This paper will explore the citation of Psalm 118:25–26 in the Johannine entrance narrative (John 12:12–15). This is an especially significant passage, because of the ten explicit Psalms quotations in the Fourth Gospel, only four are paralleled in the Synoptics, and this is the only one quoted verbatim in all of them. Psalm 118 is also the most frequently referenced psalm in the New Testament, with, according to Zenger, between twenty to sixty intertextually relevant passages, depending on the judgement of the individual exegete.
After considering the issue of the Old Testament and the Fourth Gospel, and then an overview of the psalm in its own right, the paper will find evidence for the second exodus and royal deliverer themes from a study of Psalm 118 in the context of the Psalter, the Hebrew Scriptures, the Qumran Psalms manuscripts, and in the Jewish Festivals. Finally, the paper will focus on the context of John 12:12–15, followed by a phrase-by-phrase study of this passage in particular. This analysis will reveal that the new exodus YHWH accomplishes through the Johannine royal deliverer will come through the unexpected route of this Savior’s suffering, death, and resurrection. However, a closer look at both the psalm and its use throughout the canon will show this to be the logical route after all.
In the end it will become clear that in addition to setting forth the coming Savior as the greater son of David to come, Psalm 118 is also intimately tied to a new Moses/second exodus motif in the Old Testament, along with its fulfillment in the New Testament.