Matthew 21:5

Sunday, 28 June 2026   “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” Matthew 21:5   “You say to the ‘daughter, Zion’, ‘You behold! The ‘King, yours’, He comes to you, Benignant and having been upon-stepped upon a donkey, Even upon ‘colt, son under-yoked’.’” (CG)   In the previous verse, it was noted that all of the things concerning the donkey were done to fulfill prophecy. The specific prophecy is from Zechariah 9:9, with an introductory note more closely aligned with Isaiah 62:11. That introductory note is, “You say to the ‘daughter, Zion’.”   The whole verse from Isaiah says –   “Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, “Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.”’” Isaiah 62:11   In Zechariah, the opening note reads –   “You must whirl, vehemently, ‘daughter, Zion’, You must cause to acclaim, ‘daughter, Jerusalem’.” (CG)   With the introductory words given, the specific prophecy from Zechariah is cited, beginning with, “You behold! The ‘King, yours’, He comes to you.” In the Hebrew, the verb was in the imperfect aspect, “Behold, your King, He will come to you.” With the advent of Christ, there was no need to continue with that. Thus, Matthew’s words are present tense. Matthew continues, saying, “Benignant.”   The word, already seen twice in Matthew, signifies mild, such as a humble or gentle person. The word in Hebrew signifies depressed in mind or circumstances. Thus, it can signify poor, afflicted, needy, humble, etc. The context will provide the meaning. Matthew continues with, “and having been upon-stepped upon a donkey.”   This is a new word, epibainó, coming from epi, upon, and basis, a step. Thus, it literally means to “upon-step.” A donkey is stepped over in order to mount. The word exactingly describes the action. As noted in a previous commentary, the general word onus, donkey, is more specific in the Hebrew. There it is a khamor, a male donkey. Matthew finishes the citation, saying, “Even upon ‘colt, son under-yoked’.”   Another new word is seen here, hupozugion. It is from hupo, under, and zugos, a yoke. Thus, under-yoked is an exact translation. Also noted previously was that the colt in Hebrew is the word ayir, an animal just being broken in. It is from ur, to awaken. One can sense the connection as the colt is “awakened” to its new role as a bearer of burdens.   Also in the Hebrew is the athon, a female donkey, known as a jenny. That word signifies permanence. Taking these animals with the Hebrew and Greek meanings, one can more fully understand the significance of the intent of Jesus’ actions.   The khamor, jack, gives the sense of redness. In Old Testament typology, it signifies humanity derived from Adam, the red man taken from the red soil (adam is from adom, to be red). However, this donkey had never been yoked, a picture of the burden of sin, despite being the son of a jenny that was under a yoke. The jenny is from athon, enduring or perennial. The enduring burden of sin remained unbroken in man until the coming of Christ.   Jesus riding on this previously unyoked donkey is telling us that He is the Messiah, unstained by Adam’s sin, despite having come from the line of humanity. How is that possible? Because His father is God, not a human male. As sin passes from father to child, and because Jesus’ Father is God, no sin passed to Him.   A new yoke is now available for humanity. The burden of law was coming to an end. This is something being pictured in Jesus’ fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy. Placing the two verses side by side, a comparison can be made between the future prophecy and the fulfilled prophecy –   “You must whirl, vehemently, ‘daughter, Zion’, You must cause to acclaim, ‘daughter, Jerusalem’, Behold, your King, He will come to you, Righteous and being saved, He, Lowly, and riding upon jack, and colt ‘son, jenny’.”   “You say to the ‘daughter, Zion’, ‘You behold! The ‘King, yours’, He comes to you, Benignant and having been upon-stepped upon a donkey, Even upon ‘colt, son under-yoked’.’”   The words of Jesus from earlier in Matthew explain the typology –   “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30   Life application: Pay attention to the details. Great nuggets of treasure are to be found in God’s majestic word.   Lord God, thank You for the unlimited amount of treasure found in Your superior, magnificent word. You have given us one life to live before we stand before You. May we diligently strive to know You and what You have done more fully as we read and consider this beautiful word. Amen.