Prophecy 28 of 30 · King
Your king comes on a donkey
Jerusalem's king comes to her righteous, bringing salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey.
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Hebrew · Leningrad Codexעִבְרִית
9גִּילִ֨י מְאֹ֜ד בַּת־צִיּ֗וֹן הָרִ֨יעִי֙ בַּ֣ת יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם הִנֵּ֤ה מַלְכֵּךְ֙ יָ֣בוֹא לָ֔ךְ צַדִּ֥יק וְנוֹשָׁ֖ע ה֑וּא עָנִי֙ וְרֹכֵ֣ב עַל־חֲמ֔וֹר וְעַל־עַ֖יִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנֽוֹת׃gili me'od bat-tziyyon hari'i bat yerushalam hinne malkekh yavo lakh tzaddik venosha' hu ani verokhev al-chamor ve'al-ayir ben-atonot
JPS 1917 · Jewish translation
9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, He is triumphant, and victorious, Lowly, and riding upon an ass, Even upon a colt the foal of an ass.
World Messianic Bible
9Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9. Transliteration simplified. Read the whole chapter
Fulfilment · New CovenantWMB
Matthew 21:4-9 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 Yeshua commanded them, and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hoshia'na to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hoshia'na in the highest!”
John 12:14-16 Yeshua, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written, “Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” His disciples didn’t understand these things at first, but when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him.
How rabbinic tradition reads it
Read as the Messiah in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a, 99a) and the Midrash ("the donkey of the Messiah").
Why Messianic Jews read it as Yeshua
Yeshua rode into Jerusalem on a donkey before Passover, and the crowds sang Psalm 118.
Look at the text for yourself
Read Zechariah 9:9 slowly, in the Hebrew and the JPS translation above. Then ask the question the Ethiopian official asked: "Who is the prophet talking about?"
Sources
- Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a
- Bereshit Rabbah 98:9
- Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain), via OpenScriptures. English: JPS 1917; World Messianic Bible (public domain).