to frighten · verb — present middle or passive deponent imperative, 2nd person singular
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
daughter
θυγάτηρthugatēr
G2364
a female child · noun — vocative singular feminine
Sion
Σιών·Siōn
G4622
Sion (i.e. Tsijon) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
behold
ἰδοὺidou
G2400
used as imperative lo! · interjection
thy
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
King
βασιλεύςbasileus
G935
a sovereign (abstractly · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
cometh
ἔρχεταιerchetai
G2064
to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
sitting
καθήμενοςkathēmenos
G2521
and (to sit · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
on
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
ass’s
ὄνου.onou
G3688
a donkey · noun — genitive singular feminine
colt
πῶλονpōlon
G4454
a "foal" or "filly" · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lo…
Isaiah 62:11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward…
Zephaniah 3:16-17 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
Isaiah 35:4-5 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will…
2 Samuel 16:2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and…
Isaiah 40:9-10 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with stre…
Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Zechariah 2:9-11 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath se…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 12:12-19
This story of Christ's riding in triumph to Jerusalem is recorded by all the evangelists, as worthy of special remark; and in it we may observe,
I. The respect that was paid to our Lord Jesus by the common people, Joh 12:12, Joh 12:13, where we are told,
1. Who they were that paid him this respect: much people, ochlos polus - a great crowd of those that came up to the feast; not the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but the country people that came from remote parts to worship at the feast; the nearer the temple of the Lord, the further from the Lord of the temple. They were such as came up to the feast. (1.) Perhaps they had been Christ's hearers in the country, and great admirers of him there, and…
CHRIST'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. (Joh 12:12-19)
On the next day--the Lord's day, or Sunday (see on Joh 12:1); the tenth day of the Jewish month Nisan, on which the paschal lamb was set apart to be "kept up until the fourteenth day of the same month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel were to kill it in the evening" (Exo 12:3, Exo 12:6). Even so, from the day of this solemn entry into Jerusalem, "Christ our Passover" was virtually set apart to be "sacrificed for us" (Co1 5:7).
Adam Clarke on John 12:13
Took branches - See on Mat 21:1 (note), etc., and Mar 11:1-6 (note), where this transaction is largely explained.
John Gill on John 12:15
Fear not, daughter of Zion,.... But rejoice; see Zechariah 9:9 and See Gill on Matthew 21:5.
John Calvin on John 12:9-15
John 12:9-15
9. Then a great multitude of the Jews knew that he was there, and came, not on account of Jesus only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10. Now the chief priests consulted, that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11. For many of the Jews on his account went away, and believed on Jesus. 12. next day, a great multitude, who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was come to Jerusalem, 13. Took branches of palm trees, trod went out to meet him, and shouted, Hosanna, Blessed be the King of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord. 14. And Jesus, having found a young' ass, sat upon it, as it is written, 15. Fear not, daughter of…
The Church Fathers
Zechariah gave this prophecy after the return from Babylon toward the conclusion of prophecy. But there is no record of a Jewish king since that time, such as the prophecy predicts, except our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whom this prediction was fulfilled.… But what was his riding on a donkey meant to show but the lowly and humble manner that marked his first coming?
Jesus, then, "found a young ass, and sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt." Among that people, then, was the daughter of Zion to be found; for Zion is the same as Jerusalem. Among that very people, I say, reprobate and blind as they were, was the daughter of Zion, to whom it was said, "Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt." This daughter of Zion, who was thus divinely addressed, was amongst those sheep that were hearing the Shepherd's voice, and in that multitude which was celebrating the Lord's coming with such religious zeal, and accompanying Him in such warlike array. To her was it said, "Fear not:" acknowledge Him whom thou art now extolling, and give not way to fear when He comes to suffering; for by the shedding of His blood is thy guilt to be blotted out, and thy life restored. But by the ass's colt, on which no man had ever sat (for so it is found recorded in the other evangelists), we are to understand the Gentile nations which had not received the law of the Lord; by the ass, on the other hand (for both animals were brought to the Lord), that people of His which came of the nation of Israel, and was already so far subdued as to recognize its Master's crib.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Sion — Elevated. (1.) Denotes Mount Hermon in Deut. 4:48; called Sirion by the Sidonians, and by the Amorites Shenir (Deut. 3:9). (See HERMON.) (2.) The Greek form of Zion (q.v.) in Matt. 21:5; John 12:15.
Ass (Donkey) · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Christ, The King · Is King of Zion — Is King of Zion
Colt · Rid — Rid
Zion · worship — worship
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
By choosing a young donkey rather than a warhorse, Jesus calmed the frenzied crowd that was passionate for his kingship. He also fulfilled Old Testament predictions regarding the Messiah (see Zech 9:9) and showed that his kingship was not that of a warrior. His gift is life, not conquest.
