Hosanna

Sinclair Ferguson says it simply means:
"Save me, Jesus!"

Tom Wright says:
"Hosanna is a Hebrew word which mixes exuberant praise to God with the prayer that God will save His people, and do so right away."

The chant of Palm Sunday is taken from Psalm 118:25-26:
Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.

Derek Thomas: “Hosanna!” – the Greek word, hosanna. It’s doing exactly what the English translators are doing: they’re transliterating a word, and actually they’re transliterating a Hebrew word, hashiana, and that Hebrew phrase is found in one solitary place in the Old Testament, in Psalm 118:25, where it means save; save us. It’s a cry to God for help, but over the years hashiana came to mean not the cry for help so much as a shout of hope and exaltation: “Salvation...salvation has come!” Psalm 118 – you understand why Psalm 118 is on their minds: it’s Passover. What are the Psalms that are recited at Passover? According to the liturgical tradition of Passover, it’s the Hillel Psalms – Psalms 113 through 118.