Did Matthew make Jesus ride two Donkeys at the same time ~ Cross reference of Matthew 21:1 to Zechariah 9:9


Matthew does not get Zechariah 9 right. There are several places in Tanakh where a specific fact is stated in two different ways. This is called 'Parallelism' . For example in Genesis 24;16 it says Rebecca was a virgin and she knew no man. Both these statements are saying the same thing but in parallels. Similarly in Genesis 37:24 it says Joseph's brothers threw him into an empty pit and there was no water in it. Here again both the statements mean the same thing but are repeated as parallels.f

Zechariah said that the messiah will come riding on a donkey and this donkey will be be the offspring of a she-donkey. He missed this key writing style and makes Jesus get not only the mother donkey but also the colt. The disciples place their cloaks on both the animals and make Jesus sit on both of them and ride into Jerusalem.

Fortunately the other gospels fix it and make Jesus ride on one donkey.

All Images are links to Google Images. Copyright violations not intended.
All Greek Text references are from NIV and Tanakh references are from Chabad.

This post is not intended to offend anyone's faith but for those people who are Seeking the truth of THE ONE TRUE G-D of the universe to who we owe all our love, gratitude & devotion.

My encouragement to you is that you read the whole chapter of Tanakh that the Greek text quotes so you get the context and understand what G-d actually said.

G-d Bless and Seek THE Truth.

Matthew 21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”[a] 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

Zechariah 9:9 Be exceedingly happy, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! Your king shall come to you. He is just and victorious; humble, and riding a donkey and a foal, the offspring of [one of] she-donkeys. 10 And I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim, and the horses from Jerusalem; and the bow of war shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from the sea to the west and from the river to the ends of the earth.
  • Matthew makes Jesus fetch the donkeys while the other gospels have the donkey ready and waiting for him. Matthew explicitly states that Jesus asked for the donkeys so that the prophecy is fulfilled. Seems weird don't you think?.
  • Let's look at some distances to see if Matthew made sure Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah. 
    • The distance between Bethany to Jerusalem Temple is 5.5 Km.
    • Distance between Bethphage and Jerusalem temple is 1.8 Km. 
    • So Jesus walks 3.7 Km from Bethany to Bethphage [Mt. of Olives] on foot and the last 1.8 Km he rides on 2 donkeys.
    • Finally he enters Jerusalem on 2 donkeys so the prophecy in Zechariah is fulfilled.
This was from the Greek text review. Let us now look at Zechariah 9 and see if this is a prophecy about Jesus.
  • The context of Zechariah 9 is G-d is speaking about Tyre, Sidon and Philistine. Verses 2-4 are about Tyre and Sidon who are arrogant about their wisdom and wealth. G-d says he will destroy them. 
  • Verses 5-7 are about Ashkelon, Gaza & Philistine that will be no more and the land will be desolate.
  • Verse 8 is about G-d protecting Jerusalem and Judah and no one will be able to touch her.
  • Verse 9 is about a king and this could either mean the messiah or G-d's glory. Though not clear, most Rabbis believe it is the messiah. This is what the Christians picked up to say that it is Jesus that Zechariah 9:9 is talking about.
  • Christians have the right to go Midrashic on verse 9 but but if you read verse 10 you can safely rule out Jesus as he did not do any of the things that verse 10 says this king will do. He will destroy the chariots and horses and break the bows that that are against Israel and Judah. He will speak peace to the nations and they will listen to him, this king will rule from sea to sea.
  • Below are the verses I called out so you can read for yourself and decide is Zechariah 9 is about Jesus.

Zechariah 9:2 And also Hamath shall border thereon; [also] Tyre and Sidon, for it has become exceedingly wise. 3 And Tyre built a fortification for herself, and she gathered silver like dust and gold like the mire of the streets. 4 Behold, the Lord shall impoverish her, and He shall smite her wealth in the sea, and she shall be consumed by fire.

Zechariah 9:5 Ashkelon shall see and fear, and Gaza-and she shall quake violently-and Ekron, for the one to whom she looked was ashamed. And a king was lost from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. 6 And the strangers shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7 And I will remove his blood from his mouth, and his detestable things from between his teeth. And it, too, shall remain to our God: and it shall be like a studyhall in Judah; and Ekron, like Jebusi.

Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariots from Ephraim, and the horses from Jerusalem; and the bow of war shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from the sea to the west and from the river to the ends of the earth.

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