Paragraph 11:8–10

This paragraph continues the story about Jesus coming to Jerusalem, riding on a young donkey. You may need to make it explicit in your translation of 11:8–10 that he was riding the young donkey.

The people honored Jesus and shouted out words of joy and praise. See the General Comment on 11:9–10 at the end of 11:10b for advice about how to translate what the people were shouting.

11:8a

Many in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road: The people placed their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus for the donkey to walk on. This was a way to show Jesus honor. If people in your language group do not know this custom, you should make the meaning explicit. For example:

people spread their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus in order to show him honor

Or you may want to include a footnote to explain the meaning of what they were doing. For example, you could say:

Jews in Jesus’ time used to spread their cloaks on the road in front of important people to honor them.

cloaks: Use the same word for cloaks here that you used in 11:7b.

11:8b

while others spread branches they had cut from the fields: All the people mentioned in 11:8 were honoring Jesus. Some honored him by spreading their garments on the road (11:8a), and others honored him by spreading branches in the road (11:8b). Make sure that it is clear in your translation that all these people were honoring Jesus.

You may need to rearrange the order of the clauses here in 11:8b. First, they cut branches in the fields, then they placed or spread the branches in the road to honor Jesus. For example:

while others cut branches in the fields and placed/spread them on the road

branches they had cut from the fields: Some Greek manuscripts have “branches they had cut from the trees” (see the King James Version), rather than branches they had cut in the fields. Most English versions follow the Greek manuscripts that say…cut in the fields. It is recommended that you follow the majority of English versions. However, it is implied that the branches were cut from trees in the field. So if it is necessary to be specific in your language, you could translate this expression as follows:

branches that they had cut from trees in the fields

branches: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as branches is a general word. In the parallel passage in John 12:13 the text specifies that these were palm fronds. This “greenery” (as in the New Jerusalem Bible) would lie flat on the road and would not cause the donkey to stumble. The people spread this greenery and their cloaks to form a carpet on the road. This was a sign of welcome and honor for an important person.

In some languages a word like “branches” may imply large parts of a tree. Use an appropriate word in your language to describe the palm fronds that the people were using to form a carpet for Jesus.

from the fields: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fields can refer to either cultivated land or to the countryside. Here it probably refers to the area near the sides of the road. In some languages this may need to be made explicit. In some languages it may be more natural to leave the phrase from the fields implicit. For example:

branches they had cut from trees near the road

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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