ring with shouts of triumph. The proclamation, no longer limited to action, now found utterance in words—words in which the men of Bethany and the people from Jerusalem » all took part, saying, “ Hosanna to the Son of David!” as we have it in the Gospel by St. Matthew. This term “Hosanna!” was originally a supplication, signifying “‘ Save now!” and thus some understand it here, “ Grant salvation to the Son of David!” as the Hebrew verb from which it comes is sometimes followed by a dative. It would in this way be nearly equivalent to “God save the king!” It may, however, be better under- stood as a joyful acclamation of welcome to the Saviour-King og promised, but now present, like the Jo triumphe of the Romans or the pean of the Greeks. “ Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord!” Here we have one of the designations of Messiah, who was spoken of as the Coming One; ages had passed, but still his arrival was a matter of expectation; centuries had rolled away, but his advent was still future, And now that he has come, it is in the name, invested with the authority and bearing the commission, of the great Jehovah. He came as the Vicegerent of God on earth, and as the Mediator for man with heaven. On the occasion here referred to, the crowd accorded him a most cordial welcome and received him with truly regal honours. So enthusiastic were they in the reception of their Messiah, that they did not confine themselves, in expressing their gratulation, to the well-known words of the familiar psalm ; carried away. with the outburst of general joy, they expressed in their own spontaneous utterances their fond anticipation of his Messianic reign, saying, “ Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David!” for David was the great theocratic king, and eminently typical of Messiah’s kingly power. “Hosanna in the highest!” that is, the highest places or the highest strains. So difficult did they find it to express their exuberant joy, and to vent their feelings of jubilation, that they appealed to Heaven itself to give its sanction, and called as it were on the heavenly hosts to join them and take part in their exultation, heaven and earth being presumed of one accord and in perfect unison on the subject. Another explanation makes the words mean “in the highest degree,” in order to convey still greater intensity of feeling; while a third regards it as an address to the Most High, equivalent to “O thou that dwellest in the heavens, save, we pray; for all salvation owns thee as its Source ! ”
VILL. Fuurmment or Otp Tesrament Scripture. The fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy is here noticed by St. Matthew. ‘Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unte thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass,” is the prediction in Zech. ix. 9; or the exact rendering of the last clause may rather be, “and sitting upon an ass (chamar), even a colt (air), son of she-asses (athonoth),” the ve being exegetical. The evangelist, in quoting the prophet’s words, informs. us that the purpose of what now transpired was their fulfilment. The meaning of ta here, as in other similar passages, is either ¢elic, or final, “in order that; ” or ecbatic, that is, eventual or consecutive, “so that.” If the word be taken in the former sense, it marks the Divine purpose, and with God purpose and result are coincident; if in the latter sense, it is a consequence, or the evangelist’s reflection on the circumstance of what had been foretold being duly fulfilled. That ta had acquired in later Greek a weakened or modified meaning, so as to stand midway between purpose and result, or even to denote the latter, is pretty generally admitted.
TX. Pracrican pemarKs. 1, A cause of circwmspection, This is one practical effect of Christ’s omniscience. He had perfect knowledge of the state of matters in and round the village whither he sent his two disciples on the errand we here read of. He told them beforehand where the animal he wanted would be found and how it would oe found—the how and where; the inquiry that would be made of them and the answer they were to return, and the readiness with which the desired permission would be granted them. It is a natural and indeed necessary inference that he is equally acquainted with ourselves—our persons, situations, and circumstances. He knows perfectly the great things and the little things of our histories; our condition and conduct in matters the most minute, as well as in those we deem of most importance, From all this we learn the necessity of circumspection, The old Roman wished his houge so constructed that all that transpired inside might be seen outside—that to the eye of every passer-by the interior of his dwelling and all that was done in it might be visible. The Saviour’s eye penetrates net our houses merely, but our hearts. All we think, as well as all we say and all we do, is every moment uncovered to his inspection
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GH. x1. 1—33.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 145 SESS