This verse is a quotation from Zechariah 9.9, but at two points John differs from both the Hebrew and the Septuagint texts. First, in place of Do not be afraid the Hebrew and Septuagint both have “rejoice greatly.” There is no obvious reason why John would have deliberately changed the wording; the best explanation seems to be that he was quoting loosely from memory. If so, it is possible that such a passage as Isaiah 40.9 or Zephaniah 3.16 influenced his thinking, since both these passages have “Do not be afraid.” In fact, the exhortation not to be afraid in Zephaniah 3.16 is based on the affirmation that “the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst.” This affirmation may well be the basis for John’s inclusion of “the King of Israel” in verse 13.

A second point at which John differs from the Hebrew and the Septuagint is in the mention of the animal on which Jesus rode. Whereas the Hebrew text (followed by Matt 21.5) has a kind of parallelism in which two animals are used synonymously, John mentions only one animal a young donkey.

In some languages such an expression as Do not be afraid should include somewhere in the context a reference to what people were not to fear. In the present context it would be more satisfactory to translate “Do not be afraid of anything” or “There is nothing you need to fear.”

Here comes your king is more literally “Behold, your king is coming.” But the particle “behold” (Greek idou), like its Hebrew counterpart (hinne), is merely an interjection used for the sake of emphasis or drawing attention, and it need not be included in translation.

A young donkey is literally “a donkey’s colt,” but the meaning of this unusual sounding expression is merely a young donkey.

City of Zion is literally “daughter of Zion,” a Hebraic way of speaking of the city of Zion, that is, Jerusalem. The problem with a literal rendering is that most readers will not have the background to understand “daughter” as a collective term for the people of Jerusalem. In many translations the best rendering may simply be “city of Jerusalem” or even “people of Jerusalem.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .