Matthew 21:7

7 [and] brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

Matthew 21:7 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 21:7

And brought the ass and the colt
To Jesus, as Mark and Luke add, and who only make mention of the colt: both were undoubtedly brought; the colt being unloosed and taken away, the ass, its dam, followed after:

and put on them their clothes;
their loose upper garments, to be instead of saddles and trappings, and that Christ might sit thereon with ease and decency: the other evangelists say, that they cast their garments on the colt; and the Syriac version here reads, "they put their garments on the colt, and Jesus rode upon it": but as both were brought, it is clear from hence, that their clothes were put upon both; not knowing which Christ would choose to ride on. And it should seem, that it was not unusual to put garments on asses to ride on; for the Targumist on ( Judges 5:10 ) represents the princes of Israel as riding upon asses, strewed or saddled with all kind (Nyrwyu) , of "painted garments". The Persic version, without the least colour of authority from the original text, renders it, "and Jesus put his own garment on the colt, and sat thereon"; which is ridiculous, as well as contrary to truth:

and they sat him thereon,
or "on them": meaning either on the ass and colt, that is, on one of them, or both successively, or on the clothes they put upon them.

Matthew 21:7 In-Context

5 "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a pack animal.'"

6 So the disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them,

7 [and] brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

8 And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading [them] on the road.

9 And the crowds who went ahead of him and the ones who followed were shouting, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed [is] the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!"

Footnotes

• [a] *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participles ("went" and "did" in the previous verse) have been translated as finite verbs
• [b] *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun