The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1020 page)

Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions Online

Authors: John Bowker

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
12.4Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Hosanna
(Gk., from Heb.,
hoshana
, ‘save, we beseech you’). An acclamation used in Christian worship from an early time (
Didache
10. 6).
Hosea
.
First of the twelve books known as the minor
prophets
in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Hosea was almost certainly produced in the Northern Kingdom of
Israel
and, after the destruction of Israel in 721, subject to redaction in
Judah
.
Hoshana Rabba
(Heb., ‘the great hoshana’). The seventh and last day of the festival of Sukkot. Special willow branches (known as ‘hoshanot’) are cut for the festival and beaten on the ground, and Hoshana Rabba is described in the
Talmud
as the ‘Day of the Willow’.
Ho shang
(Chin. transliteration, possibly from Turk.,
Udin
, language of Khotan, or the Kashgarian dialect,
Hwa Shie
, of the Skt.,
upadhy
ya
, ‘self-taught teacher’, or
upasaka
‘the tutor of Rahula’: Ho, ‘Harmony or Peace’, + Shang, ‘in charge of or ascend’). Any religious figure; or a reverent form used for an
abbot
,
fang-chang
, or
bhik
u
in charge of a
sa
gha
.

Other books

Alien Assassin by T. R. Harris
Bachelor Cowboy by Roxann Delaney
Bedtime Story by Robert J. Wiersema
Reasons to Be Happy by Katrina Kittle
The Creepers by Dixon, Norman
The Queen of Sinister by Mark Chadbourn
Taste of Lacey by Linden Hughes
Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur