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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
9. Ὡσαννά. Hebr. ‘hoshiah-na,’ ‘save now,’ ‘save I pray.’ Na is a particle of entreaty added to imperatives. They are the first words of Psa 118:25, ‘Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity,’ a verse which was sung in solemn procession round the altar at the feast of Tabernacles and on other occasions. As they sang these words it was the custom to carry young branches of palm, and the boughs of myrtle and willow, which were brandished or shaken at intervals. (See Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. ad loc.)
τῷ υἱῷ Δ. Dative of general reference. The ‘Salvation’ is in some way connected with the Son of David as the cause or instrument of it. See Clyde’s Greek Synt. § 15.
The multitude recognise the Messiah in Jesus and address to Him the strains and observe the ritual of their most joyous festival. The shouts of ‘hosanna’ must have been significant in another way to the disciples. The verb is from the same root and had nearly the same sound as the name Jesus. See note Mat 21:5.
The thought of ‘salvation’ is so closely connected with the feast of Tabernacles, that to this day the name ‘hosanna’ is given to the bundles of branches, to the prayers at the feast, and to the feast itself. See Wetstein ad loc., and cp. Rev 7:9-10.
St Luke paraphrases the expression for his Gentile readers, ‘glory in the highest.’
εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου. ‘According to the accents the rendering would be, “Blessed in the name of the Lord be he that cometh.” Dean Perowne on Psa 118:26. ‘He that cometh’ (Habba) was a recognised Messianic title. St Mark adds ‘Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ St Luke has ‘Blessed be the king that cometh,’ &c., and mentions that the multitude ‘began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.’ St John reports the words thus, ‘Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ These shouts of triumph—which were the ‘gospel’ or heralding of the King—must have sounded across the valley of Kedron up to the precincts and porches of the Temple.
‘Bethany stands in a shallow hollow scooped out of the shoulder of the hill. The path follows this till the descent begins at a turn where the first view of the Temple is caught. First appeared the castles and walls of the city of David; and immediately afterwards the glittering roof of the Temple and the gorgeous royal arcade of Herod with its long range of battlements overhanging the southern edge of Moriah.’—Tristram’s Topography of Holy Land.
The entry into Jerusalem must not be regarded as an isolated fact. It was a culminating outburst of feeling. It is clear that the expectation of the kingdom was raised to the highest pitch. The prostration of Salome at the feet of the Prince; the request of her sons; the dispute among the ten; the gathering crowds; the cry of Bartimæus; the triumphal entry, are all signs of this feeling.
For us the Royal Entry is a figure, a parable through external sights and sounds of the true and inner secret kingdom of God.