Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.
μη φοβου θυγατερ σιων ιδου ο βασιλευς σου ερχεται καθημενος επι πωλον ονου
11 Church Fathers comment on this verse · 12 commentaries
And what does "Fear not, daughter of Zion" mean? Since their kings were, for the most part, unjust and covetous, and betrayed them to their enemies, corrupted the people, and subjected them to their foes, he says, "Fear not." This King is not such. He is meek and guileless, as the donkey also shows. He entered not surrounded by an army, but with only a donkey with Him.
In this circumstance He also fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, who said: "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king comes to you, sitting on a young donkey" (Zech 9:9).
Since the kings of Jerusalem were for the most part unjust and covetous, the prophet says: Fear not, daughter of Zion.
The King whom I foretell to you is not like them, but meek and humble-minded, and in no way proud. This is evident also from the fact that He came sitting on a donkey.
For He did not enter accompanied by an army, but rode in on a single donkey.
The Lord's sitting upon the donkey was also an image of the future. This animal, unclean according to the Law, was an image of the unclean people from the Gentiles.
Upon them Jesus, the Word of God, sits, subjecting to Himself this disobedient and rough new people, like a donkey. He raises them to the true Jerusalem after they have become tame and obedient to Him.
Did the Lord not raise up to heaven with Himself those Gentiles who became His people and submitted to the preaching of the Gospel?
When a great multitude surrounded Him and magnified Him, He sat upon a donkey in extreme humility. He taught us not to be exalted by praises and not to go beyond what is necessary.
Matthew spoke more fully about what concerned the donkey. John, as was his custom, touched upon the most essential aspect of the matter.
Since the Lord, contrary to His custom, appears only now seated upon a donkey, we affirm that He did not sit upon it because the city was far away. It was no more than fifteen stadia distant (Jn 11:18).
Nor did He do this because there was a crowd. At other times too He was among the people, yet He did not do this.
Rather, He does this to show that He would subject to Himself the new and unclean people from the Gentiles. He would raise them to the dignity of righteousness, into the Jerusalem above, of which the earthly Jerusalem was an image.
Into that Jerusalem enters the people made clean with Christ, who is hymned by the sinless angels, of whom the children served as an image.
He calls the donkey a "colt" because the people from the Gentiles had not been trained in the faith that leads to piety.
This deed has the testimony of the prophets, though the malicious leaders of the Jews did not see in it the fulfillment of prophecy. Yet in this people, though perverse and blind, there still remained the daughter of Zion, which is Jerusalem. To her it was said: "Fear not." Recognize Him whom you praise, and do not tremble when He undergoes suffering. This is the blood being poured out by which your sins are washed away and by which your life is redeemed.
"And Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat upon it" (Jn 12:14). This is stated here only briefly.
Indeed, how this happened may be read more fully in the other Evangelists (see Mt 21:1-16; Mk 11:1-14; Lk 19:29-48).
But John adds prophetic testimony to the mention of this fact, so that it may be clear that the embittered chief priests of the Jews did not understand Him in whom what they read had been fulfilled.
Therefore Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat upon it, as it is written: "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a young donkey" (Jn 12:14-15; cf. Zech 9:9).
Thus the daughter of Zion was among this people, and Jerusalem itself is Zion.
So within this perverse and blinded people, I say, there was the daughter of Zion, to whom it was said: "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes, sitting on a young donkey."
This daughter of Zion, to whom these words were spoken in the form of prophecy, was among those sheep who heard the Shepherd's voice.
She was among that multitude which with such reverence glorified the Lord as He came and accompanied Him in a great crowd.
To her it was said: "Fear not. Recognize Him whom you glorify. Do not be afraid when He suffers, for that blood will be shed by which your sin will be washed away and your life restored."
By the young donkey on which no one had sat, as it is written in the other Evangelists, we understand the Gentile nations, which had not received the Law of God.
By the donkey, since both animals were brought to the Lord, we understand His people who came from the people of Israel. They had already been tamed and had recognized the Lord's manger.
Fear not, because this is a meek King, not like many of those who reigned in you, fierce, unjust, and tyrannical.
Find in the above-mentioned chapter the place where it says, "All this was done, that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled," and so on (Mt 21:4). There you will find the explanation.
Do not be surprised that John omitted the word "meek." The Evangelists often omit certain words from Old Testament expressions, either because they escaped memory, or because they were clear from what followed.
For example, if Jesus Christ sits upon a young donkey, this means that He is a meek and humble King.
The expressions "sitting" and "sat" mean one and the same thing, since the corresponding Hebrew expression means both.
Likewise John's expression, that Jesus Christ sat upon the colt of a donkey (επι πωλον ονου), means the same as Matthew's expression, that Jesus Christ sat upon a donkey and a colt, the foal of one under the yoke (επι ονου και πωλον υιον υποξυγιον).
The Solemn Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem
On the next day (Jn 12:12), after the supper in Bethany, Jesus went to Jerusalem.
Crowds accompanied Him, both those who had gone out with Him from Bethany and those who met Him along the way. When He reached the Mount of Olives, which hid the holy city from the travelers, Jesus stopped.
Of course, the whole crowd accompanying Him also stopped. Calling to Himself two disciples, probably Apostles, Jesus ordered them to go into the nearest village.
"Enter the village which is directly before you. At once you will find a donkey tied, and a young donkey with her. Untie them and bring them to Me.
And if anyone says anything to you, answer that the Lord has need of them" (Mt 21:2-3).
The disciples went and found at the gate a donkey and a young donkey tied. When they began to untie the colt, its owners asked why they were doing this.
They answered as Jesus had taught them. They brought to Him the donkey and the colt, covered them with their garments, and seated Jesus upon the young donkey.
Jesus did not enter the capital of the Jewish kingdom in a royal chariot drawn by horses. He entered on a young donkey, covered not with costly trappings, but with the worn garments of His poor Apostles.
In this, as the Evangelists Matthew and John explain, the prophecy was fulfilled which said: "Tell the daughter of Zion: behold, your King comes to you, meek, sitting on a donkey and on a young donkey, the foal of one under the yoke."
In the book of the Prophet Isaiah it is said: "Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people. Level, level the road; remove the stones; raise a banner for the nations.
Behold, the Lord proclaims to the end of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion, your Savior comes. His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him" (Is 62:10-11).
And the Prophet Zechariah said: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; exult, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King comes to you, righteous and saving, meek, sitting on a donkey and on a young donkey, the foal of one under the yoke" (Zech 9:9).
The final decisive moment in the life of Christ was approaching. The malice of His enemies kept increasing, and they sought means to undermine His influence among the people, and even to kill Him.
Now it was no longer the time to refrain from an open proclamation of His messiahship.
Until now Christ had declared Himself to be the promised Messiah mostly in private and to individual persons. Now the time had come to announce this before all the people.
He would declare in the most solemn manner that He is the true King-Messiah, the true Son of David. The Savior made this declaration by His solemn entrance into Jerusalem (Mt 21:1-11; Mk 11:1-11; Lk 19:29-44; Jn 12:12-19).
Before great feasts, crowds of pilgrims gathered from everywhere and customarily entered the holy city solemnly, with every expression of joy.
Christ also wished to make such an entrance. As a prophet acknowledged by the people and a renowned teacher, He necessarily had to occupy a prominent position.
He used this circumstance to reveal His glory for the last time. Until now He had usually entered Jerusalem on foot.
Now He wished to enter it as His forefather David had more than once entered in former times, namely, sitting on a donkey.
This peaceful and useful animal was highly valued in the East. For the Jews, not a few historical memories were connected with it, making it in their eyes even nobler and more beloved than the proud horses obtained from Egypt.
The donkey's significance was raised still higher in their eyes by the solemn declaration of the prophet that the Messiah-King would enter Jerusalem precisely on a donkey (Zech 9:9).
Therefore this very entrance of the Savior into the holy city could serve as the best and most visible proclamation of His messiahship.
Early in the morning of the ninth of Nisan, the Savior left His peaceful and hospitable shelter in Bethany. As usual, He set out on foot with His disciples toward Jerusalem.
Descending into a small valley entirely covered with fig trees and olive trees, they approached the village of Bethphage. Like Bethany, it was so near Jerusalem that by rabbinic law it was regarded almost as part of it.
Secret disciples and followers of Christ lived in many places at that time. Probably to one of them, living in Bethphage, He sent two disciples to take a donkey for His solemn entrance into Jerusalem.
The disciples carried out the command exactly and brought the donkey with the young colt.
"Fear not": triumph without fear, without dreading anything; be glad and rejoice. "Since the kings of Jerusalem were, for the most part, unjust and covetous, the prophet says: Fear not, daughter of Zion. The King whom I foretell to you is not such, but meek and humble-minded" (Theophylact; cf. Chrysostom).
Verses 14-16. The entrance of Christ Jesus into the city took place not on a proud horse, suited to the clamor of war (Prov 21:31; Hos 14:4), but on a donkey, suited to the Prince of peace.
It was, moreover, a young donkey on which no one had yet ridden (Mk 11:2; Lk 19:20), and which still went with its mother (Mt 21:2, 5). For sacred use, clean and unblemished animals are appointed (Deut 21:3; 1 Sam 6:7).
All this took place in fulfillment of prophecy. Zechariah said, "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; exult, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you, righteous and preserved by God, meek and sitting on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Zech 9:9).
The daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem mean the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Is 1:8; Is 16:12; Is 32:9) or the Church of Jerusalem.
Among the Jews it was customary to call cities and their populations daughters or virgins (Amos 5:2; Jer 46:24; Ps 44:13; Ps 136:8).
Jerusalem with its inhabitants was also called the daughter of Zion because, under David and Solomon, it was situated on Mount Zion, the highest of the neighboring hills.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem were to meet with triumph a righteous king, under the special protection of God, and at the same time meek.
What sort of King is this? The union of qualities scarcely united, righteousness and meekness, points to an unprecedented king.
The prophets indicated righteousness and righteous judgments in the Messiah as His distinguishing marks (Jer 33:15-16).
The king's inseparable sign is a solemn entrance into the capital on a young donkey. Jerusalem must look attentively for this feature of its king.
Jewish tradition recognized in this prophecy a prophecy of the Messiah (R. Eheser c. 32; R. Saadius Gaon ad Dan 7:13; Talmud in tract. Sanhedrir. c. 11).
The Evangelist observes: "His disciples did not understand this at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of Him and had been done to Him."
This observation is a memorial to the truthfulness of the sacred narrator. He speaks the truth even when it is not flattering to the disciples of Jesus, including himself.
It might seem impossible not to recall Zechariah's prophecy when the Lord carefully gave the command to take the donkey and the colt from a certain owner.
It might seem still more impossible when the people solemnly met Jesus, especially since the meaning of the prophecy had been preserved by tradition.
But without higher illumination the Apostles did not understand many things in the words and deeds of Jesus. Only after His Resurrection did the Lord give them the ability to understand the prophecies (Lk 21:27, 45; Acts 1:3).
The report of Lazarus's resurrection stirs the people of Jerusalem. Simple people, from the sincerity of their feelings, arrange a meeting for the Lord when they hear that He is coming.
This meeting is a meeting for a king, a ruler recognized by the whole people. It is prepared by no one. It is sudden and, one may say, inspired by God.
It expresses the holiest and best human feelings, when the soul rejoices in the glory of God and in His wondrous works.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, going to voluntary suffering and death, for the first and last time in His earthly life does not reject the expression of an exultant people.
They recognize Him, though not for long, as their king. When the Pharisees told Him to forbid these joyful cries, He answered: I tell you, if these keep silent, the stones will cry out (Lk 19:39-40).
Combining the accounts of this great event from all four evangelists, Mt 21 and following, Mk 11 and following, Lk 19:29 and following, and Jn 12 and following, we see three things.
First, this event was foretold in the books of the Old Testament in expressions that leave not the least doubt about the exact application of these prophecies to the event.
Second, after His entrance into Jerusalem, the Lord returned to Bethany in the evening (Mt 21:17).
Third, on the next day after this He was again in Jerusalem, as Mk 11 and following should be compared. There He performed the second expulsion from the temple of those selling and changing money.
Compare Jn 2 and following, and see above, verses 13-16 of the second chapter and their study.
In Jerusalem, as we see from the accounts of all the evangelists, there was great agitation of minds.
Bereft Jerusalem was troubled when the Magi announced to it the birth of the King of the Jews. Jerusalem was troubled also when it beheld its King coming in glory to the royal city.
Fear takes hold of the rulers and Pharisees (Mk 11:18). Thus, when the Lord again, a second time, drives the sellers from the temple, He no longer meets the indignant questions of the Pharisees, as He did the first time.
We recall that Jn 2:13-16 and following indicate the first expulsion at the beginning of the Lord's preaching. The Synoptic Gospels indicate the second expulsion of the sellers before the Lord's Passion.
They all keep silent and fear. They only plot to kill the Lord. They understand that, if He Himself wished, He would immediately become an earthly King.
Even Pilate knew (Jn 19:15) that the people undoubtedly recognized Him as such. Speaking in human terms, the Lord could have established an earthly kingdom at that moment.
He could have done this if it had been pleasing to Him and if He had been only a man. No one doubted this.
According to Eastern custom, the people took tree branches in their hands and went out precisely to meet their King.
It is not useless to note that Βαία τῶν φοίνικων means precisely palm branches, as the Russian translation renders it. That is, branches of palms of every kind, not exclusively branches of the date palm.
For φοῖνιξ means a palm tree in general. Yet there is no doubt that Phoenicia, which is thought to have received its Greek name from the palm, and Palestine always abounded specifically in date palms, Phoenix Dactylifera.
Xenophon indicates this in the Cyropaedia, as do Pliny in the Natural History and Strabo.
The cry that became common to the crowd is a cry taken from Psalm 117, a psalm preeminently Messianic and recognized as Messianic in the Old Testament Church.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save now. In Hebrew, hosha-na, Hosanna. O Lord, hasten now. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
To the cry taken from the Messianic Psalm, the people add the cry: King of Israel. Thus, on the one hand, in their shouts they recognize the Lord as the Messiah sent from God.
On the other hand, they express the desire or demand that the One whom they recognize as Messiah should be their King.
The people, of course, thought that the earthly kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ was beginning. Indeed, the kingdom of God had come upon them (Mt 12:28; Lk 10:9-11; Lk 11 and elsewhere).
But it was a kingdom over souls, not the exaltation of earthly dust. It was the majesty of incorruption and immortality.
We know that in the first three Gospels the bringing to the Lord of the colt of an ass, on which He sat, is described in more detail than in John the Evangelist.
John the Evangelist does not repeat this account, but speaks of it briefly: He found a young ass.
Yet with reverence we read how all these events of the Lord's earthly life were clearly depicted in the writings of the prophets. They were covered, however, by the translucent veil of expectation.
God had commanded the prophets to foretell these events as a witness to unbelievers and believers.
The prophecy of Zech 9 is cited in the Gospel itself, with a small change in the first words. In Zech 9, instead of Do not fear, it says Rejoice greatly.
It adds: proclaim, daughter of Zion, daughter of Jerusalem. To it we must also add the prophecy of Isa 52:11: Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your Savior comes.
He has His reward with Him, and His work before His face. They shall be called the holy people, redeemed by the Lord.
Thus the Man about whom the Old Testament books prophesied solemnly enters Jerusalem. Isaiah called Him Savior, and Zechariah called Him King of the daughter of Zion.
He is surrounded by crowds of rejoicing people, who unconsciously fulfill the great prophecies about the King and Savior. Yet they have on their lips and in their hearts the Messianic cry of Psalm 117.
In the Old Testament prophecies, the name Zion always means the city of Jerusalem and the Old Testament Church. Compare, for example, Isa 33:20.
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemn assemblies. Your eyes will see Jerusalem. Or compare Zeph 3:18: Rejoice, daughter of Zion. Triumph, Israel. Be glad, daughter of Jerusalem. See also what follows.
But daughter of Zion, or daughter of Jerusalem, has a more mysterious meaning. In this name the New Testament Church is undoubtedly revealed.
The Lord was building her on unshakable foundations, on which the Old Testament Church had stood until then, though it was coming to the end of its existence.
Heaps of rubble had to be removed from this foundation. On it the majestic building of the Church of Christ was already rising. In her was the future life of mankind.
The Jewish Church that preceded her, or better, the Israelite Church, fulfilled one of its purposes. It was the keeper of the promises and prophecies.
Yet it could give nothing to the future of the human soul. Having lost the Spirit of God, it was therefore dying in its sins.
For the society that composed it, at least in its leaders, sought the death of Him who brought light and life to the earth.
Only the daughter of Zion, renewed and sanctified by the Spirit of God, received the scattered children of the ancient Church. She recognized as King and Savior the One whom the ancient Old Testament Church rejected.
Zechariah left this prophecy after the return from Babylon, at the end of the age of the prophets. From the time of this prophecy, as it is written among the Jews, there was no king like the one depicted by the prophecy, except our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ of God, in whom the prediction was fulfilled. What did He wish to emphasize by riding on a donkey, if not His humble and inglorious manner of life, which He led during His first coming? Cf. Zech 9:9. As Origen notes, neither Matthew nor John gives an exact quotation of this prophecy of Zechariah (Commentary on Matthew 16:14).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 13 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS