Luke 19:37-40

19:37 As he approached the road leading down from ¹  the Mount of Olives, ²  the whole crowd of his ³  disciples began to rejoice ⁴  and praise ⁵  God with a loud voice for all the mighty works ⁶  they had seen: ⁷  19:38 “Blessed is the king ⁸  who comes in the name of the Lord! ⁹  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 19:39 But ¹⁰  some of the Pharisees ¹¹  in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ¹²  19:40 He answered, ¹³  “I tell you, if they ¹⁴  keep silent, the very stones ¹⁵  will cry out!”

[19:37]  ¹ tn Grk “the descent of”; this could refer to either the slope of the hillside itself or the path leading down from it (the second option has been adopted for the translation, see L&N 15.109).

[19:37]  ² sn See the note on the name Mount of Olives in v. 29.

[19:37]  ³ tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[19:37]  ⁴ tn Here the participle χαίροντες (caironte") has been translated as a finite verb in English; it could also be translated adverbially as a participle of manner: “began to praise God joyfully.”

[19:37]  ⁵ sn See 2:13, 20; Acts 2:47; 3:8-9.

[19:37]  ⁶ tn Or “works of power,” “miracles.” Jesus’ ministry of miracles is what has drawn attention. See Luke 7:22.

[19:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “they had seen, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:38]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.

[19:39]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context. Not all present are willing to join in the acclamation.

[19:39]  ¹¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[19:39]  ¹² sn Teacher, rebuke your disciples. The Pharisees were complaining that the claims were too great.

[19:40]  ¹³ tn Grk “and answering, he said.” This has been simplified in the translation to “He answered.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:40]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “these.”

[19:40]  ¹⁵ sn This statement amounts to a rebuke. The idiom of creation speaking means that even creation knows what is taking place, yet the Pharisees miss it. On this idiom, see Gen 4:10 and Hab 2:11.