of an inner image of Jesus Christ we are saying nothing that isn’t found in traditional Church writings.

Chapter 1

Characters: Zechariah, the word of the LORD, the LORD of hosts (possibly the same as the ‘word’); an angel amidst the myrtle trees riding a red horse.

Verse by verse commentary:

In the first vision, the angel is accompanied by red, white and speckled horses. “What are these?” Zechariah asks.  The angel replies, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. (1.8).  The horses say to the angel, “We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.” (1.11).

So the horses function in a way reminiscent of Conscience:  they roam the psyche, assessing its moral condition.  A similar trope is found in Hesiod’s Works and Days, in the Ages of Man Myth, concerning the first golden race:

But after the earth had covered this generation — they are called pure spirits (daimones hagnoi; δαίμονες ἁγνοὶ = holy spirits) dwelling on the earth, and are kindly, delivering from harm, and guardians of mortal men; for they roam everywhere over the earth, clothed in mist and keep watch on judgements and cruel deeds, givers of wealth. (WD 109–126).

This idea of roving monitors or ‘eyes of God’ is repeated later in the Book of Zechariah.

The favorable report of the horses suggests that Israel has now expiated its former sins, and is in a condition to merit restoration.

Psychological interpretation:  at some point during the process of moral and spiritual reformation, Conscience gives a favorable report.  There is no longer need for punishment and chastisement.  However, what remains is to subdue or eliminate the last vestiges of power amongst impious dispositions.

In the next vision Zechariah sees four horns (1:18).  These symbolize the Gentile nations that have scattered Israel.  Along with these Zechariah sees four carpenters (1:20).  These come to destroy and cast out the four horns.  At a psychological level, the Gentiles, as we have already said, would symbolize base, sinful and refractory dispositions of the soul.  The four carpenters would then symbolize new dispositions which effect the elimination of remaining resistance and oppression.

Chapter 2

Characters:  Zechariah, the first angel, a second angel.

Zechariah has a vision of a man with a measuring line.  The man is marking the dimensions of the new, restored Jerusalem. The angels, announce the message of the LORD of hosts: Jerusalem is to be restored and rebuilt, and many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee. (2:11)

Psychological interpretation:  A new, redeemed, prosperous kingdom of the soul is imminent.  God will dwell within such a soul, and will protect it.

Chapter 3

New characters: Joshua, Satan.

The angel reveals Joshua the high priest to Zechariah.  Joshua’s filthy garments are replaced with clean ones, and a fair mitre is placed on his head.  Joshua is appointed to judge and ‘hold court’ in the restored Jerusalem.  A stone with seven eyes is placed before Joshua.

Psychological interpretation:  As we suggested in the Introduction, it is natural to see Joshua as a new ruling personality element.  If Joshua is a symbol for Jesus, the redeemed personality, then, is poised to become remade, reconfigured and reconstructed on the pattern of Jesus Christ.  Compare this with St. Paul, who, when he says, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. [Gal 2:20b]

Chapter 4

Next Zechariah has a vision of a golden candlstick with seven lamps.  The lamps are fed by oil flowing from two olive trees, one on the right and one on the left.  The angels says the lamps are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth (4:10), and the trees, are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth. [4:14]

Psychological interpretation:  The seven eyes which roam the earth remind us of the horses in Chapter 1.  Perhaps they too are symbolically connected with Conscience.  The details being so brief, any attempt to explain the meaning of the olive trees would be too speculative to pursue with any assurance of correctness.

Chapter 5

There are two visions.  The first is of a flying roll or scroll.  This is a “curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth” (5:1), that serves to “cut off” sinners.  In the second vision is of an ephah (a bushel basket).  Inside the ephah is a woman called wickedness.  The ephah is sealed with lead.  Two winged women carry the ephah to the land of Shinar.

Psychological interpretation:  The flying scroll may relate again to the theme of Conscience.  Sinful elements of the soul are somehow divided or sequestered from the virtuous elements.  The meaning of the ephah is enigmatic.  Wickedness is being shut up in such a way that it poses no immediate threat to inner Jerusalem.

Chapter 6

Again, two visions.  The first is of four chariots that emerge from two mountains of brass.  The chariots are drawn by red, black, white, and grizzled and bay horses. “What are these?” Zechariah asks.  The angel answers, “These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” (6:5)

In the second vision Zechariah sees Joshua again. The word of the LORD commands that Joshua be given crowns of silver and gold, and says, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. (6:12)

Psychological interpretations:  The first vision reminds us of the horses in Chapter 1 and the seven eyes in Chapter 4, and again may have something to do with Conscience. In all of these cases, it’s interesting that these figures are all plural. Conscience (if that’s what they symbolize) is not represented by a single figure, but by multiple ones.  Could it be that such is how human conscience operates?  Are there multiple, autonomous ‘conscience complexes’ that operate in the mind?  (Cf. Marvin Minsky, 1986, who takes a cybernetic/systems theory to propose an ‘agent’ theory of the human mind.)

Chapter 7

Two years later the word of LORD comes to Zechariah.  He is instructed to tell the people that they have, hitherto, suffered scattering and desolation of the land because they did not heed the message of the prophets, and their penitential fasts were insincere.

Psychological interpretation:  scattering, disorganization and barrenness is the condition of the fallen psyche.

Chapter 8

The word of the LORD returns, now giving good news. If God was harsh with Israel before, it was only because He loved her so much.

Now the promise of restoration is made. So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. (8:15) But the people must be reminded: These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD. (8:16−17). Other nations will come to join Israel.

Psychological interpretation: The message is clearly one of hope.  Despite the suffering experienced in the fallen condition, God will heal and restore the genuinely repentant soul. The joining of other nations suggest a possible threefold division among personality elements:  (1) holy and virtuous ones (inner Israelites), (2) enemies of Israel (vicious dispositions which must be eliminated or somehow separated; and (3) a class of personality elements that are not inner Israelites, but which may be allied with them.  Perhaps (2) correspond to outright sinful dispositions, and (3) to interests in natural or sensible things that are not innately bad, but which must be properly ordered.

To be continued …

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Much said in this post doubtless will seem incomplete and open to many questions.  However, the task is not an easy one.  All that has been attempted is to supply a first pass at the question.  It’s almost certainly not completely correct, even in what it does say. We might put the question thus, “If Philo were to interpret the Book of Zechariah, what would he say?”  He didn’t, of course, so we are left to conjecture.

However at least we have arguably accoplished one small thing: to establish that it is *possible* to meaningfully interpret the Book of Zechariah at a psychological-allegorical level.  That possibility supplies an alternative to (1) strict literal interpretation, and (2) a ‘typological’ interpretation (i.e., that merely sees Joshua as a prophecy of Jesus Christ coming in history).  If Zechariah is only a historical prophecy, it would have little practical relevance for us today, as the event it would be prophesying has already occurred.  The more pious and devout — or at least more spiritual — approach is to search each Book of the Bible for what it says about ones own salvation.

Lest we give the wrong impression, it is to be emphasized that this form of interpretation should not be approached as an exercise in rationalistic, academic scholarship.  It can be done in connection with the traditional lectio divina steps of reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation.  In that context it properly belongs to the meditation stage.  Among other things, it helps one focus attention on the details of a passage of Scripture.  The approach should not be so much “it must mean this” as “could it mean this?”  Absolutely essential to interpreting scripture in any case is prayer.  Contemplation goes beyond intellectual analysis by tapping supraconscious wells of inspiration.  Allow God to supply understanding at levels that cannot be expressed in words.

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Bibliography

Minsky, Marvin. The Society of Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986.

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Allegorical Meaning of the High Priest’s Clothing

Furtmeyr Bible

EXODUS is a great presentation of the timeless philosophy, an inspired and extremely relevant allegory for the journey of the soul to God and to authentic human life. Within the larger narrative the story of the Tabernacal in the desert recapitulates and elaborates many of the central themes. Amongst all commentators of Exodus, Philo of Alexandria stands pre-eminent in psychological and mystical insight. Here he addresses the meaning of the High Priest’s clothing.  The High Priest symbolizes our interior person as it enters truer states of consciousness.  First comes a state of the Sacred Union of sensory and spiritual realms, the ethical summum bonum: living in the world restored to its true, miraculous condition.  We need not, like strict ascetics, deny the pleasures of the sensory world.  Rather, so long as we keep spiritual concerns foremost in our minds the sensory realm becomes divinized.

If again you examine the High Priest the Logos, you will find … his holy vesture to have a variegated beauty derived from powers belonging some to the realm of pure intellect, some to that of sense-perception. … On the head, then, there is “a plate of pure gold, bearing as an engraving of a signet, ‘a holy thing to the Lord'” (Ex. xxviii. 32); and at the feet on the end of the skirt, bells and flower patterns (Ex. xxviii. 29 f.). The signet spoken of is the original principle behind all principles, after which God shaped or formed the universe, incorporeal, we know, and discerned by the intellect alone; whereas the flower patterns and bells are symbols of qualities recognized by the senses and tested by sight and hearing. And [Moses] has well weighed his words when he adds: “His sound shall be audible when he is about to enter into the Holy Place” (Ex. xxviii. 31), to the end that when the soul is about to enter the truly holy place, the divine place which only mind can apprehend, the senses also may be aided to join in the hymn with their best, and that our whole composite being, like a full choir all in tune, may chant together one harmonious strain rising from varied voices blending one with another; the thoughts of the mind inspiring the keynotes — for the leaders of this choir are the truths perceived by mind alone — while the objects of sense-perception, which resemble the individual members of the choir, chime in with their accordant tuneful notes.
~ Philo, Migration of Abraham 100−104 (tr. Colson & Whitaker)

Integral to this experience is maintenance of a continuous attitude of thanks and praise to God.

The fire on the altar, [Moses] tells us, will burn continuously and not be extinguished (Lev. vi. 13). That, I think, is natural and fitting, for since the gracious gifts of God granted daily and nightly to men are perennial, unfailing and unceasing, the symbol of thankfulness also, the sacred flame, should be kept alight and remain unextinguished for ever.
~ Philo, Special Laws 1.284 f. (tr. Colson)

Beyond this level of consciousness is entrance into the Holy of Holies — which we understand as pure contemplation, completely detached from sensory concerns.

There is an amazing amount of material from Philo about the allegorical meaning of Exodus, barely explored by modern readers.

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Reference

F. H. Colson; G. H. Whitaker; Ralph Marcus (eds.). The Works of Philo. 12 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press, 1929−1953.

Philo – On Melchizedek

Melchizedek Blesses Abram - The Bible and its Story (1909)

Abram (Abraham) and Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18–20)

[18] And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
[19] And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
[20] And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Philo, Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoriarum) 3.79–82

(79) Moreover, God made Melchisedek, the king of peace, that is of Salem, for that is the interpretation of this name, “his own high priest” [Gen 14:18], without having previously mentioned any particular action of his, but merely because he had made him a king, and a lover of peace, and especially worthy of his priesthood. For he is called a just king, and a king is the opposite of a tyrant, because the one is the interpreter of law, and the other of lawlessness.

(80) Therefore the tyrannical mind imposes violent and mischievous commands on both soul and body, and such as have a tendency to cause violent suffering, being commands to act according to vice, and to indulge the passions with enjoyment. But the other, the kingly mind, in the first place, does not command, but rather persuades, since it gives recommendations of such a character, that if guided by them, life, like a vessel, will enjoy a fair voyage through life, being directed in its course by a good governor and pilot; and this good pilot is right reason.

(81) We may therefore call the tyrannical mind the ruler of war, and the kingly mind the guide to peace, that is Salem. And this kingly mind shall bring forth food full of cheerfulness and joy; for “he brought forth bread and wine,” which the Ammonites and Moabites were not willing to give to the beholder, that is Israel; by reason of such unwillingness they are shut out from the companionship and assembly of God. For the Ammonites being they who are sprung from the outward sense of the mother, and the Moabites, who originate in the mind of the father, are two different dispositions, which look upon the mind and the outward sense as the efficient causes of all existing things, but take no notice of God. Therefore “they shall not come,” says Moses, “into the assembly of the Lord, because they did not come to meet you with bread and water when you came out of Egypt” [Deut 23:4], that is, out of the passions.

(82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For reason is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, “for he is the priest of the most high God.” [Gen 14:18] Not that there is any other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides Him.” [Deut 4:39] But he sets in motion the notion of the Most High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of matter.

Source: Yonge, Charles Duke.  The Works of Philo. Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. David M. Scholer, editor. Hendrickson Publishers, 1993. ISBN 0943575931.