The Triumphal Entry in Matthew’s Gospel
The central focus of the triumphal entry in Matthew’s Gospel is the
prophecy of Zech 9:9. In keeping with Matthew’s other quotations of the Old
Testament, he introduces the quotation with an explanatory formula: “This took
place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter
of Zion, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” ’ ” (Matt 21:4–5 ESV).
Matthew’s presentation of the Zechariah passage does not exactly match
either the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX). There are
several significant differences:
• Matthew does not
include the summons to rejoice that appear in the MT (גִּילִ֙י
מְאֹ֜ד בַּת־צִיּ֗וֹן הָרִ֙יעִי֙ בַּ֣ת יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם, giliy me'od bath-tsiyyon
hari'iy bath yerushalam) and LXX (χαῖρε σφόδρα θύγατερ Σιων κήρυσσε θύγατερ Ιερουσαλημ, chaire
sphodra thygater Siōn kērysse thygater Ierousalēm). Although this feature
is not included in the quotation, however, it is clearly exhibited by the
reaction of the crowds to Jesus (Matt 21:9).
• Matthew does not
mention the reference to Jerusalem that appears in the MT (הָרִ֙יעִי֙ בַּ֣ת יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם,
hari'iy bath yerushalam) and LXX (κήρυσσε θύγατερ Ιερουσαλημ, kērysse
thygater Ierousalēm), though this is assumed in the setting (Matt 21:1).
• Matthew does not
include the full description of the king as being righteous and having
salvation (“righteous and having salvation is he” [Zech 9:9 ESV]; צַדִּ֥יק וְנוֹשָׁ֖ע ה֑וּא,
tsaddiq wenosha' hu'; [MT]; δίκαιος καὶ σῴζων αὐτός, dikaios
kai sōzōn autos; [LXX]).
The absence of these features probably indicates that Matthew is
paraphrasing Zech 9:9 in order to focus more exclusively on the manner in which
Jesus rode into Jerusalem: “… humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a beast of burden” (πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὄνον καὶ ἐπὶ πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου, praus
kai epibebēkōs epi onon kai epi pōlon huion hypozygiou; Matt 21:5 ESV).
Although Matthew’s paraphrase mainly follows the language of the LXX, the
latter part more closely follows the wording of the MT: “… humble and mounted
on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (וְרֹכֵ֣ב עַל־חֲמ֔וֹר
וְעַל־עַ֖יִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנֽוֹת,
werokhev al-chamor we'al-ayir
ben-athonoth; see Blomberg, Matthew,
64).
Matthew uniquely narrates that two animals were involved in the
triumphal entry, whereas all of the other Gospels mention only one animal. The
narrative reports that Jesus told the disciples to retrieve both a donkey (ὄνος, onos)
and a colt (πῶλος, pōlos), and when they returned with both
animals Jesus sat on them (καὶ ἐπεκάθισεν ἐπάνω αὐτῶν, kai
epekathisen epanō autōn; Matt 21:7). Blomberg observes that Zech 9:9
mentions the donkey and colt in synonymous parallelism, which means the
prophecy envisages a king riding on one animal only (Blomberg, “Matthew”,
63–63). This has caused McCasland to conclude that Matthew has misunderstood
the prophecy as speaking of two different animals and has thus created an
unrealistic scenario based on his misunderstanding (McCasland, “Matthew Twists
the Scriptures,” 144; compare Instone-Brewer, “The Two Asses of Zechariah 9:9
in Matthew 21,” 87–97). Yet Gundry argues that it is possible that more than
one animal was involved (a young colt accompanied by its mother would not have
been unusual). He suggests that the garments were draped over both animals to
create a “wide throne” for Jesus, escalating the “royal majesty” of the episode
(Gundry, Matthew, 410). It should be
noted that the antecedent of “them” in the phrase “and he sat on them” (ἐπεκάθισεν ἐπάνω αὐτῶν, epekathisen
epanō autōn; [Matt 21:7]) could be “garments,” which would mean that
Matthew does not intend for the reader to imagine Jesus riding more than one of
the two animals (compare Luz, Matthew
21–28, 8–9, who comments that “garments” has been taken as the antecedent
of “them” by the church’s interpretation since Origen). Yet Coppins thinks it
is more plausible that Matthew intended to communicate that Jesus rode on two
animals (Coppins, “Sitting on Two Asses?” 281–87). In any case, Matthew’s
unique mention of a donkey and colt accounts for more of the prophecy’s
vocabulary, building his case that the triumphal entry fulfilled Zech 9:9.
Matthew also emphasizes the role of the “crowd(s)” (ὄχλος, ochlos/
ὄχλοι, ochloi) as witnesses of Jesus’ triumphal
entry (Matt 21:8, 9, 11). Cousland makes the case that the crowds are integral
to the purpose of Matthew’s Gospel since they are distinct from the disciples
and the Jewish leadership. They are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ therapeutic
ministry within the narrative, but Cousland claims that they represent
potential converts (non-Christian Jews) in the real-life setting of Matthew’s
audience. The crowds sometimes identify with the disciples but elsewhere are
aligned more closely with the Jewish leadership. Thus, during the triumphal
entry the crowds praise Jesus as the Son of David (Matt 21:9; this title
appears uniquely in Matthew’s presentation of the triumphal entry), but later
in the Passion Narrative they call for His death (Matt 27:20–25). Cousland
views these contrasting dispositions as reflecting the ambivalence of the
Jewish people of Matthew’s day, and he views the triumphal entry as the
narrative hinge between these two poles in the narrative (Cousland, Crowds, 225). Regardless of whether one
agrees with Cousland, it is certain that Matthew presents the crowds more
distinctly and prominently than the other evangelists. (John R.
Markley, “Triumphal Entry,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D.
Barry et al. [Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2016], Logos Bible Software
edition)
