by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing our study of Matthew 21:1-11, we find the cutting off and spreading of tree branches (Greek \u03ba\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2<\/em> [\u201cklados\u201d] in Matthew 21:8), or leafy boughs\/branches (Greek \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03b2\u03ac\u03c2<\/em> [\u201cstoibas\u201d] in Mark 11:8), or palm tree branches (Greek \u03b2\u03b1\u0390\u03bf\u03bd<\/em> [\u201cbaion\u201d] in John 12:13) along the road as something unusual in the period near Passover. Offhand one may think that there is something of a combination with the later Feast of Tabernacles\/Sukkot. However, there was an occurrence in the Second Temple (Intertestamental) Period when the Jews actually used palm branches not for the Sukkot festival but to celebrate the Maccabean victory over the Seleucid Empire and the liberation of Jerusalem and Israel itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The King James Version (KJV) Bible contains the Apocrypha (also called Deuterocanonicals in Catholic Bibles) which have the books: 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The Greek manuscripts used came from the Septuagint (LXX).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below is the KJV translation of 1 Maccabees 13:51 found in the online KJV website (https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/1-Maccabees-13-51\/<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n 51<\/sup>And entered into it the three and twentieth day of the second month in the hundred seventy and first year, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees<\/mark>, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that the Greek word for palm tree branches in the LXX (\u03b2\u03b1\u0390\u03c9\u03bd<\/mark><\/em>) as translated by the KJV (highlighted text<\/mark>) is the same used in John 12:13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Maccabees 10:6-7 is also another passage that supports this event. Below is the KJV translation of 2 Maccabees 10:6-7 also found in the online KJV website (https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/2-Maccabees-Chapter-10\/#6<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/sup>And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles<\/mark>, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles<\/mark>, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts. 7<\/sup>Therefore they bare branches<\/mark>, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto him that had given them good success in cleansing his place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that this time, the Greek word for (tree) branches in the LXX (\u03ba\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2<\/mark><\/em>) as translated by the KJV (highlighted text<\/mark>) is the same used in Matthew 21:8. Furthermore, note that the Feast of Tabernacles is explicitly mentioned in verse 6 (highlighted text<\/mark>). The celebration was a joyous one, as when that feast is celebrated. Thus we find in the triumphant liberation and cleansing of the Temple, the use of palm (and other tree) branches associated with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD God during Sukkot, was already appropriated for a different event. A Jewish precedent was already set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we come back to our passage in Matthew, we find that this memory of the Maccabean victory and their triumphant entry into Jerusalem is not the only point of resonance. A Feast of Tabernacles\/Sukkot ceremonial practice actually comes into view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 21:9 says that the crowds ahead of the Lord Jesus and his disciples, as well as the people following them (many of them undoubtedly were pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem for the Passover were crying out \u201cHosanna\u201d (Greek: \u1f69\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03bd\u1f70, see https:\/\/biblehub.com\/greek\/5614.htm<\/a>). This Greek word is a transliteration from the Hebrew which is an entreaty to God: \u201cSave (us) now!\u201d or \u201cSave (us) please!\u201d Bible scholars say this transliterated expression comes from the first part of Psalm 118:25 reproduced below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n