From: Iver Larsen (iver_larsen@sil.org)
Date: Sat Jul 28 2001 - 06:05:29 EDT
Carl said:
> Although I think that's true regarding the original Hebrew text, it should
> be noted that Matthew appears to have understood that text as referring to
> two animals, and it would certainly appear that he has Jesus sitting on
> both of them. He continues (21:6-7): POREUQENTES DE hOI MAQHTAI KAI
> POIHSANTES KAQWS SUNETAXEN AUTOIS hO IHSOUS HGAGON THN ONON KAI TON PWLON
> KAI EPEQHKAN EP' AUTWN TA hIMATIA KAI EPEKAQISEN EPANW AUTWN.
Here my common sense breaks in with an objection. How could a person ride
two donkeys simultaneously?
I am ready to accept that garments were placed on both the young donkey and
its mother. I am also ready to imagine the mother donkey walking in front of
the young colt on which Jesus wanted to ride. After all the young donkey had
never carried a person before, and how do you get a young donkey to move
forward unless it follows its mother? Matthew reveals an experience of
handling donkeys that most of us do not have. (I have a little from my ten
years of living in a remote area of Africa where donkeys were used a lot in
mountainous terrain.)
I believe the final AUTWN refers to TA hIMATIA. But I am afraid my respect
for Matthew objects to having it refer all the way back to THN ONON KAI TON
PWLON as the first AUTWN clearly does.
The fact that the parallel passages in Mark and Luke do not mention the
mother donkey is not a problem to me. It is normal in GNT story telling only
to mention by name the main participants.
Other participants may be present, but if they have no significant role to
play, they are not mentioned.
My main problem is all those pictures I have seen with Jesus riding on a
donkey without the mother also being depicted walking in front.
Another option is to suggest that the text before us is corrupt and Matthew
wrote something different. But that can only be speculation.
Iver Larsen
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