Expressing our supreme devotion, liturgical refrain “hosanna in the highest” can also produce one very clear scriptural lineage way back to Hebrew OT Psalm 118:25 (Masoretic order) which was already finished no later than festive 165 BC when perennial Jewish Hanukkah “feast of dedication” made its official debut, celebrating the newly cleansed Jerusalem temple mount. Thus syntactic entreaty הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא hōshîʻā nnā “save (us) now, hosanna” begins with paragogic Hifil¹ imperative הוֹשִׁיעָה hōshîʻā “save” which here admits penultimate for oxytonic stress in recitative pause. This sufformative text element הוֹשִׁיעָה quod supra vide can only be complete by attaching cohortative vowel suffix הָ = -ā to just one of either imperative verb form seen here to follow:
1. הוֹשִׁיעוּ hōshîʻū imperative plural verb “save” resulting in a grammatical disagreement between exalted subject יְהוָה Yəhwā “(the) LORD” quod infra vide and this finite predicate mood.
2. הוֹשִׁיעַ hōshîaʻ concordant sing. imperative “save” only here retaining the causative stem vowel or diphthong יִ = iy > ī absent from original verb form הוֹשַׁע hōshaʻ in plain context “save” but restored already with main stress in truly extraordinary pause.
Apologetic text element נָּא nnā also happens to be standard enclitic particle נׇא nā “(I) pray, now” only with euphonic nun gemination² that proves just as recognizable in compound interjection אָנָּא ʼānnā “oh pray” used here to stage parallel verse; thus oft repeated theme נׇא nā expedites topical affect³ now by purporting votive formula of humble supplication, now one of urgent appeal both for spiritual deliverance הוֹשִׁיעָה hōshīʻā “save us” and for a better state of temporal affairs הַצְלִיחָה hatslīḥā “make it so we prosper”:
כה אנא יהוה הושיעה נא אנא יהוה הצליחה נא׃
25. ʼānnā Yəhwā hōshîʻā nnā ʼānnā Yəhwā hatslîḥā nnā.
“Oh pray LORD save us now; oh pray LORD make it so we prosper now!”
¹Causative verb stem of reconstructed yet unattested Hebrew root ישׁע or y‑sh‑ʻ = “save” after preformative weak verb conjugation הוֹשׁ < ישׁע hōsh and vocalic stem modification שִׁיעוּ < ישׁע shîʻū or שִׁיעַ shîaʻ as subsequently given above.
²Hence for another relevant observation concerning technical Hebrew diacritics and standard orthography as regards euphonic dagesh/dageš [ּ] forte consider authoritative Jutta Körner Hebräische Studiengrammatik 4.UnrevEd (ISBN 3‑324-00099‑8) Leipzig, Germany 1990 p.36 and subsequent translation thereof to follow:
1. “Beim Dageš forte euphonicum hingegen ist der Konsonant um des «Wohlklangs» willen geschärft. Die Bedeutung des Dageš forte euphonicum liegt hauptsächlich im liturgischen Singen und Sprechen; es dient dem einwandfreien Vortrag heiliger Texte im Gottesdienst.
“Dageš forte euphonicum steht am Anfang eines Wortes im ersten Konsonanten, wenn diesem Wort ein eng verbundenes Wort, das auf -åː oder -āē auslautet, vorausgeht (= Dageš forte coniunctivum).
נַעֲשֶׂה־לָּנוּ laßt uns machen! (Gn. 11,4)
לְכָה־נָּא gehe doch! (Nu. 22,6)”
2. (With dagesh forte euphonicum—however—the consonant is for the sake of Wohlklang “euphony” made sharp. The significance of dagesh forte euphonicum lies mainly in liturgical cantilizing and elocution; it does service to the flawless recitation of holy scripture in divine worship.
(Dagesh forte euphonicum takes place at the beginning of a word in the first consonant, when before said word is one closely joined word that ends with long qamets or segol vowel sound v. supra also called dagesh forte conjunctivum.
נַעֲשֶׂה־לָּנוּ nívnē llânū “let’s build us” Genesis 11:4
לְכָה־נָּא ləchā nnā “come now” Numbers 22:6)
³Likewise according to erudite Gesenius Lexicon as translated by the savant Dr. Tregelles 1813-75 sub voce ad fin: “Those who speak courteously to superiors, or who ask submissively, frequently use the particle נׇא often repeated.”
[v. my helpful bibliography in the next post to follow infra]
