Luke 19:29

Luke 19:29-38 . See on Matthew 21:1-9 ; Mark 11:1-10 . Luke follows Mark, yet not without something peculiar to himself towards the end. With Fritzsche, ad Marc . p. 794 f., Lachmann, and Tischendorf, we must certainly place the accent thus on the word ἐλαιών , olive-grove, olivetum ; not as though, if it were ἐλαιῶν , the article would in itself be necessary (after ἐλαι . ὄρος would have to be repeated), but because Luke, when he designates the mountain as the “Mount of Olives,” constantly has the article ( Luke 19:37 ; Luke 22:39 ); but besides, in Acts 1:12 , where he likewise adds καλούμ ., he undoubtedly uses the form ἐλαιών as a name. Hence, at Luke 21:37 also, ἐλαιών is to be written. Comp. Joseph. Antt . vii. 9. 2 : διὰ τοῦ ἐλαιῶνος ὄρους . On the nominative , in respect of a verb of naming, see Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 517; Fritzsche, l.c. ; Bernhardy, p. 66. Luke 19:31 . ὅτι ] because , an answer to διὰ τί . Luke 19:33 . οἱ κύριοι ] the actual possessor and those belonging to him. Luke 19:35 . ἑαυτῶν ] they use their own upper garments for a riding cushion in their reverence and love for the Lord. So ἑαυτῶν serves for a vivid colouring of the narrative. Luke 19:37 . ἐγγίζοντος … πρὸς τῇ καταβ .] πρός , not of the movement whither (de Wette), but a pregnant union of the direction ( ἐγγίζ .) with the where (when He approached at the declivity). See generally, Kühner II. p. 316.

In Homer πρός is often found thus with the dative. ἤρξαντο ] for this was only the last station of the Messiah’s entry. τῶν μαθητῶν ] in the wider sense. εἶδον ] for all the Messianic mighty works which they, as companions of Jesus, had seen. Luke 19:38 . ἐν ὀνόμ . κ .] belongs to ἐρχόμ ., according to a frequent transposition. See Bornemann, Schol . p. 121 f.; Kühner, ad Xen. Anab . iv. 2. 18. Comp. Luke 23:48 . εἰρήνη κ . τ . λ .] The thought that “ with God is salvation (which He is now purposing to communicate by means of the Messiah), and He is praised (for it) in the height (by the angels, comp. Luke 2:14 ),” is expressed in a hymnic form by the parallelism: “Salvation is in the heaven, and glory in the highest.” Luke gives the acclamation, according to a tradition, which had avoided the Hebrew Hosanna.

Luke 19:29-38 . The triumphal entry into Jerusalem ( Matthew 20:1-11 , Mark 11:1-11 ).— Βηθφαγὴ . Following Lightfoot and Renan, Godet regards this as the name not of a village but of a suburban district included for passover purposes in the holy city, pilgrims to the feast finding quarters in it. The reference to the two places Bethphage and Bethany is obscure and confusing.— ἐλαιῶν , commentators dispute whether the word should be accentuated thus, making it genitive plural of ἐλαία , or ἐλαιών , making it nominative singular of a name for the place = Olivetum, olive grove. W. and H[154] print it with the circumflex accent, and Field ( Ot. Nor. ) and Hahn take the same view. [154] Westcott and Hort.

(29-38) When he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany. —On the general narrative, see Notes on Matthew 21:1-11 ; Mark 11:1-11 . In details we note (1) that St. Luke unites the “Bethphage” of St. Matthew with the “Bethany” of St. Mark; (2) that, as a stranger to Judæa, he speaks of the “mountain that was called the Mount of Olives. Possibly, indeed, both here and in Luke 21:37 , as certainly in Acts 1:12 , he uses the Greek equivalent for Olivet (the Latin Olivetum, or “place of Olives”) as a proper name. The absence of the article before the Greek for “Olives,” and the accentuation of the words in many MSS., seem decisive in favour of this view.

Verse 29. - And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany. Bethphage is never mentioned in the Old Testament, but in the Talmud we find it specified in some interesting ceremonial directions. It was evidently an outlying suburb of Jerusalem. Bethphage, which lay between the city and Bethany, was by the rabbis legally counted as part of Jerusalem. Bethany signifies" House of Dates," no doubt so called from its palm trees. Bethphage, "House of Green Figs," from its fig-orchards. The modern Bethany is known as El-Azarieh or Lazarieh , the name attaching to its connection with the history of Lazarus. Luke 19:29

29-40. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. 29 . Bethphage ] The site is not identified, but it seems to have been regarded as a suburb of Jerusalem. The name means House of (unripe) Figs. and Bethany ] Perhaps the House of Dates , but this is very uncertain. The mention of Bethany after Bethphage is surprising. Here, however, St Luke omits the supper in the house of ‘Simon the leper’ ( Matthew 26:6-13 ; Mark 14:3-9 ; John 12:1-19 ) and the anointing of Jesus by Mary of Bethany. Jesus arrived at Bethany before sunset on Friday, Nisan 8 (March 31, A. D . 30), and therefore before the Sabbath began. Here the throng of Galilaean pilgrims would leave Him to go to their friends in Jerusalem, or to make booths for themselves in the valley of the Kidron and on the slopes of Olivet. The Sabbath was spent in quiet. The supper was in the evening, otherwise the Jews could not have come from Jerusalem, as the distance exceeded a Sabbath day’s journey. It was on the next morning (Palm Sunday) that our Lord started for Jerusalem. His stay at Bethany may have been due to friendship, or may have been dictated by prudence. It was the brooding over the imagined loss of the value of the precious ointment —an assault of Satan at the weakest point—which first drove Judas to his secret interview with the Sadducean priests. two of his disciples ] The minute touch of description in Mark 11:4 has led to the conjecture that Peter was one of these two.