Luke 19:28-40
Entrance into the final days
19:28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
19:29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples,
19:30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
19:31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
19:32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.
19:33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
19:34They said, “The Lord needs it.”
19:35Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
19:36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
19:37Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,
19:38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
19:39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”
19:40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
[28]Καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἐπορεύετο ἔμπροσθεν ἀναβαίνων εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα.
[29]καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤγγισεν εἰς Βηθσφαγῆ καὶ Βηθανίαν πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τὸ καλούμενον ἐλαιῶν, ἀπέστειλε δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ
[30]εἰπών· ὑπάγετε εἰς τὴν κατέναντι κώμην, ἐν ᾗ εἰσπορευόμενοι εὑρήσετε πῶλον δεδεμένον, ἐφ᾿ ὃν οὐδεὶς πώποτε ἀνθρώπων ἐκάθισε· λύσαντες αὐτὸν ἀγάγετε.
[31]καὶ ἐάν τις ὑμᾶς ἐρωτᾷ, διατί λύετε; οὕτως ἐρεῖτε αὐτῷ, ὅτι ὁ Κύριος αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχει.
[32]ἀπελθόντες δὲ οἱ ἀπεσταλμένοι εὗρον καθὼς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, ἑστῶτα τὸν πῶλον·
[33]λυόντων δὲ αὐτῶν τὸν πῶλον εἶπον οἱ κύριοι αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτούς· τί λύετε τὸν πῶλον;
[34]οἱ δὲ εἶπον ὅτι ὁ Κύριος αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχει.
[35]καὶ ἤγαγον αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν, καὶ ἐπιρρίψαντες ἑαυτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια ἐπὶ τὸν πῶλον ἐπεβίβασαν τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν.
[36]πορευομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ὑπεστρώννυον τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ.
[37]ἐγγίζοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἤδη πρὸς τῇ καταβάσει τοῦ ὄρους τῶν ἐλαιῶν ἤρξατο ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν μαθητῶν χαίροντες αἰνεῖν τὸν Θεὸν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ περὶ πασῶν ὧν εἶδον δυνάμεων
[38]λέγοντες· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος βασιλεὺς ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου· εἰρήνη ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις.
[39]καί τινες τῶν Φαρισαίων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· διδάσκαλε, ἐπιτίμησον τοῖς μαθηταῖς σου.
[40]καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν οὗτοι σιωπήσωσιν, οἱ λίθοι κεκράξονται.
Comments
Kύριος (‘Lord’; ‘owner’) is repeated four times, πῶλος, ‘colt’ five times. These are prominent words, esp. ‘Lord’. Jesus arrives on a colt, ushering in peace.
[13] πῶλον: πῶλος, ὁ & ἡ, ‘foal, whether colt or filly’, already in Homer; freq. used in cl. poets generally for ‘horse’ (LSJ s.v., I.1). Occurring a total of five times, here and in vv. 32, 33 (twice), and 35, ‘colt’ is prominent, probably intentionally.
[31] ὅτι ὁ Κύριος αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχει: ὅτι, ‘because’ (in answer to διατί λύετε; ‘Why are you untying it?’) or ‘that’, the conj. introducing an object clause (after ‘Just say this’). The phrase is repeated in v. 34.
Κύριος: upper-case K (in the 1901 Patriarchal edn of the NT) denotes ‘ the Lord’, whether God or Jesus; cf. v. 38, ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου, ‘in the name of the Lord (i.e. God)’. Cf. also the plural οἱ κύριοι αὐτοῦ in v. 33.
αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχει: χρεία, ‘need’; the idiom χρείαν ἔχω + gen., ‘I have need of something’ (EDNT s.v. χρεία, 2). Hence, ‘of him has need’, ‘him’ (i.e. the colt) being stressed.
[33] οἱ κύριοι αὐτοῦ: ‘his masters, owners’; now the possessive pron. αὐτοῦ refers to ‘owners’.
[37] αἰνεῖν τὸν Θεὸν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ: αἰνέω is koine Gk for ἐπαινέω, ‘praise’. φωνῇ μεγάλῃ denotes loud cries or shouts; cf. on v. 40 immed. below.
[40] οἱ λίθοι κεκράξονται: κεκράξονται, mid. fut. < κράζω, ‘scream, shriek, cry’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., I.1). (Quite coincidentally, κράζω in LXX can mean ‘to bray’, as of a donkey.)
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 