Matthew 21:5

““Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’””

Matthew 21:5 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

5

Quotation · Isaiah 62:11

Go to Isaiah 62:11

The quotation begins with words of Isaiah 62:11 (“Say to the daughter of Zion”) and continues with Zechariah 9:9.

Formula: ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος “so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled” (Matthew 21:4)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: Εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὄνον καὶ ἐπὶ πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου

Hebrew (Masoretic text): הִנֵּה יְהוָה הִשְׁמִיעַ אֶל קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ אִמְרוּ לְבַת צִיּוֹן הִנֵּה יִשְׁעֵךְ בָּא הִנֵּה שְׂכָרוֹ אִתּוֹ וּפְעֻלָּתוֹ לְפָנָיו

Septuagint (Isaiah 62:11 in the Septuagint numbering): ἰδοὺ γὰρ Κύριος ἐποίησεν ἀκουστὸν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών Ἰδού σοι ὅ σωτὴρ παραγίνεται ἔχων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μισθόν, καὶ τὸ ἔργον πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 5 consecutive words: “Εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών Ἰδοὺ.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Quotation · Zechariah 9:9

Go to Zechariah 9:9

The quotation continues with Zechariah 9:9, without “righteous and saved is he.” Zechariah speaks of a donkey and a colt, the foal of a she-donkey.

Formula: ἵνα πληρωθῇ “so that … might be fulfilled” (Matthew 21:4)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: Εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὄνον καὶ ἐπὶ πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου

Hebrew (Masoretic text): גִּילִי מְאֹד בַּת צִיּוֹן הָרִיעִי בַּת יְרוּשָׁלִַם הִנֵּה מַלְכֵּךְ יָבוֹא לָךְ צַדִּיק וְנוֹשָׁע הוּא עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל חֲמוֹר וְעַל עַיִר בֶּן אֲתֹנוֹת

Septuagint (Zechariah 9:9 in the Septuagint numbering): Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σειών· κήρυσσε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ· ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι δίκαιος καὶ σώζων, αὐτὸς πρᾳὺς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 6 consecutive words: “Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Matthew 21:5, word by word

“SayΕἴπατεEipate

say

To express something in words to others.

Where else “Eipate” appears
to the daughterθυγατρὶthygatri

dear daughter

"Daughter" as an endearment, or a city's people.

Where else “thygatri” appears
your kingβασιλεύςbasileus

king

The one who rules a people with the highest authority.

Where else “basileus” appears
is comingἔρχεταίerchetai

come

To move to where someone is or to a place, and be present there.

Where else “erchetai” appears
gentleπραῢςprays

gentle, meek

Gentle, meek: mild and humble, not imposing oneself by force.

Where else “prays” appears
mountedἐπιβεβηκὼςepibebēkōs

mount, board, arrive

Mount, get up on an animal; board a ship; set foot in, arrive.

Where else “epibebēkōs” appears
a donkeyὄνονonon

donkey

Donkey.

Where else “onon” appears
a coltπῶλονpōlon

colt

Colt, the foal of a donkey.

Where else “pōlon” appears
the foalυἱὸνhuion

son

A son.

Where else “huion” appears
of a beast of burden.’ὑποζυγίουhypozygiou

donkey

Beast of burden, donkey.

Where else “hypozygiou” appears

Translation note

Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9 following the ancient Greek translation, which says “gentle”; the Hebrew of Zechariah says “afflicted.”

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

The entry into Jerusalem

Mark 11:1-11Luke 19:28-40John 12:12-19

See them side by side

Matthew 21:1-11

1And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and at once he will send them.” 4Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, when he says, 5“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” 6And the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8And most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9And the crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10And when he entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Mark 11:1-11

1And when they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sends two of his disciples 2and says to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once, as you enter into it, you will find a colt tied, on which no person has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it. 3And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here at once.’” 4And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untie it. 5And some of those standing there were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6And they spoke to them just as Jesus had said; and they let them go. 7And they bring the colt to Jesus and throw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9And those who went ahead and those who followed were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” 11And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and having looked around at everything, since the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Luke 19:28-40

28And after saying these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29And it happened, as he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the Mount of Olives, that he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, on which no person has ever sat; untie it and bring it. 31And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32So those who had been sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36And as he was going along, they were spreading their cloaks on the road. 37And as he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began rejoicing and praising God with a loud voice for all the miracles that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40And he answered and said, “I tell you that if these are silent, the stones will cry out.”

John 12:12-19

12The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him, and they were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” 14And Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, 15“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion; look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” 16His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead kept testifying. 18For this reason also the crowd went to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

Quotation · Isaiah 62:11

The quotation begins with words of Isaiah 62:11 (“Say to the daughter of Zion”) and continues with Zechariah 9:9.

See them side by side

Matthew 21:5

5“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

Isaiah 62:11

11Look, YHWH has made it heard to the end of the earth: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your salvation comes; look, his reward is with him, and his wages before him.’”

Quotation · Zechariah 9:9

The quotation continues with Zechariah 9:9, without “righteous and saved is he.” Zechariah speaks of a donkey and a colt, the foal of a she-donkey.

See them side by side

Matthew 21:5

5“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

Zechariah 9:9

9Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem. Look, your king comes to you; righteous and saved is he, afflicted and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the son of donkeys.

Places in this verse

Zion
Approximate location. A “?” means it is not known for sure where it was.
  • Zion

    Today: Mount Zion hill, Jerusalem

    A hill in Jerusalem; it first named the fortress David captured, and later sometimes the whole city.

    David captured the stronghold of Zion and called it the city of David (2 Sam 5:7). The Psalms and prophets call it the place where God lives among his people (Ps 48:2).

    2 Samuel 5:7Psalms 48:2Hebrews 12:22Romans 9:33

The context

4Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, when he says,

5 · This verse (above)

6And the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;

Read all of Matthew 21

To study Matthew 21 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What did the crowd shout when Jesus entered Jerusalem (vv. 8–9)?

  2. 2. What it means

    Why did Jesus drive out those buying and selling in the temple, quoting “My house will be called a house of prayer” (vv. 12–13)?

  3. 3. How I live it

    Jesus said whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive (v. 22). What would you like to ask for today with trust?

How to use it