Historical meaning of spreading palm branches

[CaptainJoy]

I'm not sure this is the best place to ask, but I figure it's not a bad place.

Was there some Jewish or Roman significance to taking palm branches to meet Jesus during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem? [John 12:13]

I've never heard of this being done for anyone before or since. Was it a common thing to do for celebrities/dignitaries?

Thanks for bestowing upon me your vast knowledge.

 

[Dennis_Hogg]

Palm branches are mentioned in a couple other places, and I think that they all fit together. Palm brances are associated with the feast of booths. This is part of the third feast group at the end of the harvest. Passover was the first feast, Pentecost the second, and this is the third. Within each group there were several feast days. See Lev 23. Palm branches are mentioned in verse 40. This feast week is verses 33 to 44. When the Lord returns at His second coming, Israel will perpetually celebrate this feast. See Zechariah 14. The Lord returns in verse 4, and afterward sets up His kingdom, verse 9. Those who fight against Israel will "rot on the spot", verses 12-15. Then in verse 16, we again see this feast as a perpetual feast. We see this same thing alluded to in Revelation 7:9. The whole chapter deals with those who were martyred in the tribulation who are preparing for the coming King.

Since the feast of booths was associated with the establishment of the Kingdom, the Jews were waving the palm branches in Luke 19. Note what they say in verse 38 "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord".

 

[Mickey1953]

Quote from CaptainJoy: "Was there some Jewish or Roman significance to taking palm branches to meet Jesus during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem?" [John 12:13]


Not my knowledge, but from:
http://www.farsinet.com/easter/palmsunday.html
..........Great crowds of people thronged the streets waving palm branches to welcome Him. The people shouted "Hosanna" and laid their cloaks and palm branches from the nearby trees in His path.
Notes:
Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey rather than a horse which signifies the peacefull nature of his entry. People are expecting a king and surrender themselves to his authority by taking their cloaks off and laying it on the ground. The Palm branches signify the expectation of a military victory of their king over the occupying Romans. Jesus is entering Jerusalem to bring Peace and forgiveness to the world by taking the sin of the world upon Himself - a Spiritual King. People are seeking a worldly and physical king.

Also:
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=938

[SIZE=+0]............"who go out to meet Jesus move toward the city gate with the 200-year-old story of Simon Maccabeus vividly in mind"........[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Knowing First Maccabees allows us to read the minds of those who are waving their own palm branches. They are going out to meet Jesus in hopes that he is coming to crush and remove from Israel another great enemy, this time Rome....
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[SIZE=+0]
another:
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[SIZE=+0]http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/green_thumb_club_plants_kids/114877
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Jesus was met by people waving palm branches (Phoenix dactylifera) when he came to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!' (John 12:12-13)

The date palm is a fruit tree with ancient tradition in the Holy Land. It is mentioned many times in the Bible as a symbol for justice and good. It was a custom for people to greet and honor great leaders, heroes and winners of competitions with palm branches. This is why people with palm branches greeted Jesus as he rose into Jerusalem on the donkey.

[SIZE=+0]I have only a portion of the articles. To read the rest you can go to the sites given above the articles.....
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[SIZE=+0]I was curious myself.... I had been told a long time ago and could not remember.....
God bless,
Mickey
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[LamorakDesGalis]

Was there some Jewish or Roman significance to taking palm branches to meet Jesus during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem? [John 12:13]

I've never heard of this being done for anyone before or since. Was it a common thing to do for celebrities/dignitaries?

Palm branches had a lot of significance for Jews. Palm branches were used during the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:40), and eventually came to be used during other festivals. At least from the time of the Maccabees onward, the palm branch became a national symbol for Judah and was used to celebrate military victories. The use of palm branches combined with the people's proclamation underscored the fact that they clearly regarded Jesus as the Messiah.


LDG

 

[Eagle57]

I'm not sure this is the best place to ask, but I figure it's not a bad place.

Was there some Jewish or Roman significance to taking palm branches to meet Jesus during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem? [John 12:13]

I've never heard of this being done for anyone before or since. Was it a common thing to do for celebrities/dignitaries?

Thanks for bestowing upon me your vast knowledge.

One of the aspects, which I have not seen in the other responses, is that it was an affront to Roman power and authority, of which the palm branch signified. So, as Jesus is riding a donkey, which is stepping on the very symbol of Roman power, it would have been an enormous affront to the Roman legions who no doubt would have noticed what was going on. Note that Jesus did not dissuade the people, out of fear of offending the Romans. Why not? Paul tells us in Philippians 2:10-11 that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." John reiterates this in Rev. 19:16 "On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords." It is quite simply a statement of fact, that his authority is greater than that of any earthly government.

 

[Yekcidmij]

It's also the case that at the end of the Maccabean revolt, Simon Maccabee recaptured Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, and entered the city to the people waving palm branches:

1 Macc 13:49 Those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going in and out to buy and sell in the country. So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine. 50 Then they cried to Simon to make peace with them, and he did so. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the citadel from its pollutions. 51 On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred seventy-first year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel.

There would be no doubt that Jesus coming into the city with people celebrating his entry with palm branches and going into the temple to "cleanse" it had overtones of liberation from Israel's enemies in the same manner as Simon Maccabee. The people would have known the connection, and the leadership in Jerusalem would have known it too.