2781. And saddled the donkey symbolizes his earthly self, which he prepared, as can be seen from the symbolism of a donkey, discussed below.

We have inside us traits of will and traits of intellect. Traits that have to do with goodness are traits of will; those that have to do with truth are traits of intellect. There are different kinds of animals that symbolize traits of will, which relate to goodness, including lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, young cattle, and adult cattle; see §§1823, 2179, 2180. There are also animals that symbolize traits of intellect, which relate to truth, and they are horses, mules, wild donkeys, camels, and domesticated donkeys, not to mention birds. A horse symbolizes something intellectual, as shown above in §§2761, 2762. A wild donkey symbolizes truth detached from goodness; see §1949. A camel symbolizes facts in general, and a domesticated donkey, facts in particular; see §1486.

[2] There are two components to our earthly level or, putting it another way, our earthly self: earthly goodness and earthly truth. Earthly goodness is the pleasure that flows from neighborly love and faith; earthly truth is the facts about both.

Truth on the earthly level is what a donkey symbolizes, and truth on the rational level is what a mule symbolizes, as the following passages show. In Isaiah:

An oracle of the animals of the south: In a land of anguish and distress, the lion and tiger-and the viper and flying fire snake from there-will bear their goods on the shoulder of young donkeys, and their treasures on the hump of camels, on a people [whom] they will not profit. And Egyptians will help futilely and in vain. (Isaiah 30:6, 7)

People who know what is good and true but treat that knowledge as a collection of facts rather than something to live by are being called animals of the south. They are said to bear their goods on the shoulder of young donkeys, and their treasures on the hump of camels, because young donkeys symbolize particular facts, while camels symbolize facts in general. Egyptians stand for different kinds of factual knowledge (see §§1164, 1165, 1186), which are said to help futilely and in vain. This oracle has an inner meaning, without which no one could understand it, as anyone can see. Without the inner meaning, no one would know what an oracle of the animals of the south is, or the lion and tiger, the viper and flying fire snake, and the fact that the animals would bear their goods on the shoulder of young donkeys and their treasures on the hump of camels. No one would know why it says directly afterward that Egyptians will help futilely and in vain. In Moses, the donkey in Israel's prophecy concerning Issachar has a similar meaning:

Issachar is a bony donkey lying down between its burdens. (Genesis 49:14)

[3] In Zechariah:

This will be the plague with which Jehovah will strike all the peoples who fight against Jerusalem. It will be a plague on horse, mule, camel, and donkey, and every animal. (Zechariah 14:12, 15)

The horse, mule, camel, and donkey symbolize the contents of the human intellect, which will be afflicted by a plague. This can be seen from everything that the verses before and after these say, because the theme is the plagues leading up to the Last Judgment, or the close of the age. John also has quite a bit to say about them in Revelation, and the rest of the prophets speak of them here and there. People who are then going to fight against Jerusalem-that is, against the Lord's spiritual church and its truth-are symbolized by the animals mentioned, and their minds are going to be afflicted with plagues. [4] In Isaiah:

Fortunate are you who sow along all the waters, sending the foot of the ox and the donkey there. (Isaiah 32:20)

Those who sow along all the waters stand for people who let themselves be taught about spiritual things. Waters are spiritual traits, or truth in the intellect (see §§680, 739, 2702). Sending the foot of the ox and the donkey there stands for earthly qualities that will make themselves useful. The ox is goodness on the earthly plane (2180, 2566); the donkey is truth on the earthly plane. [5] In Moses:

. . . tying his young donkey to the grapevine and his jenny's foal to the choice vine. He washed his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)

This is the oracular utterance of Jacob (who by then was Israel) concerning the Lord. The grapevine and the choice vine stand for the outward and inward aspects of a spiritual religion (§1069). The young donkey stands for truth on the earthly plane; the jenny's foal, for truth on the rational plane. The reason a jenny's foal is rational truth is that a jenny, [a female donkey,] symbolizes a desire for earthly truth (1486), and its foal is rational truth (see §§1895, 1896, 1902, 1910).

[6] Judges once rode on female donkeys, and their children on young male donkeys. The reason was that judges represented what the church values as good, while their offspring represented the truth that develops out of that goodness. Monarchs, however, rode on female mules, and their children on male mules, because monarchs and their offspring represented what the church teaches to be true (see §§1672, 1728, 2015, 2069). The Book of Judges shows that a judge rode on a female donkey:

My heart belongs to Israel's lawgivers, the most willing among the people. Bless Jehovah, you who are riding on white jennies, sitting on middin! (Judges 5:9, 10)

Judges' offspring rode on young donkeys:

Jair, a judge over Israel, had thirty children riding on thirty young donkeys. (Judges 10:3, 4)

And in another place:

Abdon, a judge of Israel, had forty children and thirty grandchildren riding on seventy young donkeys. (Judges 12:14)

A monarch rode on a female mule:

David said to them, "Take with you the slaves of your master, and you are to make Solomon my son ride on the she-mule that is mine." And they made Solomon ride on the she-mule of King David; and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him as king in Gihon. (1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44, 45)

A monarch's offspring rode on male mules:

All the sons of King David got up and rode, each on his he-mule, and fled from Absalom. (2 Samuel 13:29)

[7] This shows that riding on a female donkey was the sign of a judge; riding on a female mule, the sign of a monarch; riding on a young donkey, the sign of a judge's children; and riding on a male mule, the sign of a monarch's children. The reason is that a female donkey represented and symbolized a desire for earthly goodness and truth, as just noted; a female mule, a desire for rational truth; a male donkey (young or not), earthly truth itself; and a male mule (and a jenny's foal), rational truth. This clarifies what is meant by Zechariah's prophecies about the Lord:

Rejoice, daughter of Zion; shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! See: your king will come to you, honorable and saved, humble, and riding on a donkey, and on a young donkey, the foal of jennies. His ruling power will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:9, 10)

When the Lord went to Jerusalem, he wanted to ride on these animals, as we know from the Gospels. This is what Matthew says about it:

Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the town opposite you and immediately you will find a jenny tied, and her young with her; untie them and bring them to me." This happened in order to fulfill what was said by the prophet, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'See: your king is coming to you, mild, sitting on a jenny, and on a young animal, the foal of a beast of burden.'" And they brought the jenny and her young and set their clothes on them and placed him on them. (Matthew 21:[1,] 2, 4, 5, 7)

[8] Riding on a donkey was a sign that the earthly dimension would be made subordinate, while riding on a young animal, the foal of a jenny, was a sign that the rational dimension would be. The symbolism of a foal of a jenny, as shown above at the quotation from Genesis 49:11, is the same as that of a mule. For this reason, and because it was the role of a governing judge and a monarch to ride on these animals-and also in order to fulfill the religious representation-it pleased the Lord to do so. This is what John says about it:

The next day, when a numerous crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus had come to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees and went to meet him and shouted, "Hosanna! A blessing on the one who comes in the Lord's name, the King of Israel!" Jesus, however, finding a young donkey, sat on it. As it is written: "Don't be afraid, daughter of Zion. See: your king is coming, sitting on the young of a jenny." These things, however, his disciples did not know at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him, and these things they had done for him. (John 12:12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Mark 11:1-12; Luke 19:28-41)

[9] From this evidence it can now be seen that everything in the church of that day represented the Lord and accordingly the heavenly and spiritual qualities of his kingdom. That includes even a jenny and a jenny's foal, which represented the goodness and truth in a person's earthly self. The reason for this representation was that the earthly self ought to serve the rational self, which ought to serve the spiritual self, which ought to serve the heavenly self, which ought to serve the Lord. That is the proper hierarchy.

[10] Since an ox and a donkey symbolized the goodness and truth of the earthly self, many laws mentioning the two animals were laid down. At first glance, these laws do not seem worthy of mention in God's Word, but when their inner meaning is unfolded, spiritual content of tremendous importance comes to view. Here are examples from Moses:

When anyone opens a pit, or when anyone digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in, the owner of the pit shall repay silver to the owner, and the dead animal shall be [the pit owner's]. (Exodus 21:33, 34)

If you come across your enemy's ox or your enemy's donkey wandering, you shall most decidedly bring it back to that person. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its load and shrink from removing [the load], you shall most decidedly remove it from the animal. (Exodus 23:4, 5; Deuteronomy 22:1, 3)

You shall not see your brother's donkey or ox falling down along the way and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly help it up. (Deuteronomy 22:4)

You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey jointly. You are not to clothe yourself in mixed weaving of wool and linen together. (Deuteronomy 22:10, 11)

Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, in order that your ox may rest, and your donkey, and your slave woman's child, and the immigrant. (Exodus 23:12)

In these passages, on a spiritual level, an ox and a donkey actually symbolize earthly goodness and truth.