29th March 2026, Liturgy of the Palms
Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus enters Jerusalem
21:1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
21:2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.
21:3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.”
21:4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet;
21:5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;
21:7 they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.
21:8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
21:10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
21:11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
[1] Καὶ ὅτε ἤγγισαν εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Βηθσφαγῆ πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν, τότε ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀπέστειλε δύο μαθητὰς
[2] λέγων αὐτοῖς· πορεύθητε εἰς τὴν κώμην τὴν ἀπέναντι ὑμῶν, καὶ εὐθέως εὑρήσετε ὄνον δεδεμένην καὶ πῶλον μετ᾿ αὐτῆς· λύσαντες ἀγάγετέ μοι.
[3] καὶ ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ τι, ἐρεῖτε ὅτι ὁ Κύριος αὐτῶν χρείαν ἔχει· εὐθέως δὲ ἀποστέλλει αὐτούς.
[4] τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος·
[5]
εἴπατε τῇ θυγατρὶ Σιών,
ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι
πραῢς καὶ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ ὄνον
καὶ πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου.
[6] πορευθέντες δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ καὶ ποιήσαντες καθὼς προσέταξεν αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς,
[7] ἤγαγον τὴν ὄνον καὶ τὸν πῶλον, καὶ ἐπέθηκαν ἐπάνω αὐτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπεκάθισεν ἐπάνω αὐτῶν.
[8] ὁ δὲ πλεῖστος ὄχλος ἔστρωσαν ἑαυτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, ἄλλοι δὲ ἔκοπτον κλάδους ἀπὸ τῶν δένδρων καὶ ἐστρώννυον ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ.
[9] οἱ δὲ ὄχλοι οἱ προάγοντες καὶ οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντες ἔκραζον λέγοντες·
ὡσαννὰ τῷ υἱῷ Δαυΐδ·
εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου·
ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις.
[10] καὶ εἰσελθόντος αὐτοῦ εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα ἐσείσθη πᾶσα ἡ πόλις λέγουσα· τίς ἐστιν οὗτος;
[11]οἱ δὲ ὄχλοι ἔλεγον· οὗτός ἔστιν ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ προφήτης ὁ ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ τῆς Γαλιλαίας.
Comments
[3] αὐτῶν χρείαν ἔχει: χρείαν ἔχει, a popular idiom, means ‘have need of, require’; freq. in NT. αὐτῶν, ‘of these’, refers to the two pack animals.
[5] πραῢς: πραῢς, πραεῖα, πραῢ = ‘modest, meek, gentle’.
υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου: υἱὸν, sg. acc. < υἱὸς, ‘son’; here = male offspring. ὑποζυγίου, sg. genitive < ὑποζύγιον = ‘beast of burden’ (lit. ‘under the yoke’).
[9] ἔκραζον: κράζω, ‘cry, call, call out’; here the vb refers to loud acclamation.
[10] ἐσείσθη πᾶσα ἡ πόλις λέγουσα: ἐσείσθη, 3rd pers. sg. pass. aor. < σείω, ‘Ι shake, quake’ (properly of an earthquake). See comment on Mt 28:2 below. Cf. Engl. seismic. The city is personified, hence it ‘says’ (λέγουσα, ‘saying’).
5th April 2026, Resurrection of the Lord
Matthew 28:1-10
Proclaim the resurrection
28:1 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
28:2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
28:3 His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.
28:4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.
28:5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
28:6 He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
28:7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”
28:8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.
28:9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
[1] Ὀψὲ δὲ σαββάτων, τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων, ἦλθε Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Μαρία θεωρῆσαι τὸν τάφον.
[2] καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας· ἄγγελος γὰρ Κυρίου καταβὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ προσελθὼν ἀπεκύλισε τὸν λίθον ἀπὸ τῆς θύρας καὶ ἐκάθητο ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ.
[3 ]ἦν δὲ ἡ ἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπὴ καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκὸν ὡσεὶ χιών.
[4] ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ φόβου αὐτοῦ ἐσείσθησαν οἱ τηροῦντες καὶ ἐγένοντο ὡσεὶ νεκροί.
[5]ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπε ταῖς γυναιξί· μὴ φοβεῖσθε ὑμεῖς· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι ᾿Ιησοῦν τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον ζητεῖτε·
[6] οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε· ἠγέρθη γὰρ καθὼς εἶπε. δεῦτε ἴδετε τὸν τόπον ὅπου ἔκειτο ὁ Κύριος.
[7] καὶ ταχὺ πορευθεῖσαι εἴπατε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἰδοὺ προάγει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν· ἐκεῖ αὐτὸν ὄψεσθε· ἰδοὺ εἶπον ὑμῖν.
[8]καὶ ἐξελθοῦσαι ταχὺ ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου μετὰ φόβου καὶ χαρᾶς μεγάλης ἔδραμον ἀπαγγεῖλαι τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ.
[9] ὡς δὲ ἐπορεύοντο ἀπαγγεῖλαι τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰδοὺ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀπήντησεν αὐταῖς λέγων· χαίρετε. αἱ δὲ προσελθοῦσαι ἐκράτησαν αὐτοῦ τοὺς πόδας καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ.
[10] τότε λέγει αὐταῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· μὴ φοβεῖσθε· ὑπάγετε ἀπαγγείλατε τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου ἵνα ἀπέλθωσιν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, κἀκεῖ με ὄψονται.
Comments
The account has three deictic words, pointing to something with heightened excitement and emphasis: ἰδοὺ (‘behold!’),] ὧδε (‘here’). δεῦτε (‘come!’) verges on being deictic.
[2] καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας: ἰδοὺ, ‘behold, look!’, 2nd pers. sg. aor. imperative. It is a higly emotive word that ‘points at’ someone or something literally or figuratively; see previous comments. ἰδοὺ is repeated in vv. 7 and 9. Cf. the excited imperative in v. 6, ἴδετε, ‘See!’
σεισμὸς: ‘shaking, shock, earthquake’ (cl. Gk), from σείω, act. transitive, ‘I shake something’ (already in Homer); cf. pass. ‘I am shaken’ (cl. Gk); in Homer, σείομαι = ‘ I shake, heave, quake, tremble’, of the earth, as also in LXX. (See LSJ s.v. σείω, I & II.1; Muraoka, c). Cf. v. ἐσείσθησαν, of the guards who ‘trembled’ like the earth. This instance shows that the Homeric sense of the pass. carries over into Mt via the LXX.
[3] ἦν δὲ ἡ ἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπὴ: ἰδέα, ‘semblance, outward appearance’ (archaic & cl. Gk: LSJ I.2); also in LXX (Muraoka s.v., a). Cf. Plato’s plural ἰδέαι, ‘ideal forms, archetypes’ (LSJ s.v., II.2). Cf. the etym. related Engl. visible.
[5] ἀποκριθεὶς: 3rd pers. sg., pass. aor., ἀποκρίνομαι, mid. vc., ‘I answer’ (cl. Gk: LSJ IV.1); the pass. aor. is post-classical. (See previous comments.) To whom did the angel ‘answer’? No-one asked him anything. I suggest two possibilities: 1) he was answering the terrified women’s implicit question, ‘Who are you? What is happening?’ or 2) Mt intends the vb in the particular LXX sense ‘act verbally in response to a circumstance’, e.g., Jl 2:19 (Muraoka s.v., 1c). In the latter case, the angel is not so much replying as saying something under the extraordinary circumstances.
μὴ φοβεῖσθε ὑμεῖς: ‘Do not YOU fear!’ ὑμεῖς, ‘you’ (pl.) is not necessary in Gk, but is added for emphasis.
[6] ὧδε: demonst. adv. of place; ‘here’, a meaning found in Hellenistic Gk, LXX, and the NT (LSJ s.v., II.2, Muraoka, 2). In cl. Gk, LXX, and the NT ὧδε can also mean ‘hither’ (‘to this place’). Cf. modern Gk εδώ, ‘here’.
δεῦτε ἴδετε: δεῦτε, an interjection formedfrom δεῦρο, adv., ‘hither’ (used with vbs of motion) + 2nd pers. pl. imper. ἴτε, ‘come’. It occurs already in Homer, LXX, and koine( LSJ and Muraoka, I.c). Lit., ‘come on!’ The expression amounts to a ‘particle of encouragement’ (EDNT s.v. ), and precedes an imper. or aor. hortatory subj., or (in LXX and NT) can be used absolutely. Here the particle is followed asyndetically by the imper. ἴδετε, ‘See!’ The angel could have said δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε, ‘Come AND see!’ as in Psalm 65:5.
[7] ἐκεῖ αὐτὸν ὄψεσθε: the angel’s words are varied by Jesus in v. 10.
[8] ταχὺ: neut. adj. used as an adv., ‘swiftly, quickly’ (already in in cl. Gk; also in LXX: see LSJ s.v. ταχύς, B.2; Muraoka).
ἔδραμον ἀπαγγεῖλαι: ‘they ran to announce’. ἔδραμον, 3rd pers. pl. 2nd aor., τρέχω, ‘I run’ (cl. Gk, LXX). ‘To run’ is relative; in LXX, it can mean ‘to move on foot at a pace faster than walk’ (Muraoka s.v. τρέχω, a). King Hezekiah’s couriers ‘run’ (LXX: 2Chronicles 30:6). The women are to hasten to the disciples with the good news.
[9] χαίρετε: 2nd pers. pl., pres. imperative, ‘Rejoice’, with a wish implied, is an everyday greeting (‘Hail’ or ‘Goodbye’) since the time of Homer. It is still used in md Gk in both senses.
προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ: προσκυνῶ (έω), c. acc. in cl. Gk; in post-cl. Gk, c. dat., as here. The meaning is ‘prostrate oneself before a god or his/her idol’ (Hdt. 2.121, etc.). In the Near East this act included blowing a kiss or bending the knee before the statue. This practice was transferred to social superiors in the non-Gk world, as Herodotus first attests (Hdt. 1.119, etc.). Aristotle considered the custom barbarous (Rhet. 1361 a). In LXX, the vb means ‘to prostrate oneself’ (Muraoka s.v., 1). Further, see LSJ I. 1 &2.
[10] τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς: generic, ‘brethren’ in the sense ‘friends’ (EDNT s.v. ἀδελφός, 2), as also in LXX (Muraoka s.v., 1. c & e).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 