The Messiah on a special kind of donkey?

[louis_jp]

Regarding the donkey in Zechariah 9:9, which presumably refers back to the donkey referred to in Genesis 49:11, Meredith Kline wrote that a "special designation for the donkey, shared by these two passages alone in the Old Testament, has been found to refer to a particular kind of animal that was used in the death-ritual by which ancient covenants were ratified. Accordingly, in the fulfillment... of Zechariah 9 [in Matthew 21:4-5], the donkey on which the Lord rode presaged... the new covenant."

Is this true? Can anyone shed light on this, please?

 

[chbrooking]

I have a friend who wrote a dissertation on quadrupeds in the ANE. He'd know (from the terms used). I'll ask him. Could take a while for a response though.

 

[louis_jp]

I have a friend who wrote a dissertation on quadrupeds in the ANE. He'd know (from the terms used). I'll ask him. Could take a while for a response though.

Wow, talk about a specialty!

Thanks!

 

[Knoxienne]

All I know is the donkey was small, 'cause scripture talks about that. I never gave much thought to the critter other than that. Interesting though.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Needless to say, extra-biblical material is a weak reed to lean on for doctrine.

At some point, we really need to say that this sort of speculation needs to be accepted for what it is: namely an interesting insight that may or may not have anything at all to do with authorial intent, or even Holy Spirit intent. I'd put this sort of "discovery" in the same category as Origen's allegories.

Please understand: I have long since come around on understanding what it was that the ancient allegorizing interpreters were trying to do--they were hoping to preserve Christological interpretation of the whole Bible (the apostolic hermeneutic), so the Old Testament in particular wouldn't cease to be a Christian book. However, they lost the golden mean, and their expositions of the text ran farther and farther afield.

It doesn't matter to me that MGK believes he can find support for his donkey-theory in the real world, in linguistics and social structures. In terms of the OT itself, there are other, better kingship/royalty associations with the donkey, e.g Jdg.5:10, 10:4, cf. 2Sam.16:2. Far more satisfactory than some alleged word-association with a donkey cut up for an ANE treaty ceremony.

In Gen.15 where we have an actual covenant-making ceremony, there are no donkeys. One might have expected a clear connection to have been made there, and it is certain that Abraham had donkeys he might have used.

I have a deep suspicion that MGK, like RJR, wrote millions of words in the 20th century, all thrown against the wall, and in a hundred years we'll discover there were a handful of things that stuck.

 

[chbrooking]

My friend has an article on this coming out in JBL. His response to my inquiry is below. You should understand that my friend is not confessional, but he is quite knowledgeable about such things.

The phrase in Zech 9:9 certainly does allude to the royal blessing in Gen
49:11. It should be translated "riding on a donkey--a purebred jackass."
The phrase is used in the Mari texts to designate the animal which the
Amorites preferred for slaughtering in treaty/covenant ratification
ceremonies. Thus the phrase was used in covenant contexts to stress the
ritual purity of the sacrificial animal. However, the emphasis both in
Zech 9 and in the Gospels is not so much on the covenant termonology as
much as it is on the royal symbolism. That is, Jesus is Israel's king--he
is the royal Messiah.

If interested, here's who gave me the info:
Kenneth C. Way, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Bible Exposition
Talbot School of Theology (Biola University)

 

[TimV]

Meredith Kline wrote that a "special designation for the donkey, shared by these two passages alone in the Old Testament, has been found to refer to a particular kind of animal that was used in the death-ritual by which ancient covenants were ratified

Who cares that God specifically forbade donkeys to be used for eating, let alone sacrifice. As long as one or two of 200 local cultures over a period of 3000 years sacrificed donkeys during certain ceremonies, it's fair to tell people with authority that local Jews during the time of Christ automatically saw the symbolism. Much like we automatically think of the Aztec moon god when we look at a dollar bill. Since there is an Egyptian pyramid on it.