Zechariah 9:9 - Riding on a Donkey

בס"ד

At various propitious moments Scripture gives us a glimpse of the Messiah. One is by Bilaam when the Israelites in fact began the conquest of the Holy Land. He says, “I see him but not now. I view him but not near. A star will stride from Jacob and a scepter will arise from Israel”, (Numbers 24:17). After that is a description of the war to end all wars that the messiah will fight. The book of Zechariah is similar. Its main subject is the return of the Jews to the Holy Land. It then gives a glimpse of the messiah. 

“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion;

Trumpet, daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you.

righteous and salvation he is

Poor and riding on a donkey,

On a foal the son of she-donkeys”, (Zechariah 9:9).

After that it's a picture of the war to end all wars. The vision of Bilaam is of a glorious warrior. The vision of Zechariah is of a man of peace, very humble, and loved by his people. The general message of Zechariah is that Israel will be decent and peace will be obtained through knowledge of G-d. The function of war will be to destroy the wicked. The messiah will help people  not so much by coercion or money but rather by making the right decisions.

The commentaries contrast a donkey with a horse. A horse is valuable in war. Today it’s been replaced by motor vehicles, but the police still use them against demonstrators. A donkey is good to carry a rider or two and a heavy load. It is not a glorious animal and is known to be a bit stupid. Often it is viewed as cute and with some affection.  The idea is that the messiah is coming in peace.  

Zion is an expression for the Temple and an elite. Jerusalem is the entire city which is mainly ordinary people. The donkey is a symbol for the entire nation. It conveys the idea that peace loving simple people will be the ones to bring the messiah. A foal is a young donkey, about a year old, meaning that the decency of the nation is relatively recent. Obviously a donkey comes from a line of mother donkeys. Here it hints of a righteous generation coming after generations that as a whole were not so righteous. The hint is that peace will come when there are enough people who wish to live according to what is right and wrong even if they could obtain an objective by force or stubbornness. 

לע"נ  האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח

העלון ניתן לקבל גם באתר  http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com