saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
“Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 7 He that shall say anything to you, shall let…
He that shall say anything to you, shall let them go, to wit, the ass and the colt.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–7 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over…
2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
Ver. 2. An ass tied, and a colt with her] There are those who by the ass understand the Jews laden with the law, {a} and by her foal, the Gentiles that wandered whither they would. That canonist made the most of it, that said that children are therefore to be baptized, because the apostles brought to Christ not only the ass, but the colt too.
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{a} Oneramus asinum et non curat quia asinus est. Bern.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 7 The words are, Zec 9:9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter…
The words are, Zec 9:9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. The evangelist quotes no more of them than served for his purpose. John, in the short account he giveth of this our Saviour’s entrance, quotes them shorter, Joh 12:15. The former part of the words are found Isa 62:11. The Jews agree this prophecy to respect the Messiah, though they were so blinded as not to see it was fulfilled in Christ. Tell ye the daughter of Zion, prophesy you to the Jews, to the citizens and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: thy spiritual King, having salvation, the King promised and foretold, that shall bring salvation, cometh, that is, shall shortly come to thee for thy profit and advantage. And you shall know him by this; he shall come θκπ, poor, afflicted, meek, lowly, sitting upon an ass, an ass used to bear burdens, (so the word signifies), and a colt the foal of an ass: not upon both; they are exegetical of each other; the first denoted the species of the beast, the second its age. There was not any prophecy of Christ more plainly fulfilled than this. Asses were of old beasts that great persons used to ride on, Jdg 10:4; 12:14. But after Solomon’s time the Jews got a breed of horses; so as only poor people rode upon asses, mostly reserved for burdens. Whom could the Jews possibly expect to see coming riding into Jerusalem, under the notion of a King bringing them salvation, in so little state, upon the foal of an ass, but the person prophesied of by Zechariah, Zec 9:9, whom they themselves confess to be the Messiah? And had not there been a strange veil upon their hearts, Herod’s courtiers, and Pilate’s, might have understood his kingdom was not of this world, nor he such a King as threatened their grandeur.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Here the reason is assigned why Christ rode upon…
Here the reason is assigned why Christ rode upon the ass into Jerusalem; it was to fulfil an ancient prophecy, that the Messiah, or King of the Jews, should come riding upon that beast into Jerusalem. There was not any prophecy of Christ more plainly fulfilled than this. The prophecy alluded to, is Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass; and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Zep 3:20
Where note, The character given of the Messiah; he is the Supreme King and Governor of his church, thy King cometh. The errand that he comes upon, bringing salvation; and the entertainment which his church was to give him; namely, to receive him with triumphs of joy, and universal acclamations. Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; and shout, O Jerusalem, for joy.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–7 Saying unto them, go into the village over against…
Saying unto them, go into the village over against you,.... Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads, "before you"; not Jerusalem, as some have thought, for that would never be called a village; though the Ethiopic version reads it, "the city"; but rather Bethany, which was near to Bethphage, and is mentioned with it; though the Jews say (u), the name of the village was Nob, and was near to Jerusalem, and own, that Christ had an ass from hence, on which he rode to Jerusalem, and applied to himself the prophecy in Zac 9:9. And it is very likely this was the village; for Nob was very near to Jerusalem; it was over against it, within sight of it, and from thence might be taken a view of the whole city, according to the Jews; who say (w), that Sennacherib stood in Nob, a city of the priests, over against the walls of Jerusalem, and saw the whole city, and it was little in his eyes; and he said; is not this the city of Jerusalem, &c.
and straightway, or, as in Mark, "as soon as ye be entered into it"; and in Luke, "at your entering", at the town's end, at one of the first houses in it, at the door thereof,
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ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her. The other evangelists only make mention of the colt, or young ass; but, no doubt, both were spoken of by Christ, and both were found by the disciples, the ass, and the colt by her, and both were brought away by them; and on both of them, very probably, Christ rode; first on one, and then on the other, as the prophecy hereby fulfilled seems to require, and as the sequel of the account shows. The ancient allegorical sense of the ass and colt is not to be despised: that the ass may signify the Jews, who had been used to bear the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the law; and the colt, the wild and untamed Gentiles, and the coming of Christ, first to the one, and then to the other:
loose them, and bring them unto me, both ass and colt. So the Arabic version reads it, "loose both, and bring them, both to me".
(u) Toldos Jesu, p. 9. (w) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 95. 1. Targum, Jarchi, & Kimchi in Isa. x. 32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5, 7 The daughter of Sion - That is, the inhabitants…
The daughter of Sion - That is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem: the first words of the passage are cited from Isaiah lxii, 11; the rest from Zech. ix, 9. The ancient Jewish doctors were wont to apply these prophecies to the Messiah. On an ass - The Prince of Peace did not take a horse, a warlike animal. But he will ride on that by and by, Rev. xix, 11. In the patriarchal ages, illustrious persons thought it no disgrace to make use of this animal: but it by no means appears, that this opinion prevailed, or this custom continued, till the reign of Tiberias. Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord then appeared? Mean even to contempt! I grant it: I glory in it: it is for the comfort of my soul for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7 Verse 2. Ye shall find an ass tied, and…
Verse 2. Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt] Asses and mules were in common use in Palestine: horses were seldom to be met with. Our blessed Lord takes every opportunity to convince his disciples that nothing was hidden from him: he informs them of the most minute occurrence; and manifested his power over the heart in disposing the owner to permit the ass to be taken away.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Mat 21:4-5. All this was done, &c. — Ινα…
Mat 21:4-5. All this was done, &c. — Ινα πληρωθη το ρηθεν δια του προφητου, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that is, not only hereby the words of the prophet were fulfilled, but our Lord directed this to be done, that they might be fulfilled. As the prophets looked forward to him, and all bore witness to him; so he looked back upon them, that all things which were written of the Messiah might be punctually accomplished in him. Tell ye the daughter of Zion — That is, Jerusalem, so called from mount Zion, which was in the city, and on which was erected a fortress for its defence. This poetical manner of personifying the cities and countries, to which they addressed themselves, was familiar to the prophets. The first words of the passage are cited from Isa 62:11, the rest from Zec 9:9. The ancient Jewish doctors were wont to apply these prophecies to the Messiah. On an ass — The Prince of peace did not take a horse, a warlike animal: but he will ride on that by and by, Rev 19:11. In the patriarchal ages, illustrious persons thought it no disgrace to make use of this animal: but it by no means appears that this opinion prevailed, or this custom continued, till the reign of Tiberius. Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord then appeared? mean even to contempt? We grant it: we glory in it: it is for the comfort of our souls, for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur. Upon an ass, and a colt, &c. — “From the other evangelists it would appear that our Lord rode only on the colt; from this passage we should be apt to think that both had been used. But it is not unusual with the sacred authors, when either the nature of the thing spoken of, or the attendant circumstances are sufficient for precluding mistakes, to employ the plural number for the singular.” — Campbell.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 7 Go into the village over against you - That…
Go into the village over against you - That is, to Bethphage See the notes at Mat 21:1.
Ye shall find an ass tied ... - In Judea there were few horses, and those were chiefly used in war. People seldom employed them in common life and in ordinary journeys. The ass, the mule, and the camel are still most used in Eastern countries. To ride on a horse was sometimes an emblem of war; on a mule and an ass, the emblem of peace. Kings and princes commonly rode on them in times of peace, and it is mentioned as a mark of rank and dignity to ride in that manner, Jdg 10:4; Jdg 12:14; 1Sa 25:20. So Solomon, when he was inaugurated as king, rode on a “mule,” 1Ki 1:33. Riding in this manner, then, denoted neither poverty nor degradation, but was the appropriate way in which a king should ride, and in which, therefore, the King of Zion should enter into his capital, the city of Jerusalem.
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Mark and Luke say that he told them they should find “a colt tied.” This they were directed to bring. They mention only the colt, because it was this on which he rode.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 7 Go ye into the village; in Latin, Castellum, but…
Go ye into the village; in Latin, Castellum, but in Greek, eis ten komen, which is, before you, contra vos, as Virgil says, Italiam contra. (Æneid i.) Some authors think it was Bethphage. (Haydock) --- An ass tied,[1] and a colt with her. This colt, which never yet had been rid upon, represented the people of the Gentiles, to whom God had not given a written law, as he had done to the Jews. Here was manifestly fulfilled the prophecy of Zachary. Chap. ix. It was now the first day of the week, in which Christ suffered; he was pleased to enter into Jerusalem in a kind of triumph, the people making acclamations to him, as to their king and Messias. (Witham) --- Both Jews and Gentiles, figured by the ass and the colt, are to be loosed and conducted by the hands of the apostles of Christ to their Redeemer. The Gentiles, represented by the colt, though heretofore unclean, no sooner receive Jesus resting upon them, than they are freed from every stain and rendered perfectly clean. The zeal of the Gentiles, is spoken of by St. Paul, Romans xi. 25. Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in. And so all Israel should be saved. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. lxvi.) --- As it is written, "there shall come out of Sion, he that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is to them my covenant;" when I shall take away their sins. This prophecy of Isaias (lix. 20.) St. Paul applies to the conversion of the Jews; (ibid. [Romans xi. 25]) and thus both Jew and Gentile are to take up our Saviour’s yoke, which is certainly sweet, and his burden light.
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
A prophecy of the coming of the Messias was here so manifestly accomplished in the person of Jesus, that I cannot but set down the words of the prophet Zachary, chap. ix. Ecce Rex tuus veniet tibi justus & Salvator, ipse pauper, & ascendens super Asinam, & super pullum filium Asinæ. They are no less clear in the Hebrew, and other languages. See the Protestant translation in the prophet Zacharias.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7 2. The village over against you — The Greek…
2. The village over against you — The Greek preposition rendered over against, simply signifies before or in front of you. Our Lord had spent the previous night at Bethany. If Bethphage was the village before them, as their faces were towards Jerusalem, that village must have been west of Bethany. Such was probably the fact. Matthew mentions Bethphage only, and says they came to it; that is, it was now before them.
An ass tied, and a colt with her — The horse was an animal of pride and war; the ass, of humility and peace. Yet there was nothing mean in the humble state which our Lord now assumed. Even Solomon, the Jewish prince of peace, rode on a mule in state. 1Ki_1:38.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7 2. an ass tied, and a colt with her]…
2. an ass tied, and a colt with her] “A colt tied whereon never man sat” (Mark and Luke). St Matthew notes the close correspondence with the words of the prophecy; see Mat_21:5.
Oriental travellers describe the high estimation in which the ass is held in the East. The variety of Hebrew names for these animals indicates the many uses to which they are put. “His lot varies as does the lot of those he serves. The rich man’s ass is a lordly beast. In size he is far ahead of anything of his kind we see here at home. His coat is as smooth and glossy as a horse’s.… His livery is shiny black, satiny white or sleek mouse colour. I never saw one of the dingy red of his Poitou brethren.” Zincke’s Egypt.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–7 (2) Go into the village over against you.—This may…
(2) Go into the village over against you.—This may have been either Bethany or, on the assumption that it was nearer Jerusalem, Bethphage itself.
An ass tied, and a colt with her.—St. Mark and St. Luke name the “colt” only. St. John speaks of a “young” or “small” ass, using the diminutive of the usual name (ἀνάριον). The colt was one on which “man had never sat” (Mar_11:2; Luk_19:30). The command clearly implies a deliberate fulfilment of the prophecy cited in Mat_21:4-5. They were to claim the right to use the beasts as for the service of a King, not to hire or ask permission.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–7 The village over against you. Bethphage, to which he…
The village over against you. Bethphage, to which he points as he speaks. He gives their commission to the two disciples, mentioning even some minute details. Straightway. "As soon as ye be entered into it" (Mark). Ye shall find an ass (a she ass) tied, and a colt with her. St. Matthew alone mentions the ass, the mother of the foal. This doubtless he does with exact reference to the prophecy, which, writing for Jews, he afterwards cites (ver. 4). St. Jerome gives a mystical reason: the ass represents the Jewish people, which had long borne the yoke of the Law; the colt adumbrates the Gentiles, as yet unbroken," whereon never man sat." Christ called them both, Jew and Gentile, by his apostles. Loose them, and bring them unto me. He speaks with authority, as One able to make a requisition and command obedience.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 7 2. Into the village over against you. Bethphage is…
2. Into the village over against you. Bethphage is in view, over against them, perhaps separated from them by a valley. Ye shall find an ass tied. In the East the ass is in high esteem. Every Jew expected, from the words of one of the prophets (Zech. 9:9), that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on an ass.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v4 The king’s final and official offer of Himself according…
fulfilled
The king’s final and official offer of Himself according to Zec 9:9. Acclaimed by an unthinking multitude whose real belief is expressed in Mat 21:11, but with no welcome from the official representatives of the nation, He was soon to hear the multitude shout: "Crucify him."
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 The prophecy fulfilled:
The prophecy fulfilled:
v. 4. All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
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v. 5. Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass.
This, the entire occurrence, with all its single incidents, was done in just this way in order that the words of the prophet, Zec 9:9, might be fulfilled. See Isa 62:11. The quotation of the evangelist is a free one, embodying all that the Old Testament says of the meekness and lowliness of this King of kings. Christ here discouraged all carnal, vulgar Messianic ideas and hopes. Not in the manner of a conqueror-hero, as the worldly-minded Jerusalemites expected, but on an ass, and that the foal of an ass. He made His entry into the city which was soon to reject Him altogether. It was a last great day of mercy for the city, that all the inhabitants might know the Redeemer, but they did not consider what pertained to their peace. All the greater should be the impression which the coming of the King of Grace into the hearts of His believers should make upon them. "And this it is that the evangelist admonishes to preach when he says: ’Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek’; as though he would say: He comes for thy benefit, for thy peace, for the salvation and joy of thy heart; and since they did not believe that, he prophesies that it should be spoken and preached. Whosoever but believes that Christ comes in this way has Him thus. O what preaching, singular and at this time almost unknown! Mark well each single word. The word ’Behold’ is a word of joy and admonition, and refers to a thing which one has expected long and anxiously. ’Thy King,’ who destroys the tyrant of thy conscience, namely, the Law, and rules thee in peace and a pleasant manner, by giving thee forgiveness of sins and the power to perform the Law. ’Thy,’ that is, promised to thee, for whom thou hast waited, whom thou, laden with sin as thou wast, hast called, for whom thou hast sighed. ’He comes,’ voluntarily, without thy merit, out of great love, for thou hast not led Him hither nor hast thou ascended into heaven, thou hast not earned His advent, but He has left His property and has come to thee, the unworthy one, who under the compulsion and rule of the Law hast earned nothing but punishment with thy many sins. ’To thee’ He comes, that is; for thy benefit, in whatever thou hast need of Him. He comes to seek thine own, only to serve thee and to do thee good; He does not come for His own benefit, not to seek His own from thee, as the Law formerly did; since thou hast not what the Law demands, therefore He comes to give thee what is His, and expects nothing from thee, but that thou permit thy sins to be taken from thee and thyself to be saved. The evangelist uses only the word ’meek,’ and omits the words ’just and having salvation’; for in the Hebrew language the word ’poor’ is very closely related with the word ’meek’ or ’gentle,’ for the Hebrews call a person poor that is poor, humble, meek, restless, and downcast in spirit; as all Christian believers in general are called that way in Scriptures. For he is truly gentle and meek who does not consider the harm done to his neighbor in any other light but done to himself, takes it to heart accordingly, and has compassion on him. As such a person, that was poor and martyred for our sake, and truly meek, the evangelist describes Christ, who comes tortured with our evil and is ready to help us with the greatest of meekness and love.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6 General Information:
General Information:
Here the author quotes the prophet Zechariah to show that Jesus fulfilled prophecy by riding a donkey into Jerusalem.
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Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here Matthew explains how Jesus' actions fulfill scripture.
this came about that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled
This can be stated in active form. AT: "this happened so that Jesus would fulfill what God spoke through the prophet long ago" (See: Active or Passive)
through the prophet
There were many prophets. Matthew was speaking of Zechariah. AT: "the prophet Zechariah" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
the daughter of Zion
The "daughter" of a city means the people of the city. AT: "the people of Zion" or "the people who live in Zion"
Zion
This is another name for Jerusalem.
on a donkey—on a colt, the foal of a donkey
The phrase "on a colt, the foal of a donkey" is explaining that the donkey is a young animal. AT: "on a young, male donkey"
translationWords
prophet
fulfill
daughter of Zion
king
humble
donkey
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3–4 21:3 Jesus was revealing himself as the Lord who,…
21:3 Jesus was revealing himself as the Lord who, as king of Israel, ascends to Mount Zion on a donkey (21:5; see Zech 9:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.