Luke 19:31

And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
if	ἐάν ean	G1437	a conditional particle · conditional particle
any man	τις tis	G5100	some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative singular masculine
ask	ἐρωτᾷ· erōta	G2065	to interrogate · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
you	ὑμᾶς hymâs	G5209	you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
Why	τί ti	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
do ye loose	λύετε; luete	G3089	to "loosen" (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person plural
thus	οὕτως houtōs	G3779	in this way (referring to what precedes or follows) · adverb
shall ye say	ἐρέω eréō	G2046	an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tenses
unto him	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
Because	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
the Lord	κύριος kurios	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
hath	ἔχει.¶ echei	G2192	to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
need	χρείαν chreian	G5532	employment · noun — accusative singular feminine
of him	αὐτός autós	G846	the reflexive pronoun self

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

Psalms 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalms 50:10-12 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Matthew 21:2-3 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and brin…
Mark 11:3-6 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 19:28-40

We have here the same account of Christ's riding in some sort of triumph (such as it was) into Jerusalem which we had before in Matthew and Mark; let us therefore here only observe, I. Jesus Christ was forward and willing to suffer and die for us. He went forward, bound in the spirit, to Jerusalem, knowing very well the things that should befall him there, and yet he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem, Luk 19:28. He was the foremost of the company, as if he longed to be upon the spot, longed to engage, to take the field, and to enter upon action. Was he so forward to suffer and die for us, and shall we draw back from any service we are capable of doing for him? II. It was no ways inconsi…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 19:31

the Lord hath need, &c.--He both knew all and had the key of the human heart. (See on Luk 19:5.) Perhaps the owner was a disciple.

Adam Clarke on Luke 19:29

See this triumphal entry into Jerusalem explained at large on Mat 21:1-11 (note), and Mar 11:1-10 (note).

John Gill on Luke 19:31

And if any man ask you, why do ye loose him?.... As our Lord, being God omniscient, knew this question would be asked by the owners, and therefore prepares his disciples with an answer to it: thus shall ye say unto him, because the Lord hath need of him. The Syriac and Persic versions read "our Lord", yours, and ours; probably the owners of the colt might be such as knew the Lord Jesus Christ, and by this way of speaking of him, knew, at once, who was meant, and so made no scruple of sending him, as Christ told them they would not, and so they found it; See Gill on Matthew 21:3 and See Gill on Mark 9:3

John Calvin on Luke 19:29-38

Luke 19:29-38 Matthew 21:1-9 Mark 11:1-10 Luke 19:29-38 1. And when they approached Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, to the mountain of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, [698] 2. Saying to them, Go into the village which is opposite to you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them to me. 3. And if any man shall say anything to you, say, The Lord hath need of them; and immediately he will send them. [699] 4. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5. Say to the daughter of Zion, Lo, thy King cometh to thee, meek, and sitting on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of one that is unde…

The Church Fathers

There were then many masters of this colt, before that the Saviour had need of him. But as soon as He began to be the master, there ceased to be any other. For no one can serve God and mammon. (Matt. 6:24.) When we are the servants of wickedness we are subject to many vices and passions, but the Lord has need of the colt, because He would have us loosed from the chain of our sins.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

And so the "colt of the donkey", once untied, is led to Jesus, and in sending his disciples to untie it he had said: "If anyone asks you: why do you untie the colt? say to him: because the Lord has need of it". There were many masters of this colt before the Savior had need of it; but after he began to be its "master", they ceased to be many masters; for no one "can serve God and mammon". When we serve wickedness, we are subject to many passions and vices. The colt, therefore, is untied, "because the Lord has need of it". And now the Lord "has need" of the colt. You are the colt of the donkey. What does the Son of God "have need" of that is yours? What does he seek from you? He "has need" of your salvation, he desires that you be loosed from the chains of sins.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 37

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

Temple, Herod’s — The temple erected by the exiles on their return from Babylon had stood for about five hundred years, when Herod the Great became king of Judea. The building had suffered considerably from natural…

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).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 19:28-40

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 19:31

Adam Clarke on Luke 19:29

John Gill on Luke 19:31

John Calvin on Luke 19:29-38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 19:28-40

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 19:31

Adam Clarke on Luke 19:29

John Gill on Luke 19:31

John Calvin on Luke 19:29-38

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 19:31