Matthew 21:1

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	Καὶ Kai	G2532	and · conjunction
when	ὅτε hote	G3753	at which (thing) too · conjunction
nigh	ἤγγισαν ēngisan	G1448	to make near · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
unto	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Jerusalem	Ἱεροσόλυμα Hi'erosoluma	G2414	Hierosolyma (i.e. Jerushalaim) · noun — accusative plural neuter, a place
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
come	ἦλθον ēlthon	G2064	to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
to	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Bethphage	Βηθφαγὴ Bēthphagē	G967	fig-house · noun — accusative singular feminine, a place
unto	πρός prós	G4314	a preposition of direction
mount	ὄρος oros	G3735	perhaps akin to G142 (αἴρω) · noun — accusative singular neuter, a place
Olives	ἐλαία elaía	G1636	an olive (the tree or the fruit)
then	τότε tote	G5119	the when · adverb
sent	ἀπέστειλεν apesteilen	G649	set apart · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Jesus	Ἰησοῦς Iēsous	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
two	δύο duo	G1417	"two" · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
disciples	μαθητὰς mathētas	G3101	a learner · noun — accusative plural 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 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave i…
Mark 11:1-10 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,
Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall b…
Matthew 26:30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
Luke 19:28-38 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
Luke 21:37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.
John 8:1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
Acts 1:12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.

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

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 21:1

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem,.... The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "when he drew nigh, or was near"; but not alone, his disciples were with him, and a multitude of people also; as is evident from the following account. They might well be said to be near to Jerusalem, since it is added, and were come to Bethphage; which the Jews say (n) was within the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and was in all respects as the city itself, and was the outermost part of it (o); and that all within the outward circumference of the city of Jerusalem was called Bethphage (p): it seems to me to be part of it within the city, and part of it without, in the suburbs of it, which reached t…

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John Calvin on Matthew 21:1-9

Matthew 21:1-9 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 und…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 21:1–end

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem initiates Matthew’s account of how the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection establish salvation. 21:1 Bethphage (a Hebrew name meaning house of figs) was probably located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives between Bethany and Jerusalem proper.

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

Whence Bethphage is interpreted, The house of the Shoulder; for the shoulder was the priest's portion in the Law...
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Mystically; The Lord draws near to Jerusalem departing from Jericho, and taking great multitudes with Him, because great and laden with great wares, that is, the salvation of believers that has been entrusted to Him, He seeks to enter the city of peace, the place of the beholding of God. And He comes to Bethphage, that is, to The house of the jawbones; He bare also the type of confession; and halted on Mount Olivet, where is the light of knowledge, and the repose from toils and pains. By the village over against the Apostles is denoted this world; for that was against the Apostles, and was not willing to receive the light of their teaching. Or, because there is theory and practice, that is, knowledge and works. By the ass which had been under the yoke, and was broken, the synagogue is understood. By the ass's colt wild and unbroken, the Gentile people; for the Jewish nation is towards God the mother of the Gentiles.
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

But these things He did, not as displaying any pomp, but at once, as I have said, both fulfilling a prophecy, and teaching self-denial, and at the same time also comforting His disciples, who were grieving for His death, and showing them that He suffers all these things willingly. And mark thou, I pray thee, the accuracy of the prophet, how he foretold all things. And some things David, some things Zechariah, had proclaimed beforehand. Let us also do likewise, and let us sing hymns, and give up our garments to them that bear Him. For what should we deserve, when some clothe the ass on which He was set, and others strew the garments even under her feet; but we, seeing him naked, and not being even commanded to strip ourselves, but to spend of what is laid by, not even so are liberal? And when they indeed attend upon Him before and behind, but we, when He cometh unto us, send Him away, and thrust Him off and insult Him.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 66

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

Beth-phage — House of the unripe fig, a village on the Mount of Olives, on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Matt. 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29), and very close to Bethany. It was the limit of a Sabbath-day’s…
Bethphage — (g hard) (house of figs) the name of a place on the Mount of Olives on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. It was apparently close to Bethany. (Matthew 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29)
Olves, Mount of — So called from the olive trees with which its sides are clothed, is a mountain ridge on the east of Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7; Ezek. 11:23; Zech. 14:4), from which it is separated by the valley of…
Bethphage · A village on the Mount of Olives — A village on the Mount of Olives
Judea, Modern · Towns of: Bethphage — Towns of: Bethphage
Olive Tree, The · Cultivated: On the sides of mountains — Cultivated: On the sides of mountains
Prophecies Respecting Christ · Fulfilled — Fulfilled

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).