Matthew Chapter 21, Verse 2
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2: λεγων αυτοις πορευθητε εις την κωμην την απεναντι υμων και ευθεως ευρησετε ονον δεδεμενην και πωλον μετ αυτης λυσαντες αγαγετε μοι
2: Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and
straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her:
loose them, and bring them unto me.
2: Saying to them: Go ye into the village that is over against you:
and immediately you shall find an ass tied and a colt with her. Loose
them and bring them to me.
Go into the village over against you. The village here meant was not far from Bethany, and about two miles east of Jerusalem, (Mark and Luke.) He had lodged at Bethphage [Bethany] the night before, and in the morning sent his disciples to the village over against them; that is, to Bethany, [Bethphage,] Jn 12:1ff.
Ye shall find an ass tied, etc. In Judea there were few horses, and those were chiefly used in war. Men seldom employed them in common life, and in ordinary journeys. The ass, the mule, and the camel, are still most used in eastern countries. To ride on a horse was sometimes an emblem of war; on a mule and an ass the emblem of peace. Kings and princes commonly rode on them in times of peace; and it is mentioned as a mark of rank and dignity to ride in that manner, Jdg 10:4, Jdg 12:14, 1Sam 25:20.
So Solomon, when he was inaugurated as king, rode on a mule, 1 Kg 1:33. Riding in this manner, then, denoted neither poverty nor degradation, but was the appropriate way in which a king should ride, and in which, therefore, the King of Zion should enter into his capital - the city of Jerusalem.
Mark and Luke say, that he told them they should find "a colt tied." This they were directed to bring. They mention only the colt, because it was this on which he rode.
