5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS Jeremiah 23:5–6 (NKJV) 

5 “Look, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “and I will raise up a righteous rising [Greek – anatole] for David, and a king will reign and understand and perform justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days both Judah will be delivered, and Israel will encamp confidently, and this is his name, which the Lord will call him: “Jozadak.” Jeremiah 23:5–6 (LES2) 

In verse 5, the MT says, “I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness.” Branch is used in more than one place in the MT, but never shows up in the LXX. It is a mysterious word that would be more literally translated as a “sprouting of growth.” The LXX records Jeremiah saying, “I will raise up a righteous rising [Greek – anatole] for David.” This Greek word for rising is used to describe the sun rising in the east, and we shall see that it is is a clear foreshadowing of Christ’s resurrection. (John 5:39, Luke 24:25-27) Jesus is the the king who fulfilled the rest of the prophecy in verse 5.

The next difference is the name by which Jeremiah says this coming king will be called. The MT says, “The Lord our righteousness,.” which is an approximation of the meaning of the proper name given to the high priest Jozadek – The Lord is Righteous. However, by choosing to use the meaning of the name instead of the name, the MT hides an important pointer to Christ.

Jozadek was a high priest mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. Jeremiah prophesied that he would have a son named Joshua (Jesus in Greek). If this is not an absolute hint, here is what Zechariah said about him.

11 And you will take silver and gold, and you will make crowns and place them upon the head of the great priest Joshua [Jesus in Greek], the son of Jehozadak. [another way of rendering Jozadak] 12 And you will say to him, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Behold, a man; Anatole is his name, and from beneath him he will rise up and build the house of the Lord. 13 And he will receive virtue, and he will sit and rule upon his throne... ” Zechariah 6:11–13a (LES2)

Notice that Jozadak (Jehozadak) will have a son named Jesus who will be crowned and rule upon his throne. Also, notice in verse 12 the mention of the word “Anatole” as another name for him, which cross references to Jeremiah 23:5, where he said that God would raise up a righteous Anatole for David! Since in this case Anatole is a proper name, I do not think it would be going too far to translate “Anatole” as Risen One. This Risen One, according to Zechariah, rises from “beneath,” which is a reference to the lower parts of the earth. (Ephesians 4:9) Jesus rose from the dead!

If we now look at the MT version of Zechariah 6:11-13, we will see that the Masoretes were careful to change the passage in Zechariah to match Jeremiah.

11 Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the LORD; 13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ Zechariah 6:11–13 (NKJV)

Instead of calling him the Risen One or Anatole,he is called the branch who branches out.

The MT hides an amazing prophecy about Christ and replaced it with something that has an uncertain meaning. The Holy Spirit meant for us to see Christ clearly in this passage as the promised Risen One.