Hallelujah sometimes appears at the beginning of a psalm, sometimes at its end, and sometimes at both-sometimes the word is internal within the psalm. In the Bible, the greatest majority of uses of the word Hallelujah occur in the Psalms. Perhaps our human intellect does not have the standing to fully and completely understand the Lord’s inerrant word-but still we must try. The Point – What’s the point of this biblical word analysis? Let’s pity the poor translators who must end up with mere words on the page! What I also know is that we complicate pure language by adding communication in the form of facial expressions, gestures, and spoken tones. What I do know is that God gave us language to glorify Him. “Boast of the Lord.” Boasting is a different act from praising, yet each injunction can be supported by the Hebrew text. Suppose instead we assert that the intended meaning is boast, not praise. Sometimes Hebrew authors use it to refer to humans. Praising is almost always directed toward the Lord. Let’s conclude that the first half of the word is hillel, and, therefore, it refers to praising (because that is the most frequent biblical usage). Plainly, a simple translation of Hallelujah is “Praise the Lord.” However, things related to biblical language are sometimes more puzzling than they appear to be on the surface. Halal is only used a few times in the Bible. Incidentally, there is a simple form of that same word, spelled halal, that suggests an alternate meaning-to boast. Praise what? Praise “jah.” “Jah” is a shortened form of the 4-letter Hebrew name for the Lord, YHWH, which is usually pronounced Yahweh. The first half of the word, from the verb hillel, means to praise, and it is used hundreds of times in the Bible. Today, the word is famous as both the title and the theme of poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece Hallelujah, which many Christians and even non-Christians love.Įtymology and Definition – What composes the word Hallelujah?Īlthough Hallelujah is written as one word, its Hebrew original comes from two words, which (both the words and the concepts) have been merged into one. Many biblical books can induce tears, but for me Psalms, in particular, merges elements of poem, song, and glorification-tearfully! And Hallelujah is used frequently in Psalms. Personally, Hallelujah-the word itself-has made me weep. One of the ways we praise Him is by using the word Hallelujah! Almost every English-speaking Christian knows how to pronounce that word, though the word is not English, but some Christians may not know the nuances of meaning which the word can evoke. We love to do this anytime and in any number of ways. A joy of our Christian lives is our invitation to praise the Lord.
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