Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
9. thy King cometh ] The reference to Christ, the true King of Israel, is direct and immediate. Even if the prophecy be placed before the exile, no event in Jewish history answers, even typically, to this prediction. After the exile no Jewish ruler bore the title of King. “The prophet here briefly shews the manner in which the church is to be restored, namely, because a King will come forth of the tribe and family of David, to bring all things to their pristine order. And this line of argument constantly occurs in the Prophets, since the hope of the ancient people rested, as ours does, on Christ.” Calvin.
unto thee ] not only to thee locally, but for thy benefit. “He teaches us that this King will not come for His own sake, as earthly princes rule after their own lust, or for their own advantage: but that this kingdom will be shared by the whole people, because, that is, of the prosperous condition which it will introduce.” Calvin.
having salvation ] Rather, saved. The Jewish and Christian (LXX. ; Vulg. salvator) versions render actively, “Saviour.” But there is no need to depart from the grammatical and usual (Deu 33:29; Psa 33:16; Isa 45:17) meaning of the word. “He trusted in Jehovah that He would deliver Him,” was not only a prediction of the taunt of His enemies (Mat 27:43), but an exposition of the ruling principle of the mediatorial work of the man Christ Jesus. And as the reward of that trust He was “saved.” Heb 5:7. At the same time, as Calvin (whose whole note on this verse is worth consulting) points out, the active signification of saving others is really included in the passive of being saved Himself. For inasmuch as the King comes not for Himself but “for” Sion (see last note), He is “just and saved” not for Himself but for her. “Si veniret sibi privatim, esset etiam sibi justus et servatus, hoc est, utilitas justiti et salutis resideret penes ipsum solum, vel in ejus persona. Sed quum aliorum respectu venerit, etiam in eorum gratiam et justitia et salute prditus est. Ergo justitia et salus quarum hic fit mentio pertinent ad totum corpus Ecclesi, neque restringi debent ad personam Regis Neque certe humanitus loquendo dicemus Regem esse salvum et integrum, si expulsus sit a suo imperio; si deinde ab hostibus vexentur subditi, vel pereant in totum.”
lowly ] or meek. . LXX. and Mat 21:5. The sense, “afflicted,” which the Heb. word will bear, and which Pusey says is necessarily contained in it, does not seem to be the prominent one here; but rather the meekness and lowliness (Mat 11:29) of His character and coming.
upon an ass ] In keeping with and as an illustration of His “lowliness.” “In itself it would, if insulated, have been unmeaning. The Holy Ghost prophesied it, Jesus fulfilled it, to shew the Jews of what nature His kingdom was.” Pusey. So Calvin observes that the prophecy was at once metaphorical and literal. “Nam propheta intelligit Christum fore quasi obscurum hominem, qui sese non extollet supra communem vulgi modum. Hic est genuinus sensus. Verum est: sed tamen hoc non obstat, quominus Christus etiam ediderit hujus rei specimen, ubi asinum illum conscendit.”
the foal of an ass ] Lit. of she-asses; i.e. such as those animals bear. So Jephthah is said (Jdg 12:7) to have been buried “in the cities of Gilead;” i.e. (as the A. V. and R. V. supply) in “one of” them. Comp. Gen 19:29; Gen 37:31. The clause is added to define more exactly the words, “upon an ass:” even upon a colt, R. V. It was upon the colt that our Lord actually rode. The Evangelist’s addition, “whereon never man sat” (Mar 11:2), would seem to indicate that it was chosen, rather than the mother, on account of the sacred use to which it was to be put. Comp. Num 19:2; 1Sa 6:7; Luk 23:53.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 17. The Coming of the King
The great event for which all that had been foretold in the preceding verses of the chapter, and indeed all the preceding history of Israel and of the world, had been a preparation, and in which as purposed and promised by God was the pledge of Israel’s preservation for its accomplishment, is now announced and its consequences are unfolded. Sion is called upon to welcome with exultation her just and lowly King, who comes to her in humble state (Zec 9:9), whose kingdom of peace shall cover all the land and embrace all nations (Zec 9:10), and who, mindful of His covenant with her, shall give deliverance to the captives of Israel (Zec 9:11-12). Using them, now once more an united nation, as the instruments of His warfare (Zec 9:13), Himself fighting for them and manifesting Himself as their Protector (Zec 9:14), He will make them victorious over all their enemies (Zec 9:15), and will promote them to safety and honour (Zec 9:16), magnifying His “goodness” and His “beauty” in the prosperity with which He crowns them (Zec 9:17).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
From the protection, which God promised to His people and to His House, the prophet passes on to Him who was ever in his thoughts, and for whose sake that people and temple were preserved. He had described the great conqueror of this world, sweeping along in his course of victory. In contrast with such as he, he now exhibits to his people the character and procession of their king. Rejoice greatly. Not with this worlds joy. God never exhorts man to rejoice greatly in this worlds fleeting joys. He allows us to be glad, as children, before Him; He permits such buoyancy of heart, if innocent; but He does not command it. Now He commands His people to burst out into a jubilee of rejoicing: they were to dance and shout for gladness of spirit; despising the poor exultation of this world and exulting with that exceeding yet chaste joy, which befits the true bliss to be brought by their King and Saviour. Rup.: This word, greatly, means that there should be no measure whatever in their exultation; for the exultation of the children of the bridegroom is far unlike to the exultation of the children of this world. Cyril: He biddeth the spiritual Zion rejoice, inasmuch as dejection was removed. For what cause of sorrow is there, when sin has been removed, death trampled under foot, and human nature called to the dignity of freedom, and crowned with the grace of adoption and illumined with the heavenly gift?
Behold, thy king cometh unto thee – He does not say a king, but thy king; thy king, thine own, the long-promised, the long-expected; He who, when they had kings of their own, given them by God, had been promised as the king ; the righteous Ruler among men 2Sa 23:3, of the seed of David; He who, above all other kings, was their King and Savior; whose kingdom was to absorb in itself all kingdoms of the earth; the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Her king was to come to her. He was in a manner then of her, and not of her; of her, since He was to be her king, not of her, since He was to come to her. As Man, He was born of her: as God, the Word made flesh, He came to her. To thee, to be manifest unto thee; to be thine by communion of nature 1Ti 3:16; as He is thine, by the earnest of the Eternal Spirit and the gift of the Father, to procure thy good Heb 2:14. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given Isa 9:6. Of this, His entry into Jerusalem was an image. But how should he come? He shall come to thee, says an old Jewish writing, , to atone thee; He shall come to thee, to upraise thee; He shall come to thee, to raise thee up to His temple, and to espouse thee with an everlasting espousal.
He is just and having salvation – Just or righteous, and the Fountain of justice or righteousness. For what He is, that He diffuseth. Righteousness which God Is, and righteousness which God, made Man, imparts, are often blended in Holy Scripture. Isa 45:21; Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5-6; Jer 33:15-16; Mal 4:2. This is also the source of the exceeding joy. For the coming of their king in righteousness would be, to sinful man, a cause, not of joy but of fear. This was the source of the Angels message of joy; I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour Luk 2:10-11.
He is just – Dionysius: Because in the Divine Nature, He is the Fountain of all holiness and justice. As Thou art righteous Thyself, Thou orderest all things righteously. For Thy power is the beginning of righteousness . According to the nature which He took, He was also most just; for He ever sought the glory of the Father, and He did no sin, neither was guile found in His Mouth 1Pe 2:22. In the way also of justice He satisfied for people, delivering Himself for their faults to the pain of the most bitter death, to satisfy the honor of the Divine Majesty, so that sin should not remain unpunished. Hence, He saith of Himself; He that seeketh His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him Joh 7:18. Of whom also Stephen said to the Jews, Your fathers slew them which showed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers Act 7:52.
Righteousness is an awful attribute of God. It is a glory and perfection of His Being, for the perfect to gaze on and adore. Mercy, issuing in our salvation, is the attribute which draws us sinners. And this lies in the promise that He should come to them, however the one word nosha be rendered . The meaning of such a prophecy as this is secure, independent of single words. The whole context implies, that He should come as a ruler and deliverer, whether the word nosha signify endued with salvation (whereas the old versions rendered it, Saviour), or whether it be, saved. For as He came, not for Himself but for us, so, in as far as He could be said to be saved, He was saved, not for Himself but for us. Of our Lord, as Man, it is, in like way, said, Thou shalt not leave His soul in Hell Psa 16:10, or, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be holden of it Act 2:24.
As Man, He was raised from the dead; as God, He raised Himself from the dead, for our sakes, for whom He died. For us, He was born a Saviour; for us, He was endued with salvation; for us, He was saved from being held of death; in like way as, of His Human Nature, the Apostle says, He was heard, in that He feared Heb 5:7. To us, as sinners, it is happiest to hear of the Saviour; but the most literal meaning saved has its own proper comfort: for it implies the Sufferings, by which that salvation was procured, and so it contains a hint of the teaching by Isaiah, He was taken from oppression and from judgment; upon which that same wide reign follows, of which David, in his picture of the Passion Psa 22:27-28, and Isaiah Isa 53:10-12 prophesy. Osorius: This saved does not imply, that He obtained salvation for His own otherwise than from Himself. Mine own arm, He saith in Isaiah, brought salvation unto Me Isa 63:5. But its Man, He obtained salvation from the indwelling Godhead. For when He destroyed the might of death, when, rising from the dead, He ascended into heaven, when He took on Him the everlasting kingdom of heaven and earth, He obtained salvation from the glory of the Father, that is, from His own Divinity, to impart it to all His. The Hebrew word then in no way diminishes the amplitude of His dignity. For we confess, that the Human Nature of Christ had that everlasting glory added to It from His Divine Nature, so that He should not only be Himself adorned with those everlasting gifts, but should became the cause of everlasting salvation to all who obey Him.
Lowly – Outward lowliness of condition, is, through the grace of God, the best fosterer of the inward. The word lowly wonderfully expresses the union of both; lowness of outward state with lowliness of soul. The Hebrew word expresses the condition of one, who is bowed down, brought low through oppression, affliction, desolation, poverty, persecution, bereavement; but only if at the same time, he had in him the fruit of all these, in lowliness of mind, submission to God, piety. Thus, our Lord pronounces the blessedness of the poor and the poor in spirit, that is, poor in estate, who are poor in soul also. But in no case does it express lowliness of mind without lowness of condition. One lowly, who was not afflicted, would never be so called. The prophet then declares that their king should come to them in a poor condition, stricken, smitten, and afflicted Isa 53:4, and with the special grace of that condition, meekness, gentleness and lowliness of soul; and our Lord bids us, Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart Mat 11:29. Dionysius: He saith of Himself in the Gospel, The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His Head Mat 8:20. For though He was rich, He for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich 2Co 8:9.
Lowly and riding upon an ass – Kings of the earth ride in state. The days were long since by, when the sons of the judges rode on asses Jdg 10:4; Jdg 12:14. Even then the more distinguished rode on white (that is, roan) Jdg 5:10 asses. The mule, as a taller animal, was used by David 1Ki 1:33, 1Ki 1:38, 1Ki 1:44 and his sons 2Sa 13:29; 2Sa 18:9, while asses were used for his household 2Sa 16:2, and by Ziba, Shimei, Mephibosheth, Ahitophel, 2Sa 16:1; 2Sa 17:23; 2Sa 19:26; 1Ki 2:40, and, later, by the old prophet of Bethel 1Ki 13:13, 1Ki 13:23, 1Ki 13:27. David had reserved horses for 100 chariots, 2Sa 8:4, after the defeat of the Syrians, but he himself did not use them. Absalom employed chariots and horses 2Sa 15:1 as part of his pomp, when preparing to displace his father; and Solomon multiplied them 1Ki 4:26; 1Ki 10:26; 2Ch 1:14; 2Ch 9:25. He speaks of it as an indignity or reverse; I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking, as servants, upon the earth Ecc 10:7.
The burial of an ass became a proverb for a disgraced end Jer 22:19. There is no instance in which a king rode on an ass, save He whose kingdom was not of this world. The prophecy, then, was framed to prepare the Jews to expect a prophet-king, not a king of this world. Their eyes were fixed on this passage. In the Talmud, in their traditional interpretations, and in their mystical books, they dwelt on these words. The mention of the ass, elsewhere, seemed to them typical of this ass, on which their Messiah should ride. If a man in a dream seeth an ass, says the Talmud, he shall see salvation. It is an instance of prophecy which, humanly speaking, a false Messiah could have fulfilled, but which, from its nature, none would fulfill, save the True. For their minds were set on earthly glory and worldly greatness: it would have been inconsistent with the claims of one, whose kingdom was of this world.
It belonged to the character of Him, who was buffeted, mocked, scourged, spit upon, crucified, died for us, and rose again. It was divine humiliation, which in the purpose of God, was to be compensated by divine power. In itself it would, if insulated, have been unmeaning. The Holy Spirit prophesied it, Jesus fulfilled it, to show the Jews, of what nature His kingdom was. Hence, the challenge; , Let us look at the prophecy, that in words, and that in act. What is the prophecy? Lo, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and upon a colt; not driving chariots as other kings, not in pomp nor attended by guards, but showing herein also all gentleness. Ask the Jew then, What king, riding on an ass, came to Jerusalem? He could name none, save this One alone. An ancient writer says, , The Greeks too (not the Jews only) will laugh at us, saying, that The God of the Christians, who is called Christ, sat upon an ass. The same mockery was probably intended by Sapor king of Persia, which the Jews met with equal pride.
The taunt continues until now. : It is not hid from you, O congregation of Christians, that rider upon an ass indicates Christ. The Mohammedans appropriate the title rider upon a camel to Mohammad, as the grander animal . The taunt of worshiping Him who sat upon an ass was of the same class as those of the worship of the Crucified; , one dead and crucified, who could not save himself; a crucified Man, that great Man, or (if it suited them so to speak) that great sophist who was crucified, but who now, for above 1800 years, reigns, to all, the King; to all, the Judge; to all, Lord and God. Christ did not only fulfill prophecies or plant the doctrines of truth, but did thereby also order our life for us, everywhere laying down for us rules of necessary use and, by all, correcting our life. Even Jews, having rejected our Lord, saw this. Not from poverty, says one, (Kimchi), for behold the whole world shall be in his power – but from humility he will ride upon an ass; and further to show that Israel (namely, the establishment of His kingdom or Church) shall not lack horse nor chariot: therefore it is added, And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. And another; , He, that is, thy true king David, shall come to thee; and he mentions of his qualities that he shall be righteous and nosha , in his wars; but his salvation shall not be from strength of his wars, for he shall come lowly and riding upon an ass. And riding on an ass, this is not on account of his want, but to show that peace and truth shall be in his days; and therefore he says immediately, And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; namely, that such shall be the peace and stillness in the world, that in Ephraim (that is, the tribes) and in Jerusalem (that is, the kingdom of Judah) they shall trust no more in horse and in rider, but in the name of God. And because it is the way of princes and chiefs to take example from the life of their kings, and to do as they, therefore he saith, that when the king Messiah rideth upon an ass, and has no pleasure in the strength of a horse, there will be no other in Jerusalem or the lands of the tribes, who will have pleasure in riding on a horse. And therefore he says, And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and he assigns the reason for this, when he says, And the battlebow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace among the nations, that is, there shall be no more war in the world, because he shall speak peace unto the nations, and by the word of his lips he shall dispose peace unto them. Isa 26:12.
And upon a colt, the foal of an ass – The word rendered colt, as with us, signifies the young, as yet unbroken animal. In the fulfillment, our Lord directed His disciples to find an ass tied, and a colt with her, whereon never man sat Mat 21:2; Mar 11:2; Luk 19:30. The prophet foretold that He would ride on both animals; our Lord, by commanding both to be brought, showed that the prophet had a special meaning in naming both. Matthew relates that both were employed. They brought the ass and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon. The untrained colt, an appendage to its mother, was a yet humbler animal. But as the whole action was a picture of our Lords humility and of the unearthliness of His kingdom, so, doubtless, His riding upon the two animals was a part of that picture. There was no need of two animals to bear our Lord for that short distance. John notices especially, These things understood not His disciples at the first Joh 12:16. The ass, an unclean stupid debased ignoble drudge, was in itself a picture of unregenerate man, a slave to his passions and to devils, toiling under the load of ever-increasing sin. But, of man, the Jew had been under the yoke and was broken; the Gentiles were the wild unbroken colt. Both were to be brought under obedience to Christ.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Zec 9:9-10
Thy King cometh unto thee; He is just and having salvation
Palm Sunday
This prophecy was generally recognised by the Jews as referring to the Messiah.
First of all, prophecy spoke only of Messiahs glory. It was not until the era of the Captivity that we find Christ spoken of as the Man afflicted and stricken, the Hind pursued by the buffaloes and dogs, the King lowly, and riding upon an ass. When the prophet declared that Messiah should come riding upon an ass, it was taken as an indication that He should be a prophet-King. In the Talmud it is said for this reason that to dream of an ass is to dream of the coming of salvation. To the Gentiles this, like other features of our Lords work, was a constant subject of mockery. The Persian King, Sapor, promised the rabbis that when their Messiah came who should ride upon an ass, he would send Him a horse. It was a common scoff among the Mohammedans that whereas Mohammed was the rider upon a camel, Christ was that rider upon an ass. Christ only entered Jerusalem riding on an ass, to bring before us a necessary illustration of His character and office.
1. Though He was King of kings, yet He is the Lowly One. The Hebrew word expresses the condition of a man who has been brought low by affliction and sorrow, possessing in himself the fruit of this sorrow in lowliness and submission of mind. In this sense the word is used of Moses, the meekest of men. Messiah is stricken and afflicted. Our Lord applies this character to Himself, I am meek and lowly in heart. And this trait must especially distinguish all who follow Him into His kingdom.
2. Lowliness not only expressed the character of the King, but the character also of the kingship. The victory of Messiah is to be over the very things which are esteemed mighty in the world. As in nature, the brute force of the beast is conquered by the skill of man, and the forces of matter overcome by the power of mind, so in the kingdom of Christ all powers of body and mind are subdued to the power of the Spirit which is made perfect in human weakness. All through the history of Israel, Gods hand had thus been made manifest in the casting down of strongholds. When, therefore, Jerusalem rejected the Messiah, she became like the fallen powers which were before her, a power of this world, aiming at success by the worlds methods, looking forward to the worlds splendour, and receiving the worlds downfall for her reward. She knew not the day of her visitation. Let us not indulge only in pity for the fallen city which opposed itself so madly to the kingdom of Christ. The world–even the Christian world–is very far from this subjection to the kingdom of Christ. When we see how faintly Christian principles as yet influence the policies of nations, our impatient spirit is filled with dismay. We are ready to believe that Christianity has gained extension at the cost of intension, that men have been made Christians at the cost of Christianity, and that it had been better if the conversion of Europe had been slower rather than speedier. If it be so, what remedy is there so effective and so apposite as the intension of Christian claims upon ourselves, individually and now, the realisation now of the severe claim which Christianity makes upon the will and the life of each of us? A country is conquered by the capitulation of one castle after another; even so Christs kingdom comes by the yielding up of individual hearts. What a glorious triumph we can make for Christ in our hearts today! With hearts bowed down in lowliest sense of sin, emptied of all self-trust, filled with the sense of Gods love and pass on for the world, we shall be ready then to receive the lowly King, and to be made partakers of the kingly spirit. (H. H. Gower.)
The ideal monarch of the world
I. Here is a monarch, the advent of whom is a matter for rapturous joy. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Christs advent to the world was announced by the gladsome music of angelic choirs. Glory to God in the highest, etc. Why rejoice at His advent? Because He will–
1. Promote all the rights of mankind.
2. Remove all the calamities of mankind.
II. Here is a monarch the dignity of whom is unapproached. Thy King cometh unto thee. Thy King. Thou hast never yet had a true king, and there is no other true king for thee: this is thy King.
1. The King who alone has the absolute right to rule thee. Thou art His, His property. All thy force, vitality, faculty, belong to Him.
2. The King who alone can remove thy evils and promote thy rights.
III. Here is a monarch the character of whom is unexceptionably good.
1. He is righteous. He is just. The little word just comprehends all virtues. He who is just to himself, just to his Maker, just to the universe, is the perfection of excellence, is all that Heaven requires.
2. He is humble. Lowly, and riding upon an ass. Where there is not genuine humility there is no true greatness; it is essential to true majesty. Pride is the offspring of littleness, it is the contemptible production of a contemptible mind.
IV. Here is a monarch the mission of whom is transcendently beneficent.
1. It is remedial. Having salvation. Salvation! What a comprehensive word, deliverance from all evil, restoration to all good. Any one can destroy; God alone can restore.
2. It is specific. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, etc. He will put an end to the chariot, the horse, the battle bow, of war, and speak peace to the nations. Peace! This is what the nations have always wanted. War has been and still is the great curse of the nations.
V. Here is a monarch the reign of whom is to be universal. The language here employed was universally understood by the Jews as embracing the whole world. He claims universal dominion, He deserves it, and will one day have it. Learn–
1. The infinite goodness of God in offering the world such a King.
2. The amazing folly and wickedness of man in not accepting this Divine offer. (Homilist.)
The personal and official character of Messiah
I. Royal dignity. Thy king cometh unto thee. The designation is emphatic. Thy king, as if they had never had another. That royalty was to pertain to the coming Messiah might be shown from many predictions. He was to sit on the throne of David forever. His being a king was anything but an objection to the Jews. But the kind of royalty was not at all to their minds. His kingdom was not to be of this world. Its throne was not to be in this world. He was born of royal lineage–born a King; though, strictly speaking, His mediatorial reign did not commence till, having finished His work on earth, the Father said to Him, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool.
II. The righteousness of his character and administration. He is just. The designation is to be understood as at once personal and official: for, indeed, were there not the former, there could be little reason to count upon the latter. This attribute is frequently ascribed to Him, as characterising Himself and His government. Jehovah calls Him My righteous servant. His throne is founded in the very charter of righteous ness. And His whole administration is conducted on the principles of the purest and most unbending righteousness.
III. His saving grace and power. Having salvation. Salvation was the very object of His coming. The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. The very design of His atonement was to render salvation consistent with the claims of righteousness: so that Jehovah might be a just God and a Saviour. When He had completed His work, He was to have salvation, not only as being Himself delivered from death, but as possessing for bestowal on mankind all the blessings of salvation–beginning in pardon and ending in life eternal.
IV. The humility and meekness of His character. Lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. This attribute of character distinguished His entire course; all His intercourse with men–with His friends, and with His enemies. Even His triumphs were lowly–riding upon an ass; and not one that had been trained for the use of royalty, but, as would appear, a rough unbroken colt. Although the ass was not the very mean and despised animal there that it is with us, yet comparatively it was so. The horse was the animal used in war; and consequently, in the triumphal processions of kings and conquerors; and on such occasions, arrayed in costly and elegant caparisons.
V. The mode and means of the extension of the kingdom correspond with its spiritual nature. I will cut off, etc. This, at the coming of the Messiah, was literally true respecting the civil and military power of the Jewish people. At the very time when they were looking for a Messiah who was to break the yoke from off their neck, establish their temporal freedom and power, and lead them on to universal conquest, their power was finally overthrown and destroyed, their temple and city laid in ashes, and them selves scattered abroad among all nations. Yet the kingdom of the Messiah grew and prospered. This itself showed its true nature. It was not, as the Jews anticipated, to be a Jewish kingdom. It was to have subjects among all peoples. And these subjects were not to be gained for Him with the sword of steel, but by the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. His kingdom consisted of all, wherever His truth spread, whom that truth made free–spiritually free. All thus made free come under willing and happy subjection to His gracious sceptre. Force never made one subject of the King of Zion.
VI. Another characteristic of His reign–peace. And He shall speak peace to the heathen. This is a feature of His reign frequently celebrated. By His gospel He speaks peace to sinners of mankind. There is no exception.
VII. The extent of His reign. The language employed here was universally understood by the Jews as embracing the whole world. In due time, the kingdom, of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. (Ralph Wardlaw, D. D.)
The Saviour King
To us who read this prophecy in the light of its fulfilment in the advent and work and glory of Christ, all is plain and clear. Not so much by our Lords particular act in riding into Jerusalem on the occasion, and in the manner described by the evangelists, as by that which, by this act, was symbolised and indicated, namely, His advent to empire, His coming to get for Himself a kingdom, His appearing as the Saviour and King of His Church, and His gathering to Himself a people from among the nations, has this prediction been fulfilled. He came in poverty and humiliation to lay the foundation of His kingdom in obedience and sacrifice. It was from the field of sorrow and of suffering that He ascended to the throne. The crown came after the Cross; the humiliation preceded the glory. All things have been put under His feet, all power and authority have been given Him in heaven and on earth, in the universe He reigns supreme: But it is because He was obedient unto death that He has been thus highly exalted. His kingdom rests on His propitiatory work; and it is in view of this, though then perhaps but dimly seen, that the prophet here calls upon Zion to behold and hail her King. And now that He hath ascended to the throne of His glory, the glad tidings of the kingdom are to be proclaimed to all nations and men of every tongue and clime are to be invited to behold their King, and submit to His righteous and benignant sway. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)
The lowly King Messiah
The theocracy, or Church, is called to rejoice because of the coming of her King. The kingly office of the Messiah, which was conferred upon Him for the accomplishment of the work of redemption, is often alluded to as ground for rejoicing. Here is given the character of the King, and the extent of His kingdom.
1. He is just. The righteousness referred to is not His priestly, but His kingly righteousness, that rigorous justice of His reign in virtue of which no good should be unrewarded, and no evil unpunished. In the unequal allotments of the present, when the good so often suffer, and the bad so often escape, it is surely ground for rejoicing that the King, under whose rule this dispensation is placed, is just, and will render to every man according to his work.
2. He is endowed with salvation. The word employed is a difficult one. It is usually taken in a secondary sense, as expressing not simply the reception of a salvation, but its possession as a gift that was capable of being bestowed upon others. The meaning then would be, that God was with Him, in spite of all His lowliness, sustaining Him in the mighty work Be had undertaken, and that this protection was bestowed upon Him not as an individual, but as a King, a representative of His people, so that He would not only enjoy it Himself, but possess the power of bestowing it upon others. Hence, while His inflexible justice might make us tremble in our sin, the fact that He was also endowed with a free salvation, and a salvation which He could bestow as a kingly right, would remove these fears, and enable us to rejoice in this coming King.
3. He was to be lowly. If the usual sense of the Word be given, the Church would be summoned to rejoice because of the humiliation of her King. And, however incongruous such a ground of rejoicing may seem to be to men generally, the heart that is crushed with penitence or grief will comprehend the reason of this summons. Had this august King been as sorrowless as He was sinless, had He been a robed seraph, or a crowned monarch, the poor and suffering could never have approached Him with confidence, for He could not have sympathised with them in their sorrows. But when He comes to us as One who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, we welcome Him with joy, and understand why we are called to rejoice, because He comes to us as the lowly King. Surely a suffering child of God can understand how blessed a thing it is to have a Saviour King who has known Himself what it is to suffer.
4. He was to be externally in poverty, riding upon an ass, and upon a foal, the son of the asses. This is a prediction of poverty, for although in earlier times kings rode on asses, after the time of Solomon they were never so used, horses having taken their place. The employment of the horse in war also made the use of the ass an indication of peace as well as of poverty. The exact fulfilment of this prophecy in the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem, was merely a specific illustration of the general prediction, not the entire object of the prediction itself. Its range was much broader than this single event, and, indeed, would have been substantially fulfilled had this event never occurred. The specific fulfilment, however, rivets the prophecy more absolutely to Christ. (T. V. Moore, D. D.)
How comes the King
The Caesars of the world have come upon strong palfreys, prancing, snorting; from their nostrils there has come fire, and their bits have been wet with foam; how comes the King?–lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. The more King for that! Some men need their own furniture to set them off; some persons would be nothing but for their entourage: the things that are round about them seem to be so admirable that surely they must be admirable them selves:–such the loose but most generous reasoning of some men in some cases. Lowly–I am meek and lowly in heart. Why this colt, the foal of an ass? To rebuke the horses of heathenism:–The Lord will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem: they are signs of pomp, self-sufficiency, conscious dignity, as who should say, we made ourselves, and we are the builders of the great Babylons of the earth. The Lord will not have it so with His Son, with His Church, with His kingdom. Only meekness has an eternal province. It is so always and everywhere, if you would but learn it. It is so at school. The boy who is going to do everything with a wave of his hand will do nothing; the boy who does not care anything about the examination until the night before it comes off and then gathers himself together in tremendous impotence, comes back the next night a sadder but a wiser boy. It is so in business, it is so in the pulpit, it is so along the whole line of human action: pretence means failure. But there must not be mere meekness of manner; the tiger is sometimes asleep. There is a spurious meekness; there are persons that have no voices at all, and when they speak they are supposed to be so gentle and so modest and so unassuming. Not they! It is for want of hoof, not want of will; they would crush you if they could. This meekness is a quality of the soul, this is the very bloom of greatness, this is the finest expression of power. Meekness is not littleness, insignificance, incompetency; meekness is the rest that expresses the highest degree of velocity. Riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. All the rabbis have allegorised this ass with painful tediousness. They in very deed have tried to read meanings into the words, but they were so obviously incongruous that they never got into the words. Take it as a type of your Kings meekness, take it as an assurance that His kingdom is not of this world. This world hates all meekness. Mammon never listened to a prayer; Mammon hates even read prayers; Mammon has a distaste for theological conception; Mammon never sung a hymn or a psalm; Mammon never bowed his knees in tender, holy adoration. The eyes of Mammon are greed, the hands of Mammon are felons, the desire of Mammon is possession, though it may be purchased with blood. This world, therefore, will not have true meekness, gentleness, pitifulness; the world will have pomp and show and magnificence and royalty,–one day its heart will sicken at the sight of its own idols. These are the lines that have sudden endings. Truth encircles the universe: all lies, however glibly told, suddenly disappear in the pit. Jesus Christ then comes to set up a kingdom that is moral, subjective, spiritual; a kingdom that is clement, redeeming, sympathetic; a kingdom that rests upon unseen but immovable bases. Whatever He touches He elevates. Take the principle, and do not vex the mind or distract the piety with worthless detail: the principle is this, that when Jesus Christ comes into the world He comes as no other king ever came, that He may do a work which no other king ever dreamed. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The coming of the King of Zion
I. Contemplate Messiah in His title, as a King. There are many senses in which we may contemplate Christ as a King.
1. He has all the ancestral honours, titles, and high-born qualifications of a king. He was descended of a stock of heavenly royalty; He was the first-born of every creature.
2. Christ gave out laws and principles of government as a King. His sermon on the Mount is a beautiful unfolding of the principles of spiritual rule, the righteous awards which would characterise His future administration. Christ then is a King. He defines the terms of our obedience; He lays down the maxims of the spiritual realm; He declares what worship He will accept, and in what way alone His presence can be approached.
3. Christ protects, defends, and counsels His subjects as a King. In the primitive condition of society monarchs were for the most part chosen on account of their possessing, in the estimation of their subjects, some special kingly qualities. He who was the first to go forth with their armies, He who would redeem them from the power of the oppressor, He who was valiant in fight, prompt in action, prudent in counsel, apt to rule, He by one consent would be allowed to be advanced to the throne; and in this sense, Christ ever vindicated His claim to be the King, and Head over all things to His Church. And He is King over all His spiritual subjects today. For all the purposes of guidance, help, comfort, and protection, He still reigns.
4. And Christ bestows honours, and gifts, and recompenses, as a King. Christ gives as a King–pardons full and free, grace rich and abounding, crowns bright and glorious.
II. Contemplate Messiah in His character–He is just. The word is to be taken in its largest and highest sense, as comprehensive both of the unblemished sanctity of His personal character, and the perfect righteousness which would distinguish His spiritual government. In all His dispensations of grace and goodness, Christ is ever just.
III. Contemplate Messiah in His power–having salvation. He has that which is to procure salvation. His salvation saves from a great danger, it frees from a great condemnation; it was bought at: a great price; it admits to great and glorious prerogatives. Note also the mild and gentle manner of Christs spiritual administration. He is lowly. (Daniel Moore, M. A.)
The lowly King
I do not intend to expound the whole text at any length, but simply to dwell upon the lowliness of Jesus. Yet this much I may say: Whenever God would have His people especially glad it is always in Himself. If it be written: Rejoice greatly, then the reason is, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee! Our chief source of rejoicing is the presence of King Jesus in the midst of us. Whether it be His first or His second advent, His very shadow is delight. His footfall is music to our car. That delight springs much from the fact that He is ours. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion . . . Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. Whatever He may be to others, He is thy King, and to whomsoever He may or may not come, He cometh unto thee. He comes for thy deliverance, thine honour, thy consummated bliss. He keeps thy company; He makes thy house His palace, thy love His solace, thy nature His home. He who is thy King by hereditary right, by His choice of thee, by His redemption of thee, and by thy willing choice of Him, is coming to thee; therefore do thou shout for joy. The verse goes on to show why the Lord our King is such a source of gladness: He is just, and having salvation. He blends righteousness and mercy; justice to the ungodly, and favour to His saints. He has worked out the stern problem–how can God be just, and yet save the sinful? He is just in His own personal character, just as having borne the penalty of sin, and just as cleared from the sin which He voluntarily took upon Him. Having endured the terrible ordeal, He is saved, and His people are saved in Him. He is to be saluted with hosannas, which signify, Save, Lord; for where He comes He brings victory and consequent salvation with Him. He routs the enemies of His people, breaks for them the serpents head, and leads their captivity captive. We admire the justice which marks His reign, and the salvation which attends His sway; and in both respects we cry: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Moreover, it is written of Him that He is lowly, which cannot be said of many kings and princes of the earth; nor would they care to have it said of them. Thy King, O daughter of Jerusalem, loves to have His lowliness published by thee with exceeding joy. His outward state betokens the humility and gentleness of His character. He appears to be what He really is: He conceals nothing from His chosen. In the height of His grandeur He is not like the proud monarchs of earth. The patient ass He prefers to the noble charger; and He is more at home with the common people than with the great. In His grandest pageant, in His capital city, He was still consistent with His meek and lowly character, for He came riding upon an ass. He rode through Jerusalem in state; but what lowliness marked the spectacle! It was an extemporised procession, which owed nothing to Garner-king-at-arms, but everything to the spontaneous love of friends. An ass was brought, and its foal, and His disciples sat Him thereon. Instead of courtiers in their robes, He was surrounded by common peasants and fishermen, and children of the streets of Jerusalem: the humblest of men and the youngest of the race shouted His praises. Boughs of trees and garments of friends strewed the road, instead of choice flowers and costly tapestries; it was the pomp of spontaneous love, not the stereotyped pageantry which power exacts of fear. With half an eye everyone can see that this King is of another sort from common princes, and His dignity of another kind from that which tramples on the poor. According to the narrative, as well as the prophecy, there would seem to have been two beasts in the procession. I conceive that our Lord rode on the foal, for it was essential that He should mount a beast which had never been used before. God is not a sharer with men; that which is consecrated to His peculiar service must not have been aforetime devoted to lower uses, Jesus rides a colt whereon never man sat. But why was the mother there? Did not Jesus say of both ass and foal, Loose them and bring them unto Me? This appears to me to be a token of His tenderness; He would not needlessly sever the mother from her foal. I like to see a farmers kindness when he allows the foal to follow when the mare is ploughing or labouring; and I admire the same thoughtfulness in our Lord. He careth for cattle, yea, even for an ass and her foal. He would not even cause a poor beast a needless pang by taking away its young; and so in that procession the beast of the field took its part joyfully, in token of a better age in which all creatures shall be delivered from bondage, and shall share the blessings of His unsuffering reign. Our Lord herein taught His disciples to cultivate delicacy, not only towards each other, but towards the whole creation. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Palm Sunday lessons
Today is this prophecy fulfilled in your ears. For once the Man of Sorrows was honoured on the earth, for once the despised and rejected of men was welcomed as a King, a Deliverer, a Prophet. But what did that procession on the Mount of Olives really mean? It was a procession of sacrifice. As the Paschal Lamb was brought out solemnly on the first day of the week, so now the true Paschal Lamb was brought out to die. He was welcomed by the Jews as the conqueror of the Romans; they did not understand that He was the conqueror of sin and death. They greeted Him as King of Jerusalem, they did not know that He was King of heaven and earth. How soon the feelings of the people changed, how short-lived were their praises. Let us learn our lesson from the palms. Many people are willing to receive Jesus as a King and a Deliverer, who reject Him as the Man of Sorrows. If He were to tell you to sit down on His right hand, to be proud of your religion, to condemn others, to believe yourselves righteous, then you would cry, Hosannah. But if He tells you to learn of Him for He is meek, to judge not, to take the lowest seat, that the servant of the Lord must not strive, that you must forgive your enemies, that blessed are they that mourn,–then you cry, Away with Him, crucify Him. Learn from this to avoid a form of religion which is only lip service; it is very easy to talk about sacred things, but pious talk, remember, is not religion. We must show forth our faith not only with our lips but in our lives. Jesus is leading us, as He led the people on Palm Sunday, towards Jerusalem, the vision of peace, and none shall enter there but those who follow Him. (H. J. Wilmot Buxton.)
The coming of the King of Zion
The prophet speaks not of one event merely, but of the whole of our Lords gracious conduct to His people. The children of Zion are called to be joyful in their King; for He is ever coming to them just and having salvation, and by virtue of the blood of the ever-lasting covenant bringing the prisoners out of the pit, and leading them all to a city of rest.
I. The character under which our King is presented to us.
1. He is just. It is not punitive justice that is here intended, but righteousness.
(1) This character is illustrated by His Divinity. He is just, perfectly and unchangeably–perfectly because He is God; unchangeably, because essentially. It is His nature to be just, and therefore He cannot be otherwise. There is a holiness in the creature; but there is a peculiar holiness in God.
(2) This character is illustrated by His incarnation. All that moral perfection which is in God shone forth from Him. His nature was spotless; and even His enemies gave witness to the immaculate purity of His life on which keen-eyed envy itself could fix no charge. The human nature of Christ was spotless, because the Divine nature into which it was impersonated was perfectly holy. No heresy can be more pestilent than the assertion that the holiness of Christ consists in acts and habits, and not in nature. That only which was perfectly uncontaminated could be united in one person with that which is ineffably holy.
(3) By His death. As a sacrifice for sin. In this we see the most illustrious proof of His essential holiness, and His love of justice.
(4) By His work in the heart of men. His kingdom is in the heart. Whatever rule He has over the outward conduct originates there. His work is to restore man, and exhibit him again as created anew in Christ Jesus.
(5) By His conduct towards His Church. A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. By this sceptre He tries and governs His visible Church. He is Judge in His Church even now, though the judgment which He administers is not without mercy.
2. He has salvation.
(1) He has it meritoriously. To save is an act to which the benevolence of His Godhead disposes Him; and judgment is His strange work. But guilty man is not merely an object of benevolence. He is a subject of moral government. What reason of joy there is in this consideration! The salvation which we need, and which all need, is in His hands. He has purchased the right to bestow it. The work is virtually accomplished, and nothing remains for us but to apply to Him, and avail ourselves of that which He has done on our behalf.
(2) Salvation is the subject, of His official administration. Does He give the Word? It is the promise and the rule of salvation. Does He collect a Church, and denominate it His body? His Spirit fills it, to discover the want of salvation, and reveal the means of obtaining it: to inspire desire, to assist our efforts, to realise within us all that the external Word exhibits to faith and hope. Does He perpetuate the ministry of the Gospel? He is with His servants unto the end of the world, to make them the means of conveying this salvation. Does He appoint His Sabbaths for ordinances? In these the Church is made the deposit and source of salvation to the world. The very sacraments are signs and seals of salvation.
II. The spiritual nature of His kingdom. This is strongly indicated by the circumstances connected with His public and royal entry into Jerusalem. This event was intended to call off His disciples and us from the vain notion of a civil monarchy. They thought He was then assuming it; but even then we see Him rejecting it. There is a tendency in man to look even now, as formerly, for something more than a spiritual kingdom; a kingdom of visible power, and glory, and splendour. He entered this to show that He was a King; but He disappointed their expectation in the very circumstances of this event, in order to show that His kingdom was not of this world. He rode upon an ass, to denote that He was a peaceful sovereign. He returned by night to the Mount of Olives, which He certainly would not have done, had He been about to establish a civil reign. Children celebrated His praises, not the men. The true glory of Christs kingdom is, that it erects its dominion in the human mind and heart; spreads its light and power over all the faculties, and principles of our nature; ordaining the praise of God out of the mouth; so that everyone who is brought under its influence becomes the instrument of instructing others, and subduing them to the service of the same Saviour.
III. The extent of this spiritual dominion of Christ.
1. His dominion is to extend from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.
2. The state of mankind, it is true, is deeply affecting. It is a state of wretchedness and danger. They are prisoners, east into a pit wherein is no water. Allusion is to the ancient punishment of criminals, who were sometimes thrown into a pit, and left to die of thirst; and sometimes, after enduring the torments of thirst, were brought forth to execution.
3. Then there follows an address to the prisoners. Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. Only a few had returned from Babylon. Zechariah addresses those who were left behind. In how much higher sense than the Jews are we prisoners of hope. Let such prisoners think of the blood of the covenant of deliverance which has been shed. (R. Watson.)
The coming King
Rejoice, then, O Zion, city of God, built not of stones, but of souls of men. Shout, ye daughters of Jerusalem, once as the stones of the desert, but now a spiritual seed of Abraham. From yon sepulchre thy King cometh, triumphant over death, and sending forth over all the world the message of reconciliation! Redeemed from bondage, we stand within the city of God, the visible Church. But how much has still to be done ere the temple of God be fully built–ere Christ be reflected in His members on earth! How many things have we each to deplore! The distracting effect of worldly business, want of energy, of love, of prayer. Hence little work for Him, and little fruit from that work, and little comfort. Let us dwell on the truth, Thy King cometh.
1. In view of the fact commemorated today. His work of redemption was complete and effectual (2Co 5:14). He took life unto the dominion of death. Even while the disciples mourned, He was carrying on a work of grace (1Pe 3:19). He died that He might rise again for our justification.
2. He cometh to each soul, bringing help. In times of darkness or depression, when trials seem heavy, or our work arduous, He reminds us that though we see Him not, we are not beyond His care.
3. He cometh to establish His kingdom, to bring perfected salvation to those who wait for Him. (James F. Montgomery, D. D.)
Joy in the King unrealised
I have read in one of George MacDonalds novels of a born-blind lamplighter. He illuminated the city at night; but had no sense of what he was doing. So has it been with the land of Israel. She has presented the portrait to the gallery; she has heard the plaudits of the spectators; and she has refused to join in them. In all history there is nothing so unique. It is the enemies of this land that have crowned her world-king; it is the Gentiles that have come to His light. The lamplighter has been blind to the beauty of the throne she has illumined. Palestine has lit up the scene; she has listened to the crowd shouting their applause; and she has wondered why. She has been like a deaf mute in a concert room. She has struck by accident the notes of a harp, and by accident they have burst into music. The audience has cheered the performance to the echo; but the performer knows not her triumph (G. Matheson.)
The Prince of peace
This prediction is of the literal kind, and it was literally and most exactly fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. The prophet doth not coldly inform Jerusalem that her King should come to her, and that when He did come she ought to rejoice. Wrapped into future times, he seems to have been present at the glorious scene. Standing upon Mount Olivet, he hears the hosannahs of the disciples, and beholds the procession approach towards the gates of Jerusalem. Religion, then, hath its joys; a prophet calleth us to exult and shout. The reason assigned why Jerusalem was called upon to rejoice, was the approach of her King. The prophets had promised her a king who should overcome her enemies, and triumph gloriously. When the King came, Jerusalem despised His appearance, and soon nailed a spiritual monarch to a cross. Righteousness, salvation, and humility distinguish the person and reign of Messiah. Righteousness leads the way. This is the name whereby He shall be called–The Lord our righteousness. Salvation is the next sign and token whereby to know the King of Zion. He was to execute that part of the regal office which consisteth in rescuing a people from their oppressors. And if tidings of salvation are not tidings of joy, what tidings can be such? What is deliverance from a temporal adversary compared with the salvation of the whole world from the oppression of the spiritual enemy, from sin, and sickness, and sorrow, and pain, and death, and hell? This was the salvation which Jesus undertook to effect; and His miracles declared Him equal to the mighty task. Different to other kings the King Messiah was to be in His appearance and demeanour. He is lowly. He appeared, in His first advent, in a state of humiliation. The nature of His undertaking required it, and their own law and prophets are clear upon the subject. The types and prophecies are as positive for His humiliation, as they are for His exaltation: nor could any one person accomplish them all, without being equally remarkable for lowliness and meekness, glory and honour. (Bishop Home.)
His dominion shall be from sea even to sea—
The final triumph of Christianity
I. This triumph is assured by the promises of the Bible. They leave no room for doubt.
II. The divine origin and character of Christianity render it certain. Christianity itself is on trial. If it fails to subjugate the world; if it encounters systems of error, false philosophies, hostile forces, effete civilisations, which it is inadequate to transform and vitalise with its Divine life–then it will be demonstrated that it is not of God, and its high claims are false. A partial and temporary success will not suffice. Is must conquer every race and clime and generation and form of evil and opposition in all the world, or be itself defeated and driven from the field.
III. The measure of success which it has already achieved is a guarantee of its complete ultimate triumph. Christianity is not without its witnesses and signal triumphs in human history. There is nothing comparable with it. It has shown itself, on actual trial of 1800 years, to be the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation. It has subdued kingdoms and changed the face of the world. Idolatry, superstition, false philosophy, cannot stand before it. It saves the chief of sinners. It elevates the most degraded people. Nothing in the heart of man, or in society, can withstand its power. It is moving steadily and rapidly on to final conquests. Christianity thus stands committed to the achievement of universal dominion. Its Founder puts it forth into history as the universal religion, foreordained to universal prevalence. (J. M. Sherwood, D. D.)
Universal bloom
As it has been positively demonstrated that the Arctic region was once a blooming garden and a fruitful field, those regions may change climate and again be a blooming garden and a fruitful field. Professor Heer, of Zurich, says the remains of flowers have been found in the Arctic, showing it was like Mexico for climate; and it is found that the Arctic was the mother region from which all the flowers descended. Professor Wallace says the remains of all styles of animal life are found in the Arctic, including those animals that can live only in warm climates. Now, that Arctic region which has been demonstrated by flora, and fauna, and geological argument to have been as full of vegetation and life as our Florida, may be turned back to its original bloom and glory, or it will be shut up as a museum of crystals for curiosity seekers to visit. But Arctic and Antarctic in some shape will belong to the Redeemers realm.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion] See this prophecy explained on Mt 21:5.
Behold, thy King cometh] Not Zerubbabel, for he was never king; nor have they had a king, except Jesus the Christ, from the days of Zedekiah to the present time.
He is just] The righteous One, and the Fountain of righteousness.
Having salvation] He alone can save from sin, Satan, death, and hell.
Lowly] Without worldly pomp or splendour; for neither his kingdom, nor that of his followers, is of this world.
Riding upon an ass] God had commanded the kings of Israel not to multiply horses. The kings who broke this command were miserable themselves, and scourgers to their people. Jesus came to fulfil the law. Had he in his title of king rode upon a horse, it would have been a breach of a positive command of God; therefore, he rode upon an ass, and thus fulfilled the prophecy, and kept the precept unbroken. Hence it is immediately added-
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Rejoice greatly: the prophet calls for such a joy as expresseth itself in outward gesture, as indeed the daughters of Zion did in their hosannas, when this had its accomplishment.
Daughter of Zion; Jerusalems inhabitants, or the church.
Shout; proclaim aloud your joy at the news I now tell you. Before it was
daughter of Zion, now it is daughter of Jerusalem, both the church and state among the Jews had great cause to triumph at this.
Thy King; the Redeemer, expected, promised Messiah, Son of David, the only restorer of your lapsed state.
Cometh unto thee; Christ cometh to thee, to redeem and save thee; he cometh for thee, as well as to time. He is just; the righteous One, who cometh to fulfil all righteousness, and to be our righteousness.
Having salvation; designs to save, and hath that in his eye, that he can save, it is in his power; he can save us as he did save himself, by raising himself from the dead.
Lowly; low and mean of state, and meek or lowly of mind.
Riding upon an ass; a beast of no state or price, an emblem of his outward state.
And upon a colt the foal of an ass: in this some footsteps of sovereignty appeared in the colts taking and bearing him quietly, Luk 19:35.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. From the coming of theGrecian conqueror, Zechariah makes a sudden transition, by theprophetical law of suggestion, to the coming of King Messiah, a verydifferent character.
daughter of ZionThetheocratic people is called to “rejoice” at the coming ofher King (Ps 2:11).
unto theeHe comes notfor His own gain or pleasure, as earthly kings come, but for the sakeof His Church: especially for the Jews’ sake, at His second coming(Ro 11:26).
he is justrighteous:an attribute constantly given to Messiah (Isa 45:21;Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5;Jer 23:6) in connection withsalvation. He does not merely pardon by conniving at sin, butHe justifies by becoming the Lord our righteousness fulfiller,so that not merely mercy, but justice, requires the justification ofthe sinner who by faith becomes one with Christ. God’s justice is notset aside by the sinner’s salvation, but is magnified and madehonorable by it (Isa 42:1;Isa 42:21). His future reign“in righteousness,” also, is especially referred to (Isa32:1).
having salvationnotpassively, as some interpret it, “saved,” which thecontext, referring to a “king” coming to reign, forbids;also the old versions, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate,give Saviour. The Hebrew is reflexive in sense,”showing Himself a Saviour; . . . having salvation in Himself”for us. Endowed with a salvation which He bestows as a king. CompareMargin, “saving Himself.” Compare Mt1:21, in the Greek, “Himself shall save Hispeople”; that is, not by any other, but by Himself shall He save[PEARSON On the Creed].His “having salvation” for others manifested that He had inHimself that righteousness which was indispensable for thejustification of the unrighteous (1Co 1:30;2Co 5:21; 1Jn 2:1).This contrasts beautifully with the haughty Grecian conqueror whocame to destroy, whereas Messiah came to save. Still, Messiah shallcome to take “just” vengeance on His foes, previous to Hisreign of peace (Mal 4:1; Mal 4:2).
lowlymild, gentle:corresponding to His “riding on an ass” (not a despisedanimal, as with us; nor a badge of humiliation, for princes in theEast rode on asses, as well as low persons, Jud5:10), that is, coming as “Prince of peace“(Zec 9:10; Isa 9:6);the “horse,” on the contrary is the emblem of war,and shall therefore be “cut off.” Perhaps the Hebrewincludes both the “lowliness” of His outward state(which applies to His first coming) and His “meekness” ofdisposition, as Mt 21:5quotes it (compare Mt 11:29),which applies to both His comings. Both adapt Him for loving sympathywith us men; and at the same time are the ground of His comingmanifested exaltation (Joh 5:27;Phi 2:7-9).
coltuntamed, “whereonyet never man sat” (Lu19:30). The symbol of a triumphant conqueror and judge (Jdg 5:10;Jdg 10:4; Jdg 12:14).
foal of an assliterally,”asses”: in Hebrew idiom, the indefinite pluralfor singular (so Ge 8:4,”mountains of Ararat,” for one of themountains). The dam accompanied the colt (Mt21:2). The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem at His first coming is apledge of the full accomplishment of this prophecy at His secondcoming. It shall be “the day of the Lord” (Ps118:24), as that first Palm Sunday was. The Jews shallthen universally (Ps118:26) say, what some of them said then, “Blessed isHe that cometh in the name of the Lord” (compare Mat 21:9;Mat 23:39); also “Hosanna,”or “Save now, I beseech thee.” “Palms,” theemblem of triumph, shall then also be in the hands of His people(compare Joh 12:13; Rev 7:9;Rev 7:10). Then also, as on Hisformer entry, shall be the feast of tabernacles (at which they usedto draw water from Siloam, quoting Isa12:3). Compare Psa 118:15;Zec 14:16, with Zec 14:16.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem,…. By whom are meant, not the inhabitants of Jerusalem in common; nor the children in it, that said Hosannas to the son of David; but the church of God, and true believers in Christ, who are called upon to “rejoice” and “shout”: not merely in an external way, by showing marks of outward joy, but in a spiritual manner, for which there was good reason, as follows:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee; Aben Ezra says that interpreters are divided about the sense of this prophecy; some say it is Messiah the son of David; and others, Messiah the son of Joseph. R. Moses, the priest, he observes, thinks that Nehemiah the Tirshathite is meant; and he himself is of opinion that Judas Maccabeus is intended; but Jarchi affirms that it is impossible to interpret it of any other than the King Messiah; and this is the sense of many of their writers, both ancient and modern. It is applied to him in the Talmud; they say r, he that sees an ass in his dream, let him look for salvation, as it is said, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, “riding on an ass”. R. Alexander relates that R. Joshua ben Levi opposed these two phrases to each other, “in its time”, and “I will hasten it”, Isa 60:22 and gave this as the sense to reconcile them: if they (the Israelites) are worthy, i.e. of the coming of the Messiah, “I will hasten it”; if they are not worthy, it shall be “in its time”; and that he also put these Scriptures together, and compared them to that Scripture, “behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven”, Da 7:13 and also what is written, “poor, and riding on an ass”; if they are worthy, he will come with the clouds of heaven; if they are not worthy, he will come poor and riding on an ass s. In an ancient book t of theirs, at least so reckoned, it is said the King Messiah shall prevail over them all (the nations of the world, and the Israelites); as it is said, “poor, and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass”: and in several other places of that work, and other treatises in it u, the text is applied to the Messiah; as it likewise is in their ancient Midrashes or expositions. In one w it is observed,
“the Rabbins say an ox; this is the anointed for war, as it is said, “his glory is like the firstling of his bullock”,
De 33:17 an ass; this is the King Messiah, as it is said, “poor, and riding on an ass”;”
and again x, on these words, “binding his foal to the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine”, Ge 49:11, this remark is made; this shall be when that shall come to pass which is written of him, “poor, and riding on an ass”. And in another y of their expositions, the two Redeemers, Moses and the Messiah, are compared together; and, among the several things in which they agree, this is one; as it is said of the former redeemer, “and Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on an ass”, Ex 4:20 so it is said of the latter Redeemer (the Messiah), “poor, and riding on an ass”. And thus it is interpreted by many of their more modern writers z. This is to be understood of Christ’s coming, not merely to Jerusalem, when he rode on an ass, after mentioned; but of his coming in the flesh, when he came to Zion, and for her good; and which was wonderful, and therefore a “behold” is prefixed to it; and is matter of great joy, which she is called to show, because of the birth of him who is her Saviour; and because of the good things that come by him; and because of his appearing as a King, and her King; for, as he was prophesied of as such, as such he came, though his kingdom was not of this world; and as Zion’s King, being placed there by his Father, and to which he has a right by virtue of redemption, and is owned as such by his people in the effectual calling, and to whom all the following characters belong.
He [is] just: not only essentially righteous as God, but just and upright in the whole course of, his life as man; and faithful in the administration of his office as Mediator; and the author and bringer in of righteousness to his people:
and having salvation; the salvation of his church and people; which he not only had at heart, but had it to execute, being appointed to that service by his Father, and having agreed unto it as the surety of his people, and was the business he was coming into the world to do, here prophesied of; yea, he is called salvation itself, as in a parallel text, Isa 62:11 the purpose of it was purposed in him; God resolved to save his people by him, and by him only; he never intended to save any but in and through him; and the thing was not only consulted with him, but the scheme of it was drawn in him; God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. The covenant of grace, in which salvation is a principal article, was made with him; and he, as the surety of that covenant, undertook it; and in the fulness of time being sent, came to effect it; for which he was abundantly qualified, being God and man in one person, and so had something to offer as a sacrifice for satisfaction to law and justice, in order to obtain it; and could put a sufficient virtue therein to answer the end, being the mighty God; and having as Mediator a commission from his divine Father, he is become, by his obedience, sufferings, and death, the author of eternal salvation to his people; and in him salvation is, and in no other; and in vain it is to expect it from any other, or in any other way, than by him, Ac 4:12. Some render the word “saved” a; as he was by his divine Father, when he was raised from the dead, and not suffered to see corruption; see Heb 5:7 others, “saving himself” b; when he raised himself from the dead, and thereby declared himself to be the Son of God; and when he brought salvation to his body, the church, which is himself, Isa 63:5
lowly; meek, and humble, as he appeared to be in the assumption of human nature; in his carriage to sinners, conversation with them, and reception of them; in his ministrations to his disciples; and in not seeking his own, but his Father’s glory. Or “poor” c; as Jesus the Messiah was; born of poor parents, had not where to lay his head, and was ministered unto by others; See 2Co 8:9
and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass; which was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, Mt 21:4 not that he rode upon them both, but on the foal only; for so it should be rendered, “upon an ass, that is, upon a colt, the foal of an ass” d. The Jews have a fable, that the ass Abraham saddled, when he went to sacrifice his son Isaac, was the foal of the ass that was created on the evening of the sabbath, that is, at the creation; and that the same Moses set his wife and sons upon, when he came out of Midian; and the same ass, they say, Messiah the son of David was to ride upon at his coming e; but one of such a prodigious age surely could not be called a colt, or a foal; however, this fable shows the conviction of their minds that this is a prophecy of the Messiah, and that they expected the Messiah to ride upon an ass, according to it, as our Messiah Jesus did. And the Greeks have another fable, which perhaps took its rise from this prophecy, that when Antiochus entered the temple at Jerusalem, he found in it an image of a man in wood, with a long beard, riding on an ass f. And a like falsehood is told by Tacitus g, that the Jews consecrated the effigies of an ass in the inmost part of the temple; because a flock of wild asses, as he pretends, directed them to fountains of water, when in the wilderness, and ready to die with thirst; and yet he himself afterwards says, the Jews have no images, neither in their cities, nor in their temple: and from hence it may be arose the calumny cast upon the primitive Christians, who were sometimes confounded with the Jews, that they worshipped an ass’s head; and which is refuted by Tertullian h.
r T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 56. 2. s T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 1. Vid. etiam ib. fol. 99. 10. t Zohar in Gen. fol. 127. 3. u Zohar in Numb. fol. 83. 4. in Deut. fol. 117. 1. 118. 3. Raya Mehimna apud ib. in Lev. fol. 38. 3. & in Numb. fol. 97. 2. w Bereshit Rabba, sect. 75. fol. 66. 2. x Bereshit Rabba, sect. 98. fol. 85. 3. y Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2. z Jarchi in Isa. xxvi. 6. Baal hatturim on Exod. fol. 88. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 15. 4. R. Abraham Seba, Tzeror Hammor, fol. 46. 2. Caphtor Uperah, fol. 81. 2. a “et salvatus ipse”, Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius “servatus”, Calvin, De Dieu. Schultens i observes, that , in the Arabic language, signifies large, ample, spacious, and denotes amplitude of riches, power, knowledge, happiness, and glory and in this place the word describes a king endued with most ample salvation, and brought into this amplitude out of poverty and straits, darkness and misery. b “Servabit seipsum”, Vatablus. c pauper, V. L. Calvin, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “inops”, Cocceius d “id est, super pullum”, Noldius. e Pirke Eliezer, c. 31. fol. 32. 1. Caphtor Uperah, fol. 81. 2. f Diodor. Sicul. Excerpta, l. 34. p. 901, 902. g Hist. l. 5. c. 3, 4, 5. h Apologet. c. 16. ad nationes, l. 1. c. 11. i Origines Hebr. l. 1. p. 18, 19, 20. & indicul. voc. Hebr. in calce ejus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Predictions Relating to Messiah. | B. C. 510. |
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
That here begins a prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom is plain from the literal accomplishment of the ninth verse in, and its express application to, Christ’s riding in triumph into Jerusalem,Mat 21:5; Joh 12:15.
I. Here is notice given of the approach of the Messiah promised, as matter of great joy to the Old-Testament church: Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. Christ is a king, invested with regal powers and prerogatives, a sovereign prince, an absolute monarch, having all power both in heaven and on earth. He is Zion’s king. God has set him upon his holy hill of Zion, Ps. ii. 6. In Zion his glory as a king shines; thence his law went forth, even the word of the Lord. In the gospel-church his spiritual kingdom is administered; it is by him that the ordinances of the church are instituted, and its officers commissioned; and it is taken under his protection; he fights the church’s battles and secures its interests, as its king. “This King has been long in coming, but now, behold, he cometh; he is at the door. There are but a few ages more to run out, and he that shall come will come. He cometh unto thee; the Word will shortly be made flesh, and dwell within thy borders; he will come to his own. And therefore rejoice, rejoice greatly, and shout for joy; look upon it as good news, and be assured it is true; please thyself to think that he is coming, that he is on his way towards thee; and be ready to go forth to meet him with acclamations of joy, as one not able to conceal it, it is so great, nor ashamed to own it, it is so just; cry Hosanna to him.” Christ’s approaches ought to be the church’s applauses.
II. Here is such a description of him as renders him very amiable in the eyes of all his loving subjects, and his coming to them very acceptable. 1. He is a righteous ruler; all his acts of government will be exactly according to the rules of equity, for he is just. 2. He is a powerful protector to all those that bear faith and true allegiance to him, for he has salvation; he has it in his power; he has it to bestow upon all his subjects. He is the God of salvation; treasures of salvation are in him. He is servatus—saving himself (so some read it), rising out of the grave by his own power and so qualifying himself to be our Saviour. (3.) He is a meek, humble, tender Father to all his subjects as his children; he is lowly; he is poor and afflicted (so the word signifies), so it denotes the meanness of his condition; having emptied himself, he was despised and rejected of men. But the evangelist translates it so as to express the temper of his spirit: he is meek, not taking state upon him, nor resenting injuries, but humbling himself from first to last, condescending to the mean, compassionate to the miserable; this was a bright and excellent character of him as a prophet (Matt. xi. 29, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart), and no less so as a king. It was a proof of this that, when he made his public entry into his own city (and it was the only passage of his life that had any thing in it magnificent in the eye of the world), he chose to ride, not upon a stately horse, or in a chariot, as great men used to ride, but upon an ass, a beast of service indeed, but a poor silly and contemptible one, low and slow, and in those days ridden only by the meaner sort of people; nor was it an ass fitted for use, but an ass’s colt, a little foolish unmanageable thing, that would be more likely to disgrace his rider than be any credit to him; and that not his own neither, nor helped off, as sometimes a sorry horse is, by good furniture, for he had no saddle, no housings, no trappings, no equipage, but his disciples’ clothes thrown upon the colt;’ for he made himself of no reputation when he visited us in great humility.
III. His kingdom is here set forth in the glory of it. This king has, and will have, a kingdom, not of this world, but a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of heaven. 1. It shall not be set up and advanced by external force, by an arm of flesh or carnal weapons of warfare. No; he will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem (v. 10), for he shall have no occasion for them while he himself rides upon an ass. He will, in kindness to his people, cut off their horses and chariots, that they may not cut themselves off from God by putting that confidence in them which they should put in the power of God only. He will himself undertake their protection, will himself be a wall of fire about Jerusalem and give his angels charge concerning it (those chariots of fire and horses of fire), and then the chariots and horses they had in their service shall be discarded and cut off as altogether needless. 2. It shall be propagated and established by the preaching of the gospel, the speaking of peace to the heathen; for Christ came and preached peace to those that were afar off and to those that were nigh; and so established his kingdom by proclaiming on earth peace, and good-will towards men. 3. His kingdom, as far as it prevails in the minds of men and has the ascendant over them, will make them peaceable, and slay all enmities; it will cut off the battle-bow, and beat swords into plough-shares. It will not only command the peace, but will create the fruit of the lips, peace. 4. It shall extend itself to all parts of the world, in defiance of the opposition given to it. “The chariot and horse that come against Ephraim and Jerusalem, to oppose the progress of Zion’s King, shall be cut off; his gospel shall be preached to the world, and be received among the heathen, so that his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth, as was foretold by David,” Ps. lxxii. 8. The preachers of the gospel shall carry it from one country, one island, to another, till some of the remotest corners of the world are enlightened and reduced by it.
IV. Here is an account of the great benefit procured for mankind by the Messiah, which is redemption from extreme misery, typified by the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon (v. 11): “As for thee also (thee, O daughter of Jerusalem! or thee, O Messiah the Prince!) by the blood of thy covenant, by force and virtue of the covenant made with Abraham, sealed with the blood of circumcision, and the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai, sealed with the blood of sacrifices, in pursuance and performance of that covenant, I have now of late sent forth thy prisoners, thy captives out of Babylon, which was to them a most uncomfortable place, as a pit in which was no water.” It was part of the covenant that, if in the land of their captivity, they sought the Lord, he would be found of them, Lev 26:42; Lev 26:44; Lev 26:45; Deu 30:4. It was by the blood of that covenant, typifying the blood of Christ, in whom all God’s covenants with man are yea and amen, that they were released out of captivity; and this was but a shadow of the great salvation wrought out by thy King, O daughter of Zion! Note, A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a spiritual prison; it is a pit, or a dungeon, in which there is no water, no comfort at all to be had. We are all by nature prisoners in this pit; the scripture has concluded us all under sin, and bound us over to the justice of God. God is pleased to deal upon new terms with these prisoners, to enter into another covenant with them; the blood of Christ is the blood of that covenant, purchased it for us and all the benefits of it; by that blood of the covenant effectual provision is made for the sending forth of these prisoners upon easy and honourable terms, and proclamation made of liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those that were bound, like Cyrus’s proclamation to the Jews in Babylon, which all those whose spirits God stirs up will come and take the benefit of.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verse 9:
Christ Presented As King At His First Coming
Verse 9 calls upon Judah, the daughter of Zion and Jerusalem, to rejoice greatly, expansively within, and shout out loudly an expression of that joy all over Jerusalem; Because her promised King was coming and she should announce His coming everywhere, Gen 49:10; Psa 2:11; Isa 9:7; See also Mat 21:5; Joh 12:15. This was the cry of the people on our Lord’s triumphal march into Jerusalem, as His crucifixion approached, Psa 2:6; Psa 45:1; Psa 110:1-4; Luk 19:38; Joh 12:12-15; Mar 11:1-10. He is declared to be just, or righteous, the Righteous One, who came to make man righteous by blotting out sin for every man, 2Co 5:21. As the one having, holding, or possessing salvation, Isa 45:21; Isa 53:11; Jer 23:5-6. He came to bring it to men, as the lowly, humble prince of peace, Isa 9:6; Isa 45:21-22; Act 22:14; 1Pe 3:18. He came riding a donkey, as an expression of His humility in service, to all men, to save at His first advent, not to reign. He came to atone for the “donkey sin”, stubbornness in every man, that men might be saved and ride a white horse, (not an ass) with Him at His second coming, Rev 19:11; Rev 19:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet here briefly shows the manner in which the Church was to be restored; for a king from the tribe and family of David would again arise, to restore all things to their ancient state. And this is the view given everywhere by the Prophets; for the hope of the ancient people, as our hope, was founded on Christ. Inasmuch then as things were as yet in a decayed state among the Jews, Zechariah here testifies that God had not in vain formerly spoken so often by his servants concerning the advent of a Redeemer, but that a firm hope was to be entertained, until the prophecies were in due time fulfilled. As then Zechariah has been hitherto speaking of the prosperous and happy state of the Church, he now confirms what he had said; and this was especially necessary, for they could not, as I have already said, have raised up their minds so as to feel confidence as to their salvation, without having a Mediator set before them. But as the faithful were then in great grief and sorrow, Zechariah here exhorts them to perseverance: for by bidding them to rejoice greatly, and even to shout for joy, he no doubt intimates, that though grief and sorrow took fast hold on their hearts, they ought yet to strive manfully, so as to receive the favor of God; for they must have a hundred times succumbed under their evils, had they not Christ before their eyes; not indeed in a carnal manner, but in the mirror of the word; as the faithful see in that what is far distant and even hidden from them.
We now then understand, first, why the Prophet here makes such a sudden reference to Christ; and secondly, why he does not simply exhort the faithful to rejoice, but encourages them greatly to exult as though they were already in a safe and most happy condition.
By the word king, the Prophet intimates, that except they thought God unfaithful in his promises, they were to entertain hope, until the kingdom of David, then apparently fallen, arose again. As God then would have himself acknowledged faithful, and his adoption counted fixed and ratified in the Messiah, it is no wonder that the Prophet now briefly refers to a king; for this mode of speaking was well known by the people. And we have also seen elsewhere, that when the Prophets speak of the safety of the Church, they mention a king, because the Lord designed to gather again the dispersed Church under one head, even Christ. And no doubt there would ever remain a dreadful dispersion, were not Christ the bond of union. He then says that a king would come. But he speaks not as of a king unknown; he only reminds them that God would be true and faithful to his promises. Now since the whole law, and adoption, must have vanished away, except Christ came, his coming ought to have been patiently waited for.
Further, that God’s children might be more confirmed, he says also that this king would come to the people, the daughter of Sion, as though he had said, that God, for the sake of the whole Church, had fixed the royal throne in the family of David: for if the king was to come, that he might indulge in his own triumphs, and be contented with pomps and pleasures, it would have been but a small and wholly barren consolation: but as God in determining to send the Messiah, provided for the safety of the whole Church, which he had promised to do, the people might here derive solid confidence. It is not then a matter of small moment, when the Prophet teaches us, that the king would come to Sion and to Jerusalem; as though he had said, “This king shall not come for his own sake like earthly kings, who rule according to their own caprice, or for their own advantage:” but he reminds us, that his kingdom would be for the common benefit of the whole people, for he would introduce a happy state.
He afterwards states what sort of king he was to be. He first names him just, and then preserved or saved. As to the word, just, it ought, I think, to be taken in an active sense, and so the word which follows: Just then and saved is called the king of the chosen people, for he would bring to them righteousness and salvation. Both words depend on this clause, — that there would come a king to Sion. If he came privately for himself, he might have been for himself just and saved, that is, his righteousness and salvation might have belonged to himself or to his own person: but as he came for the sake of others, and has been for them endued with righteousness and salvation; then the righteousness and salvation of which mention is made here, belong to the whole body of the Church, and ought not to be confined to the person of the king. Thus is removed every contention, with which many have foolishly, or at least, very inconsiderately, wearied themselves; for they have thought that the Jews cannot be otherwise overcome, and that their perverseness cannot be otherwise checked, than by maintaining, that נושע, nusho, must be taken actively; and they have quoted some passages of Scripture, in which a verb in Niphal is taken in an active sense. (102) But what need there is of undertaking such disputes, when we may well agree on the subject? I then concede to the Jews, that Christ is saved or preserved, and that he is said to be so by Zechariah.
But we must see what this salvation is which belongs to Christ. This we may gather from what is said by the Prophet. We are not then to contend here about words, but to consider what the subject is, that is, that a just and saved king comes to his chosen: and we know that Christ had no need of salvation himself. As then he was sent by the Father to gather a chosen people, so he is said to be saved because he was endued with power to preserve or save them. We then see that all controversy is at an end, if we refer those two words to Christ’s kingdom, and it would be absurd to confine them to the person of one man, for the discourse is here concerning a royal person; yea, concerning the public condition of the Church, and the salvation of the whole body. And certainly when we speak of men, we say not that a king is safe and secure, when he is expelled from his kingdom, or when his subjects are disturbed by enemies, or when they are wholly destroyed. When therefore a king, deprived of all authority, sees his subjects miserably oppressed, he is not said to be saved or preserved. But the case of Christ, as I have said, is special; for he does not exercise dominion for his own sake, but for the preservation of his whole people. Hence with regard to grammar, I can easily allow that Christ is called just and saved, passively; but as to the matter itself, he is just with reference to his people, and also saved or preserved, for he brings with him salvation to the lost; for we know that the Jews were then almost in a hopeless state.
He however at the same time adds, that the king would be saved, not because he would be furnished with arms and forces, or that he would defend his people after the manner of men; for he says, that he would be poor (103) He must then be otherwise preserved safe than earthly princes are wont to be, who fill their enemies with fear, who fortify their borders, prepare an army, and set up every defense to ward off assaults. Zechariah teaches us, that Christ would be otherwise preserved, as he would prove superior to his enemies through a divine power. As then he is poor, he must be exposed to all kinds of injuries; for we see, that when there is no earthly fortress, all the wicked immediately fly together as it were to the prey. If Christ then is poor, he cannot preserve his own people, nor can he prosper in his kingdom. It hence follows, that he must be furnished with celestial power, in order to continue himself safe, and in order to prevent harm to his Church; and this is what Zechariah will presently tell us, and more clearly express. It is now sufficient briefly to state his object.
He afterwards adds, Riding on an ass, the colt, the foal of an ass (104) Some think that the ass is not mentioned here to denote poverty, for they who excelled in power among the people were then in the habit of riding on asses. But it seems to me certain, that the Prophet added this clause to explain the word עני, oni, poor; as though he had said, that the king of whom he spoke would not be distinguished by a magnificent and splendid appearance like earthly princes, but would appear in a sordid or at least in an ordinary condition, so as not to differ from the humblest and lowest of the people. (105) He then bids the faithful to raise up their eyes to heaven, in order to come to the true knowledge of Christ’s kingdom, and to feel assured that righteousness and salvation are to be expected from him. How so? Because he will be accompanied with nothing that may strike men with fear, but will serve as an humble and obscure individual. We may also here add, that righteousness and salvation must be understood according to the character of Christ’s kingdom; for as the kingdom of Christ is not temporal or what passes away, we conclude that the righteousness he possesses is to be perpetual, together with the salvation which he brings. But I am not disposed ingeniously to speak here of the righteousness of faith; for I think, on the contrary, that by the word is meant here a right order of things, as all things were then among the people in a state of confusion; and this might be easily proved by many passages of Scripture.
The sum of the whole is, that the predictions by which God gave to his chosen people a hope of redemption were not vain or void; for at length in due time Christ, the son of David, would come forth, — secondly, that this king would be just, and saved or preserved; for he would restore things into order which were in a disgraceful state of confusion, — and thirdly, he adds, that this king would be poor; for he would ride on an ass, and would not appear in great eminence, nor be distinguished for arms, or for riches, or for splendor, or for number of soldiers, or even for royal trappings which dazzle the eyes of the vulgar: he shall ride on an ass
This prophecy we know was fulfilled in Christ; and even some of the Jews are constrained to confess that the Prophet’s words can be justly applied to none else. Yet they do not acknowledge as the Christ of God the Son of Mary; but they think that the Prophet speaks of their imaginary Messiah. Now we, who are fully persuaded and firmly maintain that the Christ promised has appeared and performed his work, do see that it has not been said without reason that he would come poor and riding on an ass. It was indeed designed that there should be a visible symbol of this very thing; for he mounted an ass while ascending into Jerusalem a short time before his death. It is indeed true, that the Prophet’s words are metaphorical: when he says, Come shall a king, riding on an ass, the words are figurative; for the Prophet means, that Christ would be as it were an obscure person, who would not make an appearance above that of the common people. That this is the real meaning is no doubt true. But yet there is no reason why Christ should not afford an example of this in mounting an ass.
I will adduce a similar instance: it is said in the twenty second Psalm, ‘They have cast lots on my garments.’ The metaphor there is no doubt apparent, which means that David’s enemies divided his spoils. He therefore complains that those robbers, by whom he had been unjustly treated, had deprived him of all that he had: and fulfilled has this been in a literal manner, so that the most ignorant must acknowledge that it has not in vain been foretold. We now then understand how well do these things agree — that the Prophet speaks metaphorically of the humble appearance of Christ; and yet that the visible symbol is so suitable, that the most ignorant must acknowledge that no other Christ but he who has already appeared is to be expected.
I omit many frivolous things, which in no degree tend to explain the Prophet’s meaning, but even pervert it, and destroy faith in prophecy: for some think that Christ rode on an ass, and also on a colt, because he was to govern the Jews, who had been previously accustomed to bear the yoke of the law, and that he was also to bring the Gentiles to obedience, who had been hitherto unnameable. But these things are very frivolous. It is enough for us to know what the Prophet means. It afterwards follows —
(102) The Septuagint, the Targum, and the Vulgate, render the word actively [ σωζων ] — Savior. It is so taken by Bochart, Grotius, Marckius, Dathius, Newcome, and Henderson. The reason given is, that there are instances of several verbs in Niphal having an active meaning. This is true; but this verb is found nineteen times in Niphal besides here, and invariably in a passive sense. This is quite sufficient to settle its meaning. Kimchi, Glassius, and Cocceius take this view. The last says that the reference is to his deliverance from his sufferings and his death. It is singular that this verse, at least a part of it, is quoted, and applied to Christ shortly before his crucifixion. Mat 21:4. The two verses, 9 and 10, are in a striking manner connected; there is a contrast between the end of the 9 and the beginning of the 10, and a correspondence between the end of the 10 and the beginning of the 9. The king shall ride lowly on an ass, — and the chariot and the horse shall be cut off; he shall be saved or preserved, — and the battle-bow shall be destroyed; then the correspondence, — he is righteous, i.e., just and faithful to his gracious promises, — and he shall speak peace to the nations; he is King, — and his dominion shall be from sea to sea. The two first lines are not to be included in the comparison, —
9. Exult thou greatly, daughter of Zion; Shout thou daughter of Jerusalem: Behold thy King, he shall come to thee; Just, and saved shall he be; Lowly, and he shall ride on an ass, Even on a colt, the foal of an ass:
10. And cut off shall I the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem; And cut off shall be the bow of war; And he will speak peace to the nations; And his dominion shall be from sea to sea, And from the river to the extremities of the land.
—
Ed.
(103) Pauper, [ עני ], rendered “[ πραυς ], meek” by the Septuagint; “humble,” by Newcome; and “lowly,” by Blayney and Henderson, and also by Kimchi, and the Targum. It may either mean a depressed and poor condition, or, as Blayney says, “the humility of his temper.” Both were true as to the king mentioned here. He was poor in condition, riding on a colt, and lowly also in mind, of which his procession was an evidence. — Ed.
(104) Literally it is, “the foal of she-asses,” which Kimchi explains, “the foal of one of the she-asses,” and adduces Jud 12:7, as an instance, where “in the cities of Gilead” means “in one of the cities of Gilead.” It is singular in the Septuagint, the Targum, and the Syriac. Th word is regarded by Grotius as including both sexes, “the foal of asses,” a pure foal, not a mule, its father and mother being of the asinine kind. So Newcome renders the phrase, “the foal of asses.” The probability is, that as the early versions give the singular, and as there seems to be no reason for the plural, it is a typographical mistake. — Ed.
(105) Newcome suggests another reason, “As horses are used in war, Christ may be supposed by this action to have shown the humble and peacable nature of his kingdom.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec. 9:10.] The nature and extent of Messiahs reign. Cut off] Remove instruments of war, and reign by peaceful means. Ends of the earth] Not a mere Jewish, but a universal, kingdom.
Zec. 9:11. Blood] The covenant scaled with sprinkled blood, the pledge. Prisoners] Jewish exiles in Egypt and Greece. Pit] An allusion to Gen. 37:24. Their distress great, like dungeons without water (Jer. 38:6).
HOMILETICS
THE PEACEFUL KING AND HIS GLORIOUS REIGN.Zec. 9:9-10
From the Grecian conqueror, and the temporal protection which Jehovah would accord to his people, the prophet abruptly (by the prophetic law of suggestion, Fausset), and in the most sublime and animated strain, calls the attention of the Jews to a Royal Personage of a very different character, the Messiah, meek and righteous, the Prince and pattern of peace, and the author of spiritual salvation to all his subjects. His advent was to be accompanied by such glorious results that it was to be hailed with the most joyful anticipation [Hend.].
I. The character of the King. The features refer to his personal and official character.
1. He is a righteous ruler. He is just. Just himself, and the means of justifying others before God. In character, principle, and practice, he is a righteous King, His administrations in providence and grace are conducted by laws of pure and unbending righteousness. Truth and uprightness are fixed on his throne. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints.
2. He is a benevolent ruler. Having salvation. Take these words actively or passively, he had power over death and the grave. He finished his work, rose to the right hand of God, and bestows gifts upon men. The design of his death was to honour God, and render salvation consistent with the claims of righteousness, that he might be a just God and a Saviour (cf. Rom. 3:26). He bestows salvation in its beginning here, and in its results hereafter. The Son of Man is not come to destroy mens lives, but to save them.
3. He is a lowly ruler. Lowly, and riding upon an ass. He had no war-horse richly caparisoned, and tossing his arched neckno imperial chariot, like Alexander. He was not cruel like Nero, nor proud like Herod, in disposition. He was lowly in his intercourse and triumphs. He linked greatness with humility, performed menial service to his disciples, and set himself as an example to all men. Learn of me; for I am meek, and lowly in heart.
Gentleness! more powerful than Hercules [Catherine II.].
II. The nature of his kingdom. It is not that of a worldly conqueror, nor is it confined to Jewish lands. It is peaceful, universal, and perpetual.
1. It is a peaceful kingdom. The symbol would remind the Jews of the prediction concerning The Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). No wars nor bloodshed were to disturb his reign. Peace hath its victories no less renowned than war. NoticeThat he was not to teach peace, nor command it; but to accomplish by a word, what earthly kings cannot do by force. He shall speak peace. He announces reconciliation to Jew and Gentile, and in his Word proclaims, Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near.
2. It is a universal kingdom. It is more extensive than the kingdom of Macedon, greater than that of the Emperor of All the Russias. As Solomon ruled the land of promise, and left no unconquered spot; so shall the Son of David reign from sea to seafrom the Atlantic to the Pacificfrom the river unto the ends of the earth. His subjects gathered from all nations, and kindreds, and people, no man can number. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him.
3. It is a perpetual kingdom. Solomons reign came to an end, and Alexanders empire was divided by his successors; but the throne of Christ shall endure for ever. Son culte se rajeunira sans cesse, wrote Renan. Suns may set, and moons may fade, but His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
III. The blessings of his reign. Rejoice greatly.
1. Great joy. The prophet, under the impulse of inspiration, invites the people to hail the coming of Messiah, in terms of exulting joy. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! It is not a reign of terror, but of happiness and joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
2. Perfect security. Freedom from the power and corruption of sin to the believer, protection and prosperity to all nations, are offered by his Word. He is King both of righteousness and peace. Many usurp the throne, league with craft, and rule in tyranny and oppression. Hence kings are dethroned, kingdoms short-lived, and subjects insecure. Happy and safe are his people. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
DELIVERANCE FROM THE PIT.Zec. 9:11
These words may be an invitation to Jewish exiles to return from the bondage of Egypt and Greece. But they relate to the spiritual conquests of the Messiah, and are the pledge of Jehovah to him, that his people (thy prisoners) shall be delivered from distress, exult in freedom, and through the blood of the covenant anticipate the blessings of the future.
I. The moral condition. Prisoners were confined in dungeons or pits dug for the purpose. Jeremiah was left to sink in the mire, and perish from thirst in the pit (Jer. 38:6). The pit indicates
1. Deep distress. Wherein is no water. Men are restless and dissatisfieddistressed by sin and the world, a broken law, and an accusing conscience. Estrangement from God brings anguish of soul. What exile from himself can flee? asks Byron. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?
2. Great darkness. Prisoners sit in darkness as well as in distress. The spiritual light of this world is darkness. The wisest only grope in uncertainty. Sinners walk in darkness, and live under the powers of darkness. Heaven above is shrouded in gloom, round about and within them dwells no light, and before them hangs the shadow of death (cf. Psa. 107:10). The Sun of Righteousness never penetrates their hearts. Their condition is like an Eastern sepulchrea land of darkness, as darkness itself, without any order (Job. 10:22).
3. Utter helplessness. Neither Joseph nor Jeremiah could get out of the pit. Captives in a dungeon cannot escape. Cursed by the law, and condemned before God, immured in darkness and degradation, men are ready to perish. God hath concluded (shut up as in a prison) them all (all mankind) in unbelief, the consequence of disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all (Rom. 11:32).
II. The price of deliverance from the pit. By the blood of the covenant.
1. A covenant of blood. The Jews were delivered through the covenant made at Sinai, and sealed with blood. In redemption there is no remission of sins without shedding of blood. But the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin. Ancient sacrifices were mere shadows, had to be repeated, and were inefficient. The blood of man is not required, and will not avail. None of them by any means can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. Christ alone can deliver us. In whom we have redemption through his blood.
2. A covenant without change. The price paid will not be required again. It avails for this and every age. Father and Son have taken solemn oaths, and sealed it by sacrifice. Natures covenant abides firm as heaven and earth. The Jewish covenant was not disannulled by the sins of the people. Gods purpose in Christ shall be realized. For thee also thy prisoners shall be delivered. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. They are incapable of being regretted, revoked, or changed (cf. Vaughan, Act. 11:29). Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you, concerning all these words.
III. The method of deliverance from the pit. I have sent forth. A beautiful expression, indicating
1. Mighty power. Nothing but Gods power can lift us up out of the horrible pit and miry clay, set our feet upon a rock, and establish our goings.
2. Wonderful grace. I have sent forth. God might have left us in the pit; but he is gracious, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.
3. Perfect liberty. Not only lifted out, but sent forth without fear or foe, like Peter from prison. That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Zec. 9:9. Here we have
1. The Divine in the form of the human.
2. The majestic in the form of the mean. The dignity is royal. Thy king cometh. Royalty surpassing all others.
3. The victorious by means of the moral. A king, but not the kind the Jews expected. His sceptre from heaven, and his glory gained through suffering. He had to borrow the colt, and who were his guards and attendants in his entrance in Jerusalem? (cf. Mat. 21:5; Joh. 12:15). In the whole history of Jesus we have a wonderful combination of humiliation and grandeur.
Zec. 9:9-10. Messiah is King of Zion. Happy the subjects who dwell under his shadow. He rules them, not with a rod of iron by which he bruises and breaks the power of his enemies, but with his golden sceptre of love. He reigns by his own right, and by their full and free consent in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of grace, to which they at all times have access, and from whence they receive the pardon of all their sins, grace to help in time of need, and a renewed supply answerable to all their wants, cares, services, and conflicts [John Newton].
Notice
1. The Great King.
2. The wonderful kingdom.
3. The strange way in which he comes to possess it. Riding upon an ass, &c. Majesty veiled in meekness, justice blended with mercy, drawing the attention, and receiving the homage, of multitudes.
4. The method by which he spreads it. I will cut off the chariot, &c.
Zec. 9:11. The sinners condition by nature, and his rescue by grace. The pit dark, dismal, and deep. The pit of corruption, or putrefaction and filth (Isa. 38:17). The release, condescending, reaching to the depth; and free, sent forth. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. I called upon thy name, O Lord; out of the low dungeon thou hast heard my voice. Covenant. The covenant love of God, and his faithful promise, sealed with blood, are the hope of the Church in time of trouble [Lange]. The word suggests thoughts of grace, privilege, and security, not attained in any other way. Our trust for this world and the next, not upon the voices of nature or conclusions of reason, but upon the promise of Goda promise which he hath chosen to present in the form of a compact, with stipulations (and sometimes when the stipulations were all on one side, Gen. 9:9), and not only so, but to confirm it by sacrifice [Lange].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9
Zec. 9:9-10. Thy king. Christ as a mere man was greatgreat in intellect, heart, purpose, action; as a Mediator, supremely great. But how does this great Being, Prince of the powers of the earth, enter Jerusalem? In a triumphal chariot?on a stately, prancing steed, accompanied by a magnificent cavalcade? No! On an ass. The more truly kingly a man is, the less he cares for conventional pageantry. Your great men have never cared for jewellery. The more ornaments are coveted, and dress is studied, the more mean and impoverished the soul. Heart of oak requires neither veneer nor varnish. A great age has never been an age of millinery and gold rings. The kingly soul does not care for the rose or the crown [Dr. Thomas].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH KING . . . Zec. 9:9-17
RV . . . Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations; and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water, Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee. For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man. And Jehovah shall be seen over them; and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord Jehovah will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south. Jehovah of hosts will defend them; and they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling-stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar. And Jehovah their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted on high over his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
LXX . . . Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim it aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, the King is coming to thee, just, and a Saviour; he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal. And he shall destroy the chariots out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow of war shall be utterly destroyed; and there shall be abundance and peace out of the nations; and he shall rule over the waters as far as the sea, and the rivers to the ends of the earth. And thou by the blood of thy covenant hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit that has no water. Ye shall dwell in strongholds, ye prisoners of the congregation: and for one day of thy captivity I will recompense thee double. For I have bent thee, O Juda, for myself as a bow, I have filled Ephraim; and I will raise up thy children, O Sion, against the children of the Greeks, and I will handle thee as the sword of a warrior. And the Lord shall be over them, and his arrow shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord Almighty shall blow with the trumpet; and shall proceed with the tumult of his threatening. The Lord Almighty shall protect them, and overwhelm them with sling-stones; and they shall swallow them down as wine, and fill the bowls as the altar. And the Lord their God shall save them in that day, even his people as a flock; for holy stones are rolled upon his land. For if he has anything good, and if he has anything fair, the young men shall have corn, and there shall be fragrant wine to the virgins.
COMMENTS
The predictions of this section find their immediate meaning in the Maccabean revolt and their ultimate fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. The victory of Judas Maccabee over Antiochus Epiphanes led the prophet quite naturally to exultation over Gods final victory through the Messiah.
For the sake of clarity we shall deal with the two aspects of this section separately, first as it applies to the Maccabean revolt, and afterward as it applies to the coming of Jesus Christ.
In order to understand the prophecies concerning the Maccabean war with the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV, it is helpful to review the history of Hellenism in the near east immediately following the death of Alexander the Great.
After nine years in Asia, Alexander began to doubt the wisdom of Aristotles instruction to him to treat the barbarians as slaves. He found in the aristocratic elements of Persia a refinement seldom seen among the temperamental and warring Greeks. He doubted that his uncouth Macedonians could replace these Persian nobles in successful administration of the conquered peoples of the orient.
He began to think of himself not as a Macedonian emperor ruling a conquered Persian empire but as a Graeco-Persian emperor ruling over Greeks and Persians as equals.
Pursuant to this policy Alexander married a Bactrian princess and encouraged his officers to follow his example. He opened the Persian land to Greek colonists and gave large dowries to his soldiers who would marry middle eastern women.
All this marked the beginning of the Hellenization of that part of the world which included the holy land and which was vital to the development of events in the Seleucid empire following the death of Alexander.
Another factor in Alexanders reign was to greatly influence the subsequent history of the holy land. He did not choose a successor. When he was dying in Babylon following a drinking bout at the age of thirty three (323 B.C.) he was asked to whom he would leave his empire. He answered simply, To the strongest.
Alexanders empire had no solid root. He was a Macedonian attempting to be Greek and he became almost a Persian. His attempt to Hellenize the orient resulted in no strong bond designed to hold the empire together. It was consequently no strange thing that it came apart, so to speak, shortly after his death.
The division came in five parts. Antipater took Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus ruled Thrace; Antigonus, Asia Minor; Ptolemy, Egypt; and most significant for our purposes, Seleucus took Babylon, including Palestine as far south as the southern border of Samaria.
A struggle insued between Seleucid Asia and Ptolemaic Egypt for control of what the Romans would later call Palestine. The original division gave Palestine south of Samaria to Ptolemy and it became part of Egypt. The Seleucids never agreed to this division, desiring full control of the trade route which passed through Damascus and Jerusalem.
From 312-198 B.C. the Ptolemies were able to resist the Seleucid attempts to wrest Judea from them by force. The Jews were allowed a large measure of local self-government. The ruling elements were the hereditary high priest and the gerousia or Council of Elders which had been established by Ezra and Nehemiah. The pattern of Orthodox Judaism from that time to now was set by the regulations passed by this body of seventy and called Dibre Soferim.
In effect this regulation simply attempted to prevent the Jews from succumbing to the Hellenistic pressures with which they were surrounded. Art, music, dress, customs, and most of all religion were over-shadowed by the synagogue chant of the rabbis, Shammai Israel, Adonai eleenu, Adonai echod, Hear O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
A concerted effort was made by the Hellenists to break down this resistance. Judea was ringed with a series of Greek settlements in league with the trans-Jordanian Decapolis. Each of these tantilized the Judeans with temples to Greek gods and goddesses, Academies, schools, gymnasiums and nude games.
The extent to which the Hellenizing efforts succeeded is seen in the fact that several young Jews submitted to surgery to remove the sign of the covenant so they would not be ridiculed when participating in the games.
Historians believe three factors prevented the complete overwhelming of the Jews by Hellenism. The persecution of Antiochus IV which drove the Orthodox underground and polarized public sympathy in their favor, the protection of the Romans which came at the request of the Maccabees, and the power and prestige of the Law of Moses which even the most Hellenistic Jews agreed came from God.
The persecution began in 198 B.C. when Antiochus III finally defeated the Ptolemys and Judea became part of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus III was received by the Jews as a liberator, but their joy was short-lived. His successor Antiochus IV proved to be a veritable despot. He appointed as high priest one Jason who was a leader of Hellenistic sympathizers in Jerusalem. An order came from Antiochus at Jasons request for the establishing of Greek institutions like those of the Decapolis in Jerusalem itself.
Unhappy with Jason for the slowness with which the Hellenizing of Judea was proceeding, Antiochus replaced him with Menelous. Menelous proceeded to get to the core of the matter. Jehovah was made one with the Greek Zeus and sacrifices were offered to them according to the Greek practice rather than the Jewish law.
Such shocking practice brought predictable consequences. The majority of the Jews swung to the Chasidim, or anti-Hellenist party. Antiochus IV declared himself Epiphanes or God made manifest.
In 168 B.C. Antiochus was defeated by the Ptolemaic Pharaoh Popilius, and Jerusalem received the mistaken report that he had been killed. Their celebration was cut short by Antiochus himself appearing on the scene.
Convinced that the Jews had been responsible for his failure in Egypt, he slaughtered thousands of them, robbed the temple, restored Menelaus whom the Jews had deposed and rededitated the temple to Zeus, He ordered the destruction of the altar, replaced it with a Greek altar and then committed the ultimate blasphemy by sacrificing a pig on it! Jews were forced on pain of death to eat pork so sacrificed. Jerusalem was razed by flames and the Jewish population was sold into slavery.
The entire reign of Antiochus Epiphanes was, and still is, known as the abomination of desolation, in Jewish historical writings.
During all this, the Chasidim preached guerilla resistance. Among those who went underground was one Mattathias of the house of Hasonai of the tribe of Aaron, and his five sons Judas, Simon, Eleazor, Jonathan and Johannan Caddis.
Mattathias began the active revolt by killing a Jew who was approaching the altar to offer a swine, and shouting, Whoever is zealous for the Law, and wishes to support the covenant, let him follow me. He had set the stage for every Jewish Zealot from then until now.
Upon Mattathais death, leadership of the revolt passed to Judas who was called Maccabee, the hammer. Judas was a saint in prayer and a terror in battle. Against great odds he defeated the Greek mercenaries at Emmaus. The victory was complete, yet Antiochus was not convinced. He sent an even larger force to wipe out the rebels.
These were in turn wiped out at Mizpah. In 164 B.C. Judas cleansed and rededicated the temple and restored the priestly services.
Upon the death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 163 B.C., his successor, Lysias, offered the Jews full religious freedom if they would disarm. The Chasidim consented. Judas refused, asserting that to be really religiously free the Jews must be politically free. This difference was the beginning of civil strife which produced the party of the Pharisees, who agreed with the Chasidim and the Sadducees whose political ambitions matched those of Judas.
Civil war ensued with the Maccabeans now persecuting those of the Hellenistic faction. Israel was engulfed in civil strife.
Judas was slain in 161 B.C. His successor, brother Jonathan, was killed in 143. The only surviving brother curried the favor of Rome and with the help of that growing power established Jewish independence in 142 B.C. Thus establishing the Hasmonian dynasty.
This period of independence prevailed, although torn by internal strife, until the coming of the Roman Legions seventy nine years later.
In Zec. 9:9-10 the prophet begins to rejoice. Now that the temple is built and the land has returned to Jehovah, the appearance of the Messianic King seems imminent. We will have more to say shortly about this King and His appearance.
In Zec. 9:11 -f the joyous coming of the Messiah is postponed by the stark reality of the present grim situation. The struggle with Greece must first be won. The disbursed are encouraged to return to their home land and join in the struggle. They have the promise that they will prevail (Zec. 9:13). Jehovah Himself will fight for them (Zec. 9:14-15). He will save them as His people (Zec. 9:16). The sling-stones of the Maccabees will eat the flesh of the Seleucids. The victorious rebels would be drenched with blood like the horns of the altar (Zec. 9:15) and in their victories they would shine like the glittering jewels of a crown (Zec. 9:16).
The fierce description of the struggle for independence from the Hellenizing Selecid Greek empire ends on a note of praise to God for His goodness.
THE MESSIANIC ASPECT OF ZECHARIAH . . . Zec. 9:9-17
It is indeed not strange that Zechariah should mingle his prophecy of Maccabean independence with that of the coming of Christ. The defeat of the Seleucids marked the last foreign presence in the holy land prior to that historic period in which Christ finally came. The excited rejoicing of the prophet is indeed understandable.
On the other hand, it is equally easy to see how the Jews of later times reading such intermingled predictions could cast their longed for Messiah in the mold of Judas Maccabee. The desire for political independence as a base for religious freedom would be as strong under Caesar as under Antiochus Epiphanes.
Nevertheless, when the Messiah did come, He scorned such a militarily attained and supported political kingdom to fulfill Gods ultimate purpose in blessing all the nations of the earth. It required His own resurrection from the dead to establish His Messianic identity in view of His renunciation of this worldly power and ambition.
(Zec. 9:9) Zechariah calls upon the theocratic people, Daughter of Zion . . . Daughter of Jerusalem to rejoice at the coming of her king. (cp. Psa. 2:11) He is not at all what she expected, but He is Messiah.
He is just, a characteristic attributed by the prophets to the Messiah in connection with salvation (cp. Isa. 45:21; Isa. 53:11, Jer. 23:5-6).
In contrast with Antiochus, whom the Jews mistakenly welcomed as a savior from Egyptian oppression but who came to destroy, the Messiah King will come to save.
He is lowly and He comes riding on an ass; hot the symbol of humiliation as some have supposed but the symbol of peace, as the horse was a symbol of war. Messiah will lead no armed revolt. He will not receive His kingly dominion from Satan (cp. Luk. 4:6-7) but by going the way of the suffering servant.
This verse finds its literal fulfillment in Jesus final entry into Jerusalem. (cp. Mat. 21:4-5)
(Zec. 9:10) Ephraim, symbolic of the northern tribes, and Jerusalem, symbolic of the southern are to be restored at Messiahs coming. The people will be restored to their full promised dominion (Gen. 15:18) from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
And beyond, He shall speak peace to all nations, His dominion shall be to the ends of the earth.
The Jews understood such passages to indicate that the Messiah would conquer the world, as had Alexander. Jesus showed the true sense when He commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth.
(Zec. 9:11-17) With the words, as for thee also, Zechariah turns to the coming deliverance from Greek oppression. It will be because of the covenant that the people will be rescued from the threat of complete extinction by Helienization.
Chapter XXXVIIIQuestions
The Triumph of Zion Through Her Messiah
1.
The theme of chapter nine is struck in verse _________________.
2.
This theme is the coming of the _________________.
3.
The term burden of the word of Jehovah is calculated to _________________.
4.
The first part of the oracle is concerned with the land of _________________.
5.
Hadrach is the symbolic name for _________________.
6.
This prediction was fulfilled c. 344 B.C. by the invasion of _________________. by _________________.
7.
Gods purpose to _____________ is the all-determining factor in every historic development.
8.
List the traditional enemies of Israel mentioned in chapter nine, and give the symbolic name of each as given by Zechariah.
9.
____________ was the southern-most of the Philistine cities mentioned here.
10.
What world conqueror fulfilled this predictive passage?. (Zec. 9:1-8)
11.
The predictions of this section find their immediate fulfillment in what historic event?
12.
The ultimate fulfillment of this passage is found in the coming of _________________.
13.
Describe the events leading to the Maccabean revolt.
14.
To what three factors do historians attribute the failure of the Greeks to completely Hellenize the Jews?
15.
Following the death of Alexander, the land of Palestine became at first part of what empire?
16.
Antiochus IV was called Epiphanes meaning _________________.
17.
Who were the Chasidim?
18.
Whom did Antiochus Epiphanes blame for his defeat at the hand of the Egyptian Ptolemies?
19.
What, in Jewish history, is referred to as the abomination of desolation?
20.
Who was Mattathias?
21.
Who was called the hammer?
22.
Upon the death of Antiochus IV, Lysias offered the Jews complete religious freedom if they would lay down their arms. Why did they refuse?
23.
What caused the Jewish civil war following their victory under Judas Maccabee?
24.
What was the origin of the party of the Pharisees?
25.
What was the origin of the Sadducees?
26.
What finally ended the internal strife which followed the Maccabean revolt?
27.
In Zec. 9:11 -f the joyous coming of the Messiah is postponed by _________________.
28.
Why does Zechariah mingle the prediction of the coming of Christ with that of the Maccabean revolt?
29.
Show how the Jews in later rimes confused these two predictions.
30.
What was Jesus attitude toward the desire of the Jews for a military independence and a political kingdom?
31.
Contrast Antiochus IV with the Messiah King.
32.
What is the symbolism of the ass upon which the Messiah would ride?
33.
What New Testament event fulfills this prediction?
34.
Beyond the traditional boundaries of Israel, the Messiah will speak peace to _________________.
35.
The Jews understood such passages to indicate that _________________.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(9) Having salvation.Better, saved. (Comp. the whole tenor of Psalms 2 and Eph. 1:19-23; also Act. 2:23-24; Php. 2:8; Heb. 5:9.)
Lowly.Better, afflicted. (Comp. Isa. 53:4.)
Of an ass.Literally, of she asses. (For this use of plural comp. Gen. 37:31; Jdg. 14:5.) Riding on an ass did not in later, as in earlier times (Jdg. 5:9, &c.), denote high rank, neither can it be proved that it is here intended to symbolise either peace or humility. But it does indicate an absence of pomp and worldly display. This prophecy was literally fulfilled by our Lords entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Mat. 12:15-20). We have no hesitation in saying that He deliberately, in view of this prophecy, performed that act, not merely in order to fulfil the prophecy, but rather as a symbolical act, by which He intended to correct the false notions concerning the mission of the Messiah entertained by His friends, as well as by His enemies. But our Lords consciousness that He was fulfilling prophecy, or even His deliberate intention of doing so, does not detract from the value of the act as a fulfilment of the prophecy. For, though it is true that any Jew might have fulfilled that part of the prophecy which consists in riding into the city on an ass, who would have done so amid the acclamations of the multitude, and so have been acknowledged as the expected king, except One, who, by the whole of His previous life, had already won the hearts of the multitudethough that many-headed monster thing did change its cry on the following Friday? Any one could have ridden in on an ass, but could any one have founded an almost universal religion?
The wording of this verse is borrowed from Mic. 5:9-13 rather than from Mic. 4:3; Isa. 2:4, and seems to indicate that when their King should come, the nation would be enjoying a certain political independence, but that their military power would have come to an end.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(9-17) The advent of the king. It has been urged as an objection against the post-exilic authorship of this passage that Ephraim and Jerusalem are mentioned, as though Israel were still separated from Judah. But, on the contrary, Ephraim and Jerusalem are here strictly parallel terms, as are also Judah and Ephraim (Zec. 9:13), where both are represented as equally opposed to the sons of Javan. The nation was now one (Eze. 37:22) and known by the names of Israel (Zec. 12:1; Mal. 1:1; Mal. 1:5), all the tribes of Israel (Zec. 9:1), also the house of Judah (Zec. 10:3; Zec. 10:6), house of Joseph and Ephraim (Zec. 10:6-7). For now that the dead bones of the whole house of Israel were revived (Eze. 37:11), and my servant David was about to be King over them (Eze. 37:24), the prophecy of Ezekiel (Eze. 37:16-17) was fulfilled, and the staves (tribes, shibhete) of Joseph and of Judah had become one in Gods hand. Hence the interchangeable terms. This passage is now generally admitted to be Messianic. But the prophecy was not to be immediately fulfilled. The nation had yet severe sufferings to endure and triumphs to achieve, viz. in those struggles with the sons of Greece which render the Maccabean period (B.C. 167-130) one of the most noble pages in Jewish history. Those who still remained in the land of their exile are exhorted to come forth (comp. Zec. 2:7-13), confident in the help of the Lord of Hosts, who would wield the reunited Judah and Ephraim (comp. Isa. 11:13) as His weapons of war (comp. Jer. 51:20); He Himself will appear as their champion, with the rolling of the thunder as His war-trumpet, the forked lightning as His arrows, the wild storm blowing from the southern desert, the resistless fury of His might. And then, when they had fought the good fight, and not before, God promises the flock His people the blessings of peace (Zec. 9:16-17).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The appearance of the Messianic king, 9, 10.
The overthrow of the nations (Zec 9:1-7) will prepare the way for the coming of the Messianic king, who will establish his throne in Zion and rule in righteousness and peace over the redeemed remnant. The king has no part in the overthrow of the hostile powers (Isa 9:1-7); this Jehovah himself will accomplish; only after the nations are overthrown will the king make his appearance.
In Zec 9:9 Zion is called upon to welcome the king.
Rejoice greatly shout The repetition is for the sake of emphasis; there is every reason for the greatest enthusiasm.
Daughter of Zion Jerusalem The expressions are synonymous, and refer to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (see on Zec 2:7).
Thy King The Messianic king mentioned so frequently in the prophetic writings (compare Isa 9:1-7; Mic 5:1 ff., etc.; see at the close of the comments on Mic 5:15).
Unto thee To set upon his throne there. 9b describes the king’s character and coming.
Just Or, righteous; both in his own personal life and in his administration (compare Isa 9:7; Isa 11:3-4).
Having salvation Margin R.V., “saved.” It is difficult to reproduce the exact sense of the Hebrew by one single word. The thought is that the king will enjoy at all times the divine help and favor, so that all he undertakes will prosper.
Lowly Literally, oppressed, or, afflicted. Because he himself will be of lowly estate he will be able to sympathize fully with those in similar condition. His interest will not be confined to the noble and wealthy.
Riding upon an ass The animal of peace; not upon a horse, which is the animal of war and royalty. The use of the ass is an indication of the peaceful character of the Messianic rule, and of the unpretentious character of the rider. The rest of the verse describes the ass more definitely as a young animal, but there is no special significance in the addition (Mat 21:2). It is interesting to compare with this passage Jer 17:25; Jer 22:4).
10. During the era of peace there will be no use for war implements, hence Jehovah not the Messianic king will destroy them (Isa 2:4; Isa 9:5; Mic 5:10-11).
Chariot horse battle bow These represent all implements of warfare.
Ephraim, Jerusalem The new nation will be composed of elements representing both kingdoms. Ephraim=Israel; Jerusalem=Judah. That Jehovah himself will do these things is in perfect accord with other Messianic utterances (Isa 9:5; Mic 5:10); hence there is no good reason for altering the text so as to read, “and he will cut off.”
Speak peace His word will be of sufficient weight to maintain peace among the nations. This implies that his authority will be acknowledged not only by the Jews, but by other nations as well (Isa 2:4), a thought emphasized in the next clause (compare Psa 72:8; Mic 7:12).
From sea to sea Not as in Amo 8:12, where the author is thinking only of Palestine. The territory over which the Messianic king will rule is more extensive. One sea is probably the Mediterranean; the other, the ocean thought to mark the end of the earth in the opposite direction.
The river As often, the Euphrates.
The ends of the earth The vaguely defined regions in the extreme west. These expressions are not to be interpreted in a strictly literal sense; they are used simply to indicate the unlimited extent of the Messianic kingdom.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Coming of God’s King Who Will Deliver His People ( Zec 9:9-10 ).
This establishment of the security of God’s people will be brought about by the coming of its King. He will not come as a warrior, but as a just and lowly Saviour, bringing salvation to God’s own (Zion). So the proud will have been brought low (Zec 9:2-6) while the lowly will triumph.
Zec 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, Oh daughter of Zion, shout, Oh daughter of Jerusalem, behold your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on an ass, even on a colt, the foal of an ass.”
God’s coming protection is now connected with His coming king. His coming should cause great rejoicing. Yet He does not come as a mighty world conqueror, for He is lowly. But He brings what is better. He brings justice and He brings deliverance. He is the lowly and just Deliverer. His lowliness is in stark contrast with the pride of Tyre. Salvation is not to be found in riches and prosperity, but through lowliness and righteousness and justice.
‘Just.’ The One Who comes will come bringing justice. When Israel as a whole thought of their coming Messiah their stress tended to be on His deliverance. (They wanted to be like Tyre). Had they recognised that He would render truly according to men’s desserts they might have been a little less enthusiastic. Like all men they tended to play down their own sins compared with the sins of others. When He came an account would have to be given. Only those who were truly righteous or who sought true righteousness had cause to welcome His coming.
‘Having salvation.’ He it is Who will bring about the fulfilment of God’s promises to His people and the world. He brings salvation and deliverance for all men as the prophets elsewhere make clear. But this is deliverance from themselves and their sins as well as from others.
‘Lowly.’ The word means ‘poor, afflicted, lowly’. It was the word that all overlooked. He would thus be despised and rejected by man but acknowledged by God (Isa 53:3).
‘On an ass.’ Riding on an ass is not necessarily symbolic of lowliness. The ass was regularly the beast on which kings rode in honour (see 1Ki 1:33; 1Ki 1:44). But it is a symbol of peace not of war. It was the triumphant conqueror who rode on a warhorse. When Jesus wished to reveal Himself as the One Whom God had sent He rode into Jerusalem on an ass not a warhorse.
Only God could have foreseen that the One Who would transform the world would be such as is described here.
Zec 9:10
“And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off. And he will speak peace to the nations, and his dominion will be from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
The remarkable nature of the prophecy continues. This coming king will not operate through chariots, war horses and battle bows. These will not be required and will be disposed of. His weapons will be words of peace for the nations, and His lordship will be worldwide in its effect. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and reaching even to the ends of the earth.
‘Ephraim’. As a large tribe Ephraim was often utilised as a synonym of Israel. ‘The River’ is the river Euphrates. (Note here that it is Ephraim and Jerusalem who now represent the whole people of God. To Zechariah the terms Israel, Ephraim, Joseph and Judah can all refer to God’s whole people.)
‘From sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.’ The description is intended to be all-inclusive.
So the coming king will come in lowliness and poverty, He will be just and righteous and will bring deliverance to mankind, He will avoid all signs of war, He will come speaking words of peace and He will exercise worldwide control. This is in interesting conflict with what follows, demonstrating that the latter is not the work of the Messianic prince.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Zion’s King of Peace and his Salvation
v. 9. Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion! v. 10. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephralm and the horse from Jerusalem, v. 11. As for thee also, v. 12. Turn you, v. 13. when I have bent Judah for Me, as a bow in the hand of Jehovah, filled the bow with Ephraim, v. 14. And the Lord shall be seen over them, v. 15. The Lord of hosts shall defend them, v. 16. And the Lord, their God, shall save them In that day as the flock of His people, v. 17. For how great is His goodness,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Zec 9:9. He is just, and having salvation The righteous one, and the Saviour. After having foretold the victories of the Maccabees, the prophet in a sudden transport breaks forth into a joyful representation of the coming of the Messiah. Behold, thy King cometh, &c. namely, that Messiah so often described in the prophets as the king of Israel, and called elsewhere by the name of David their king. He is the righteous one and the Saviour; the Lord our Righteousness; who shall execute justice and judgment in the earth, and perfect the salvation of his faithful people: unlike the proud and ruinous conquerors of the earth, he shall not enter with a mighty cavalcade of horse, but shall come lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. To elucidate this remarkable circumstance, which was fulfilled by the blessed Jesus when he entered Jerusalem in the manner here foretold, the learned Bishop Sherlock recurs to that original command in the law, that the kings of Israel should not multiply horses to themselves; because, being under the immediate dominion and protection of the Lord, they were not to put their trust in external defence. See the note on Deu 17:16. The kings of Israel were exalted to the throne on condition that they should renounce the assistance of horses and horsemen, and depend on God for success in the day of battle. They who did so, were proportionally successful; they who did not, ruined themselves and their country. Now, in this view, look to the present prophesy: you see here, what the king foretold was, who was to save the people: consider then what sort of a king was to be expected. Is it possible to imagine that God would send a king to save them, who should be like the kings that had undone them? Is it not more reasonable to imagine, that he should resemble those who had indeed been deliverers of their country?Kings who feared God, and therefore feared no enemy; who, though mounted on asses, and colts the foals of asses, were able to put to flight the thousands and ten thousands of chariots and horses that came against them? The king foretold by the prophet was, moreover, to be just, meek, and lowly: but how could he have deserved this character, had he appeared in the pomp and pride of war; surrounded with horses and chariots, in direct opposition to the law of God? Or how, as he was to bring salvation to the people, could he make use of those means which God never prospered, and which he had sufficiently declared he never would? You see then how essential it was to the character of a king of Israel, who was to be just, and lowly, and to bring salvation with him, that he should come riding on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. But, if any doubt can yet remain, let the prophet himself explain it, who, immediately after his description of the promised king, adds, And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; plainly shewing that the character given of the Messiah, that he should ride on an ass, was in opposition to the pride of their warlike kings, who, by their great strength in chariots and horses, had ruined themselves and their people. To the same purpose speaks the prophet Hosea; ch. Zec 1:7 and Micah, ch. Zec 5:10-11 passages which mutually support and enlighten each other, and shew undeniably what the prophet had in view, when he foretold that the Messiah should ride on an ass.And what is there in all this to make sport for unbelievers?Does it appear from the Jewish law, and the Jewish history, to be a mere trifling circumstance in the character of a king of Israel, whether he had chariots and horses of war or no? Or, was it any reproach to Christ to ride into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, when David, the greatest of his ancestors, and Solomon the wisest, as long as he was wise, rode in the same manner? Can the Jews object to this circumstance, and yet talk of the glories of David and the magnificence of Solomon, who, in the midst of all their glory and magnificence, did the very same thing?Or, can they stumble at this character of the Messiah, without forgetting by what princes their ancestors were saved, and by what undone? See Bishop Sherlock on Prophesy, Dissert. 4: p. 379.
Riding upon an ass, &c. The riding at all on a horse is esteemed a very honourable thing in the east. Accordingly, horses are used in no other motions there than that of walking in state, and running in full career. For this reason, Dr. Pocock tells us that the chous of the janizaries at Cairo always goes on an ass for greater speed, those creatures pacing along very fast: whereas it is contrary to the Turkish dignity to go on a horse faster than a foot-pace in the streets. Riding on horseback is in the Levant accounted an honourable thing; and they ride them accordingly in a very stately manner. And indeed, this has so struck some of our western travellers, Dr. Russell in particular, that they have frankly confessed, that a great man of the east, riding on horseback, and attended by his servants, has appeared much more stately and dignified to them, than one of ours does in his coach, loaded with footmen: in truth, the people of these countries must be allowed to be exquisite connoisseurs as to every attitude and every circumstance which serves to ennoble the appearance of a person, and render it stately and majestic. The prophet Zechariah seems accordingly to have supposed this sort of sensibility, when he describes the coming of the Messiah to Zion, as meek and lowly, because he was to make his entry on an ass: for, this attaching of stateliness and dignity to the riding on a horse obtained in Judaea before the time of Zechariah, though it had been always so in that country; the greatest personages, and on the most solemn occasions too, riding there in more ancient times on asses and mules. It seems to have begun in the reign of Solomon, in whose days we are told many horses were brought out of Egypt; and who evidently touches upon the pomp supposed to be in the riding upon horses, Ecc 10:7. We have already taken notice of this passage on 2Ki 4:24. But Dr. Russell’s account of persons of condition riding on horseback, with a number of servants walking before them, is a much more perfect illustration of a passage which speaks of those that ride, as riding on horses. I have seen servants riding in state, was the declaration of the wise man,while persons of great birth, in countries where dignity is kept up with the nicest care, he had seen walking like servants before those that rode. See the Observations, p. 284.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2. ZIONS KING OF PEACE.
Zec 9:9-10
A. The Character of the King (Zec 9:9). B. The Nature and Extent of his Kingdom(Zec 9:10)
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion,
Shout,16 daughter of Jerusalem,
Behold, thy king cometh to17 thee,
Just and saved is He,
Afflicted and riding upon an ass,
Even upon a colt, the she-asses18 foal,
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
And the horse from Jerusalem,
And the battle-bow shall be cut off;
And he shall speak peace to the nations,
And his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
And from the river to the ends of the earth.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
From the description of deliverance wrought and blessings conferred by means of destructive judgments upon the heathen, the Prophet turns abruptly to a royal personage who is to appear without armies or weapons, and yet will establish general peace and set up a kingdom of unlimited extent.
Zec 9:9. Rejoice. The value of this blessing is expressed by a summons to joy in view of it. Cocceius justly says, that the summons itself contains a prophecy. Daughter of Zion, see on Zec 2:7-10. The Prophet says, Behold! as if he saw the animating spectacle, thy kingnot any ruler, but thine, i. e., the one long promised and expected (Psalms 45, 82.), he who alone is thy king, in the highest sense of the word.
This king is described by four features of character and condition: (1.) Just. The leading virtue in a king, and hence emphasized in the Messianic utterances (Isa 11:3-5; Jer 23:5; Psa 45:6-7). (2.) Saved. is rendered actively by all the ancient versions (Luther, Grotius, Marckius, Henderson); but the participle is Niphal which, although it may be reflexive, is never active save in verbs which have no Kal form. Calvin, Cocceius, and most of the moderns, give the passive rendering. A tertium quid has been sought by Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, in the sense endued with salvation, but for this I can see no authority in the passages quoted (Deu 33:29; Psa 33:16). Pressel follows Frst in rendering victorious, which is arbitrary. Nor is there here an exigentia loci, as Henderson claims; for the king is saved not for his own sake only, but for his peoples, and the blessing, therefore, is not a personal one, but extends to all his subjects. Thus the passive suits the connection. (3.) Afflicted, . The root =to be bowed down, in its primary sense, of bowed by outward circumstances=afflicted, gives the adjective found here, but in the secondary sense of inwardly bowed, gives the adjective =meek, patient, lowly. While there is a constant tendency of the two significations to pass into each other, yet the distinction is generally maintained, and is found coupled with , ,. The E. V. is sustained by the LXX. (), Targum, Kimchi, and most of the moderns, who cannot see the relevancy of this feature to the character of a triumphant king. But our king triumphs through suffering. His crown springs out of his cross. Hence we agree with the Vulgate (pauper), Aben Esra, Calvin, Cocceius, Hengstenberg, Tholuck, Keil, in considering this one word as summing up the elaborate picture of suffering contained in Isaiah 53. It is true, Matthew (Mat 21:5) apparently sustains the other view, but he merely quotes the LXX as he found it, without endorsing its absolute accuracy in all particulars. Besides, he omits two of the traits mentioned, and dwells only on the last one, for the sake of which his quotation was manifestly made. (4.) Biding upon an ass. Lit., upon an ass, even upon a young ass, a foal of she-asses. The is epexegetical, just as it is in 1Sa 17:40, in a shepherds bag, even in a scrip. is simply the plural of species. Gen 21:7 : who would have said that Sarah should give children suck? Yet Sarah had but one child. In this case the youthfulness of the animal is emphasized, since the expression implies that it was one not yet ridden, but still running behind the she-asses. But what does this trait mean? Many affirm that it points to the peaceful character of the king, as set forth in the next verse. But this does not account for the marked emphasis given to the youth of the animal. It is better therefore (Hengstenberg, Keil, etc.) to regard it as a token of poverty and meanness. The ass was indeed ridden by distinguished persons in the early days of Israel when horses were not used at all; but after the time of Solomon no instance occurs of its being employed on state occasions. That this king should ride not upon a horse but upon an ass, and that an untrained foal, indicated how far he should be from possessing any worldly splendor. The close correspondence between this account and our Lords entry into Jerusalem is well known; and Matthew (Mat 21:4) and John (Joh 12:15) speak of the latter as a fulfillment of the former. And while it is true, as Vitringa says, that the prophecy would have been fulfilled in Christ, even if He had not made his entry into Jerusalem in this manner; still it is apparent that our Lord designedly framed the correspondence which we observe, and that he intended thus to embody the thought which lies at the basis of the whole passage, namely, that the king Messiah would rise through lowliness and suffering, to might and glory, and would conquer the world not by arms but by suffering and dying.
Zec 9:10. This verse describes the character and extent of the Messiahs kingdom. And I will cut off, etc. Not only will this king extend his reign by peaceful methods, but all the instruments of war will be effectually removed from his people. The chariot, the horse, and the battle-bow are merely specifications, standing for the whole class of offensive weapons, which are to be cut off. This last word is the one used above (Zec 9:6) in reference to the pride of the Philistines, and denotes extermination. Both passages rest upon Mic 5:10-11. The Lord will take away all the outward defenses upon which a carnal reliance is placed. The occurrence of the word Ephraim here does not prove that this prophecy was written before the exile, but only that Zechariah uses the familiar designation of the different parts, of the country which still survived after the separation of the two kingdoms had ceased. See mention of Israel in Zec 8:13. the post exilium origin of which is admitted by all. Speak peace, not that He will teach peace, nor command peace, nor speak peacefully, but that He will speak peace, and that effectually, accomplishing by a single word what worldly kings bring about only by force of arms (cf. Psa 72:6-7; Mic 5:5). He will do so not merely to the covenant people, but to the nations at large. This point is farther expanded in the boundaries assigned to his sway. From sea to sea, etc. The expressions are borrowed from the statement of Israels bounds in Exo 23:31, whence some (Eichhorn, Hitzig) have inferred that they mean simply the restoration of the earthly Israel to its widest geographical limits. But there are changes in the phraseology which compel a different view. Instead of saying, from one particular sea to another, Zechariah leaves out all qualifying epithets and even the articles, so that the first clause must mean, from any one sea to any other, even the most distant, or from any sea around to the same point again. The other clause will mean, from the Euphrates, or from any other river as a terminus a quo, to the ends of the earth. with the article always means the Euphrates, and probably does so here, but an equivalent sense may be gained by the alternative rendering given above. What is meant is that the kingdom should be strictly universal. Our passage is a reproduction of Psa 72:8.
The History of the Interpretation. The early Jewish authorities held that the Messiah is the subject. Thus the Book of Zohar, On this account it is said of Messiah, Lowly and riding upon an ass. The same view is given by Joshua ben Levi, Saadias-Gaon, and others. The testimonies may be found in Wetstein on Mat 21:4. Jarchi, known among the Jews as the prince of Commentators, declares that it is impossible to interpret it of any other than the Messiah. In the twelfth century other opinions prevailed. One found in the Bab. Talmud evaded the difficulty by saying, If the Israelites are worthy, the Messiah will come with the clouds of heaven (Dan 7:13); if they are unworthy, he will come poor and riding upon an ass (Zec 9:9). Another resorted to the device of two Messiahs, one of whom should be suffering, and the other, triumphant. Yet manifestly it is one and the same person who is described by the Prophet as uniting in himself the extremes of majesty and humiliation,a combination which on the New Testament view of the case is intelligible and self-consistent, but on any other quite impossible. Alien-Ezra refuted the opinion of Rabbi Moses, the priest who referred the prophecy to Nehemiah, but himself went as far astray by interpreting it of Judas Maccabus. There were those, however, who adhered to the Messianic interpretation, and resorted to strange expedients to get rid of the implication of weakness and lowliness. One of these was the fable that the ass created at the end of the six days of creation was the same which Abraham saddled when he went to offer Isaac, and which Moses set his wife and sons upon when he came out of Egypt; and that this distinguished animal was to bear the Messiah. Another was that the ass of King Messiah should be of an hundred colors. The more intelligent expositors (Kimchi, Abarbanel, et al.) explained the reference to the ass as a sign of humility. It is supposed that this prophecy in some way gave rise to the foolish statement of Tacitus, that the Jews consecrated the image of an ass in the inmost shrine of their temple, and hence probably arose the calumny upon the early Christians, who were often confounded with the Jews, that they worshipped an asss head,a fable which Tertullian takes the trouble to confute (Ad Nationes, i. 11).
Among Christians the reference to Christ was uniform until the time of Grotius, who asserted that its first and literal application was to Zerubbabel, but that in a higher sense it referred to our Saviour. This view excited universal displeasure, and called forth a host of replies, the first of which was written by Bochart. Such a view refutes itself. Later, the rationalists felt themselves pressed by the same difficulty as the Jews. They could easily account on natural principles for the anticipation of a Messiah in glory, but were quite unable in this way to explain the prophecy of a suffering Messiah. They therefore resorted to the Jewish evasions, and sought for somebody else than Christ as the subject. Bauer chose Simon Maccabus; Paulus, John Hyrcanus; Forberg, King Uzziah. But the most (Eichhorn, Gesenius, Ewald, etc.) devised the theory of an ideal Messiah, maintaining that this and all other similar prophecies arose simply from the vague expectation that there would appear in the future some great deliverer springing from the Davidic line, who after enduring great personal trials would institute a righteous government, restore the nation to its old prosperity, and overcome its unjust oppressors. So that what the New Testament considers a distinct prediction of the Messiah is merely a patriotic dream. For a thorough refutation of this preposterous theory, see Hengstenbergs Christology, Appendix Zechariah 5 : For a brief outline, see Theological and Moral, 3.
DOCTRINAL AND MORAL
1. Here is an unequivocal prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is so declared, as we have seen, by the New Testament. It is confirmed by a very peculiar proceeding on the part of our Lord,his triumphal entry into Jerusalem,which was simply exhibiting in symbol what is here expressed in words. It contains striking parallels with other passages unquestionably Messianic; such as the boundaries of the kingdom compared with Psa 72:8, and the destruction of foes compared with Mic 5:9. But the strongest evidence is found in the contents of the prophecy itself. It presents a person in whom the greatest grandeur, magnificence, power, and influence are associated, without confusion or contradiction, with the greatest humility, gentleness, poverty, suffering, and weakness. No judge, king, or ruler of any sort in all Jewish history ever united in his character or experience these two extremes. None was so lowly, none so exalted. None without arms spoke peace even to his own people, much less to the heathen, and least of all to the entire known world. It is true of only one being in all human history that he had not where to lay his head and rode upon an ass, and yet acquired a limitless dominion over land and sea.
2. What other kings accomplish by force, Zions king effects without weapons or armies. Our Lord told Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. Pilate in surprise said to Him, Thou art a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest [the truth], for I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth; every one that is of the truth heareth my voice (Joh 18:37). Truth, the revealed truth of God, is the only weapon this great conqueror employs, and yet with it He has built up the mightiest kingdom the earth has ever seen. It was an unconscious prophecy when the inscription over his cross, This is the King of the Jews, was recorded in three languages, indicating the comprehensive and far-reaching extent of the spiritual monarchy thus founded. Christs followers in different ages have been slow to learn the lesson, and have often invoked the secular arm, but always to their own damage. They that take the sword shall perish by the sword. But the weapons which are not carnal are mighty through God. They have pulled down many a stronghold, have dismantled many an intellectual fortress, and time and again have brought the worlds best thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
3. The later criticism altogether denies the existence of Messianic prophecies in the sense in which the historical Church has from the beginning held that they were contained in the Scriptures. This school maintains that what is called the Messianic idea arises out of the dissatisfaction which men in every age have had with the existing condition of things. Deeming the continuance of this inconsistent with the benevolence of God, they instinctively longed and looked for a regeneration of humanity, when all things would be restored to the state originally designed by the Creator. Hence the classic expectation of a golden age. Moreover, every man is dissatisfied with his own moral condition as well as with that of the race. He is weak and imperfect. He does not live in harmony with what he knows to be true and right. Thence arises the ideal of a perfect man, of one whose whole mode of thought, feeling, and action is in accordance with the highest and purest truth. This is the idea of the Messiah of God. But as no such Messiah is to be found within or around us, it is natural to look for Him in the same future in which we expect the regeneration of society. And the more so as we know by observation how much the advancement of the race has depended upon the appearance from time to time of single persons distinguished by lofty endowments. Now this Messianic idea was developed in a very high degree among the Jews, because they had more of the general spirit of prophecy than other nations. The Hebrew Prophet was a man of genius, enthusiasm, and intense moral energy. His pure reason, illumined of God, enabled him to understand the character of the divine government and foresee events hidden from common eyes. His exalted imagination and sensitive conscience presented to him the visions of God. Thus he foresaw not only the general triumph of truth and the exaltation of Israel, but also the means by which these were to be obtained, namely, the Messiah, which term sometimes means a Jewish King, at others the Jewish people, and in a third class of instances, the better portion of that people. But these predictions were always in their nature subjective; their authors neither had nor thought they had any objective revelation made to them of actions or events in the life of any future historical person. They were great and excellent men, but not directly inspired nor infallible. And all their sayings can be easily explained by the actings of their own minds according to the time and the circumstances in which they were placed.
A detailed refutation of this ingenious argument would be beyond the limits of a Commentary. It is enough to say that the parallel instituted between Ethnic and Hebrew views on the subject does not hold. The former were mere scattered, vague, and individual suggestions respecting the future, and even these, there is good reason for supposing, were mere echoes of the voice of the Old Testament or traditions from the primeval revelation which filtered down through the ages. Among the Hebrews, on the contrary, the idea of the Messiah was the central thought of their Scriptures and the organizing basis of their national existence. The statement of it begins with the protevangelium in Genesis, and passes with a closer definition and a greater development through Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah, and at last terminates with Malachi, who closed the Hebrew Canon. What was at first a promise to the race, limits itself in succession to a nation, to a tribe, to a family. The person set forth is described in turn as a prophet, as a priest, as a king, or as a combination of any two, or of all three, of these characters; and sometimes as in a state of great humiliation and suffering, and again, as in a position of the greatest power and glory. And the writers all with one consent speak of the conception not as a suggestion of their own minds, but as a disclosure from without or rather from above. Their common formula is, Thus saith the Lord. And it is not possible to reconcile their honesty with the view that they were uttering merely subjective notions. Moreover, the origin and continuance of the nation are traced to the divine purpose of sending a Messiah. For this Abraham was called from Ur of the Chaldees, the line of his posterity carefully preserved, Israel kept in Egypt, afterwards put in possession of the promised land, the Mosaic economy instituted, priests and kings and prophets raised up, the nation long maintained, then exiled, and then restored. Their theocratic constitution was not owing to a blind and odious particularism, but was the result of Gods wisdom in choosing one race to be the depository of the truth and blessing destined one day to be coextensive with the race. The Jews were trustees for the whole human family. It pleased God to make a gradual and thorough preparation through a long tract of ages for the full and final revelation of his grace. The seed of Abraham was simply the means by which this preparation was accomplished. On this view of their history, all its parts and features are easily understood, and are seen to constitute merely successive stages in the development of Gods purpose to bring many sons unto glory through a captain of salvation. On any other view it is a mystery which baffles all thought and comprehension. But what was a mystery before the coming of Christ is an open secret under the Gospel, and the key which fits all the wards of the lock must be the right one. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The remarkable correspondence between his life, words, and works, and the hints and promises and types and predictions of the Old Testament, indicate beyond question to any unprejudiced person, a presiding mind which cordinated the two Testaments, and brought about that wondrous harmony of theme and tone which is wholly unexampled in all human literature. And this Messiah objectively revealed is not only the link between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek, but the one great thought which gives purpose, symmetry, and consistency to the entire scheme of the Old Testament.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Moore: Zec 9:9. Christians should be happy. No people have a better right or a better reason to rejoice. A suffering people can find great comfort in the fact that they have a suffering Saviour (Heb 4:15).
Zec 9:10. War will cease on the earth only when wickedness ceases, and wickedness will cease only when Christs universal empire begins.
Wordsworth: It is remarkable that St. Johns narrative of the triumphal entry of Christ, riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, is immediately followed by the mention of an incident in the history: Certain Greeks wished to see Jesus. The entry itself was like a vision of the coming of the Gentile world to Jesus; these Greeks were its first fruits.
Jno. Newton: Messiah is king of Zion. Happy the subjects who dwell under his shadow. He rules them not with the rod of iron by which He bruises and breaks the power of his enemies, but with his golden sceptre of love. He reigns by his own right, and by their full and free consent, in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of grace to which they at all times have access, and from whence they receive the pardon of all their sins, grace to help in time of need, and a renewed supply answerable to all their wants, cares, services, and conflicts.
Footnotes:
[16]Zec 9:9.Shout, E. V., is the exact rendering of , which means, to make a load noise; whether of joy or sorrow depends upon the context.
[17]Zec 9:9.. Not only to thee, but for thee, for thy good. Cf. Isa 9:5.
[18]Zec 9:9.The E. V., foal of an ass, by making the last noun a singular instead of a plural, misses the emphasis laid upon the youth of the animal as one not yet old enough to go by itself.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1252
THE ADVENT OF JESUS A GROUND OF JOY
Zec 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation: lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
THERE is scarcely any circumstance relating to the life and death of Christ which was not made a subject of prophecy many hundred years before he came into the world. Even things the most improbable in themselves were predicted, that by their accomplishment the truth of his divine mission might be more fully manifest. That the words before us do indeed relate to him, is certain; because the voice of inspiration assures us that they were fulfilled when he entered into Jerusalem riding on the foal of an ass. In discoursing on them we shall consider,
I.
The description here given of Jesus
In his office he is the King of Zion
[The whole universe is under his dominion, seeing that he is King of kings, and Lord of lords. But he is in a more eminent manner King of Zion, because all the members of Zion are his subjects willingly and by an unfeigned surrender of themselves to him. They gladly receive his laws; and he constantly affords them his protection. As the Church in the wilderness was under a visible theocracy, so is the Church in all ages, and every individual in the Church, really, though invisibly, under the care and government of Jesus [Note: Eph 1:22.].]
In his character he is the best of princes
He is just
[His justice appears in every law which he has enacted, and his righteousness in every part of his administration. There are indeed many things in his government, which we are not at present able to account for; but the day of judgment will clear up all the present obscurities, and manifest, that every the minutest occurrence was ordered by him with unerring wisdom, goodness, and truth. It will then be seen that righteousness was at all times the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins [Note: Isa 11:5.].]
He is powerful
[Earthly kings may be just, yet not be able to screen their subjects from the injustice of others. But Jesus has salvation in his hand for all those who call upon him. Does sin oppress us? he can deliver us both from its guilt and power. Does Satan assault and buffet us? His grace shall he sufficient for the weakest of his people. Does the fear of death keep us in bondage? He can make us triumphant both in the prospect of it now, and in a happy resurrection at the last day.]
He is lowly
[Great power and dignity are too often the means of engendering pride in our hearts. The kings of the earth would think it a degradation to converse familiarly with their meanest subjects; but our Almighty Monarch possesses a lowliness of mind, which makes him accessible to every subject in his dominions. There is not any moment when we may not enter into his presence, nor any complaint which we may not pour into his bosom. His ear is ever open to hear, and his hand ever stretched out to relieve, his needy suppliants. The same lowliness which induced him, at his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, to ride upon a young ass, with no other furniture than the clothes of his poor disciples, when he might as easily have commanded all the pomp and splendour of an earthly monarch, still actuates him in his exalted state. There is no office to which he will not condescend for the benefit of those who wait upon him.]
From this description of Jesus we may well be prepared to hear,
II.
The exhortation to rejoice in his advent
The advent of such a prince is a proper ground of joy for all people
[When first he came in the flesh, the event was announced by angels as glad-tidings of great joy to all people. And all the multitudes who surrounded him at the time referred to in the text, were penetrated with the liveliest joy. And is there not now as much cause for joy as on either of those occasions? Are not the great ends of his advent better understood now than at his incarnation? and the nature of his kingdom more clearly seen than at the time of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem? Surely then our joy should far surpass all that could be experienced at those seasons. How should poor captives now rejoice to hear that there is one proclaiming liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound! If an earthly king were coming not only to redress all the grievances of his people, but to relieve all their wants, and enrich them with all that their hearts could desire, would not all exult and leap for joy? Would not every one be impatient to see him, and to receive his benefits? Why then should not all rejoice in the advent of Him, who is come to bind up the broken-hearted, and to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness?]
But the daughters of Zion in particular should rejoice in this event
[The daughters of Zion are the true members of the church, who have been begotten by the Word and Spirit of God. These are addressed by the prophet, and are bidden to exult and shout for joy. Well does the prophet select them as the persons to whom he should direct his exhortation. Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed. They know the glorious character of their prince. They have found both his laws and government to be holy and just and good. They have experienced his power to save, to save to the uttermost those that call upon him. They have continual proofs of his lowliness, being admitted daily to the most intimate fellowship with him. Should not they then rejoice? Surely the very stones would cry out against them it they held their peace. Behold then, believers, your King, even he whom you have chosen to reign over you, is come. He now waits for you. Arise, lo! he calleth you. Go, enter into his presence-chamber, and receive the blessings which he is come to bestow.]
Application
[Are there any who feel no disposition to rejoice in this event? Alas! too many, like Herod and the Pharisees, cannot join in the general chorus. Let them not, however, imagine themselves related to the church of God: they are daughters of the world, but not daughters of Zion; nor need they have any other evidence of their alienation from God, than their want of joy in the Lord. How base is their ingratitude! that the Lord of glory should come down from heaven for them, and they have no hearts to welcome his arrival: that they should be gratified with the company of an earthly friend, and have no delight in communion with Jesus. Surely if they were to have all the curses of Gods law inflicted on them, who served not the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart on account of the temporal benefits bestowed upon them [Note: Deu 28:45; Deu 28:47.], they must have a far heavier condemnation, who so despise the condescension and love of our incarnate God. Mark then the alternative to which ye are reduced; ye must begin now that joy in the Lord which ye shall possess for ever, or, by continuing insensible of his mercy, continue destitute of any interest in it to all eternity. Choose ye now whether ye will have life or death: remember, however necessary it may be at other times to weep for your sins, it is to joy that we now invite you; not to carnal joy, but to that which is spiritual and heavenly. We unite with the Apostle in saying, Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again, I say, Rejoice. Methinks such an exhortation should not be slighted, especially when your present joy is to be a certain prelude to eternal happiness: but if ye will still despise the mercies of your God, behold this King cometh shortly to judge the world; behold he cometh riding upon the heavens with myriads of the heavenly host: know too that he is just and powerful; but his justice will condemn, and his power punish you. Go to him then in this day of salvation, welcome him in this the accepted time; so shall you, at his second coming, behold his face with joy, and join the choir of heaven in everlasting hallelujahs.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Had we any doubt to whom these words refer, the Evangelists would at once remove it. Never surely was there ever a description more pointed, or one more circumstantially fulfilled. See Mat 21:5 , etc. and Joh 12:15 , &c But taking the fact itself as a thing unquestioned, what I beg the Reader more immediately to notice in the passage is, the sweet and glorious features of character, by which this king was to be known; and then for the Reader to ask his own heart, whether he hath gone forth, and is going forth, to meet Christ with welcomes and hosannas, as the Jewish children did, when Christ thus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem? Is Christ your King? Do you know Him, as the Just One, and the Holy One? And is He all your salvation, and all your desire? 2Sa 23:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Ver. 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ] Draw all thy waters with joy out of this well spring of salvation. Lo, here is the sum of all the good news in the world; and that which should make the saints everlastingly merry, even to shouting and singing in the height of Zion, that their king cometh, Jer 31:12 . This should swallow up all discontents, and make them sing, “Hosanna in the highest; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
Behold, thy King cometh
Unto thee
He is just and having salvation
Lowly
Riding upon an ass
Yea, upon a colt the foal of an ass
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rejoice, &c. Figure of speech Paeenismos. App-6. This verse foretells the first coming of Messiah, recorded in the Gospels.
cometh unto = will come unto. See note on Mic 5:2, where we have the going forth from Bethlehem (Mat 2:1). Here we have the coming unto Jerusalem (Mat 21:5). Between these lay all the events which we call “the first advent’. So will it be at “the second advent” with its many events, before e. to is fulfilled. See notes on Mat 21:1-10, and Luk 19:25-44; App-107and App-156.
He is, &c. Note the four features of Messiah’s character and condition at His first advent.
(1) just = righteous, as being justified or vindicated. Compare Isa 45:21; Isa 53:11. Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6.
(2) having salvation. Hebrew. nosha is the Niphal participle, which, though it may be reflexive, is never active. He was heard and delivered (Psa 22:20, Psa 22:21. Heb 5:7), referring to His own sufferings and death out of (Greek. ek, App-104.), which He was delivered (Psa 16:10. Act 2:24), and by which He becomes the Saviour of others (Isa 53:8, Isa 53:10, Isa 53:11).
(3) lowly = afflicted, or oppressed. Same word (‘ ant; see note on “poverty”, Pro 6:11) as in Psa 22:24. Isa 53:4, Isa 53:7.
(4) riding upon an ass, &c. Fulfilled (1) in Mat 21:1-11, and from two days afterward (2) in Mar 11:8-11. Luk 19:36-46. Joh 12:12-19. See App-156. A mark of His lowliness. Note the above four characteristics.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Zec 9:9-17
THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH KING . . . Zec 9:9-17
The predictions of this section find their immediate meaning in the Maccabean revolt and their ultimate fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. The victory of Judas Maccabee over Antiochus Epiphanes led the prophet quite naturally to exultation over Gods final victory through the Messiah.
For the sake of clarity we shall deal with the two aspects of this section separately, first as it applies to the Maccabean revolt, and afterward as it applies to the coming of Jesus Christ.
In order to understand the prophecies concerning the Maccabean war with the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV, it is helpful to review the history of Hellenism in the near east immediately following the death of Alexander the Great.
After nine years in Asia, Alexander began to doubt the wisdom of Aristotles instruction to him to treat the barbarians as slaves. He found in the aristocratic elements of Persia a refinement seldom seen among the temperamental and warring Greeks. He doubted that his uncouth Macedonians could replace these Persian nobles in successful administration of the conquered peoples of the orient.
He began to think of himself not as a Macedonian emperor ruling a conquered Persian empire but as a Graeco-Persian emperor ruling over Greeks and Persians as equals.
Pursuant to this policy Alexander married a Bactrian princess and encouraged his officers to follow his example. He opened the Persian land to Greek colonists and gave large dowries to his soldiers who would marry middle eastern women.
All this marked the beginning of the Hellenization of that part of the world which included the holy land and which was vital to the development of events in the Seleucid empire following the death of Alexander.
Another factor in Alexanders reign was to greatly influence the subsequent history of the holy land. He did not choose a successor. When he was dying in Babylon following a drinking bout at the age of thirty three (323 B.C.) he was asked to whom he would leave his empire. He answered simply, To the strongest.
Alexanders empire had no solid root. He was a Macedonian attempting to be Greek and he became almost a Persian. His attempt to Hellenize the orient resulted in no strong bond designed to hold the empire together. It was consequently no strange thing that it came apart, so to speak, shortly after his death.
The division came in five parts. Antipater took Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus ruled Thrace; Antigonus, Asia Minor; Ptolemy, Egypt; and most significant for our purposes, Seleucus took Babylon, including Palestine as far south as the southern border of Samaria.
A struggle insued between Seleucid Asia and Ptolemaic Egypt for control of what the Romans would later call Palestine. The original division gave Palestine south of Samaria to Ptolemy and it became part of Egypt. The Seleucids never agreed to this division, desiring full control of the trade route which passed through Damascus and Jerusalem.
From 312-198 B.C. the Ptolemies were able to resist the Seleucid attempts to wrest Judea from them by force. The Jews were allowed a large measure of local self-government. The ruling elements were the hereditary high priest and the gerousia or Council of Elders which had been established by Ezra and Nehemiah. The pattern of Orthodox Judaism from that time to now was set by the regulations passed by this body of seventy and called Dibre Soferim.
In effect this regulation simply attempted to prevent the Jews from succumbing to the Hellenistic pressures with which they were surrounded. Art, music, dress, customs, and most of all religion were over-shadowed by the synagogue chant of the rabbis, Shammai Israel, Adonai eleenu, Adonai echod, Hear O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
A concerted effort was made by the Hellenists to break down this resistance. Judea was ringed with a series of Greek settlements in league with the trans-Jordanian Decapolis. Each of these tantilized the Judeans with temples to Greek gods and goddesses, Academies, schools, gymnasiums and nude games.
The extent to which the Hellenizing efforts succeeded is seen in the fact that several young Jews submitted to surgery to remove the sign of the covenant so they would not be ridiculed when participating in the games.
Historians believe three factors prevented the complete overwhelming of the Jews by Hellenism. The persecution of Antiochus IV which drove the Orthodox underground and polarized public sympathy in their favor, the protection of the Romans which came at the request of the Maccabees, and the power and prestige of the Law of Moses which even the most Hellenistic Jews agreed came from God.
The persecution began in 198 B.C. when Antiochus III finally defeated the Ptolemys and Judea became part of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus III was received by the Jews as a liberator, but their joy was short-lived. His successor Antiochus IV proved to be a veritable despot. He appointed as high priest one Jason who was a leader of Hellenistic sympathizers in Jerusalem. An order came from Antiochus at Jasons request for the establishing of Greek institutions like those of the Decapolis in Jerusalem itself.
Unhappy with Jason for the slowness with which the Hellenizing of Judea was proceeding, Antiochus replaced him with Menelous. Menelous proceeded to get to the core of the matter. Jehovah was made one with the Greek Zeus and sacrifices were offered to them according to the Greek practice rather than the Jewish law.
Such shocking practice brought predictable consequences. The majority of the Jews swung to the Chasidim, or anti-Hellenist party. Antiochus IV declared himself Epiphanes or God made manifest.
In 168 B.C. Antiochus was defeated by the Ptolemaic Pharaoh Popilius, and Jerusalem received the mistaken report that he had been killed. Their celebration was cut short by Antiochus himself appearing on the scene.
Convinced that the Jews had been responsible for his failure in Egypt, he slaughtered thousands of them, robbed the temple, restored Menelaus whom the Jews had deposed and rededitated the temple to Zeus, He ordered the destruction of the altar, replaced it with a Greek altar and then committed the ultimate blasphemy by sacrificing a pig on it! Jews were forced on pain of death to eat pork so sacrificed. Jerusalem was razed by flames and the Jewish population was sold into slavery.
The entire reign of Antiochus Epiphanes was, and still is, known as the abomination of desolation, in Jewish historical writings.
During all this, the Chasidim preached guerilla resistance. Among those who went underground was one Mattathias of the house of Hasonai of the tribe of Aaron, and his five sons Judas, Simon, Eleazor, Jonathan and Johannan Caddis.
Mattathias began the active revolt by killing a Jew who was approaching the altar to offer a swine, and shouting, Whoever is zealous for the Law, and wishes to support the covenant, let him follow me. He had set the stage for every Jewish Zealot from then until now.
Upon Mattathais death, leadership of the revolt passed to Judas who was called Maccabee, the hammer. Judas was a saint in prayer and a terror in battle. Against great odds he defeated the Greek mercenaries at Emmaus. The victory was complete, yet Antiochus was not convinced. He sent an even larger force to wipe out the rebels.
These were in turn wiped out at Mizpah. In 164 B.C. Judas cleansed and rededicated the temple and restored the priestly services.
Upon the death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 163 B.C., his successor, Lysias, offered the Jews full religious freedom if they would disarm. The Chasidim consented. Judas refused, asserting that to be really religiously free the Jews must be politically free. This difference was the beginning of civil strife which produced the party of the Pharisees, who agreed with the Chasidim and the Sadducees whose political ambitions matched those of Judas.
Civil war ensued with the Maccabeans now persecuting those of the Hellenistic faction. Israel was engulfed in civil strife.
Judas was slain in 161 B.C. His successor, brother Jonathan, was killed in 143. The only surviving brother curried the favor of Rome and with the help of that growing power established Jewish independence in 142 B.C. Thus establishing the Hasmonian dynasty.
This period of independence prevailed, although torn by internal strife, until the coming of the Roman Legions seventy nine years later.
In Zec 9:9-10 the prophet begins to rejoice. Now that the temple is built and the land has returned to Jehovah, the appearance of the Messianic King seems imminent. We will have more to say shortly about this King and His appearance.
In Zec 9:11 -f the joyous coming of the Messiah is postponed by the stark reality of the present grim situation. The struggle with Greece must first be won. The disbursed are encouraged to return to their home land and join in the struggle. They have the promise that they will prevail (Zec 9:13). Jehovah Himself will fight for them (Zec 9:14-15). He will save them as His people (Zec 9:16). The sling-stones of the Maccabees will eat the flesh of the Seleucids. The victorious rebels would be drenched with blood like the horns of the altar (Zec 9:15) and in their victories they would shine like the glittering jewels of a crown (Zec 9:16).
The fierce description of the struggle for independence from the Hellenizing Selecid Greek empire ends on a note of praise to God for His goodness.
THE MESSIANIC ASPECT OF ZECHARIAH . . . Zec 9:9-17
It is indeed not strange that Zechariah should mingle his prophecy of Maccabean independence with that of the coming of Christ. The defeat of the Seleucids marked the last foreign presence in the holy land prior to that historic period in which Christ finally came. The excited rejoicing of the prophet is indeed understandable. On the other hand, it is equally easy to see how the Jews of later times reading such intermingled predictions could cast their longed for Messiah in the mold of Judas Maccabee. The desire for political independence as a base for religious freedom would be as strong under Caesar as under Antiochus Epiphanes.
Nevertheless, when the Messiah did come, He scorned such a militarily attained and supported political kingdom to fulfill Gods ultimate purpose in blessing all the nations of the earth. It required His own resurrection from the dead to establish His Messianic identity in view of His renunciation of this worldly power and ambition.
(Zec 9:9) Zechariah calls upon the theocratic people, Daughter of Zion . . . Daughter of Jerusalem to rejoice at the coming of her king. (cp. Psa 2:11) He is not at all what she expected, but He is Messiah. He is just, a characteristic attributed by the prophets to the Messiah in connection with salvation (cp. Isa 45:21; Isa 53:11, Jer 23:5-6).
Zerr: This prediction (Zec 9:9) was cited and fulfilled in Mat 21:1-11. The significant phase of the event was to be that the King would ride on both mother and colt. There would have been nothing unusual in the mere act of riding on one beast as that was a common means of transportation in those days.
In contrast with Antiochus, whom the Jews mistakenly welcomed as a savior from Egyptian oppression but who came to destroy, the Messiah King will come to save.
He is lowly and He comes riding on an ass; hot the symbol of humiliation as some have supposed but the symbol of peace, as the horse was a symbol of war. Messiah will lead no armed revolt. He will not receive His kingly dominion from Satan (cp. Luk 4:6-7) but by going the way of the suffering servant.
This verse finds its literal fulfillment in Jesus final entry into Jerusalem. (cp. Mat 21:4-5)
(Zec 9:10) Ephraim, symbolic of the northern tribes, and Jerusalem, symbolic of the southern are to be restored at Messiahs coming. The people will be restored to their full promised dominion (Gen 15:18) from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. And beyond, He shall speak peace to all nations, His dominion shall be to the ends of the earth. The Jews understood such passages to indicate that the Messiah would conquer the world, as had Alexander. Jesus showed the true sense when He commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth.
Zerr: Ephraim (Zec 9:10) stands for the 10-tribe kingdom or Israel, and Jerusalem is for the 2-tribe kingdom or Judah. Chariot and battle-bow signifies war and the prediction is that it was to be cut off. The verse is a prediction that temporal warfare will not be used in defense of the spiritual Kingdom of Christ. The prophecy also includes the spreading of the new kingdom among the Gentiles.
(Zec 9:11-17) With the words, as for thee also, Zechariah turns to the coming deliverance from Greek oppression. It will be because of the covenant that the people will be rescued from the threat of complete extinction by Hellenization.
Zerr: The pronoun thee (Zec 9:11) stands for Zion in Zec 9:9. Blood of thy covenant is rendered whose covenant is by blood” in the margin which is correct. God had made a covenant with Abraham that his seed (blood descendants) were to be His people and that he would never entirely cast them off. That is why God caused them to be released from captivity. Pit … no water. A pit with water in it would have destroyed those cast therein, but a dry pit could serve as a prison but permit the victims to live. That is why God sent his people into Babylon, so they would be In bondage but not destroyed. The strong hold (Zec 9:12) means the city of Jerusalem and its country, for God was throwing great defenses about that place and the people were encouraged to trust them. The bow and arrow are used figuratively (Zec 9:13) to represent Judah and Ephraim. Judah (the 2 tribes) and Ephraim (the 10 tribes) are illustrated by a bow and arrow. This is another proof that the 12 tribes all returned from the captivity and God was using them to overthrow ail opposition from the heathen. Be seen over them (Zec 9:14) denotes that the Lord will be in evidence in sight of the heathen who have been against His people. Subdue with sling-stones (Zec 9:15) does not necessarily mean literally, but when God fights for his people it is as victorious as if it had been done with carnal weapons. Stones of a crown (Zec 9:16) refers to the ornaments on the head piece that denotes victory. Gods people were given assurance that they would surmount all difficulties that the enemies raised in their path. Corn and wine (Zec 9:17) were products of a fertile field that has been left undisturbed while the owners were cultivating it. During the captivity the land could not be cultivated by the people of Israel and hence it lay idle through that period.
Questions
The Triumph of Zion Through Her Messiah
1. The theme of chapter nine is struck in verse _________________.
2. This theme is the coming of the _________________.
3. The term burden of the word of Jehovah is calculated to _________________.
4. The first part of the oracle is concerned with the land of _________________.
5. Hadrach is the symbolic name for _________________.
6. This prediction was fulfilled c. 344 B.C. by the invasion of _________________. by _________________.
7. Gods purpose to _____________ is the all-determining factor in every historic development.
8. List the traditional enemies of Israel mentioned in chapter nine, and give the symbolic name of each as given by Zechariah.
9. ____________ was the southern-most of the Philistine cities mentioned here.
10. What world conqueror fulfilled this predictive passage?. (Zec 9:1-8)
11. The predictions of this section find their immediate fulfillment in what historic event?
12. The ultimate fulfillment of this passage is found in the coming of _________________.
13. Describe the events leading to the Maccabean revolt.
14. To what three factors do historians attribute the failure of the Greeks to completely Hellenize the Jews?
15. Following the death of Alexander, the land of Palestine became at first part of what empire?
16. Antiochus IV was called Epiphanes meaning _________________.
17. Who were the Chasidim?
18. Whom did Antiochus Epiphanes blame for his defeat at the hand of the Egyptian Ptolemies?
19. What, in Jewish history, is referred to as the abomination of desolation?
20. Who was Mattathias?
21. Who was called the hammer?
22. Upon the death of Antiochus IV, Lysias offered the Jews complete religious freedom if they would lay down their arms. Why did they refuse?
23. What caused the Jewish civil war following their victory under Judas Maccabee?
24. What was the origin of the party of the Pharisees?
25. What was the origin of the Sadducees?
26. What finally ended the internal strife which followed the Maccabean revolt?
27. In Zec 9:11 -f the joyous coming of the Messiah is postponed by _________________.
28. Why does Zechariah mingle the prediction of the coming of Christ with that of the Maccabean revolt?
29. Show how the Jews in later rimes confused these two predictions.
30. What was Jesus attitude toward the desire of the Jews for a military independence and a political kingdom?
31. Contrast Antiochus IV with the Messiah King.
32. What is the symbolism of the ass upon which the Messiah would ride?
33. What New Testament event fulfills this prediction?
34. Beyond the traditional boundaries of Israel, the Messiah will speak peace to _________________.
35. The Jews understood such passages to indicate that _________________.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
a Lowly Deliverer Brings Peace
Zec 9:9-17; Zec 10:1-12
Jesus must be King first, then Savior. He is lowly; His steed is not the richly caparisoned warhorse, but the humble ass; He needs no weapon to overthrow His foes, because as Priest He speaks peace. The peasantry had taken shelter in the rock hewn mountain cisterns; but they might cherish hope, because they had been redeemed by the blood of the covenant, and God would see to it that that redemption was made effective. Before the advent of the King, the prison-doors would open, and at His word the imprisoned should go forth. How great are His goodness and beauty!
In Zec 10:1-12 we have a reference to the successful stand made by Judas Maccabaeus and his brethren against Antiochus. They were to tread them down as the mire of the streets; Joseph and Judah would be reunited and after their far-spread sowing over the world, the scattered tribes would ultimately return as bees to the call of the bee-farmer.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
behold, thy King
The events following this manifestation of Christ as King are recorded in the Gospels. The real faith of the multitude who cried, “Hosanna” is given in Mat 21:11 and so little was Jesus deceived by His apparent reception as King, that He wept over Jerusalem and announced its impending destruction (fulfilled A.D. 70; Luk 19:38-44. The same multitude soon cried, “Crucify Him.”
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Rejoice: Zec 2:10, Psa 97:6-8, Isa 12:6, Isa 40:9, Isa 52:9, Isa 52:10, Isa 62:11, Zep 3:14, Zep 3:15
behold: Psa 2:6, Psa 45:1, Psa 110:1-4, Isa 9:6, Isa 9:7, Isa 32:1, Isa 32:2, Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6, Jer 30:9, Mat 21:4, Mat 21:5, Mar 11:9, Mar 11:10, Luk 19:37, Luk 19:38, Joh 1:49, Joh 12:13-15, Joh 19:15
he is: Psa 45:6, Psa 45:7, Psa 85:9-12, Isa 45:21, Mat 1:21, Rom 3:24-26
having salvation: or, saving himself
lowly: Mat 11:29, Mat 21:5-7, Mar 11:7, Luk 19:30-35, Joh 12:14-16
Reciprocal: 2Sa 23:3 – must be just 1Ki 1:40 – rejoiced 1Ki 8:66 – joyful 2Ki 19:21 – the daughter Ezr 3:11 – shouted Est 6:9 – proclaim Psa 5:11 – shout Psa 27:4 – behold Psa 27:6 – joy Psa 45:4 – meekness Psa 47:1 – shout Psa 47:6 – our King Psa 48:11 – daughters Psa 97:8 – Zion Psa 102:20 – To hear Psa 106:5 – rejoice Psa 110:5 – strike Psa 132:9 – shout Psa 132:16 – her saints Psa 145:11 – the glory Psa 145:17 – righteous Psa 149:2 – let the Pro 31:9 – General Son 1:4 – we will be Son 8:1 – that thou Isa 1:8 – daughter Isa 16:5 – judging Isa 24:23 – when Isa 25:9 – we will Isa 25:10 – in this Isa 33:22 – the Lord is our king Isa 37:22 – the daughter Isa 40:1 – comfort Isa 42:2 – General Isa 52:7 – Thy God Isa 54:1 – break Isa 65:18 – General Jer 29:11 – thoughts Jer 30:21 – governor Jer 33:14 – General Eze 21:27 – until Hos 1:7 – will save Joe 2:23 – rejoice Mic 5:2 – that is Zep 3:5 – just Hag 2:7 – and the Mat 2:2 – born Mat 6:10 – Thy kingdom Mat 11:3 – Art Mat 12:19 – General Mat 25:34 – the King Mat 27:19 – that just Mar 15:12 – whom Mar 15:26 – The King of the Jews Mar 15:32 – Christ Luk 1:47 – God Luk 1:54 – General Luk 1:71 – we Luk 7:19 – Art Luk 19:34 – General Luk 24:27 – and all Luk 24:44 – in the prophets Joh 1:45 – and the Joh 3:17 – but Joh 4:22 – for Joh 5:23 – all men Joh 8:16 – yet Joh 18:33 – the king Joh 18:36 – My kingdom is Act 1:6 – restore Act 3:14 – the Holy One Act 7:52 – the Just One Act 13:23 – raised Act 13:32 – how Act 26:6 – the promise Rom 3:26 – that he 2Co 10:1 – by Eph 4:2 – lowliness Phi 2:7 – made Col 1:13 – the kingdom Col 1:20 – having made peace 1Th 4:16 – with a Heb 1:8 – a sceptre 1Pe 3:18 – the just 1Jo 1:9 – just 1Jo 2:1 – the righteous 1Jo 2:29 – he is Rev 7:10 – Salvation Rev 15:3 – thou Rev 19:7 – be glad Rev 19:11 – and in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 9:9. This prediction was cited and fulfilled in Mat 21:1-11. The significant phase of the event was to be that the King would ride on both mother and colt. There would have been nothing unusual in the mere act of riding on one beast as that was a oommon means of transportation in those days.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Zec 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion To give still greater encouragement to Gods people, the prophet, after uttering the foregoing promises, was carried on by the Divine Spirit, which influenced him, to announce a still more remarkable instance of Gods special kindness to them, namely, the coming of their Messiah, or king, with reference to which this passage is cited in two places of the New Testament, Mat 21:5; Joh 12:15; so that we can have no doubt of the application. But, from comparing these three texts, we may perceive that the evangelical writers were not over-scrupulous of adhering to the exact words of their original, whether they cited from the Hebrew or from the Greek; but were satisfied with giving the true sense of the passage, and taking more or less of it, as circumstances seemed to require. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee He that is so often described in the prophets as the king of Israel; that was known by that name among the Jews in our Saviours time, and is repeatedly called by the name of David their king: see the margin. To him the kingdom did properly belong, and to him the gathering of the people was to be, Gen 49:10. He is just, and having salvation Or, He is righteous, and the Saviour, as the ancient versions have it. He is that righteous branch, and the Lord our righteousness, as he is described by Jer 23:5; who was to execute justice and judgment in the earth; and the righteousness and salvation, that is, the Righteous One and Saviour, promised Isa 62:1. Unlike the proud and destructive conquerors of the earth, he shall not enter with a mighty cavalcade of horse, but shall come lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Although it is certain that the ancient Jews understood this prophecy of the Messiah, yet that this divine person, this king of Israel, should come unto them riding upon an ass, which, notwithstanding that in former ages patriarchs and judges thought it no disgrace to ride upon them, yet was then looked upon as below the dignity of any person of eminence, must, at the uttering of this prophecy, have appeared a very mysterious and improbable circumstance. But we who know that the only time when the Lord Jesus entered publicly into Jerusalem, he thought proper, as an example of humility and meekness, and of indifference to worldly pomp, to ride upon a young ass, or colt; and that, at the same time, the whole multitude were seized with such a sudden and extraordinary impulse of joy, that they spread their garments in the way, and cut down branches of trees and strowed them in the way, shouting unanimously, HOSANNAH, BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD we, that know this remarkable circumstance, cannot but be greatly struck with this prophecy, as an admirable instance of the divine prescience, and a strong proof of the truth of Christianity.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Zec 9:9 f. A short prophecy having no direct connexion with the preceding, which it resembles only in its poetical structure. Its tone is entirely different, being as free from thoughts of vengeance as Psalms 22. The poet looks forward to a king who will belong apparently not to the Maccaban, but to the Hasidan (i.e. Hasidim, Psa 4:3*, see 1Ma 7:13) section of the Jewish community. The prophecy may probably be dated shortly after May 23, 141, when the citadel of Jerusalem surrendered. The writer who sees in recent events an earnest of complete Jewish independence, does not recognise any existing personage as king (render will come, not cometh). The Hasidans acquiesced in the High-priesthood of Simon only conditionally (see 1Ma 14:41). The king hoped for will be no military leader, and will ride not on a horse, the symbol of war, but on an ass. It will be his aim to abolish the equipment of war from Israel itself, and he will speak peace to the Gentiles; depending for safety on a force not his own, and even in his sovereignty not severing his connexion with the poor. The meaning of the curious elaboration given to the description of the animal ridden would be more apparent, if colt and foal of an ass were printed in inverted commas as a quotation of Gen 49:11. They imply that the king, whose dominion will be as wide as the ideal dominion of David, will fulfil that prophecy. The mention of Ephraim to denote the northern parts of Israel (included in the jurisdiction of both Jonathan and Simon) is due to imitation of the phraseology of the older Scriptures.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh to thee: {m} he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a {n} donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey.
(m) That is, he has righteousness and salvation in himself for the use and benefit of his Church.
(n) Which declares that they should not look for such a king as would be glorious in the eyes of man, but should be poor, and yet in himself have all power to deliver his own: and this is meant of Christ, as in Mat 21:5 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The advent of Zion’s King 9:9-10
"This text is one of the most messianically significant passages of all the Bible, in both the Jewish and Christian traditions. Judaism sees in it a basis for a royal messianic expectation, whereas the NT and Christianity see a prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on the Sunday before His crucifixion (Mat 25:5; Joh 12:15). Thus, though the fulfillment may be in dispute, there is unanimous conviction that a descendant of David is depicted here, one who, though humble, rides as a victor into his capital city Jerusalem. The way will have been prepared by the imposition of universal peace, following which the king will exercise dominion over the whole world." [Note: Merrill, pp. 249-50. For further explanation of the Jewish view, see Joseph Klausner, The Messianic Idea in Israel, pp. 203-40.]
"We have pictured for us: (1) the Agent of peace, (2) the method of peace, and (3) the kingdom of peace." [Note: Feinberg, God Remembers, p. 163.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Israelites should rejoice greatly because their King was coming to them (cf. Zep 3:15). The first part of this verse contains three figures of speech. Zechariah personified Zion and Jerusalem as rejoicing and shouting, he named the city in place of its inhabitants (metonymy), and he used the city to represent the whole nation (synecdoche). Israel’s King would be a just ruler who would bring salvation with Him.
"He is victorious, not in himself or anything that he personally commands, but by the grace, and in the might, of the God of Israel. . . . His triumph, therefore, is the triumph of the faith of the Servant of Yahweh." [Note: H. G. Mitchell, "Haggai and Zechariah," in A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah, p. 273.]
"The world’s peace depends upon a Savior and His salvation." [Note: Feinberg, God Remembers, p. 165.]
The king would, therefore, be humble, not proud and boastful. Zechariah pictured this humble king riding on a gentle donkey colt (cf. Gen 49:11; Mat 21:1-9; Mar 11:1-10; Luk 19:28-38; Joh 12:12-15). A donkey’s colt was a purebred donkey, one born of a female donkey rather than of a mule.
"It thus qualified to be a royal mount." [Note: Baldwin, p. 166.]
In the ancient Near East rulers commonly rode donkeys if they came in peace (Jdg 5:10; Jdg 10:4; Jdg 12:14; 2Sa 16:2; 1Ki 1:33), but they rode horses into war. This verse gives one reason the Israelites should rejoice: the coming of the King. Alexander the Great’s coming inspired fear, but Messiah’s coming would inspire joy.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
2. THE PRINCE OF PEACE
Zec 9:9-12
This beautiful picture, applied by the Evangelist with such fitness to our Lord upon His entry to Jerusalem, must also be of post-exilic date. It contrasts with the warlike portraits of the Messiah drawn in pre-exilic times, for it clothes Him with humility and with peace. The coming King of Israel has the attributes already imputed to the Servant of Jehovah by the prophet of the Babylonian captivity. The next verses also imply the Exile as already a fact. On the whole, too, the language is of a late rather than of an early date. Nothing in the passage betrays the exact point of its origin after the Exile.
The epithets applied to the Messiah are of very great interest. He does not bring victory or salvation, but is the passive recipient of it. This determines the meaning of the preceding adjective, “righteous,” which has not the moral sense of “justice,” but rather that of “vindication,” in which “righteousness” and “righteous” are so frequently used in Isa 40:1-31; Isa 41:1-29; Isa 42:1-25; Isa 43:1-28; Isa 44:1-28; Isa 45:1-25; Isa 46:1-13; Isa 47:1-15; Isa 48:1-22; Isa 49:1-26; Isa 50:1-11; Isa 51:1-23; Isa 52:1-15; Isa 53:1-12; Isa 54:1-17; Isa 55:1-13. He is “lowly,” like the Servant of Jehovah; and comes riding not the horse, an animal for war, because the next verse says that horses and chariots are to be removed from Israel, but the ass, the animal not of lowliness, as some have interpreted, but of peace. To this day in the East asses are used, as they are represented in the Song of Deborah, by great officials, but only when these are upon civil, and not upon military, duty.
It is possible that this oracles closes with Zec 9:10, and that we should take Zec 9:11-12, on the deliverance from exile, with the next.
“Rejoice mightily, daughter of Zion! shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, thy King cometh to thee, vindicated and victorious, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt the she-ass foal. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the war-bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace to the nations, and His rule shall be from sea to sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth. Thou, too, – by thy covenant-blood, I have set free thy prisoners from the Return to the fortress, ye prisoners of hope; even today do I proclaim: Double will I return to thee.” {Isa 61:7}