Hosanna
- For the song "Hosanna", see Jesus Christ Superstar'
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Hosanna, ('Ωσαννα) is the cry of praise or adoration shouted in recognition of the Messiahship of Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:9, 5; Mark 11:9 sq.; John 12:13), and since used in the Christian Church.
It is also a Jewish liturgical term, applied specifically to the Hoshana Service, a cycle of prayers from which a selection is sung each morning during the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles. The complete cycle is sung on the seventh day of the festival, which is called Hoshanah Rabbah (הושענא רבא, "Great Hosanna") (ArtScroll Siddur, p. 726) (so also in Syrian usage; cf. Palm Sunday).
This festival (for which see Lev. xxiii. 39 sqq.; 2 Macc. x. 7; Jos. Ant. xii. 10. 4, Xiii. 13. 155 and the Talmudic tractate Sukkah) already suggested a Dionysiac celebration to Plutarch (Symp. iv. 6), and was associated with a ceremonial drawing of water which, it was believed, secured fertilizing rains in the following year; the penalty for abstinence was drought (ci. Zech. xiv. 16 seq.).
The evidence (see further Ency. Bib. cols. 3354, 4880 seq.; I Levy, Rev. des El. juives, 1901, pp. 192 sqq.) points to rites of nature-worship, and it is possible that in these the term Hosanna had some other application.
The old interpretation "save, now!" which may be a popular etymology, is based on Ps. cxviii. 25 (Heb. הושענא hOshEeah-nna), but this does not explain the occurrence of the word in the Gospels, a complicated problem, on which see the articles of JH Thayer in Hastings's Dict. Bib., and more especially TK Cheyne, Ency. Bib. s.v.
Based on the phrase, Hosanna is a traditional Moravian hymn written by Christian Gregor sung on Palm Sunday and the second Sunday of Advent. It is a call-and-response song; traditionally, it is sung between the choir and congregation, though it is not unheard of for it to be done in other ways, such as played between trombone choirs.
Hosanna is also the name of one of the songs featured in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The scene to which the song applies features Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, as in the above Biblical passages. Jesus is mocked by the high priest Caiaphas while his followers praise him as the Messiah.
From the Friberg Lexicon: hosanna, indecl. particle translit. fr. the Heb.; strictly, a cry expressing an appeal for divine help save! Help, we pray!; in a liturgical usage, a shout of praise and worship hosanna, we praise you (MT 21.9).
From the UBS Lexicon: hosanna (in Aramaic), an exclamation of praise literally meaning, "Save, I pray"
From the Louw-Nida Lexicon: hosanna (an Aramaic expression meaning 'help, I pray' or 'save, I pray,' but which had become a strictly liturgical formula of praise) a shout of praise or adoration - 'hosanna; blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord' Mk 11.9; 'hosanna in the highest' Mk 11.10; 'hosanna to the Son of David' Mt 21.9. Mt 21.9 may also be rendered as 'praise to you, Son of David' or 'we praise you who are the Son of David' or '... a descendant of David.'
'Hosanna' within a Jewish-Christian Messianic Context
'Hosanna', 'save now, Lord' (related to the words 'Hosea', 'Joshua' and 'Yeshua'), are understandable when considered as a messianic outcry for help from God, who would personally come down from Heaven and save the Jewish people. When considered within this context, there is no contradiction; the Jewish Messiah would be God incarnate (note: the idea of the Messiah as an incarnation of God is a Christian idea and is not found in Judaism.) The Hebrew-Israelites were simply calling out for deliverance from their God, which they had done periodically through-out their long history, especially in times of great personal or national crisis (as in the time of Jesus, when the land of Israel was under the control of the hated pagan Roman conquerors of Judea. (See the revolts of the Zealots, the First Jewish-Roman War, the Siege of Jerusalem, in 70 A.D., the Fall of Masada & Simon Bar Kokhba's Revolt.)
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See also
References
- Yohannan Aharoni & Michael Avi-Yonah, "The MacMillan Bible Atlas", Revised Edition, pp. 157-165 (1968 & 1977 by Carta Ltd.).
- 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Hosanna
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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