Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Anthony J. Toole
Matthew 21:7
“And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.”
Bible says Jesus rode the ass but he did not bring the ass.
|
I find that people are more bothered by
"and put on them their clothes"
(I will refer to both as horses, and assume a plurality of horses, as I do not wish, at this point to wade in with authority.)
The problem is with
"them". Does "
and put on them their clothes" mean
(i) they (the disciples) laid their (the disciples') clothes upon both horses,
(ii) they dressed the horses in their (the disciples') own clothes,
(iii) they dressed the horses in their (the horses') clothes. (bridle/saddle, etc.),
(iv) They laid their clothes on the ground and put the ass and the colt on them,
(v) They felt certain that the ass and the colt were perfect (This verse is said to be the origin of
“To put your shirt on something”, which is an expression used in horse –racing.), or
(v) something else.
The understanding is not helped by the next verse:
M't:21:8: And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
Here, the referent of “their” is clear: it is “a very great multitude”, and they all put their clothes on the ground. You can see why this might be – the streets of the town were similar to those in a Detroit ghetto, so the clothes would smooth the surface and the horses would not falter. But there would have been no need for the Disciples to put clothes on the ground if all Jesus had to do was get on a horse.
The final mystery is whether the multitude consisted of men only, or men and women. I mention this as you will remember that there are verses speaking against “seeing someone’s nakedness.” Or perhaps they had brought along some spare clothes.