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Hosanna To The Son Of David



by Wayne Blank



"While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?

They say unto him, 'The son of David.'

He saith unto them, How then doth David in Spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

And no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions." (Matthew 22:41-46 KJV)

"Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord"

The people of Judah have long-awaited the "Messiah, son of David" (as translated from the Hebrew), however to this day non-Christian Jews still believe that the Messiah will not be supernatural. They correctly believe that He will be a descendant of David, that He will be the King of Israel, that He will gather the people of Israel and Judah from around the earth where they have been scattered (see The Gathering of Israel and Judah) and that He will bring peace to the earth (see the Fact Finder question below), but they incorrectly believe that He will accomplish it as a mortal human king - something that no mere human king, president or prime minister has, or ever will have, the power to do.



That short-sighted human view of the Messiah was the point of Jesus' asking the question that He did, as quoted above. If the Messiah was merely a physical descendant of King David, why would David call Him "Lord"? The Pharisees that He was talking to couldn't, or wouldn't, answer the question - although some Pharisees later became Christians e.g. Nicodemus, to whom Jesus gave the very famous, and very often misunderstood "born again" teaching (see "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit") and the apostle Paul who continued to refer to himself as a Pharisee as he was writing what became much of the Christian New Testament (see Paul's Ministry).

That is not to say that many people of Judah didn't recognize the truth about how the Messiah would come about and accomplish His prophesied purpose. They surely did. They recognized His physical descent from David and His miraculous power.


"And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us." (Matthew 9:26-27 KJV)

"Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?" (Matthew 12:22-23 KJV)

"Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." (Matthew 15:21-22 KJV)

"And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David." (Matthew 20:29-30 KJV)

"And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strowed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." (Matthew 21:8-11 KJV)

Fact Finder: Why is Jesus Christ called the Prince of Peace? How will Christ bring peace to the earth?
See The Prince of Peace



Today's Word

The Holy Bible was primarily written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Today's Word examines the pronunciation and literal meaning of one of those actual words of the Holy Scriptures and how it is usually translated into English-language Bibles.


The Hebrew word pronounced haw-rawr means mountain or hill country. It is most often translated for use in English language Bibles as mount or mountain.



Copyright © 2006 by Wayne Blank / Daily Bible Study. All rights reserved.