Text:

Instead of kopsantes ek tōn agrōn ‘(which) they cut from the fields’ of most modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus and Kilpatrick have ekopton ek tōn dendrōn, kai estrōnnuon eis tēn hodon ‘they were cutting from the trees and spreading on the road.’

Exegesis:

estrōsan (14.15) ‘they spread.’

alloi de stibadas ‘and others (spread) leafy branches’: the verb is supplied from the preceding clause.

stibas (only here in the N.T.) is specifically a litter or a kind of mattress made of straw, leaves, and so forth: here it obviously means ‘leaves,’ ‘leafy branches’ (Goodspeed ‘straw,’ Translator’s New Testament ‘foliage’), probably branches from olive trees. (It should be noticed that the ‘palm leaves’ are from John 12.13.)

kopsantes (only here in Mark; cf. katakoptō 5.5) ‘having cut.’

agrōn (cf. 5.14) ‘fields.’

Translation:

Spread their garments on the road must not be translated so as to imply that the folks completely undressed and put their clothes in the road. The meaning is, of course, that they put their outer cloaks down on the road in front of the donkey on which Jesus rode.

Leafy branches are ‘branches of trees with leaves,’ not dead sticks.

Cut from the fields may require expansion as ‘cut from the trees in the fields,’ for in some languages one cannot ‘cut from fields,’ but only ‘cut from trees.’

The type of action described here, in which the crowd tried to honor Jesus by casting their garments and branches in his path, is regarded by some peoples as utterly incomprehensible. For example, in most of Africa the arrival of a government official or local chief is prepared for by scrupulous cleaning of all paths leading into the village or town. Anyone who casts any object in the way of the arriving dignitary is guilty of the worst sort of disrespect. However, it is impossible and unwarranted to rewrite the Gospel narrative. What may be required, on the other hand, is a brief note of explanation indicating that this was designed to show honor to Jesus.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .