One of the prominent verses from which the Greek word ” Hosanna ” is quoted is found in the Old Testament in Psalm 118:25 when it came to express a prayer of supplication to God for help and salvation: ” Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.” There are similar expressions like “Jehova, save us ” also found in the Psalms several times to convey the same meaning of seeking help from God.

“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.” (Psalms 12:1)

“Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call.” (Psalms 20:9)

” Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.”( psalm 28:9)

“That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me.” (psalm 60:5) and it was repeated in (psalm 108:6)

And the Greek word “Hosanna” corresponds in Hebrew to a word composed of two syllables:

The first is “Hosea,” which means ” Save, rescue or help.”،

And the second: “Na”, which is a letter indicating the severity of the need.

As for the use of the original word as mentioned by those who received Christ when He entered Jerusalem, it can be translated as “Save us now, O Lord.” To understand the origin of this call, we can go back to the rituals of some ancient Jewish celebrations where this chant was echoed.

Psalms 113-118 used to be a collection of Psalms known as the Hallel Psalms, as they were sung during the Feast of Tabernacles and Passover. It was customary for the congregation to respond at the end of each verse or at the end of each psalm with the word “Hallelujah.” The Hallel Psalms were sung in a rhythmic and repetitive manner, phrase by phrase, as it is done today in Jewish synagogues, and as is also practiced in the praise prayers in churches now.

During the seven days allocated for celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests take branches of trees in their hands and go out in a solemn procession, going around the altar of sacrifice while shouting repeatedly, “Oh Lord, save us; (Hoshi’ana), oh save us (Hoshi’ana).” This procession was repeated seven times on the seventh day of the feast, and the repeated chant of the people expressed their cry to God for rain to fall.

The set of prayers recited during the procession or the Feast of Tabernacles was called “Hoshianat,” and the seventh day of the feast usually involved waving branches of trees and palm fronds, which is linked to a special interpretation of the verse: “Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. ” (Psalm 96:12). One of the ancient rabbis connected the waving of branches with rejoicing, and with the people’s joy in obtaining justification before the righteous judge God, as it was believed that when God descends to save His people, granting them forgiveness and redemption. The whole creation will participate in celebrating it, rejoicing in this salvation just as the rain that people pray for to come down from God will bless the people of Israel and all creation with them.

During the period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, known as the intertestamental period, the Feast of Tabernacles was associated with the Feast of Dedication celebrated in the month of spring in honor of Judas Maccabeus’ victory in his revolt against Antiochus IV. In the year 163 BC,

Judas Maccabeus led the Jews in a rebellion against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV, who had offered a pig as a sacrifice to the idols in the Temple of Jerusalem, which angered the Jews. They rose up in a successful revolt, purifying the Temple and celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. This revolution granted the Jewish people a period of political and religious freedom, and the anniversary of this revolt is celebrated annually in what is known as “Hanukkah” or the Feast of Dedication.

With the annual celebration of the Feast of Dedication, the word “Hosannah” (Hoshiena) has become a distinctive slogan in this feast, with which the people remember the salvation that God granted them. The people’s wish now is for God to send them a savior like Judas Maccabeus to grant them political freedom and purify worship from the impurities that have affected it.

During the days of the Lord Jesus, the word “hosanna” was strongly associated with the idea of the appearance of the Messiah, who would grant the nation political freedom and renew the religious freedom that the people had achieved through Judas Maccabees.

It is noteworthy that the people’s chanting of “Hosanna” to the Lord Jesus during His entry into Jerusalem immediately preceded His cleansing of the temple and driving out the sellers of pigeons and the money changers from it. When the people cried out, chanting the psalm verse (118:25), ” Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest! ” (Matt: 21:9), Jesus entered the temple and cleansed it, restoring its dignity and majesty as a place fit for worshiping God. It was known among the general public and religious leaders that Psalm 118 represents a direct prophecy related to the coming of the Messiah. Therefore, the people’s chants had a Messianic echo, anticipating the appearance of the new Joshua, the Christ, through whom salvation would be realized for the nation. He would purify their worship, their political lives, and even their hearts from the impurities and defects that had clung to them.

And of course, the people did not know that the one in front of them in Jerusalem was the true Messiah they had long awaited, and they expected His appearance to fulfill the hopes and expectations of the people. The personality of Christ as the Messiah was not clear in the minds of the people or even in the minds of many of the disciples, to the extent that one of them betrayed Him, and another denied Him, and the whole people cried out: Crucify Him, crucify Him.

Hosanna in the Gospel of Saint Matthew:

If we return to the cry of the people as Saint Matthew recorded, we find that the phrase ‘to Son of David’ comes directly after the word “Hosanna”: Hosanna to the Son of David ; which made it carry some ambiguity in meaning, if “Hosanna” means ‘save now’, then what does ‘save now to the Son of David’ mean?”

It is very likely that the people chanted this slogan in Hebrew as a form of national pride, because Hebrew was their national language and the language of worship in the temple. Then the people would have used the Hebrew letter “Lamed” (similar to the Arabic letter “Lam”) before the word “Son of David,” as this letter signifies “to” or “towards.”

Some linguists have proven that this letter can also be used as a vocative letter “O”, so the translation of the exclamation “Hosanna (Save us), O Son of David” means that the people had accepted Jesus as a leader or a political Messiah, who came to save them from Roman rule.

However, the Greek text still needs explanation, as the phrase “to the Son of David” does not mean “O Son of David.” So why did Saint Matthew insist on translating the Hebrew exclamation into this Greek form? It is clear that Saint Matthew was referring to the salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross. The ancient Association of the chant of Hosanna with the victory achieved by Judas Maccabee, the celebration of the Feast of Dedication, and with the verse: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”(PS 118: 26) gave the expression “Hosanna” a new meaning.

Saint Matthew wanted to express this meaning, and this meaning became clearer after the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. The word “Hosanna” essentially became a cry of joy for the salvation achieved by the Lord Jesus, rather than a cry for help. Here, the meaning of Saint Matthew’s phrase “Glory to the One who has given us salvation, glory to the Son of David” is found.

When Saint Matthew uses the word “Hosanna,” it means that all the Messianic expectations and hopes have been realized in Jesus, and a reader of the Gospel of Saint Matthew in the Greek language will immediately understand the meaning of the word ” Hosanna ” without the need to refer to its historical Hebrew meaning, because he shares Saint Matthew’s joy of the salvation achieved by the Lord Jesus, as he reads the Gospel after the resurrection of the Lord from the dead, having accepted Christ as a redeemer and savior from sins, and not as a political leader and savior.

Of course, this hymnal concept was not the same concept that the people shouted when they met the Lord Jesus, but, as is common in many concepts of the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus explained the true meaning behind the people’s chant. Despite the fact that the majority of the people who saw Jesus, heard His teachings, and witnessed His miracles did not understand the true meaning of His coming.

Indeed, the Lord Jesus has fulfilled and completed the people’s need for salvation in the way He desired, a way that the people did not understand until after the Lord’s resurrection from the dead. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the people’s awareness of the salvation achieved for them by the Lord Jesus began to increase, that it was a salvation from sin, liberation from the power of Satan, and a power given to them by the Lord to live in the freedom of the children of God and from the household of God.

“Hosanna” in liturgy and ecclesiastical tradition:

The expression ” Hosanna ” entered very early in the prayers of the church, and the meaning was one of praise that entered the Christian church, not a supplicatory one. It is mentioned in the Didache, which conveys to us the liturgical prayers as practiced by the early church, that at the beginning of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, this paragraph is recited: [For grace to come, and for this world to pass away, Hosanna, O God of David. Let the holy come forward, and the unholy depart. Maranatha. Amen] (Didache 6:2).

And it is clear that this paragraph is not taken from the Gospels, but it was transmitted through the liturgical tradition practiced by the disciples and taught to the early churches. The same word also entered into the responses of the Gregorian Mass: [Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your holy glory. Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he who came and comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest].

As the word “Hosanna” has become an eschatological (End Time) meaning in the church, and has a clear connection to the expression “Maranatha” which signifies the imminent coming of the Lord. In addition to the previous paragraph which mentions both expressions together, the history of the church, as recorded by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, tells the story of the martyrdom of Saint James the righteous, the brother of the Lord, in which the connection of “Maranatha” to the imminent coming of the Lord is evident.Bottom of FormWhen the Jews stopped the Apostle James on the wing of the temple, just before his martyrdom, he answered loudly: “Why do you ask me about Jesus, the Son of Man? He Himself is sitting in the heaven on the right hand of power, and He will come on the clouds of heaven.” And when many were fully convinced and proud of James’s testimony, they said, “Hosanna to the son of David.” (Church History 2:23:10-15).

It seems that the original Hebrew meaning of the chant “Hosanna” disappeared over time, especially in churches that spoke the Greek language. In the book “The Instructor,” Saint Clement of Alexandria explains the meaning of the expression “Hosanna” as follows: [Light, glory, praise with supplication to the Lord, this is the meaning of the expression “Hosanna”].

As it was in the early church, it is possible to use the word “hosanna” in worship now with both meanings: as a prayer to ask for help from God, and as praise to God who has become our salvation. Christ completed our salvation through His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Now He is sitting at the right hand of the Father to intercede in His believers, offering the guarantee of our justification before God,” Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (Romans 8:33-34)

The joy of humanity is manifested in its belief that Christ Himself intercedes for it before God, as if He is saying to the Father, “Save us for the sake of all my children, that is, the believers in My name.” We can also say that the Holy Spirit also offers intercession that carries the meaning of “save us” to the Father on our behalf, because “ but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ” (Romans 8:26).

The cry of “Hosanna” with which the people received Christ upon His entry into Jerusalem as a cry for help, even though at that time it was about physical and political equality, has now become the Church’s chant until God completes our salvation, as it has become praise and thanks to the one who became our salvation through his death for us: “Thine is the powernthe glory,the blessing,the majesty forever.Amen.My Lord Jesus Christ,my good Savior.The lord is my strength,and my praise.He has become to me a sacred salvation.” (The Church’s chant on the night and day of Great Friday).