Lange Commentary - Matthew 21:1 - 21:11

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Lange Commentary - Matthew 21:1 - 21:11


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FOURTH SECTION

THE PROPHETIC HOSANNA OF THE PEOPLE AND THE SURPRISE OF THE CAPITAL

Mat_21:1-11.

(Mar_11:1-10; Luk_19:29-44; Joh_12:12-19. Mat_21:1-9 the Gospel for first Advent, and for Palm-Sunday)

1And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall [will] find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them [he sends them]. 4All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting [mounted, ἐðéâåâçêþò ] upon an ass, and [yea upon] a colt the foal of an ass [of a beast 6, of burden]. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes [garments], and they set him [and he sat] thereon. 8And a very great multitude [most of the multitude] spread their garments in the way; [and] others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way. 9And the multitudes that went before [him], and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10And when he was come [had entered] into Jerusalem, all the city [the whole city] was moved, saying, Who is this? 11And the multitude [the multitudes] said, This is Jesus the prophet [the prophet Jesus] of [from] Nazareth of Galilee.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat_21:1. Unto Jerusalem.—Jerusalem is mentioned as the goal, to assign the motive for the mission of the two disciples. Jerusalem, éְøåּùִìéִí , ̓ ÉåñïíóëÞì , ̓ Éåñïóὸëõìá :—according to Ewald, possession or inheritance of peace; according to Gesenius, the people or house of peace. At all events, a seat of peace, the city of peace: poetically, ùָׁìֵí Psa_76:8; àֲøִéàֵì , Isa_29:1; Isa_29:8; and, earlier, Jdg_19:10; now called by the Mohammedans, el-Khuds [“the holy” or Beit el-Makdis, “the holy house,” “the sanctuary”]. In every respect this city is the mysterious and wonderful flower of history:—in its situation, in its history, in its religious position, and especially in its symbolical character. The city lay high; and the hills around came first into view, over which it spread gradually into the higher and lower city: the hill of Zion being the centre,—Zion, Moriah, Bezetha, Akra. Then the valleys, which made it a natural fortress: toward the west the valley of Gihon; toward the south-west and south, Ge-hinnom; toward the east, the valley of Kidron, bounded by the low hill of Gihon, the Mount of Evil Counsel, and the Mount of Olives with its three peaks. The city belonged to the inheritance of Benjamin, but was for the most part inhabited by the tribe of Judah. As it respects the history of Jerusalem, we may distinguish the period before, and the period after, the exile. The former is subdivided into the time of the Canaanite origin of the place (Josephus calls its builder Melchizedec); the time of its gradual elevation and glory; the time of its humiliation down to the destruction of the first temple. The time after the exile may be divided into the Jewish, the Christian, and the Mohammedan periods. Wonderful have been the conquests and spoliations which Jerusalem has undergone, without being demolished.

[See the article Jerusalem in Winer’s Realwörterbuch, and in W. Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible (vol. 1. pp. 981–1035, by James Fergusson, very full and elaborate with maps); Krafft’s Topographie Jerusalem! (Bonn, 1846); Barclay’s City of the Cheat King; and the well-known works on Palestine, by Robinson, von Raumer, von Schubert, Tischendorf, Schulz, Strauss, Tobler, Wolff, Bausman, etc.]

To Bethphage.—It lay, according to Mat_21:2, straight before them, and was soon reached, ôּâֵּàáֵּéú house of figs. The name indicates a favorable situation on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. “Descending about 100 steps from the top of the Mount of Olives, the place is seen where Bethphage stood, though no ruin remains at this day to mark the spot: 15 stadia farther down, or a short half hour from Jerusalem (Joh_11:18), we reach Bethany. The village (el Aziriyeh [from el Azir, i.e., Lazarus]) is small and poor, occupied by Arabs (and Christians); the way to Jericho runs through it. The supposed houses of Martha, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, Simon the leper, are shown to this day; but especially the sepulchre of Lazarus, hewn out of stone.” Von Raumer. Winer suggests that Bethphage lay somewhat east of Bethany; and hence that it is named before Bethany in Mar_11:1; Luk_19:29. But in Mar_11:1 the description runs backward from the starting-point: Jerusalem, Bethphage, Bethany according to which, Bethphage lay between Jerusa lem and Bethany. Robinson follows Winer in drawing the same wrong conclusion from the text. Pococke thought that he found the ruins of Bethphage two English miles from the city; but Robinson assures us that there are no traces of it visible. The road, which passed from the valley of Bethany over the hill of Bethphage to the middle hill of the Mount of Olives, then passing downward to the valley of Kidron, was then lost in rich palm plantations and fruit and olive gardens. At the time of the Passover, the many trains of pilgrims, and the tents on the sides of the Mount of Olives (in which many pilgrims lodged), made the road look like a festal and excited encampment.

Then sent Jesus two disciples.—They are not further indicated. The sending was occasioned by the Messianic significance of the journey. The festive procession, which had come from Jericho to the neighborhood of the Mount of Olives, and halted there on account of the Sabbath, was increased on Monday morning by the adherents of Jesus who came out from Jerusalem to meet Him. On the evening before, many Jews had gone to Bethany, to see Jesus, and Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead (Joh_12:9). Others were now added to these. They received Him with palm branches, and went on singing the Messianic greeting of Psa_118:26 : Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel. He would enter into the holy city with the emblems of the King of peace, according to Zec_9:9 : hence the mission of the disciples.

Mat_21:2. Into the village.—Bethphage.

An ass, and a colt with her.—“The seeming variation of the two animals from Mar_11:2; Luk_19:30; Joh_12:14, is not to be derived (with de Wette and Strauss) from a misunderstanding of the prophetic passage, in which åְòַì òַéִã is the epexegetic parallel of òַìÎçֲîֹø . In the same way we must understand êáὶ ἐðὶ ðῶëïí , Mat_21:5. Matthew also says that Jesus rode upon the colt; but the mother animal was there, which circumstance the other Evangelists pass over.” Meyer. The words of the prophet Zechariah run: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, yea, upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Here there is a parallelismus membrorum: the ass in the former clause is more fully described in the second as the foal of the ass. Strauss thinks that the Evangelist misunderstood this parallelism, and accordingly made two animals out of one. But, doubtless, the Evangelist, who understood Hebrew poetry, thought of another explanation of the parallel: that, namely, between the mother ass and her foal, as it was realized in the actual event. The Evangelists, all of them, lay stress on the fact, already predicted by the prophet, that Jesus entered the city on a foal not yet ridden. This characteristic of the animal was symbolical, as the whole procession was symbolical. A new time; a new Prince; a new animal to ride upon. But if this foal had never borne a rider, it was necessary that the mother should be led by its side, in order to quiet it for such a service.—According to Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. 63), the foal was a figure of untamed heathenism; while the ass, accustomed to burdens, was a figure of Judaism under the law. But the contrast of the old theocracy and the young ἐêêëçóßá seems more obvious. In the symbolism of the prophets the ass signifies the peaceable animal of the Prince of peace, in opposition to the proud war-horse of the conqueror. (Against the frivolous witticisms of Strauss on the two animals, compare Ebrard, p. 480.)

Loose them.—“Strauss has no ground whatever for making this prediction a myth, with allusion to Gen_49:11.” Meyer. The disciples were to loose the asses, which stood bound by the way, before the eyes of the standers-by; thus, believing in the word of Jesus, they were to perform an act which seemed violent, but was not so, inasmuch as the Lord knew beforehand the consent of these men, and communicated that assurance to the disciples.—But why did the Lord adopt such a method of entering Jerusalem? In this style of approach we see the character of His progress throughout the world. He is a King, at whose disposal all things stand when He wants them, but who has not anywhere, either for Himself or for His servants, great provision laid up beforehand. Thus He goes on His way through the world, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. Doubtless, the fact of this provision may be traced to His friends at Bethany, as the provision of the guest-chamber at Jerusalem for the Passover was traceable to friends in the city; but in both cases the exact specification does not point to any external concert, but to the superhuman knowledge of Christ.

Mat_21:4. That it might be fulfilled—The words combine two passages: Isa_62:11 (“Tell ye the daughter of Zion.” Here the city of the present seems to be addressed as the daughter of the ideal, historical, Jerusalem), and Zec_9:9 (see above). This latter passage refers back indeed to the blessing of Judah, Gen_49:11. Judah is there exhibited as combining the conqueror and the prince of peace (Shiloh): first, he is a conquering prince, and then the prince of peace; and in the latter capacity he makes use of the ass. Both these characteristics of Judah are typically separated in the contrast between David and Solomon; and in the Messiah they are united and fulfilled. Zechariah introduces the Messiah first as a warrior, ch.9., and then makes Him enter Jerusalem as a Prince of peace. But the expression, “that it might be fulfilled,” does not here, any more than in Mat_2:23; Joh_19:28, and elsewhere, signify a merely conventional and fortuitous realization of the prophecy. The occasion and need of the moment was the obvious motive. But to the Spirit of God these historical occasions were arranged coincidences with the prophetical word. Christ was in need of the foal of the ass, inasmuch as He could not make His entrance on foot in the midst of a festal procession. He must not be lost in the crowd; it was necessary that He should take a prominent position, and appear pre-eminent. But if He became conspicuous, it must be in the most humble and peaceable fashion: hence the choice of the ass. The dignity of the procession required the ass’s colt, and this made the history all the more symbolical. But it could not be concealed from the spirit of Christ that here again the plain historical necessity coincided with the symbolically significant fulfilment of a prophetical word. The disciples did not perceive this significance till afterward.

Mat_21:5. And (Yea) a colt.—The êáὶ epexegetical, for closer description:—and that the foal of an ass.

Mat_21:7. He sat upon them, ἐêὰèéóåí ἐðÜíùáí ̓ ôῶí —This is referred to the garments by Theophylact, Euth. Zygab., Castal., Beza, Meyer, and others [Wordsworth]. As referred to the animals, it is variously explained. De Wette: a want of accuracy in Matthew. Strauss says that the Evangelist makes Jesus slavishly and unreasonably carry out the prophetic description, by riding at once upon both animals. Fritzsche, Fleck, and older commentators, suppose that He rode on both alternately. Other expositors, as Winer, Olshausen, Ebrard, Lange, comp. Calvin and Grotius, [also Alford and Nast, explain it as merely an inexact expression, as we might say: “He sprang from the horses.” We do not, however, lay stress upon this comprehensive expression, but upon the idea that He controlled the pair by riding the foal. (Olshausen is mistaken in supposing that He rode the ass.) If we ascribe to the Evangelist a symbolical consciousness, this circumstance assumes a living significance. The old theocracy runs idly and instinctively by the side of the young Church, which has become the true bearer of the kingdom of Christ With all the enmity that existed, she could not separate from it. The rider of a team does really ride both the united animals, though in a mechanical sense only one; and this view is not opposed, as Meyer thinks, by the fact that in Mat_21:5, where riding in a narrower sense is spoken of, such latitude of expression cannot be assumed. Glassius’s explanation of an enallage numeri must then fall to the ground.

Mat_21:8. Spread their garments [loose overcoats, comp. Mat_5:40].—Oriental mark of honor at the reception of kings, on their entrance into cities: 2Ki_9:13. The disciples had made their upper garments into coverings for the animals; the people follow the example, and spread theirs as a carpet on the way.

Mat_21:9. Hosanna to the Son of David.— çåֹùִéòָçÎðָà ( éְäåָֹä ), Help (Lord); give Thy salvation! Ps. 98:25. The expression seems gradually to have become a Messianic prediction of good wish (Hail, io triumphe, ἰὴ ðáéÜí ). Hence its meaning varied according to circumstances; but here its highest significance was disclosed. “The dative is not governed by the verb in ὡóáííÜ , but is a dative of relation, and Hosanna is a festal cry of good will.” Meyer.—Hosanna in the highest.—In the highest regions ( í ̔ øßóôïéò ), that is, in heaven. De Wette: May Hosanna be confirmed by God in heaven. Beza: May it be given by God in heaven. Fritzsche: May it be cried by angels in heaven. Meyer: May it come down from heaven upon the Messiah. Salvation in the heavens, viewed generally, means as well the heavenly salvation which God gives and ensures, as the salvation uttered and announced from the heavens. Hence we might more precisely explain it—May our Hosanna be in the heavens! that is, as a prayer, and as a prayer granted (comp. Luk_2:14), as an exclamation sent to heaven, and as an echo from heaven. In short: May our Hosanna resound in heaven!—These Messianic acclamations seem, according to Mat_21:9, to have taken the form of an antiphonal song between the multitudes which went before, the Lord (the disciples from Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives), and those which followed Him (the Galilean pilgrim-train).

Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.—The pilgrims’ greeting on their entrance into Jerusalem at the time of the feasts (greeting and response, Psa_118:26).

[Jesus, instead of giving way to this joyous enthusiasm of the shouting multitude, weeps tears of sympathy and compassion over unbelieving Jerusalem. See Luk_19:41. Could such a trait have been invented?—P. S.]

Mat_21:10. And when He was come into Jerusalem.—The journey over the Mount of Olives, and the Lord’s emotions at sight of the city, are passed over. See Luke.

The whole city was moved, ἐñåßóïç .—The verb denotes a violent excitement—the being mightily moved, in the external and figurative sense. Meyer: “The excitement was contagious.” But what follows shows that the excitement must not be regarded as merely sympathetic. The question uttered shows this of itself. Jerusalem knew the person of Jesus sufficiently to have spared the question, had it wished.

Mat_21:11. The prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.—Meyer: “The well-known prophet. The accompanying crowds had most distinctly termed Him the Messiah; but the less enthusiastic multitude in the city required first of all to know His name, condition, and so forth. Hence the full answer, in which the ὁ ἀðὸ Íáæáñ ô . Ãáëéë . is certainly not without Galilean pride.” This may be so. Yet it must not be overlooked, that the question of surprise with which the proud city met the Galilean pilgrim-train seems to have lowered in some degree the spirit of their testimony. It is not “the Messiah,” but, somewhat ambiguously, “the prophet,” that they reply.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See the preceding explanations.

2. On the jubilant acclamation which the disciples, on the Mount of Olives, and in prospect of the city, poured out in honor of Jesus, compare Luk_19:37; Joh_12:4. Doubtless we have here—where they celebrated the miracles of Christ, and especially His raising of Lazarus—the first preludes of the speaking with new tongues on the day of Pentecost. The common object of both, in the first as well as in the last, is to ôὰ ìåãáëåῖá ôïῦ Èåïῦ

3. According to the Wolfenbüttel Fragmentist, the entrance of the Lord was the last attempt at a Messianic political foundation of a kingdom. But this is quite contrary to the whole of our Lord’s previous conduct, as He always avoided, not only all political suggestions and temptations, but even the very idea of a political Messiah itself. The readiness with which He could yield to the true Messiahidea, implanted in the minds of His disciples, proves that among them also the proper hope of a political Messiah had been already overcome. That the Lord never made a single attempt to set in motion a political project, does not say enough: we find that His disciples never did so. But that the Lord should suffer Himself to be introduced festally as their Messiah by His people, was only consistent with the truth of His Messiahship and the theocratically-justified expectations of His people. The entry was the purified historical fulfilment of the Messianic expectations of Israel, in conformity with the promise; but, in the form it assumed, it was a testing accommodation to the Messianic expectation of the age. In the wilderness, the popular spirit had tested Him; now His appearance tested the popular spirit. This test was a judgment upon the unbelief of the people; but it was also an important purifier of the rising faith of those who truly believed in Him. To Himself, finally, the kingly procession was a prelude of His sufferings; but it was also a symbol to Him of His glorification, of His kingly procession through the world, and of His future great epiphany. Hence the history of Palm Sunday is read as an Advent lesson. Palm Sunday stands at the beginning of Passion-week, as an anticipation of Easter; just as, conversely, the day of Crucifixion is gently reflected in the Ascension day,—this also being the Lord’s departure, and the consecration of His church as a church of the cross.

[4. Heubner: Christ’s entry into Jerusalem forms in every particular a memorable contrast to the subsequent passion. In the one case He stands on the Mount of Olives, the spot of His glory, looking over Jerusalem, which did homage to Him; in the other He was led to Golgotha, the place of the skull, surrounded by the graves and skulls of malefactors. Here He held His solemn entry, attended by friends and followers and the shouting multitude; there He is thrust out of the city, surrounded by enemies, tied as a criminal, and led by officers and executioners. Here His disciples serve Him willingly, and feel themselves honored thereby; there they forsake Him in dismay and despair. Here all vie with each other in honoring and beautifying His entry; there they spit in His face, and heap all kinds of ignominy on Him. Here they spread garments in the way; there He is stripped of His garments, which are parted by casting lots, while He hangs naked on the cross. Here branches are strewed in the way, and He walks on beds of flowers; there He is scourged and crowned with thorns. Here He rides into the city as King; there He is compelled to bear His own cross. Here the prophecy of Zechariah concerning the coming King is fulfilled; there the awful prophecy of Isaiah concerning Him that is despised and rejected of men. Here He is saluted King, amid shouts of hosannas; there He is rejected, condemned, and crucified as a false prophet and blasphemer. In whose life is there such a contrast—such a sudden transition from joy and glory to humiliation and ignominy? And amid the high excitement of these rapidly-changing scenes, Christ maintains a perfect equanimity, neither giving way for a moment to the importunities of His excited friends, nor overwhelmed by the apparent hopelessness of His cause.—P. S.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Jesus comes as the Christ publicly to His city; or, the day of decision. It was, 1. prepared for with sacred foresight; 2. longed for with the most fervent desire; 3. adorned with the richest miracles of salvation; 4. like a festal revelation from heaven; 5. and yet it was a day of severest test and of decisive judgment for Israel, but, finally, 6. also a day of the approach of redemption for the people of God.—Jesus and Jerusalem; or, the King of peace and the city of peace: 1. Designed ever for each other; 2. bringing each other the doom of death; 3. for each other the means of glorification.—The Mount of Olives: 1. He came over the Mount of Olives,—the Christ of the Spirit; 2. He went to heaven from the Mount of Olives,—the Mediator of the Spirit.—The festal entrance of Christ into the holy city, in its significance for all times: 1. The present—as the glory of the life of Jesus; 2. the past—as the glory of the ancient covenant; 3. the future—as the type of the coming of Christ in glory.—The concealed friends of Christ in the history of His kingdom.—The obedience of the two disciples, a severe test of faith.—The palm-entry of Christ a heavenly type of the coming kingdom of heaven itself.—The festal procession of the Prince of peace: 1. Scriptural representations: the blessing of Jacob, Solomon’s rule, the word of Zechariah 2. Under what signs He appears: the animal of peace, the palm of peace, the people of peace (the last intensely excited, yet without any trace of insurrection). 3. What peace He brings peace of the heart with God, peace of fellowship with brethren, peace of reconciliation with the existing order of things. In all His peace.—The lesson taught by the great palm-entry without any trace of insurrection: 1. Regard not (hierarchically) Christ as separated from His people (freedom of faith); 2. regard not (despotically) the people as separated from their Christ (freedom of conscience).—How we should receive the Lord at His entrance: 1. With devotion of heart, in trust and obedience; 2. with the praise of lips; 3. with festive offerings of our substance.—Lift up your heads, O ye gates! Psalms 24.—The Hosanna of the festal multitudes; or, Israel in the beauty of spring: 1. The blossom full of promise; 2. the fading flowers; 3. the fruit that remained.—The Hosanna, as echo of the angels’ song, Luke 2, in the hearts of men.—The Hosanna in its twofold issue: Crucify Him, and the tongues at Pentecost.—Jerusalem once more excited by the announcement of the Messiah (compare Matthew 2).—All the world must ask who He is.—Loud praise and timid confession.—The day of salvation: To-day, to-day, if ye will hear His voice, Heb_3:7.—Palm Sunday, a preparatory festival, 1. of Good Friday; 2. of Easter; 3. of the Ascension; 4. of Pentecost.

Starke:—With what alacrity does the Lord make arrangements for His end!—A King whose best throne is in the heart.—As all things spoken concerning Christ in the Scripture were fulfilled, so also must be fulfilled all things spoken in the Scripture concerning His church.—Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, but spiritual.—The works of God are not with observation.

Gerlach:—After Jesus had so often avoided the snares of His enemies, He now goes directly to meet the death long predicted for Him; while His friends expected the manifestation of His kingly dignity, and His enemies expected His total destruction.—The hopes of friends and foes were alike fulfilled, yet not in the way they respectively thought: He suffered death, that He might gloriously conquer in it; He received His kingdom on the cross.

Heubner:—Jesus orders all things with supreme wisdom and prudence for His final work.—The last journey of Jesus to Jerusalem.—Jesus is always seeking access into our hearts.—The kingdom of God a kingdom of gentleness and love.—The entry of Christ: 1. Blameless and harmless; 2. wise and dignified; 3. in accordance with duty and necessity.—The contrast between this entrance and the Passion history.—The glorification of Jesus at His last entrance into Jerusalem: 1. By what He Himself did; and 2. by what took place on Him through the instrumentality of others.—What excitement in all the world and in all times concerning Jesus!—On the first Sunday in Advent this Gospel must be viewed in itself, on Palm Sunday in its connection with the history of the Passion.

The Text as the Gospel for Advent.—Hossbach:—Christ holding His entry anew among us.—Hey:—Pious enthusiasm, in its value and in its insufficiency.—Schultz:—When can the Christian say of himself that salvation is come nigh to him?—Lisco:—The preparation for the coming of Christ.

The Text as the Gospel for Palm Sunday,—Rein hard:—Jesus’ deportment before and during the swift process of His last sorrows.—Harms:—In all our sad journeys, let us take Jesus for our guide.—Bachmann:—Introduction to the proper celebration of the holy week.—Ahlfeld:—A glance into the na ture of the kingdom of Christ.—Dittmar:—Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.—Routenberg:—Dare we utter our Hosannas to the Son of David, who is going to Calvary?

Footnotes:

 Mat_21:3.—The Recepta reads the future: ἀðïóôåëåῖ , which is sustained by B., D., the Vulgate, Itala, Lachmann, Tischendorf. But Griesbach and Scholz prefer the present: ἀðïóôÝëëåé , with Codd. C., E., G., K., al., which it more expressive, though apparently less suitable (Meyer).

Mat_21:4.—Lachmann and Tischendorf [in former editions, but not in that of 1859] omit ὅëïí , all, according to Codd, C., D., L, Z., versions, and fathers. [Cod. Sinait. likewise omits it.—P. S.]

Mat_21:5.— Êáὶ is epexegetical, and hence ὀðß before ðῶëïí is superfluous. [But Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford retain it according to B., L., Z., and Cod. Sinait. At all events êáß does not express addition here, but explanation or epeæegesis (und swar, and that, or yea), and thus the apparent difference in the accounts of the Evangelists is easily solved. See Exeg. Note on Mat_21:2.—P. S.]

Mat_21:5.— Õἱὸí ὑðïæõãßïõ “The ass ( ὄíïò ) is the animal meant by the word, but is also characterised by it. (Conant) Lange: Lastthier. Comp. Zec_9:9.—P. S.]

Mat_21:7.—The reading: ἐðåêÜèéóåí , he sat, instead of the lect.rec.: ἐðåêÜèéóáí , they set, is sustained by Codd. B., C., Origen, etc., and adopted in the critical editions.

Mat_21:8.—[ Ὁäὲ ðëåῖóôïò ὄ÷ëïò . Lange and Ewald: das meiste Volk; Kendrick and Conant: (the) meet of the multitude. Comp. ἄëëïé äὲ , and others, in the next clause.—P. S.]

Mat_21:9.— ÐñïÜãïíôåò áὐôüí [instead of ðñõἁãïíôåò simply]. So Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Alford], following B., C., D., al., [and Cod. Sinait.].

Mat_21:9.—[ Ὡóáííá (originally a formula of supplication, bat conventionally one of triumphant gratulation and joyful greeting to a deliverer, hence followed by the dative) was properly retained in the English, German, and other moden Versions, as Matthew retained it from the Hebrew ( äåֹùִׁéòִéÎðּà , óῶóïí äÞ , LXX., Save now!), comp. Mar_9:9-10 Joh_12:18. So we have likewise from the Hebrew the words: Jehovah, sabbath, manna, Zebaoth, amen, etc.—P. S.]

Mat_21:11.—[ Ὄ÷ëïé as in Mat_21:9, where the E. V. correctly renders multitudes.—P. S.]

Mat_21:11.—[The oldest reading, sustained by Cod. Sinait, and adopted by Lachmann, Tregelles. Alford, and Conant, ðñïöÞôçò Ἰçóïῦò , the prophet Jesus, instead of Ἰçóïῦò ὁ ðñïöÞôçò . But Dr. Lange in his version retain. the received residing with Teschendorf, and takes no notice of the difference.—P. S.]

[Jedenfalls also ein Friedenshain, ein Friedenssitz, dir Friedensstadt.]

[Die mysteriöse Wunderblame der Wettgeschichte,—one of the many untranslatable poetic compounds of Dr. Lange. The Edinb. transl. has mysterious glory.—P. S.]

[Gresswell and Nast remove the difficulty by supposing that Bethphage lay upon the direct line of this route, but that Bethany did not; so that one travelling from Jericho would come to Bethphage first, and would have to turn off from the road to go to Bethany.—P. S.]

[Chrysostom, Jerome, and other fathers, likewise regard the ass as a figure of the synagogue burdened with the yoke of the law, and the colt as a symbol of the Gentiles who were untamed and unclean before Christ sat upon them and sanctified them. See more of this patristic allegorizing in the catena Aurea of Thomas Aquinas. Oxford ed. 1:51. p. 708 sqq. Of modern commentators Wordsworth adopts it in this as in many other cases.—P. S.]

[In his new Life of Jesus, 1864, p, 524, Strauss Is not ashamed to repeat this specimen of frivolous criticism, to which it is sufficient to reply that Matthew knew as much Hebrew and had as much common senile as any modem critic of his Gospel.—P. S.]

[Comp. the remarks of Dr. W. Nast in loc.: “The absurd assertion of the antichristian critique, ‘that Jesus’ entry was His last attempt to found a worldly Messianic, kingdom,’ is sufficiently refuted not only by the uniform tenor of His previous conduct, rejecting sternly all insinuations and offers of that kind as coning from the Evil One, but also by the form of the entry, which was well adapted to remove every idea of earthly power a d worldly entry. even amid the hosannas of His followers and the attending crowds, and to set forth the spiritual nature of His kingdom. His followers did not carry swords or spears, but branches of palm trees, and He Himself did not ride the war-steed of a king, but the colt of an ass, the symbol of peace. That the entry had no political character appears also from the fact that the Roman Government took no notice of it”—Even Strauss, in his new Life of Jesus, p. 278, refutes the hypothesis of Reimarus (the author of the Wolfenbüttel Fragments), and well remarks that he who makes his entry unarmed with unarmed followers on a peaceful animal must either be already acknowledged as ruler, or he must aim at dominion in such a manner as excludes all force and political power.—P. S.]