πῶλος

From the study of Matthew 21:5

Range of meaning

ὄνος means donkey, male or female (feminine here). πῶλος means the young of an animal, a colt or foal, of either horse or donkey. In Jewish Greek it usually means a young donkey.

Against the English

KJV 'ass' is accurate but now sounds crude or comic. 'Donkey' and 'colt' are accurate. Some paraphrases merge the two animals into one, which hides Matthew's distinctive detail.

How it drifted

The modern image of the donkey as a lowly, comic animal can push out its biblical role as a respectable mount for leaders.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judges 5:10 and 10:4; 12:14 (leaders ride donkeys). 1 Kings 1:33–44: Solomon is installed as king riding David's own mule. Genesis 49:10–11: Judah's ruler 'binds his foal to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine', a passage later Jewish interpretation linked with Zechariah 9:9 (Genesis Rabbah 98–99, compiled later than Matthew). In Zechariah 9:10, the next verse, God will 'cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem'. Mari texts from the 18th century BC show a king being told to ride a donkey or chariot rather than a horse, to honour his royal status.

From the study of John 12:15

Range of meaning

A young animal, foal. Without a qualifier it most often meant a young horse in ordinary Greek. With a qualifier, or in Septuagint usage, it meant the young of a donkey (Gen 32:15; 49:11; Judg 10:4; Zech 9:9).

Against the English

KJV/YLT "ass's colt"; ESV/NIV/NASB/WEB "donkey's colt"; BSB "the colt of a donkey"; NLT "donkey's colt." All right, but in modern English "colt" usually means a young male horse.

How it drifted

English "colt" narrowed to horses in everyday speech. The Greek word was broader. It is qualified here ("of a donkey"), and v.14 calls the animal onarion, "little donkey."

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 49:11 LXX: "binding… ton pōlon tēs onou autou," "the foal of his she-donkey," in Jacob's blessing of Judah, the royal tribe whose scepter will not depart. Zech 9:9 LXX: "pōlon neon," "a young foal." Judg 10:4; 12:14: leaders' sons riding on thirty or seventy donkey-foals as a mark of rank. Walter Bauer (JBL 1953) argued that pōlos alone in Mark 11 could mean a horse. In John the question does not arise.

From the study of Matthew 21:2

Range of meaning

The young of an animal: a foal. In classical Greek, used without qualification, it most often means a young horse (it can also mean a young person). In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) and Jewish usage it regularly means a donkey's foal, often paired with ὄνος (donkey) or ὑποζύγιον ('beast of burden').

Against the English

English 'colt' today means a young male horse, so the KJV/ESV/BSB 'colt' sends a modern reader's mind toward horses. Matthew leaves no doubt: the colt is 'with her,' the she-donkey's foal, matching Zechariah 9:9 'a colt, the foal of a donkey' (quoted in v. 5).

How it drifted

English 'colt' narrowed to horses as horse-breeding vocabulary standardised. Older English could use 'colt' for young asses as well (the KJV uses it that way in Genesis 49:11 and Zechariah 9:9).

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Genesis 49:11 ('binding his foal [pōlon] to the vine'), Judges 10:4 and 12:14 (leaders' sons riding pōloi/donkeys), and Zechariah 9:9 ('on a beast of burden and a young foal'). Walter Bauer (JBL 1953) argued that in Mark and Luke, where no mother is mentioned, pōlos might mean a horse. Most scholars, following Otto Michel and others, answer that the Zechariah setting makes it a donkey. In Matthew the question does not arise.