John 12:16

16 His talmidim did not understand this at first; but after Yeshua had been glorified, then they remembered that the Tanakh said this about him, and that they had done this for him.

John 12:16 Meaning and Commentary

John 12:16

These things understood not his disciples at the first,
&c.] Or "at that time", as the Syriac and Persic versions render it; or "on that day", as the Ethiopic version; they did not then know the sense of that prophecy, nor that the things which were now doing were a fulfilling of it:

but when Jesus was glorified;
was raised front the dead, and ascended to heaven, and was set down at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honour; and when having received the promise of the Father, the Holy Ghost, and his gifts, he poured them forth in a very plenteous and extraordinary manner upon them; whereby their minds were greatly illuminated, and they had a very distinct knowledge of the Scriptures of the Old Testament; and saw clearly how they severally had their accomplishment in Christ:

then remembered they that these things were written of him;
in the prophecies of the Old Testament;

and [that] they had done these things unto him;
both the disciples and the multitude, or that these things were done to him; such as bringing the ass to him, laying their clothes on it, and setting him upon it, attending him with shoutings and hosannas to the city of Jerusalem

John 12:16 In-Context

14 After finding a donkey colt, Yeshua mounted it, just as the Tanakh says --
15 "Daughter of Tziyon, don't be afraid! Look! your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."
16 His talmidim did not understand this at first; but after Yeshua had been glorified, then they remembered that the Tanakh said this about him, and that they had done this for him.
17 The group that had been with him when he called El`azar out of the tomb and raised him from the dead had been telling about it.
18 It was because of this too that the crowd came out to meet him -- they had heard that he had performed this miracle.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.