Matthew 21:7

Mat 21:7. Ἐπεκάθισεν,[911] He sat upon) becomingly; His disciples attending on Him;[912] see Luk 19:35. The Persian kings were rather placed by others, than themselves got on horseback. See Brisson.—ἐπάνω αὐτῶν, on them) though, strictly speaking, on the foal; see Mar 11:2-3; Joh 12:14-15.

[911] BC Origen read, as Beng., ἐπεκάθισεν, He sat: abcd also have ‘sedebat:’ D has ἐκάθητο. Vulg. has imposuerunt; and so Rec. Text ἐπεκάθισαν, they set Him thereon. This last plainly comes through Harmonists from Luk 19:35, ἐπβίβασαν, they set Jesus thereon.—ED.

[912] That is, His disciples helped Him to mount, which harmonises the statements, that He sat upon the colt, in Matt., and that His disciples set Him on, in Luke.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_21:7. They spread their outer garments upon both animals, being uncertain which of them Jesus intended to mount.

The (second) ἐπάνω αὐτῶν must necessarily be referred, with Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, Castalio, Beza, Homberg, Fritzsche, Winer, p. 165 [E. T. 219], to the garments, in which case it is clear from Mat_21:5 that Jesus sat upon the foal. Were we to refer αὐτῶν to the animals, the result would be the absurd idea (which Strauss, B. Bauer, Volkmar make use of against Matthew) that Jesus mounted both of them at once, not one after the other (Fritzsche, Fleck), seeing that κ. ἐπεκάθισεν ἐπ. αὐτῶν denotes the instantaneous, finished act which followed the spreading of the garments. To suppose (Ebrard, Olshausen), by way of justifying the reference to the animals, that we have here a loose form of speech, corresponding to the German phrase: he leaps from the horses, and such like, is out of the question, for the simple reason that no such σύλληψις can be assumed in the case of Mat_21:5, all the less so that, from this verse, it would appear that it was the dam on which Jesus rode, with the foal walking by her side.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 21:7-11 . τὴν ὄνον καὶ τὸν πῶλον : that both were brought is carefully specified in view of the prophetic oracle as understood by the evangelist to refer to two animals, not to one under two parallel names. ἐπέθηκαν : the two disciples spread their upper garments on the two beasts, to make a seat for their Master. καὶ ἐπεκάθισεν ἐπ . αὐτῶν : if the second αὐτῶν be taken to have the same reference as the first the meaning will be that Jesus sat upon both beasts (alternately). But this would require the imperfect of the verb instead of the aorist. It seems best, with many ancient and modern interpreters, to refer the second αὐτῶν to the garments, though on this view there is a certain looseness in the expression, as, strictly speaking, Jesus would sit on only one of the mantles, if He rode only on one animal. Fritzsche, while taking the second ἀ . as referring to ἱμάτια , thinks the evangelist means to represent Jesus as riding on both alternately.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Upon their garments, not upon the ass and the colt.

Their uppermost garments.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. And put on them their clothes] Thus acknowledging him to be their king, for this was a custom observed by the people when they found that God had appointed a man to the kingdom. When Jehu sat with the captains of the army, and Elisha the prophet came, by the order of God, to anoint him king over Israel, as soon as he came out of the inner chamber into which the prophet had taken him to anoint him, and they knew what was done, every man took his garment, and spread it under him on the top of the steps, and blew the trumpets, saying, "Jehu is king." 2Kg 9:13.

And they set him thereon.] Και επεκαθισεν επανω αυτων, and he sat upon them; but instead of επανω αυτων, upon THEM, the Codex Bezae, seven copies of the Itala, some copies of the Vulgate, and some others, read επ' αυτον, upon him, i.e. the colt. This is most likely to be the true reading; for we can scarcely suppose that he rode upon both by turns, - this would appear childish; or that he rode upon both at once, for this would be absurd. Some say he sat on both; for "the ass that was tied up was an emblem of the Jews bound under the yoke of the law; and the colt that had not been tied represented the Gentiles who were not under the law; and that Jesus Christ's sitting on both represented his subjecting the Jews and the Gentiles to the sway of his evangelical sceptre." He who can receive this saying, let him receive it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) They set him thereon—i.e., on the garments which served as a saddle. Our Lord rode on the colt, and the ass followed, or went along by His side. St. Mark and St. Luke mention the colt only.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. put on them their clothes] Their upper garments, the abbas of modern Arabs. Cp. with this the throne extemporised for Jehu, 2Ki_9:13.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Jdg 5:10 represents the princes of Israel as riding upon asses, strewed or saddled with all kind 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

Ver. 7. And put on them their clothes] Teaching us to honour God with the best of our substance, and to dedicate ourselves wholly to the Lord our God. Jonathan stripped himself, for his friend David, of the robe that was upon him, and his garments, even to his sword and his belt, 1Sa 18:4. Christ suspended his glory for a season, laid aside his rich and royal robes, borrowed humanity of us, that he might clothe us with his righteousness. And shall we think much to clothe him in his naked members, to part with anything for his sake and service?

And they set him thereon] They that make religion dance attendance to policy (saith one) these set the ass upon Christ, not Christ upon the ass. Thus did Jehu, and before him Jeroboam, cui gravior iactura regionis, quam religionis. to whom it was more serious to lose the kingdom than religion. Thus do all our Machiavellians and the world’s wizards, whose rule is, Philosophandum sed paucis; Religiosum oportet esse, sed non religentem, &c. But what saith the father? Deum siquis parum metuit, valde contemnit. And one thing, said Luther, that will be the ruin of religion is worldly policy, that would have all well however, and seeks to procure the public peace, by impious and unlawful counsels and courses, Quae vult omnia redigere in ordinem, et publicae tranquillitati impiis consiliis mederi.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And put on them their clothes - This was done as a token of respect, 2Ki 9:13.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sit thereon. St. Jerome reprobates the opinion of those who suppose that Christ rode upon both the ass and the colt, though without sufficient reason. The Greek indeed, epano auton, upon them, may be referred either to the beasts or to Greek: ta imatia, the garments; but the very general sentiment is, that he first sat upon the ass for a short time, and then mounted the colt. It may be asked why Jesus, who through humility had during his whole life travelled on foot, and in no one previous instance is found to have allowed himself the convenience of riding, should on this occasion enter Jerusalem riding? One reason was, as mentioned in note on ver. 4, supra, to fulfil the prophecy of Zarcharias, who had given this mark of the Messias. Hence St. John (Chrysostom, hom. lxvi.) challenges the Jews to shew him any other king of theirs, who had entered Jerusalem riding on an ass. Other reasons were, to give a faint specimen of his real kingly dignity before he suffered; to be publicly acknowledged for the Messias; to confirm the faith of his disciples; and to leave his enemies no excuse for their incredulity. On this, as on all other occasions, magnificence is admirably blended with humility, in our Saviour’s actions. Even in this his triumph, we cannot help admiring his humility, in riding upon an ass. (Jansenius) --- The glorious reception he met with from the people, was perfectly voluntary on their parts, the genuine effusions of their hearts, and as such, infinitely superior to the vain and often forced parade bestowed upon earthly princes; and is commemorated in the blessing and distributing palms in the Catholic Church, on Palm-Sunday, all over the Christian world.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Mark saith, Mar 11:7-10, And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. Luke hath it yet with more circumstances, Luk 19:35-40; And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as they went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. John also gives us some account of this, Joh 12:12,13; On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. They bring the ass and the colt to Jesus, who had no saddle, no costly furniture for him; they were glad to lay on the ass’s back some of their garments, and to set Christ upon the colt. And in a kind of a natural country triumph, made up without any kind of art, some threw their clothes in his way, some cut down boughs of trees, (palm trees, saith John), with these they bestrew the way. Christ at Bethany, in his journey, had done a famous miracle, raising up Lazarus from the dead. John saith, Joh 12:18, the fame of this made many that were in Jerusalem, who were come thither against the passover time, (for, Joh 12:1, it was but six days before the passover), go out to meet him; and, joined with those who came along with him from Bethany, they cried all along as they came, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. Many of these expressions, seem to be taken out of Psa 118:24-26. Their laying the garments upon the ass, and throwing them in the way, was a custom they used towards princes, as appears not only by many records out of profane authors, but from 2Ki 9:13, where the like was done to Jehu, upon his being anointed king over Israel. For the acclamations, they were also such as were usual to princes. Whether Hosanna signifieth, Save now, or, Help, we pray; or whether it was a term by which they expressed their desire of good success or prosperity to the person to whom they applied it; or whether it was the name of some song used in their festivals, or it signifies boughs, &c., is not much material: they by this acclamation acknowledged him a King, the Son of David; they blessed him, they wished him peace, honour, and glory. This was the acclamation of the multitude, who doubtless had but a small and imperfect knowledge of the Divine nature of Christ, but yet looked on him as the Son of David, as the Messiah. The Pharisees (some of which it seemeth had mixed themselves with this multitude) were troubled at the acclamation, and (as Luke tells us) speak to Christ to rebuke them; but he answereth, If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. It is a proverbial expression, the sense of which is alone to be attended. The sense is this: The time is come, set by my Father for the publication of my kingdom, and declaring what I am; and when God’s time is come the thing must come to pass, by one means or another. If these children of Abraham should hold their peace, God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham, and they should do the same thing, publish me as the Son of David, the King in Zion.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Put on them their clothes — The clothes were put by the disciples on the beasts by way of a saddle. Both beasts were brought, not because our Lord was expected literally to ride both in the course of a journey of two miles’ length, but to exhibit the appearance of a regal relay. Set him thereon — From which cavillers have objected that the language makes him seated on both animals at once. To obviate this, some have made the word them refer to the clothes. But this is an unnatural evasion of an imaginary difficulty.

He was literally seated on one at a time, but virtually mounted upon both, as they were both his riding equipment. They were a common conveyance upon which he was borne.

Mark describes the colt as one whereon never man sat. This was not, we think, as Hengstenberg maintains, to indicate humility, but sacredness. So Luk_23:53. Our Lord was “laid in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man was laid before.” And so our Lord was born of a pure virgin. His birth, his triumph, his tomb, were thus alike. His appearance, his history, and his departure are thus indicated to be above the level of ordinary humanity.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Brought the ass. The unbroken foal would be more easily subdued and guided when its mother was with it; such an addition to the ridden animal would usually be employed to carry the rider"s luggage. They put on them ( epanw autwn) their clothes (imatia). The two disciples, stripping off their heavy outer garments, abbas, or burnouses, put them as trappings on the two beasts, not knowing on which their Master meant to ride. They set him thereon (epanw autwn). Thus the received text, and the Vulgate, Et eum desuper sedere fecerunt. But most modern editors, with great manuscriptural authority, read, "he sat thereon." Some have taken the pronoun autwn to refer to the beasts, and Alford supports the opinion by the common saying, "The postilion rode on the horses," when, in fact, he rode only one of the pair. But the analogy is erroneous. The postilion really guides and controls both; but no one contends that Christ kept the mother ass in hand while mounted on the colt. The pronoun is more suitably referred to the garments, which formed a saddle for the Saviour, or housings and ornamental appendages. (comp. 2Ki_9:13) He came invested with a certain dignity and pomp, yet in such humble guise as to discountenance all idea of temporal sovereignty.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They set him thereon - That is, on the clothes.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

7. They set him thereon. Hitherto he had entered the holy city on foot; this day he would enter as David and the judges of Israel were wont—riding on the ass.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

7. τὰ ἱμάτια. Their upper garments, the abbas of modern Arabs. Cp. with this the throne extemporised for Jehu, 2Ki 9:13.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7.] In Mark, εὗρον πῶλον δεδεμένον πρὸς θύραν ἔξω ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀμφόδου. Our Lord sat on the foal (Mark, Luke), and the mother accompanied, apparently after the manner of a sumpter, as prophets so riding would be usually accompanied (but not of course doing the work of a sumpter).

In the last αὐτῶν, probably the animals, not the garments, are to be understood. Thus we say, ‘the postilion rode on the horses.’ Meyer objects to this interpretation, that no such latitude of expression is found in ver. 5. But I cannot see how this affects the matter. Even if we take ἐπάνω αὐτῶν of the garments, the former ἐπʼ αὐτῶν will require similar latitude of interpretation. That this riding and entry were intentional on the part of our Lord, is clear: and also that He did not thereby mean to give any countenance to the temporal ideas of His Messiahship, but solemnly to fulfil the Scriptures respecting Him, and to prepare the way for his sufferings, by a public avowal of His mission. The typical meaning also is not to be overlooked. In all probability the evening visit to the temple was on the very day when the Paschal Lamb was to be taken up—i.e. set apart for the sacrifice.

8,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(M) 7. And brought the ass and the colt, and placed upon them their clothes, and He sat upon them.] Mk. has: “And bring the colt to Jesus, and place upon it their clothes; and He sat upon it.”—ἤγαγον] aor. for Mk.’s hist. pres., as often.—τὴν ὄνον καί] for the insertion, see on v. 3.—ἐπέθηκεν] aor. for Mk.’s hist. pres., as often.—ἑπʼ αὐτῶν] Mt., in modifying the passage, is not quite careful to make the details harmonious, The Lord could not ride on both animals, and there was no need, therefore, to place clothes on both.—τὰ ἱμάτια] Mk., who adds αὐτῶν, almost certainly means that the disciples managed to find some raiment, which they threw over the colt’s back. Mt. writes τὰ ἱμάτια simply as though he understood it to refer to the saddle cloths of the animals.—ἐπάνω αὐτῶν] If the editor had not just said that they placed clothing upon them, we might take ἐπάνω αὐτῶν here to refer to the ἱμάτια. But he may have meant it to refer to the animals, regardless of the impossibility of riding more than one at a time.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Set him thereon. But the preferable reading is ejpekaqisen, he took his seat upon.

A very great multitude [ο πλειστος οχλος] . The A. V. is wrong. The reference is not to the size, but to the proportionate part of the multitude which followed him. Hence Rev., correctly, The most part of the multitude.

Their garments [εαυτων] . Lit., "their own garments." The disciples spread their garments on the beasts; the multitude strewed their own garments in the way. Dr. Edward Robinson, cited by Dr. Morison, speaking of the inhabitants of Bethlehem who had participated in the rebellion of 1834, says : "At that time, when some of the inhabitants were already imprisoned, and all were in deep distress, Mr. Farrar, then English consul at Damascus, was on a visit to Jerusalem, and had rode out with Mr. Nicolayson to Solomon 's Pools. On their return, as they rose the ascent to enter Bethlehem, hundreds of people, male and female, met them, imploring the consul to interfere in their behalf, and afford them his protection; and all at once, by a sort of simultaneous movement, they spread their garments in the way before the horses."

The variation of tenses is not preserved in the English versions. Spread their garments, aorist tense, denoting one definite act. Cut down, spread in the way, imperfects, denoting continued action. As Jesus advanced, they kept cutting branches and spreading them, and the multitude kept crying.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.