Hosanna

Hosanna (Hebrew hôšîʿā-nnāʾ, save, we pray or save now) was the acclamation shouted by the crowds at Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Originally a petition for divine deliverance (Psalm 118:25), it had by the first century become a liturgical shout of joyful praise at the Feast of Tabernacles, when worshippers waved lulab bundles and chanted Psalm 118 as part of the Hallel. The word carried both its original meaning of appeal and its evolved sense of acclamation and blessing.

The Gospels record the crowd crying Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!—applying the messianic pilgrim blessing of Psalm 118:26 directly to Jesus and adding the Davidic royal title that identified him as the promised king. The children in the temple continued the acclamation, fulfilling (according to Matthew 21:16) the word of Psalm 8:2. The scene deliberately evoked both the Davidic kingship and the Feast of Tabernacles' eschatological associations, framing Jesus's entry as the arrival of the long-awaited Davidic redeemer. Hosanna subsequently passed into Christian liturgy as a standard acclamation of praise, particularly in Eucharistic worship.