Language:
English
Year of publication:
2019
Titel der Quelle:
Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Angaben zur Quelle:
81,1 (2019) 62-84; 81,2 (2019) 235-251
Keywords:
New Testament. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
New Testament. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
New Testament. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
New Testament. Relation to Zechariah
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Donkeys in the Bible
Abstract:
The presence of a female donkey (a "jenny") in Matthew's account of the triumphal entry (Matt 21:1-9) has been perplexing because her presence is not mentioned in either of Matthew's sources, Mark 11:1-10 and Zech 9:9. Some scholars hold that the jenny comes from another tradition, but this does not make her presence a fulfillment of the prophecy. Others hold that Matthew broke the parallelism of Zech 9:9, where the humble Messiah is to ride into Jerusalem "on a (male) donkey, and on a colt," but this too does not account for a female donkey at the scene. In this article, I argue for a plenary reading of the Hebrew prophecy where Matthew sees the presence of the jenny fulfilled in Zechariah's characterization of the colt as a "son of jennies."
Abstract:
Matthew's description of Jesus taking his mount in 21:7 as "and he sat on top of them" has been a crux interpretum for centuries. Some take it literally even though it is impossible for a human to sit on two donkeys at once. Others try to avoid the problem by referring the plural pronoun "them" to the coats the disciples placed on the donkeys instead. I contend that both readings are unsatisfactory, and I bring new evidence and arguments, including Matthew's plenary reading of Zech 9:9 set forth in part 1 of the study (see CBQ 81 [2019] 62-84), to argue that the plural pronoun functions for Matthew as a whole-for-part synecdoche, where the jenny and the colt constitute a conceptual whole such that when Jesus sits on top of "them," he takes his mount on the part that fulfills the Hebrew prophecy.
Note:
Part 2: Matthew 21:7 as a reading of Mark 11:7 in light of Zechariah 9:9.
DOI:
10.1353/cbq.2019.0051
URL:
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