Annotation XCVI

”Hosanna to the son of David.” — Matthew 21:9

What "Hosanna" signifies.

Jerome, in the little book to Damasus, faults Hilary — who expounds this [word] in canon 21 on Matthew — because, through inexperience of the Hebrew tongue, he interpreted “Hosanna” [as] “Redemption of the house of David”: whereas among the Hebrews the word written pheduth (פדות) means “redemption,” and “house” [is] beth (בית), while “David” is the same word among the Hebrews as among the Greeks and Latins. And [Jerome] indicates that this passage is taken from Psalm 117 [118], in which, besides other [things] which are found manifestly said of Christ, this too is read: “O Lord, save me; O Lord, prosper [me] well: blessed [is] he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Moreover, for that which is [rendered] in the Septuagint translators [as] “O Lord, save me,” in the Hebrew is read Anna Yehovah oshi’ah-na (אנא יהוה הושיעה נא) — which [Jerome] interpreted more clearly

— is Symmachus, saying, “I beseech [thee], O Lord, save me.” For oshi’ah (הושיעה), “save,” signifies [that]; and na (נא), “na,” is an interjection among the Hebrews, as of one earnestly demanding or imploring. Ambrose interprets “Hosanna” in almost the same way as Hilary. Euthymius expounds [it as] “a hymn,” or “praise”; and he says that “Hosanna to the son of David” is the same as if you should say, “A hymn to the son of David.”