HOSANNA 2020

#Hosanna #easter

A break from the Mycenaean Sequence for something seasonally Relevant

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOSANNA

Apart from its religious relevance for Palm Sunday Hosanna is also a fascinating example of how Greek dealt with loan words from Hebrew and Aramaic. 

Originally Hoosanna was 2 words in OT Hebrew 

HOSHI'A + NA

This became Hosha'na in Aramaic. Greek however has no "sh" sound and however Hoosan(n) acquired an extra N! Possibly becausa - sana is arare sound combination in Greek whereas double - nn appears in names and perhaps someone thought this was a noun and not a verb plus a particle.

Its a good example also of semantic change. Surely it really should have become something like sooze in Greek SAVE?! Somehow it became instead of a plea a prayer of praise and confidence !

Which brings me to the third delight of Hosanna as a word. 

Its just plain fun to sing and shout 

HOSANNA HOSANNA HOSANNA TO THE HIGHEST !

I hope you're having a great palm Sunday.

Next post a quick trip to ASINE ! 

HOSANNA free png

Its #PalmSunday in my time zone

Linguistics note Consider WHY greek has no final H and why Hebrew words ending in -ah become long A or A in Latin Greek and English ?!

This png has a transparent bg so you can edit it further for cards or web usage.

Easter cards next time

Midweek I also continue to discuss

OTHER Cities a new series on lesser known Greek Polises.

Palm Sunday and Hosanna

#palmsunday #gospels #biblestudy #easter  #textualvariation #matthew #luke #mark #john

The #Gospel passages about #jesus ' s entry into #jerusalem on what is now known as #PalmSunday are ones that do show textual variation however the description of the events ALL AGREE on the MAJOR points.

The disciples were sent to pick an female donkey and her colt.

People were throwing down clothes and greenery cut branches onto the road.

The event was prophesied by #Zechariah (9:9)

People were calling out #Hosanna and Blessed Be eulogeemenos  in greek

Mark records blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Blessed is the realm of our father david that is coming Hosanna in the highest

Matthew said Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord  hosanna in the highest

Luke
blessed is the king who comes in the name of the lord
peace in heaven and glory in the highest

John
hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord  even the king of israel

Simplest explanation the crowd was calling out ALL of these things!

A note about the #Palms

Only John mentions palms the others just mention leafy branches or cut greenery but this is not a problem since perhaps a variety of plants were strew along the road depending on what plants were nearby and Matthew and John may be walking at opposite ends of the procession and saw and heard slightly different things?

A note about #Hosanna  this word originally meant save / help and the full hebrew / aramaic form is according to my web search hosh(i)a - na'. Greek had no SH sound but did have a san syllable cluster or perhaps the double nn was simply a local dialect variant?

Finally a short poem. If you want to read a better poem read Chesterton!

Not on a path of gold but green
he rode into Jerusalem

Not on a tank or royal steed
but as the prophet decreed
borne on a lowly females back

not on a path of gold but green
he rode into jerusalem

hosanna hosanna blessed
blessed be praise be kingdom come
prophet teacher prince so blessed
now sing in praise though silent are some

not on a path of gold but green
he rode into jerusalem !

He didn't use a chariot or horse or camel but a female donkey and her son.

This is like using a workers ute (pickup truck for americans) rather than an open limo!

Anyway enjoy Palm Sunday Praise the Lord and if you have to shop cos you're working and want to avoid the Thursday evening rush don't overdo it on the chocolate and hot cross buns or other Easter specialities!