Bēthphagē (Βηθφαγή) means "house of unripe figs" in Aramaic (beit pagey). It was a village on the Mount of Olives, near Bethany, mentioned in Matthew 21:1, Mark 11:1, and Luke 19:29. From here Jesus sent His disciples to obtain the colt for His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.
Bethphage was the staging point for the Triumphal Entry — the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9: "See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey." Jesus' deliberate choice of a donkey (not a war horse) at this precise location proclaimed His identity as the Prince of Peace entering His royal city in humility. The unripe-fig meaning of the name connects to the cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18–19), a parable of Israel's spiritual unfruitfulness despite outward religious appearance. Both events — from Bethphage to Jerusalem — are rich with prophetic fulfillment.