John 12:13-15

12:13 So they took branches of palm trees ¹  and went out to meet him. They began to shout, ²  “Hosanna! ³  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ⁴  Blessed is ⁵  the king of Israel!” 12:14 Jesus found a young donkey ⁶  and sat on it, just as it is written, 12:15 “Do not be afraid, people of Zion; ⁷  look, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt!” ⁸ 

John 18:37

18:37 Then Pilate said, ⁹  “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world – to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to ¹⁰  my voice.”

John 19:19-22

19:19 Pilate also had a notice ¹¹  written and fastened to the cross, ¹²  which read: ¹³  “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” 19:20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem ¹⁴  read this notice, ¹⁵  because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, ¹⁶  Latin, and Greek. 19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews ¹⁷  said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’” 19:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

Psalms 2:6

2:6 “I myself ¹⁸  have installed ¹⁹  my king

on Zion, my holy hill.”

Psalms 110:1

Psalm 110 ²⁰ 

A psalm of David.

110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation ²¹  to my lord: ²² 

“Sit down at my right hand ²³  until I make your enemies your footstool!” ²⁴ 

Isaiah 9:7

9:7 His dominion will be vast ²⁵ 

and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ²⁶ 

He will rule on David’s throne

and over David’s kingdom, ²⁷ 

establishing it ²⁸  and strengthening it

by promoting justice and fairness, ²⁹ 

from this time forward and forevermore.

The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ³⁰  will accomplish this.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ³¹  that a new time will certainly come ³² 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ³³  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ³⁴ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ³⁵ 

23:6 Under his rule ³⁶  Judah will enjoy safety ³⁷ 

and Israel will live in security. ³⁸ 

This is the name he will go by:

‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ ³⁹ 

Ezekiel 37:21-25

37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ⁴⁰  37:23 They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness ⁴¹  by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become their God.

37:24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow ⁴²  my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. ⁴³  37:25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it – they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever.

Daniel 9:25

9:25 So know and understand:

From the issuing of the command ⁴⁴  to restore and rebuild

Jerusalem ⁴⁵  until an anointed one, a prince arrives, ⁴⁶ 

there will be a period of seven weeks ⁴⁷  and sixty-two weeks.

It will again be built, ⁴⁸  with plaza and moat,

but in distressful times.

Hosea 3:5

3:5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ⁴⁹  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ⁵⁰  in the future. ⁵¹ 

Micah 5:2

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ⁵² 

seemingly insignificant ⁵³  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ⁵⁴ 

one whose origins ⁵⁵  are in the distant past. ⁵⁶ 

Zephaniah 3:15

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ⁵⁷ 

he has turned back your enemy.

Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!

You no longer need to fear disaster.

Zechariah 6:12-13

6:12 Then say to him, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Look – here is the man whose name is Branch, ⁵⁸  who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 6:13 Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest ⁵⁹  with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything.

Zechariah 9:9

9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

Look! Your king is coming to you:

he is legitimate ⁶⁰  and victorious, ⁶¹ 

humble and riding on a donkey ⁶²  –

on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.

Matthew 2:2

2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose ⁶³  and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 21:5

21:5 “Tell the people of Zion, ⁶⁴ 

‘Look, your king is coming to you,

unassuming and seated on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” ⁶⁵ 

Matthew 27:11

Jesus and Pilate

27:11 Then ⁶⁶  Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, ⁶⁷  “Are you the king ⁶⁸  of the Jews?” Jesus ⁶⁹  said, “You say so.” ⁷⁰ 

Matthew 27:42

27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down ⁷¹  now from the cross, we will believe in him!

Luke 19:38

19:38 “Blessed is the king ⁷²  who comes in the name of the Lord! ⁷³  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

[12:13]  ¹ sn The Mosaic law stated (Lev 23:40) that branches of palm trees were to be used to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. Later on they came to be used to celebrate other feasts as well (1 Macc. 13:51, 2 Macc. 10:7).

[12:13]  ² tn Grk “And they were shouting.” An ingressive force for the imperfect tense (“they began to shout” or “they started shouting”) is natural in this sequence of events. The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) is left untranslated to improve the English style.

[12:13]  ³ tn The expression ῾Ωσαννά (Jwsanna, literally in Hebrew, “O Lord, save”) in the quotation from Ps 118:25-26 was probably by this time a familiar liturgical expression of praise, on the order of “Hail to the king,” although both the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expressions meant “O Lord, save us.” As in Mark 11:9 the introductory ὡσαννά is followed by the words of Ps 118:25, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου (euloghmeno" Jo ercomeno" en onomati kuriou), although in the Fourth Gospel the author adds for good measure καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ (kai Jo basileu" tou Israhl). In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this point every messianic expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm shouted by the crowd that Jesus is being proclaimed as messianic king. See E. Lohse, TDNT 9:682-84.

[12:13]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.

[12:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” The words “Blessed is” are not repeated in the Greek text, but are repeated in the translation to avoid the awkwardness in English of the ascensive καί (kai).

[12:14]  ⁶ sn The author does not repeat the detailed accounts of the finding of the donkey recorded in the synoptic gospels. He does, however, see the event as a fulfillment of scripture, which he indicates by quoting Zech 9:9.

[12:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion” (the phrase “daughter of Zion” is an idiom for the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “people of Zion”). The idiom “daughter of Zion” has been translated as “people of Zion” because the original idiom, while firmly embedded in the Christian tradition, is not understandable to most modern English readers.

[12:15]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Zech 9:9.

[18:37]  ⁹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:37]  ¹⁰ tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”

[19:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “an inscription.”

[19:19]  ¹² tn Grk “Pilate also wrote a notice and placed it on the cross.” The two verbs should be read as causatives, since it is highly unlikely that the Roman governor would perform either of these actions himself. He ordered them to be done.

[19:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “Now it was written.”

[19:20]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general. See also the note on the phrase Jewish religious leaders” in v. 7.

[19:20]  ¹⁵ tn Or “this inscription.”

[19:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the Jewish chief priests.” Nowhere else in the Fourth Gospel are the two expressions οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (Joi arcierei" twn Ioudaiwn) combined. Earlier in 19:15 the chief priests were simply referred to as οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς. It seems likely that this is another example of Johannine irony, to be seen in contrast to the inscription on the cross which read ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (Jo basileu" twn Ioudaiwn). For this reason the phrase has been translated “the chief priests of the Jews” (which preserves in the translation the connection with “King of the Jews”) rather than “the Jewish chief priests.”

[2:6]  ¹⁸ tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”

[2:6]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”

[110:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 110. In this royal psalm the psalmist announces God’s oracle to the Davidic king. The first part of the oracle appears in v. 1, the second in v. 4. In vv. 2-3 the psalmist addresses the king, while in vv. 5-7 he appears to address God.

[110:1]  ²¹ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.

[110:1]  ²² sn My lord. In the psalm’s original context the speaker is an unidentified prophetic voice in the royal court. In the course of time the psalm is applied to each successive king in the dynasty and ultimately to the ideal Davidic king. NT references to the psalm understand David to be speaking about his “lord,” the Messiah. (See Matt 22:43-45; Mark 12:36-37; Luke 20:42-44; Acts 2:34-35).

[110:1]  ²³ tn To sit at the “right hand” of the king was an honor (see 1 Kgs 2:19). In Ugaritic myth (CTA 4 v. 108-10) the artisan god Kothar-and Khasis is described as sitting at the right hand of the storm god Baal. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 61-62.

[110:1]  ²⁴ sn When the Lord made his covenant with David, he promised to subdue the king’s enemies (see 2 Sam 7:9-11; Ps 89:22-23).

[9:7]  ²⁵ tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”

[9:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”

[9:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:7]  ²⁸ tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”

[9:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”

[9:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.

[23:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ³² tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ³³ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ³⁵ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[23:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”

[23:6]  ³⁷ tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).

[23:6]  ³⁸ sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.

[23:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’.”

[37:22]  ⁴⁰ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

[37:23]  ⁴¹ tc Heb “their dwellings.” The text as it stands does not make sense. Based on the LXX, a slight emendation of two vowels, including a mater, yields the reading “from their turning,” a reference here to their turning from God and deviating from his commandments. See BDB 1000 s.v. מְשׁוּבָה, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:407.

[37:24]  ⁴² tn Heb “walk [in].”

[37:24]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”

[9:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).

[9:25]  ⁴⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:25]  ⁴⁶ tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.

[9:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).

[9:25]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.

[3:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”

[3:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”

[3:5]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”

[5:2]  ⁵² sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ⁵³ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.

[3:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.

[6:12]  ⁵⁸ tn The epithet “Branch” (צֶמַח, tsemakh) derives from the verb used here (יִצְמָח, yitsmakh, “will sprout up”) to describe the rise of the Messiah, already referred to in this manner in Zech 3:8 (cf. Isa 11:1; 53:2; Jer 33:15). In the immediate context this refers to Zerubbabel, but the ultimate referent is Jesus (cf. John 19:5).

[6:13]  ⁵⁹ sn The priest here in the immediate context is Joshua but the fuller and more distant allusion is to the Messiah, a ruling priest. The notion of the ruler as a priest-king was already apparent in David and his successors (Pss 2:2, 6-8; 110:2, 4), and it finds mature expression in David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, who will combine both offices in his kingship (Heb 5:1-10; 7:1-25).

[9:9]  ⁶⁰ tn The Hebrew term צַדִּיק (tsadiq) ordinarily translated “righteous,” frequently occurs, as here, with the idea of conforming to a standard or meeting certain criteria. The Messianic king riding into Jerusalem is fully qualified to take the Davidic throne (cf. 1 Sam 23:3; Isa 9:5-6; 11:4; 16:5; Jer 22:1-5; 23:5-6).

[9:9]  ⁶¹ tn The Hebrew term נוֹשָׁע (nosha’) a Niphal participle of יָשַׁע (yasha’, “to save”) could mean “one delivered” or, if viewed as active, “one bringing salvation” (similar KJV, NIV, NKJV). It is preferable to take the normal passive use of the Niphal and understand that the king, having been delivered, is as a result “victorious” (so also NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[9:9]  ⁶² sn The NT understands this verse to be a prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and properly so (cf. Matt 21:5; John 12:15), but reference to the universal rule of the king in v. 10 reveals that this is a “split prophecy,” that is, it has a two-stage fulfillment. Verse 9 was fulfilled in Jesus’ earthly ministry but v. 10 awaits a millennial consummation (cf. Rev 19:11-16).

[2:2]  ⁶³ tn Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ἀνατολαί (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ἀνατολή (anatolh) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BDAG 74 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical…likew. vs. 9”).

[21:5]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “Tell the daughter of Zion” (the phrase “daughter of Zion” is an idiom for the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “people of Zion”). The idiom “daughter of Zion” has been translated as “people of Zion” because the original idiom, while firmly embedded in the Christian tradition, is not understandable to most modern English readers.

[21:5]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “the foal of an animal under the yoke,” i.e., a hard-working animal. This is a quotation from Zech 9:9.

[27:11]  ⁶⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[27:11]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[27:11]  ⁶⁸ sn “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate was interested in this charge because of its political implications of sedition against Rome.

[27:11]  ⁶⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:11]  ⁷⁰ sn The reply “You say so” is somewhat enigmatic, like Jesus’ earlier reply to the Jewish leadership in 26:64.

[27:42]  ⁷¹ tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.

[19:38]  ⁷² sn Luke adds the title king to the citation from Ps 118:26 to make clear who was meant (see Luke 18:38). The psalm was used in looking for the deliverance of the end, thus leading to the Pharisees’ reaction.

[19:38]  ⁷³ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.