S4: Week 49 Day 1: Annotating Zechariah 9:9

Summary

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Podcast Summary: A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace

Episode: S4: Week 49 Day 1: Annotating Zechariah 9:9
Date: December 1, 2025
Host(s): Beth and Alexa

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Episode Overview

This episode launches a week-long exploration of Zechariah 9:9, focusing on how the Old Testament points to Jesus as the humble, righteous King. Beth and Alexa annotate Zechariah 9:9, unpacking each descriptor of the prophesied king and laying groundwork for connections to Jesus’ triumphal entry. The hosts emphasize how the humility and unexpected characteristics of this king point forward to Christ.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reading and Annotating Zechariah 9:9

Passage Read Aloud

• "Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." (01:24 – Alexa)

Annotation Exercise

• The study directs listeners to "circle words that describe the king" (01:39 – Beth).
  • Descriptors Identified: "righteous," "victorious," "humble."
• Righteous: "He does what is right in the sight of God." (01:45 – Beth)
• Victorious: "He has won a battle or he's conquered a land...he is strong and powerful and a champion for his people." (01:52 – Beth)
• Humble: "An unexpected term for a king...it intuitively appears to contradict the other two descriptions." (01:59 – Beth)
  • This juxtaposition hints at a unique kind of ruler: "It's strange for a victorious and righteous ruler to also be described as humble, lowly or not proud or sacrificial." (02:05 – Beth)

2. The King’s Humble Entrance

• The unusual imagery is highlighted: "The king is riding on a donkey rather than a horse..." (02:41 – Beth)
  • Surprise Element: "I think I would expect a victorious king to be on a large and majestic horse...I tend to think of donkeys as smelly and small." (02:46 – Beth)
  • "It's the foal of a donkey. So it's a baby donkey, which is definitely not the transportation that I would expect of a king." (03:03 – Beth)
• Alexa responds: "I don't think I've really noticed that this verse says foal of a donkey. I feel like the humility of this king is further exemplified in the size of this donkey." (03:12 – Alexa)
  • Key Insight: The king "has chosen to essentially make himself small, but by riding a small animal." (03:22 – Alexa)

3. The Joyful Tone & God’s Grace

• Beth reflects on the mood of the passage:
  • "We can point to the joyful tone of the passage...God has done something great and gracious for his people by sending this king. And so because he sent this king, they can rejoice and they can shout for joy." (03:32 – Beth)
• Alexa underscores how the king provides for the people’s joy: "God is making it possible for them to have this joy through this king." (03:58 – Alexa)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It's strange for a victorious and righteous ruler to also be described as humble, lowly or not proud or sacrificial.”
  — Beth (02:05)
• “The humility of this king is further exemplified in the size of this donkey. This king has chosen to essentially make himself small, but by riding a small animal.”
  — Alexa (03:12)
• “God has done something great and gracious for his people by sending this king. And so because he sent this king, they can rejoice and they can shout for joy.”
  — Beth (03:32)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:24: Alexa reads Zechariah 9:9 aloud.
• 01:39 – 02:05: Beth discusses identifying “righteous,” “victorious,” and “humble.”
• 02:41: Beth explains the significance of a king riding a donkey, especially a foal.
• 03:12: Alexa reflects on the humility shown by riding a small donkey.
• 03:32: Beth highlights the joyful response and God’s gracious act.
• 03:58: Alexa summarizes how the king brings joy to God’s people.

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Tone and Takeaways

Warm, conversational, and reverent, Beth and Alexa encourage listeners to engage deeply with Scripture, noting surprising elements of prophecy and fostering anticipation for connections to Jesus. This episode primes listeners for the subsequent exploration of how Zechariah 9:9 is fulfilled in the New Testament, setting up a Christ-centered lens for reading Old Testament prophecy.

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For Further Study

Listeners are prompted to join future episodes and explore additional resources at thedailygraceco.com for more Bible study tools and Christ-centered encouragement.

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Transcript

[Sharon Doran]

Want a deeper, faithful dive into Scripture? Join Sharon Doran for Seeking Truth Catholic Bible Study. Sharon is a Scripture scholar with over 20 years of teaching experience, and her warm and lively lectures use a canonical approach across the Old and New Testaments, bringing the feminine genius of the maternal heart to every lecture. Subscribe to Seeking Truth Catholic Bible Study on your favorite podcast platform and learn more about our free [e-mail] welcome to.

[Beth]

A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. This year we want to spend a few minutes with you every day walking through our study Christ in All of Scripture. Each week we will dive deeply into two passages of Scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, seeing how they connect and point to Jesus.

[Narrator]

Whether you are doing the study yourself or just following along with us here, we are hopeful that through studying these passages each week, you will see how Christ is not only present throughout the entire Biblical story, but the center of it.

[Beth]

Hey everyone, welcome back to another week of A Year in the Bible. I'm Beth and I am here with my co host Alexa. Hi friends.

[Alexa]

This week we'll be studying Zechariah 9:9 and John 12:12 16 and we will see how Jesus is the long awaited and humble King of Israel.

[Beth]

So we will begin as usual by going over our annotations. So Alexa, can you read Zechariah 9:9 for us today?

[Alexa]

Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. So Beth, how did these annotations go for you?

[Beth]

Yeah, I thought this was fascinating. The study had a circle words that describe the king that's mentioned in this passage. And so I circled righteous, victorious, and humble. And then I made note of what these descriptors tell us about this king. So he's a righteous king. And being righteous means that he is upstanding and good and that he does what is right in the sight of God. And he's also victorious. So he has won a battle or he's conquered a land. This shows us that he is strong and powerful and a champion for his people. The king is also described as humble, which is an unexpected term for a king. And it also intuitively appears to contradict the other two descriptions. It's strange for a victorious and righteous ruler to also be described as humble, lowly or not, proud or sacrificial. I think we might start to see where this is going already, but we're not going to say too much else about this king today.

[Alexa]

Yeah, those descriptions really are fascinating. This king is both triumphant and humble. And, yeah, we usually put those descriptions together. Is there anything else that we should know about why this king is riding on a donkey?

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Beth]

So we're definitely going to talk more about this tomorrow, but for now, I think we can make some cursory observations. So first, the king is riding on a donkey rather than a horse, which I'm not sure about you, but I think I would expect a victorious king to be on a large and majestic horse when he rides into a city. I tend to think of donkeys as smelly and small. Which brings me to my second observation, which is that it's not just any normal sized donkey either. It's the foal of a donkey. So it's a baby donkey, which is definitely not the transportation that I would expect of a king.

[Alexa]

Yeah, definitely not. You know, I don't think I've really noticed that this verse says foal of a donkey. I feel like the humility of this king is further exemplified in the size of this donkey. This king has chosen to essentially make himself small, but by riding a small animal. So that's really fascinating. Is there anything else that we should know?

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Beth]

Before we close out, I'll say a little bit about God's attributes in this passage. This passage doesn't really have any explicit mentions of God, so it's hard to say much without getting into the context surrounding it. But we're going to do that tomorrow. So for now, I think we can point to the joyful tone of the passage. I think we can say that God has done something great and gracious for his people by sending this king. And so because he sent this king, they can rejoice and they can shout for joy.

[Alexa]

Yeah, those are some good observations. It's encouraging to see how the people in this verse are being encouraged to have joy and God is making it possible for them to have this joy through this king. Well, that is all for today, but we will be with you tomorrow as we go deeper into Zechariah 9.

[Beth]

9.

[Narrator]

Thank you for listening to today's episode of A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. Be sure to check out our show notes for some helpful links and resources related to today's episode. And make sure you're following Hly Grace Podcast and hedaily Grace Co on Instagram for more Bible study resources and encouragement.

[Alexa]

We're looking forward to studying God's Word with you again tomorrow. Bye, friends.