He-ass

The he-ass or male donkey (Hebrew hamor) was one of the most commonly domesticated animals of the ancient Near East and appears frequently throughout the Old Testament as a beast of burden, a marker of wealth, and an animal of both agricultural and ceremonial significance. Abraham, Jacob, and Job all counted asses among their substantial livestock holdings (Genesis 12:16; 32:5; Job 1:3). The Mosaic law regulated the treatment of the ass with notable care: the ox and ass were not to be yoked together (Deuteronomy 22:10), the lost ass of an enemy was to be returned (Exodus 23:4–5), and the ass that had fallen under its burden was to be helped up (Deuteronomy 22:4).

Theologically, the ass appears in two pivotal passages: Balaam's donkey that saw the angel of the LORD and spoke (Numbers 22:22–35), and the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt (Matthew 21:1–7; Zechariah 9:9) — an act of deliberate messianic symbolism presenting the king who comes humbly, not on a war horse but on a beast of peace. The ass thus spans the biblical narrative from the patriarchs to the Messiah's entry into his capital.