Difference between revisions of "Hosanna"

<p> <b> [[Hosanna]] </b> <b> ( </b> הוֹשענא, Gr. ὡσαννά).—One of the [[Hebrew]] words which (like , Hallelujah, Sabbath, Sabaoth) have passed, transliterated and not translated, from the vocabulary of the [[Jewish]] to that of the [[Christian]] Church. In the NT it occurs only in three Gospels: in them it is found six times (&nbsp;Matthew 21:9; &nbsp;Matthew 21:15, &nbsp;Mark 11:9-10, &nbsp;John 12:13), but only in the history of our Lord’s triumphant entry to [[Jerusalem]] on [[Palm]] Sunday, and only as a vocal cry uttered, either by the palm-bearing multitude who met Him, or by the children who hailed Him thereafter in the [[Temple]] (&nbsp;Matthew 21:15). Among the Jews, however, the word came to designate not alone the cry, but also the of palms, myrtle, or willow which on their joyous feast of Tabernacles, and especially on its seventh day, the people were accustomed—for the Law did not enjoin this ceremony—to carry in procession with the priests to the fountain of [[Shiloah]] and thence again to the Temple, where these ‘hosannas’ were piled up and beaten against the altar. It is only with ‘Hosanna’ as a cry that we are here concerned; but we cannot forget that when, in honour of our Lord, the multitude raised the cry, they ‘took branches of palm trees’ (&nbsp;John 12:13) as well; and therefore, besides expounding the meaning of the cry, we must consider how a ceremony customary at the feast of [[Tabernacles]] came to be adopted, popularly, on an occasion when the worshippers were assembling at Jerusalem to celebrate a feast of a widely different character, that of the Passover. </p> <p> Philologically, the word <i> Hosanna </i> is explained as a derivation from or contraction of &nbsp;Psalms 118:25 (Heb.): <i> ânnâ [[Jahweh]] hôshî‘âh-nnâ </i> (‘I beseech thee, [[O]] Lord, save now’). This Psalm was sung, and this verse of it used as a refrain by the people, at the feast of Tabernacles; and the refrain was abbreviated, through constant popular repetition, into <i> Hôshaʽnâ </i> , just as the old [[Canaanitish]] cry <i> Hoi Dod </i> (= ‘Ho Adonis’) was turned into a common interjection, <i> Hedad </i> . </p> <p> The vocal ‘Hosanna’ was used by the [[Jews]] at the feast of Tabernacles when the branches also were employed; and on this account it has been asserted by Mr. Lewis N. Dembitz (in the <i> Jewish Encyc </i> . vol. vi. p. 276, <i> s.v. </i> ‘Hoshana Rabbah’) that ‘the [[Gospels]] by a mistake place the custom in the season shortly before the Passover, instead of in the feast of Booths.’ To this it may be answered, (1) that, according to another writer in the same <i> Encyclopedia </i> , Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler (vol. vi. p. 272), <i> Hosanna </i> ‘became a popular cry used in solemn processions wherewith was connected the carrying of palm branches as described in &nbsp;1 [[Maccabees]] 13:51 and &nbsp;2 Maccabees 10:7.’ But (2) the procession in &nbsp;1 Maccabees 13:51 was <i> not </i> at the feast of Tabernacles, which was kept on the 15th day of the 7th month (&nbsp;Leviticus 23:34), but at a wholly different season, ‘on the three and twentieth day of the second month’; while the celebration in &nbsp;2 Maccabees 10:7, though ‘the procession was <i> after the manner </i> of the feast of Tabernacles’ (v. 6), was somewhat later in the year. Thus there was historical and uninspired (for the Jews did not hold the Books of Maccabees to be inspired) precedent for the employment both of the palm-bearing and the shout on other suitable occasions besides the feast of Tabernacles. And (3) was not the occasion of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem one that must have seemed eminently suitable alike to His disciples who began it (&nbsp;Luke 19:37) and to the candid (&nbsp;Matthew 21:15) and grateful (&nbsp;John 12:17) [[Israelites]] who joined them in the celebration of it? The Jews, we know, were accustomed to associate with the feast of Tabernacles the highest of those blessings which [[Messiah]] was to bring. It was as Messiah that Jesus now presented Himself. He had chosen to ride that day upon the ass’s colt, in accordance with Zechariah’s prophecy (&nbsp;Zechariah 9:9), just on purpose to make an offer of Himself to Jerusalem as her promised King (&nbsp;Matthew 21:4, &nbsp;John 12:14). What, accordingly, would the people look for at His hands? What would they ask from Him? Salvation; but salvation not on its negative side alone, of deliverance, but on its positive side as well, of fruition. If the approaching feast of the [[Passover]] would remind them of the former, how their [[Egyptian]] oppressor had been smitten (&nbsp;Exodus 12:29), it was the feast of Tabernacles which pre-eminently supplied illustrations of the latter: its branches and its booths were redolent of that first night of freedom which their fathers had enjoyed under the cool booths of [[Succoth]] (&nbsp;Exodus 12:37). so refreshing after the dust and heat of the brickfield and the furnace. Both sides—the negative and the positive, the smiting and the booths—were in one chapter (Exodus 12): they could hardly remember the one without the other. The form, therefore, which the celebration of our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem is described by the Four [[Evangelists]] as assuming, is not such as to require us to suppose that they made a mistake in placing it at the season of the Passover. On the contrary, it was neither unprecedented nor unnatural; and the fact that it was not a legally prescribed but only a popular ceremony, left them quite free to use it when they thought fit. It is not as if the Evangelists had transferred the unleavened bread of the Passover to the Feast of Tabernacles. </p> <p> <i> Hosanna </i> is rendered in both Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 (cf. &nbsp;Psalms 118:25, whence it is taken) ‘Save now.’ The <i> now </i> is not here an adverb of time, but an interjection of entreaty, as in ‘Come now’: the word means ‘Oh! save’ ( <i> Jewish Encyc </i> .), or ‘Save, we beseech Thee.’ As given (1) absolutely, as in &nbsp;Mark 11:9 and &nbsp;John 12:13, the natural meaning of this would be an address to Christ, as Messiah, asking Him to bestow the salvation expected of Him; or, as our English hymn expresses it, ‘Bring near [[Thy]] great salvation.’ We can understand how, in this sense, ‘Hosanna’ should be followed by salutations or acclamations, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (&nbsp;Psalms 118:26, &nbsp;Matthew 21:9, &nbsp;Mark 11:9), ‘Blessed is the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord’ (&nbsp;Mark 11:10), or ‘Blessed is the King of [[Israel]] that cometh in the name of the Lord’ (&nbsp;John 12:13). All the different forms may have been used, for there was a multitude of speakers. The sequence of the thoughts is natural: for if Jesus be once conceived of as able to save (either by His own power or by that of Him that sent Him), the next thing, obviously, for His people to do, after asking Him to exert His power in their behalf, is to rejoice that He has come, and to bless Him for coming. </p> <p> But (2) it is not only in this absolute construction that the Evangelists use the word <i> Hosanna </i> . St. Matthew employs it with a dative, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ (&nbsp;Matthew 21:9); and both St. Matthew and St. Mark give us ‘Hosanna in the highest.’ Both these variations have been censured by Dr. Kaufmann Kohler ( <i> Jewish Encyc. l.e. supra </i> ) as ‘corruptions of the original version’: the addition ‘in the highest,’ he declares to be ‘words which no longer give any sense.’ But in a connexion which seems to justify St. Matthew, the dative is used alike in the OT (&nbsp;Psalms 3:8 ‘Salvation belongeth unto the Lord’) and in the NT in a passage based upon that Psalm (&nbsp;Revelation 7:10 ‘Salvation unto our God; and unto the Lamb’); while there is surely nothing ‘senseless’ in the thought that the salvation which God gives, or sends, to men should fill the highest heaven with rejoicings in His praise. We have the idea in the OT ( <i> e.g. </i> &nbsp;Psalms 8:1) and in the NT (&nbsp;Luke 2:14, &nbsp;Ephesians 3:10). To some Christian commentators, however, and those of no mean weight,— <i> e.g. </i> [[Cornelius]] à Lapide and Dean Alford,—St. Matthew’s use of <i> Hosanna </i> with the dative has seemed to render requisite a different interpretation of the word. <i> Hosanna </i> was, says Alford (on &nbsp;Matthew 21:9), ‘originally a formula of supplication, but [became] conventionally [one] of gratulation, so that it is followed by a dative, and by “in the highest,”—meaning “may it also be ratified in heaven,”—and he cites &nbsp;1 Kings 1:36, where [[Benaiah]] answers David, saying, ‘Amen: the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so too.’ Cornelius à Lapide takes ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ as a prayer for Christ, offered by the people ‘asking all prosperous things for Him from God.’ Now, this would, in itself, be admissible enough. Of Messiah, even when thought of as [[Divine]] and reigning, the [[Scripture]] says, ‘prayer also shall be made for him continually’ (&nbsp;Psalms 72:15). But it seems unnatural to postulate so violent an alteration in the meaning of the word—from ‘supplication’ to ‘gratulation,’ when, taken in its original meaning, it yields a sufficient sense: ‘Save now, for it is to thee, O Son of David, that the power to save us has been given.’ It was not unnatural that the people should speak in this sense: as Jews they knew already that ‘salvation belongeth unto God’ (&nbsp;Psalms 3:8). This view derives considerable confirmation from the parallel passage in the Apocalypse, where the whole scene in ch. &nbsp;Psalms 7:14, and even the very words—‘the multitude before the throne and before the Lamb … with palms in their hands’ (&nbsp;Revelation 7:9, cf. &nbsp;John 12:13), who cry with a loud voice (cf. &nbsp;Luke 19:37), saying, ‘Salvation to our God … and to the Lamb’—seems to be based on what happened at Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday; as if the [[Seer]] were beholding the salvation come which that day was asked, and recognized that the palm-bearers of the earthly Jerusalem were precursors of the hosts of the redeemed. St. John, it will be remembered, has, in his [[Gospel]] (&nbsp;John 12:16), the remark, ‘These things understood not his disciples at the first, but after he was risen they remembered,’ etc. If, as seems clear, the vision is expressed in figures drawn from that event, then the acclaim in heaven must be held to settle the meaning of those Hosannas upon earth: the dative of the [[Apocalypse]] is the dative of the Gospel: it is the dative not of a prayer for Jesus, but of an ascription of salvation to Him as its [[Mediator]] and Bestower. </p> <p> It remains only to be added that the Third Evangelist, while recording the same Triumphal Entry, and mentioning the acclamations of the people, omits alike the palm-branches and the word ‘Hosanna.’ The explanation, no doubt, of both omissions lies in the fact that St. Luke wrote especially for Gentiles: his readers would not have understood the Hosanna, and would have misunderstood the palms. To [[Greeks]] the palm-branch would have been, inevitably, the palm of pride and victory: not, as to the Hebrew mind, an emblem of peaceful rest, and freedom, and household joy. ‘Hosanna’ would have meant nothing at all. Therefore the [[Evangelist]] to the Greeks paraphrases the word, and paraphrases with it St. Matthew’s and St. Mark’s addition to it, ‘in the highest’; rendering the whole by ‘Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest’ (&nbsp;Luke 19:38). And, as St. Matthew had the dative of ascription, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’—as looking for salvation to Him who had come to Jerusalem in this capacity; so St. Luke, in his paraphrase of the Hosanna, employs what we may call a dative clause: his ‘Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest,’ are introduced so as to show us these as the result of Christ’s coming as King in the name of the Lord: it is for these ends that He has come; and on this account the people call Him blessed. It was for these ends that He was born: wherefore the angels sang the same strain over Him at His [[Nativity]] (&nbsp;Luke 2:14); it is for these ends now that He paces forward to His cross: and therefore men, though as yet they understand it not (&nbsp;John 12:16), are moved, by a Power they know not, to bear Him record. </p> <p> Literature.—Art. ‘Hosanna’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible and in <i> Encyc. Bibl.; Jewish Encyc, loc. cit </i> .; Milligan, <i> Com. on Gospel of St. John </i> and <i> Revelation </i> ; Westcott, <i> St. John’s Gospel </i> ; Cornelius à Lapide, Neale and Littledale, and Perowne, on Psalms 118. </p> <p> James Cooper. </p>

<div> '''1: ὡσαννά ''' (Strong'S #5614 — — hosanna — ho-san-nah' ) </div> <p> in the Hebrew, means "save, we pray." The word seems to have become an utterance of praise rather than of prayer, though originally, probably, a cry for help. The people's cry at the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem (&nbsp;Matthew 21:9,15; &nbsp;Mark 11:9,10; &nbsp;John 12:13 ) was taken from &nbsp;Psalm 118 , which was recited at the Feast of Tabernacles (see FEAST) in the great Hallel (&nbsp;Psalm 113 to 118) in responses with the priest, accompanied by the waving of palm and willow branches. "The last day of the feast" was called "the great Hosanna;" the boughs also were called "hosannas." </p>

<p> (ὡσαννά '','' from the Heb. הוֹשַׁיעָהאּנָּא, as in &nbsp;Psalms 118:25; &nbsp;Isaiah 59:1; &nbsp;Isaiah 45:20), a form of acclamatory blessing or wishing well, which signifies Save now! i.e. "succor now! be now propitious!" It occurs in &nbsp;Matthew 21:9 (also &nbsp;Mark 11:9-10; &nbsp;John 12:13), "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest." This was on the occasion of our Savior's public entry into Jerusalem, and, fairly construed, would mean, ''"Lord,'' preserve this Son of David; heap favors and blessings on him!" It is further to be observed that [[Hosanna]] was a customary form of acclamation at the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was celebrated in September, just before the commencement of the civil year, on which occasion the people carried in their hands bundles of boughs of palms, myrtles, etc. (Josephus, Ant. 13, 13, 6; 3:10, 4). They then repeated the 25th and 26th verses of Psalms 118, which commence with the word Hosanna; and from this circumstance they gave the boughs and the prayers, and the feast itself the name of Hosanna. They observed the same forms, also, at the Encaenia, or Festival of [[Dedication]] (&nbsp;1 Maccabees 10:6-7; 2 Macc. 13:51; &nbsp;Revelation 7:9), and the Passover. — Kitto. The psalm from which it was taken, the 118th, was one with which they were familiar, from being accustomed to recite the 25th and 26th verses at the Feast of Tabernacles. </p> <p> On that occasion the Great Hallel, consisting of Psalms 113-118, was chanted by one of the priests, and at certain intervals the multitudes joined in the responses, waving their branches of willow and palm, and shouting as they waved them Hallelujah, or Hosanna, or "O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity" (&nbsp;Psalms 118:25). This was done at the recitation of the first and last verses of Psalms 118, but, according to the school of Hillel, at the words "Save now, we beseech thee" (&nbsp;Psalms 118:25). The school of Shammai, on the contrary, say it was at the words "Send now prosperity" of the same verse. Rabban [[Gamaliel]] and R. Joshua were observed by R. [[Akiba]] to wave their branches only at the words "Save now, we beseech thee" (Mishna, ''Succah, 3,'' 9). On each of the seven days during which the feast lasted the people thronged in the court of the Temple, and went in procession about the altar, setting their boughs bending towards it, the trumpets sounding as they shouted Hosanna. But on the seventh day they marched seven times round the altar, shouting meanwhile the great Hosanna to the sound of the trumpets of the [[Levites]] (Lightfoot, Temple Service, 16, 2). The very children who could wave the palm branches were expected to take part in. the solemnity (Mishna, Succah, 3, 15; &nbsp;Matthew 21:15). From the custom of waving the boughs of myrtle and willow during the service the name Hosanna was ultimately transferred to the boughs themselves so that, according to [[Elias]] Levita ''(Thisbi,'' s.v.), "the bundles of the willows of the brook which they carry at the Feast of Tabernacles are called Hosannas." The term is frequently applied by Jewish writers to denote the Feast of Tabernacles, the seventh day of the feast being distinguished as the great Hosanna (Buxtorf, ''Lex. Talm. S.'' 5. ישׁע ). Monographs on this ejaculation have been written in Latin by Bindrim (Ros. 1671), Nothdurfft (Bruisw. 1713), Pfaff (Tü bingen, 1789), Winzer (Lips. 1677-78,1703), Bucher (Zittav. 1728), Wernsdorf (Viteb. 1765), Zopf (Lips. 1703). (See Hallel). </p>

<p> ''''' hō̇ ''''' - ''''' zan´a ''''' ( ὡσαννά , <i> ''''' hōsanná ''''' </i> ): This Greek transliteration of a Hebrew word occurs 6 times in the Gospels as the cry of the people when our Lord entered Jerusalem as the Messiah represented by Zec (&nbsp; Proverbs 9:9 ), and of "the children" when He cleansed the temple (&nbsp;Matthew 21:9 <i> bis </i> , 15; &nbsp;Mark 11:9 f; &nbsp; John 12:13 ). In &nbsp;Matthew 21:9 it is "Hosanna to the son of David!" followed by "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!"; in &nbsp; Matthew 21:15 it is also "Hosanna to the Son of David!"; in &nbsp; Mark 11:9 f it is "Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David: Hosanna in the highest"; and in &nbsp; John 12:13 it is "Hosanna: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." Thus in all the evangelists it is an acclamation or ascription of praise. This has raised the question whether the supposed derivation from &nbsp; Psalm 118:25 , beginning with <i> ''''''ānnāh ''''' [[Yhwh]] hōshı̄‛āh nnā' </i> , "Save now, pray" (which is followed (&nbsp;Psalm 118:26 ) by "Blessed be he that cometh (the Revised Version margin "or entereth") in the name of Yahweh") is correct. (See Thayer, <i> HDB </i> ; Cheyne, EB; Dalman, <i> Words of Jesus </i> .) Various other explanations have been suggested. Thayer remarks, "It is most natural to regard the word Hosanna, as respects its form, as neither syncopated nor contracted, but the shorter Hiphil imperative with the appended enclitic" <i> '''''‛hōsha‛nā'''''' </i> ; compare &nbsp;Psalm 86:2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 31:7 ), for which there is Talmudic warrant. "As respects its force, we must for ... contextual reasons, assume that it had already lost its primary supplicatory sense and become an ejaculation of joy or shout of welcome." It is said to have been so used in this sense at the joyous Feast of Tabernacles, the 7th day of which came to be called "the Great Hosanna," or "Hosanna Day." But, while the word is certainly an ejaculation of praise and not one of supplication, the idea of <i> salvation </i> need not be excluded. As in &nbsp; Revelation 7:10 (compare &nbsp; Revelation 19:1 ), we have the acclamation, "Salvation unto God ... and unto the Lamb," so we might have the cry, "Salvation to the son of David"; and "Hosanna in the Highest," might be the equivalent of "Salvation unto our God!" He who was "coming in the name of the Lord" was the king who was bringing salvation from God to the people. </p>