And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
And as he went (or proceeded onwards toward the city), they spread their clothes in the way - that is, the gathering crowds did so; attracted, probably, in the first instance, by the novelty of the spectacle, but a higher view of it by and by flashing across them. Matthew says, "And a very great multitude" - or 'the immense multitude' х Ho (G3588) de (G1161) pleistos (G4118) ochlos (G3793)] "spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way." This casting of their garments beneath His feet was an ancient Oriental way of expressing the homage of a people toward their sovereign, or one whom they wished to welcome as such-as we see in the case of Jehu (2 Kings 9:13). And spreading a gorgeous cloth over the pathway that is to be trodden by a monarch on any great occasion, is our modern way of doing the same thing.