Bible passage: Zechariah 9:9-11
Prophet: Zechariah
Written: Between 520 and 518 BC
This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray KonigPublished: Nov. 26, 2001Updated: July 19, 2024
The Old Testament prophet Zechariah, who lived about 2,500 years ago, gave a prophecy that the Messiah would announce himself publicly in a most humble way -- by riding a lowly donkey into Jerusalem.
This prophecy, which is found in Zechariah 9:9-11, is a remarkable prediction that covers a great deal of ground. Aside from predicting the humble manner in which the Messiah would arrive, it also predicts that the Messiah would have a worldwide spiritual impact.
In this prophecy, Zechariah refers to the promised Messiah as the promised "King:"
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. (Zechariah 9:9-11, WEB)
When Zechariah gave this prophecy, there was no king in Jerusalem. The last king, Zedekiah, had been taken captive to Babylon, where he later died as a prisoner, about a century before the time of the prophet Zechariah.
Up until Zedekiah's death, the descendants of King David had reigned as kings from Jerusalem for about 20 generations, for a total of about 400 years.
The succession of Davidic kings began with David, who reigned from Jerusalem about 3,000 years ago, and ended with Zedekiah, who reigned from Jerusalem about 2,600 years ago. The succession was then disrupted by the Babylonians, when they were expanding the Neo-Babylonian Empire (609 BC to 539 BC).
And so, Zechariah's prophecy was looking past the disruption of the succession of Davidic kings to the arrival of the promised Messiah, who would reign eternally from Jerusalem, as the final and ultimate king, who would be a descendant of David.
In Zechariah's prophecy, he speaks of the humble arrival of the Messiah in verse 9. Jesus fulfilled this part of Zechariah's prophecy about 500 years after the time of Zechariah, by humbly riding a lowly donkey into Jerusalem, as explained in the New Testament, in Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-19.
When Jesus did this, there were many Jews gathered in Jerusalem for the yearly Passover commemoration. Crowds of people recognized that Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 and they swarmed around him, hailing him with Messianic praise.
This event, which is often called the Triumphal Entry, marked the first time that Jesus had publicly announced himself as the Messiah. It happened near the end of his public ministry, shortly before he was crucified by the Romans.
Throughout his public ministry, which is often estimated to have lasted three-and-a-half years, beginning in late AD 26, and ending in early AD 30, Jesus traveled throughout Israel, preaching about the Kingdom of God and performing miracles.
During his public ministry, Jesus often revealed to his disciples and to individual people that he is the Messiah, but he did not publicly announce himself as the Messiah until he was about to show the world that he is the Messiah, by suffering and dying for the sins of others, during the crucifixion.
We know that Zechariah's prophecy, in speaking of a king, is talking about the Messiah for several reasons. First, the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel had already predicted, about 2,600 years ago, that the Davidic succession of kings would be disrupted by the Babylonians and that the next king would be the Messiah himself. Their prophecies can be found in Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Ezekiel 21:26-27.
Zechariah's prophecy revisits the prophetic promise of Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Ezekiel 21:26-27 and reiterates that the next descendant of David to reign from Jerusalem would be the Messiah himself.
Many scholars and commentators overlook the connections that these three prophecies share, in Zechariah 9:9-11, Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Ezekiel 21:26-27. As a result, they often give incomplete and inaccurate information in their commentaries in regard to each of these prophecies.
In fact, scholars and commentators throughout the past 2,000 years have consistently failed to see that Zechariah 9:9-11 is a son of David prophecy, as explained in more detail in Jesus the Messiah, by Ray Konig.
There are at least 10 of these son of David prophecies in the Old Testament, beginning with 2 Samuel 7:12-16, where the prophet Nathan informed that it would be King David's descendants -- as opposed to anyone else's -- who inherit the throne in Jerusalem, and that one of his descendants would inherit the throne eternally. That promised descendant would be the promised Messiah, who uniquely would have the divine ability to reign forever.
When we recognize, acknowledge, and understand these connections, we see that Zechariah's prophecy is speaking of the promised descendant of David who would be the promised Messiah.
Zechariah's prophecy also informs us that it is speaking about the promised Messiah because, in verse 10, it predicts that he would have a worldwide spiritual impact in that he would "speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." The word "peace" is a critically important spiritual word throughout the whole of the Bible.
The promise of having a worldwide spiritual impact is uniquely, repeatedly and solely associated with the promised Messiah in more than a dozen Old Testament prophecies, including in Genesis 22:18, Genesis 26:4, Genesis 28:14, Genesis 49:10, Psalm 72:17, Isaiah 11:9-10, Isaiah 42:1,6, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 52:15, and Micah 5:4.
This point, too, about the Messiah having a worldwide spiritual impact -- as well as the presence of the concept of a worldwide spiritual impact -- is remarkably and embarrassingly overlooked by many scholars and commentators, who fail to see the connections that Zechariah 9:9-11 shares with other Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
The prophetic promise of a worldwide spiritual impact is introduced and discussed in more detail in Jesus the Messiah, and also in 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
Despite the many oversights by many scholars and commentators, Zechariah's prophecy has been recognized as being about the Messiah since ancient times by Christians and Judaists.
In the New Testament, the Gospels of Matthew and John cite Zechariah 9:9 as being fulfilled by Jesus, in Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15.
In the Babylonian Talmud, which was compiled by Judaists who did not view Jesus as the Messiah, Zechariah 9:9 is also regarded as being a prophecy about the Messiah, in Berakhot 56b. The Babylonian Talmud was written from about AD 200-600.
Alfred Edersheim, a Christian Jew who lived during the 1800s, studied ancient Rabbinical writings, and said that Zechariah 9:9 was often interpreted as being about a Messiah. In his book, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Edersheim wrote: "The Messianic application of this verse in all its parts has already been repeatedly indicated. We may here add that there are many traditions about this donkey on which the Messiah is to ride; and so firm was the belief in it, that, according to the Talmud, 'if anyone saw a donkey in his dreams, he will see salvation' (Ber 56 b)."
Here is the fuller passage from the Talmud that Edersheim refers to:
“One who sees a donkey in a dream should anticipate salvation, as it is said: ‘Behold, your king comes unto you; he is triumphant, and victorious, lowly, and riding upon a donkey’” - Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 56b, The William Davidson Edition.
As noted earlier, Jesus fulfilled verse 9 of Zechariah's prophecy about 2,000 years ago when he publicly announced himself as the Messiah, by humbly riding a lowly donkey into Jerusalem.
Jesus remains today the only person on record to have ever ridden a donkey into Jerusalem while being hailed as the Messiah.
Jesus also has fulfilled verse 10, which speaks of having a worldwide spiritual impact, in that he is the central figure of Christianity, which is the world's largest and most widespread religion. Christianity has an estimated 2.3 billion followers, according to data from the CIA World Factbook.
In fact, Christianity is the only religion that has a significant presence -- as defined by being the majority religion in at least one country on each of the world's inhabitable continents, according to an analysis of data from the 2022 edition of the CIA World Factbook.
Jesus will completely fulfill Zechariah 9:9-11 when he returns in the future, for Judgment Day, and to fully realize the Kingdom of God, as the promised descendant of King David who will reign eternally.
© Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.