Hosanna

religion

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Mozart, Great Mass in C Minor, K. 427“Hosanna in excelsis” from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor, K. 427; from a 1953 recording by the Berlin Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Helmut Koch.

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Palestrina, Missa assumpta est Maria (Seventh Book of Masses)“Hosanna” from Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's Missa assumpta est Maria (Seventh Book of Masses); from a 1954 recording by the Vienna Pro Musica Chorus conducted by Ferdinand Grossmann.

Hosanna, in modern speech and liturgical usage, a cry of praise to God. It has acquired this meaning through the assumption that it was so meant by the multitude that hailed Jesus on Palm Sunday (Mark 11:9). If it was, it must already have become a Jewish liturgical cry rather far removed from its original meaning—the word is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew hôshîʿah-nnaʾ “Save, (we) beseech Thee!” It meant, thus, entreaty, not praise (as in Psalms 118:25). If the crowd still knew its original meaning, they must have been addressing it to Jesus as the new David, as a plea for political salvation.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.