Psalms 118:25-26

118:25 Please Lord, deliver!

Please Lord, grant us success! ¹ 

118:26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord ²  be blessed!

We will pronounce blessings on you ³  in the Lord’s temple. ⁴ 

Matthew 21:9

21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, ⁵  “Hosanna ⁶  to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ⁷  Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 23:39

23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ⁸ 

Luke 19:37-38

19:37 As he approached the road leading down from ⁹  the Mount of Olives, ¹⁰  the whole crowd of his ¹¹  disciples began to rejoice ¹²  and praise ¹³  God with a loud voice for all the mighty works ¹⁴  they had seen: ¹⁵  19:38 “Blessed is the king ¹⁶  who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁷  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

John 12:13

12:13 So they took branches of palm trees ¹⁸  and went out to meet him. They began to shout, ¹⁹  “Hosanna! ²⁰  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ²¹  Blessed is ²²  the king of Israel!”

John 19:15

19:15 Then they ²³  shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! ²⁴  Crucify ²⁵  him!” Pilate asked, ²⁶  “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!”

[118:25]  ¹ sn A petition for deliverance and success seems odd in a psalm thanking God for deliverance, but it is not unique (see Ps 9:19-20). The people ask God to continue to intervene for them as he has for the psalmist.

[118:26]  ² sn The people refer here to the psalmist, who enters the Lord’s temple to thank him publicly (see vv. 19-21), as the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

[118:26]  ³ tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural, but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note the mem [מ] at the beginning of the following form) or enclitic, in which case the suffix may be taken as second masculine singular, referring to the psalmist.

[118:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the house of the Lord.”

[21:9]  ⁵ tn Grk “were shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[21:9]  ⁶ 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.” 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.

[21:9]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.

[23:39]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.

[19:37]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the name Mount of Olives in v. 29.

[19:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[19:37]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ sn See 2:13, 20; Acts 2:47; 3:8-9.

[19:37]  ¹⁴ tn Or “works of power,” “miracles.” Jesus’ ministry of miracles is what has drawn attention. See Luke 7:22.

[19:37]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “they had seen, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:38]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.

[12:13]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.

[12:13]  ²² 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).

[19:15]  ²³ tn Grk “Then these.”

[19:15]  ²⁴ tn The words “with him” (twice) are not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:15]  ²⁵ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Pilate said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because it is clear in English who Pilate is addressing.