Matthew 21:4-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 [a]This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5 (A)“Say to daughter Zion,
‘Behold, your king comes to you,
meek and riding on an ass,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. 7 [b]They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and he sat upon them.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 21:4–5 The prophet: this fulfillment citation is actually composed of two distinct Old Testament texts, Is 62:11 (Say to daughter Zion) and Zec 9:9. The ass and the colt are the same animal in the prophecy, mentioned twice in different ways, the common Hebrew literary device of poetic parallelism. That Matthew takes them as two is one of the reasons why some scholars think that he was a Gentile rather than a Jewish Christian who would presumably not make that mistake (see Introduction).
- 21:7 Upon them: upon the two animals; an awkward picture resulting from Matthew’s misunderstanding of the prophecy.
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