MARK 11:9 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:1–11: People gladly welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem

When Jesus entered Jerusalem in this section, many people were very excited. He entered Jerusalem as a gentle and humble king would enter a city. Many people praised him in a way that showed that they wanted him to be their king (11:8). Some people believed that he was the Messiah that the Jews had been awaiting for many generations.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (NRSV)

Many people celebrate as Jesus enters Jerusalem

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 21:1–11 and Luke 19:28–40. See also John 12:12–19.

Paragraph 11:8–10

This paragraph continues the story about Jesus coming to Jerusalem, riding on a young donkey. You may need to make it explicit in your translation of 11:8–10 that he was riding the young donkey.

The people honored Jesus and shouted out words of joy and praise. See the General Comment on 11:9–10 at the end of 11:10b for advice about how to translate what the people were shouting.

11:9a

The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna!”

The people who walked ahead of Jesus and behind him were shouting, “Hosanna!
Some people walked ahead of Jesus and some followed behind. As they walked, they shouted joyfully, “Praise God!”
Everyone was exclaiming/cheering “Praise God!” Some of them were walking ahead of him and others were walking behind him.

The ones who went ahead and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna!”: The phrase The ones who went ahead and those who followed indicates that a crowd of people surrounded Jesus. Some people walked before Jesus. Other people walked behind Jesus. This was the normal thing that people did to announce that an important person had arrived. They did this to welcome and honor him.

This is the first mention of The ones who went ahead and those who followed. So you may need to put this new information in a separate sentence. For example:

Some people walked ahead of Jesus and some followed behind. They were all shouting “Hosanna!”

Everyone was shouting “Praise God!” Some of them were walking ahead of Jesus and others were walking behind him.

were shouting: The form of the Greek verb that the BSB translates as were shouting indicates a repeated action. They were shouting their praises again and again. You could translate the verb as:

were continually shouting

shouted again and again

Make sure that it is clear in your translation that the people were joyful, not angry. Here are some ways to do this:

Supply a word such as “joyfully.”
Translate shouted with a verb that includes that idea, such as “cheered.”

Hosanna: The word Hosanna originally meant “Save!” or “Save us now!” But by Jesus’ time, the phrase had become a general shout of joy and praise. Some ways to translate this word are:

Translate it with a word or phrase that people use when they shout to indicate joy and praise. For example, the NLT says:
Praise God! If you choose this option but your national language version has Hosanna, you could include a footnote that says that the Greek is literally “Hosanna.”
Write the word as Hosanna, according to the spelling system of your language. This is what most English versions do. If people do not know what the word means, you could include a footnote. For example:
“Hosanna" was a word in the language that the Jews spoke during the time when Jesus lived on earth. It meant “Praise God!”

11:9b

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The one who comes in the name of the Lord God has his/God’s blessing/favor!
And they shouted, “God is pleased with the one who comes with his authority!
They were also shouting, “The one who comes as the Lord’s spokesman/representative is favored by God!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!: The expression Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord can be interpreted in two ways:

It is a statement of praise and means “the one who comes is blessed” or “God has blessed the one who comes.” For example, the BSB says:
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (BSB, NIV, RSV, GW, REB, NJB, NET, NASB, KJV, ESV)
It is a wish or request and means “May the one who comes be blessed” or “May God bless….” For example, the GNT says:
God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! (GNT, CEV, NCV, JBP)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This saying was primarily a shout of praise rather than a request. Here the people were praising God with words from Scripture (Psalm 118:26).

Blessed: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Blessed describes someone for whom God has done good things. God has blessed and favored that person, so he can be described as blessed.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

God has blessed/favored

God has done good things for

God is with

See bless, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.

He who comes: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as He who comes is literally “the coming one.” This was a title that referred to the Messiah. The people were quoting from Psalm 118:26. They may not have been intentionally referring to Jesus when they said this. See the General Comment on 11:9–10 below.

in the name of the Lord: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as in the name of the Lord means “as the representative of the Lord.” It describes a person whom God had sent to be his messenger or spokesman.

the Lord: In this context the Greek word that the BSB translates as the Lord means “master, one who has authority over others.” Here it refers to God. It is a translation of God’s personal name in Hebrew.

Here are some other ways to translate Lord:

Master/Chief

Ruler

In some languages people may not naturally use a word that means “master” to refer to God. If speakers of your language do not understand that your word for “Lord” refers to God in this context, here are some other ways to translate it:

Use your word for God.
Use your word for God and indicate that he is the Lord. For example:
God the Lord
Master God

If you include the word for God in your translation of Lord, you may want to include a footnote to give the literal Greek meaning. For example:

Here the Greek text is literally “Lord.”

See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / go

προάγοντες

going_before

In a context such as this, your language might say “coming” instead of going. Alternate translation: [coming before]

Note 2 topic: translate-transliterate

ὡσαννά

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί οἱ προάγοντες καί οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντες ἔκραζον Ὡσαννά Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου)

The word Hosanna is a Hebrew word. Mark has spelled it out using Greek letters so his readers would know how it sounded. Hosanna had an original meaning of “save now,” but by the time of this event it had become a way of praising God. In your translation you can spell Hosanna the way it sounds in your language, or you could translate it according to how the word was used. In this context, the people could be praising: (1) God. Alternate translation: [Glory to God] or [May God be honored] (2) Jesus. Alternate translation: [Glory to this man] or [May this man be honored]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου!

Here the crowds are quoting from [Psalm 118:26](../psa/118/26.md). Since they do not introduce the words as a quotation from an important text, you also should not introduce them as anything more than what the crowds said. However, if it would be helpful for your readers, you could include this information in a footnote.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου

The phrase Blessed is the one could be: (1) a request for God to bless Jesus. Alternate translation: [Let the one coming in the name of the Lord be blessed] (2) stating that God had already blessed Jesus. Alternate translation: [The one coming in the name of the Lord is blessed]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

εὐλογημένος

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who does the action, it is clear from the context that it is God. Alternate translation: [Let God bless]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου

in name ˱of˲_˓the˒_Lord

Here, the word name refers primarily to the person who has that name, and it focuses especially on that person’s authority. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable expression or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [by the authority of the Lord]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear MARK 11:9

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 11:1–11: People gladly welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem

Paragraph 11:8–10

11:9a

11:9b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)