Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, Hosanna,
Hosanna in the highest!
Refrain:
Lord we lift up Your name
with hearts full of praise
Be exalted oh Lord my God!
Hosanna in the highest! (second time: Glory to the King of Kings!)
Glory, Glory
Glory to the King of Kings!
Glory, Glory,
Glory to the King of Kings!
Refrain
Do you know what "Hosanna" means? It is actually not so cut and dried, it seems. Let me explain.
In English, words change meaning all the time. It is part of being a "living language" as opposed to a dead one, like Latin. "Nice" used to mean "silly," but now it means "pleasant." "Hussy" came from the word "housewife" and meant "the mistress of the house." Now it means "a disreputable woman." "Awful" used to mean "worthy of awe," and God was spoken of as being "awful." Now, we would never call God "awful!"
The same thing happens in every language, including Hebrew.
Hosanna, we pray, O LORD!... (Ps 118:25).
What was that, you ask? You looked up that verse and "hosanna" is nowhere in it, you say? Yes, it is. "Hosanna" means "save." At least it did many centuries ago when the psalmist wrote what has come to be called the 118th Psalm. So when you see, "Save us," you are really seeing "Hosanna." Strong's tells me that word is used 198 times in the Old Testament. The translators simply translated the word to its English equivalent, "save" or "help" when they came across it. That's why you don't see it there.
Now here is an interesting fact: that is not what the word meant several centuries later when the people shouted "Hosanna!" to Jesus. It is evident from the context that it had become a celebratory word, one of praise, perhaps, or joy. Rabbinic writings from the same period show that to be the case. This word shifted its meaning just like many words do, and that leads to something even more important.
According to Peter J. Williams in the book Can We Trust the Gospels?, this is an evidence for the veracity of the gospels themselves. If someone had come along and tried to write the gospels as pieces of fiction many years after believers say they were written, how would they know how the language had changed? In fact, if they were going to have the incident of the Triumphal Entry allude to a passage in the Psalms, why wouldn't they have worded it in a much different way, as a plea for salvation rather than a joyful word of praise? As Williams notes, "The writers show knowledge not only of this word's use by the Jews at a particular time, but also of its development over time."
Most people enjoy singing the hymn Mr. Tuttle has written, but there really isn't much to it. It shows no depth of scriptural knowledge, having only this one allusion to a passage rather than one for every line as so many older hymns do, and gives us no deeper insights. But now, when you sing it, remember the meaning of this word and how Matthew, Mark, and John used it, and think for a moment of the evidence God has left us so that we can trust His Word. And you might want to grab that book I mentioned. It's an easy read for the average person and will give you a whole lot more than this little tidbit to reassure you.
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us [hosanna], we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. (Ps 118:24-26).
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:6-9).
Dene Ward
Hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, Hosanna,
Hosanna in the highest!
Refrain:
Lord we lift up Your name
with hearts full of praise
Be exalted oh Lord my God!
Hosanna in the highest! (second time: Glory to the King of Kings!)
Glory, Glory
Glory to the King of Kings!
Glory, Glory,
Glory to the King of Kings!
Refrain
Do you know what "Hosanna" means? It is actually not so cut and dried, it seems. Let me explain.
In English, words change meaning all the time. It is part of being a "living language" as opposed to a dead one, like Latin. "Nice" used to mean "silly," but now it means "pleasant." "Hussy" came from the word "housewife" and meant "the mistress of the house." Now it means "a disreputable woman." "Awful" used to mean "worthy of awe," and God was spoken of as being "awful." Now, we would never call God "awful!"
The same thing happens in every language, including Hebrew.
Hosanna, we pray, O LORD!... (Ps 118:25).
What was that, you ask? You looked up that verse and "hosanna" is nowhere in it, you say? Yes, it is. "Hosanna" means "save." At least it did many centuries ago when the psalmist wrote what has come to be called the 118th Psalm. So when you see, "Save us," you are really seeing "Hosanna." Strong's tells me that word is used 198 times in the Old Testament. The translators simply translated the word to its English equivalent, "save" or "help" when they came across it. That's why you don't see it there.
Now here is an interesting fact: that is not what the word meant several centuries later when the people shouted "Hosanna!" to Jesus. It is evident from the context that it had become a celebratory word, one of praise, perhaps, or joy. Rabbinic writings from the same period show that to be the case. This word shifted its meaning just like many words do, and that leads to something even more important.
According to Peter J. Williams in the book Can We Trust the Gospels?, this is an evidence for the veracity of the gospels themselves. If someone had come along and tried to write the gospels as pieces of fiction many years after believers say they were written, how would they know how the language had changed? In fact, if they were going to have the incident of the Triumphal Entry allude to a passage in the Psalms, why wouldn't they have worded it in a much different way, as a plea for salvation rather than a joyful word of praise? As Williams notes, "The writers show knowledge not only of this word's use by the Jews at a particular time, but also of its development over time."
Most people enjoy singing the hymn Mr. Tuttle has written, but there really isn't much to it. It shows no depth of scriptural knowledge, having only this one allusion to a passage rather than one for every line as so many older hymns do, and gives us no deeper insights. But now, when you sing it, remember the meaning of this word and how Matthew, Mark, and John used it, and think for a moment of the evidence God has left us so that we can trust His Word. And you might want to grab that book I mentioned. It's an easy read for the average person and will give you a whole lot more than this little tidbit to reassure you.
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us [hosanna], we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. (Ps 118:24-26).
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:6-9).
Dene Ward
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