304 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH
Kingdom, it is this ; and that, if ever Israel was to have a Messiah, or the world a Saviour, He must be such as is described in this prophecy not merely in the letter, but in the spirit of it. And, as so often indicated, it was not the letter but the spirit of prophecy and of all prophecy which the ancient synagogue, and that rightly, saw fulfilled in the Messiah and His Kingdom. Accordingly, with singular unanimity, the Talmud and the ancient Rabbinic authorities have applied this prophecy to the Christ." :
But let us approach the Scripture itself. In view of the magnitude and the joyful character of the announce ment about to be made, the prophet exclaims, " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem" which reminds us of the similar summons in the first part of this book : " Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion : for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah" 2 which again is an inspired post-exilic echo of the joyous proclamation with which the Book of
1 Edersheim. Many pages could be filled with quotations from the Talmud, the Midrashim, and Jewish commentators, in which this passage is applied to the Messiah. In the Talmud Bab., fol. 98, we read Rabbi Joshua ben Levi asks : " It is written in one place, Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, but in another place it is written, lowly, and riding upon an ass. How is this to be understood ? The answer is, If they be righteous (or deserving) He shall come with the clouds of heaven ; if they be not righteous, then He shall come lowly, and riding upon an ass."
With the exception of Rabbi Moshe ha-Kohen (quoted by Aben-Ezra, who applied the prophecy to Nehemiah) and Aben-Ezra (who applies it to "Judas, the son of the Hasmonean ") all the Jewish commentators apply it to the Messiah. Rashi says, "This cannot be explained except of King-Messiah, for it is said of Him, And His dominion shall be from sea to sea ; but we do not find that such a one ruled over Israel in the time of the Second Temple."
Saadiah Gaon, commenting on the words in Dan. vii., " Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven," says, "This is the Messiah our righteousness. But is it not written of the Messiah, Lowly, and riding upon an ass ? Yes, but this shows that He will come in humility, and not in pride upon horses."
Non-Jewish readers interested in Rabbinic interpretations must be referred to Schottgen, vol. ii. p. 20 ff. ; Pusey, The Minor Prophets (who has a fairly full collection of passages with references) ; Wiinsche, Die Leiden des Messias, pp. 66, 103, etc. ; Hengstenberg, in his Christology ; Alexander McCaul, in his Observations on the gth chapter of his (Kimchi s) Commentary, etc.
- Chap. ii. 10.
