Hallelujah

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Hallelujah, Halleluyah and the Latin form Alleluia are transliterations of the Hebrew word הַלְּלוּיָהּ (Standard Halleluya, Tiberian Halləlûyāh) meaning "Praise (הַלְּלוּ) Yahweh (from the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton יהוה) (יָהּ)" and is similar to the Arabic phrase Alhamdulillah, used by Muslims and by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians. Hallelujah is found primarily in the book of Psalms. The word is used in Judaism as part of the Hallel prayers, and in Christian prayer, particularly in the Catholic Mass. It has been accepted into the English language and has a similar pronunciation in many other languages.

In the Bible

The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (mainly in the book of Psalms, e.g. 111–117, 145–150, where it starts and concludes a number of Psalms) and four times in Greek transliteration in the Christian Book of Revelation.

The word hallelujah occurring in Psalms is a Hebrew request for a congregation to join in praise. It can be translated as "Praise Yahweh, you people", and is usually worded in English contexts as "Praise ye the LORD" or "Praise the LORD". This is not a direct translation, as Yah represents the first two letters of YHWH, the name for the Creator, and not the title "lord".[1] To give fuller meaning in this context, Hallelujah could rightly be translated "Praise Yahweh", or "Praise Jehovah" (signified by Jah).[2]

In the Hebrew Bible hallelujah is actually a two-word phrase, not one word. The first part, hallelu, is the second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hallal.[3] However, "hallelujah" means more than simply "praise Yah", as the word hallel in Hebrew means a joyous praise, to boast in God, or to act madly or foolishly.[4] The second part, Yah, is a shortened form of Yahweh YHWH, sometimes rendered in English as "Jehovah". The Septuagint translates Yah as Kyrios (the LORD). In Psalm 150:6 the Hebrew reads kol han'shamah t'hallel yah;[5] the final word "yah" is translated as "the LORD", or "YHWH". It appears in the Hebrew Bible as הללו~יה and הללו יה. In Psalm 148:1 the Hebrew says "הללו יה hallelu yah". It then says "hallelu eth-YHWH" as if using "yah" and "YHWH" interchangeably. The word "Yah" appears by itself as a divine name in poetry about 49 times in the Hebrew Bible (including hallelu yah), such as in Psalm 68:4–5 "who rides upon the deserts by his name Yah" and Exodus 15:2 "Yah is my strength and song". It also often appears at the end of Israelite theophoric names such as Isaiah "yeshayah(u), Yahweh is salvation" and Jeremiah "yirmeyah(u), Yahweh is exalted".

Halelujah appears in Revelation 19 in Greek transliteration as "hallelouia" (ἁλληλουϊά), the great song of praise to God for his triumphant reign. This transliteration also appears in the Septuagint.

Usage by Christians

For most Christians, "Hallelujah" is considered a joyful word of praise to God, rather than an injunction to praise him. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in many older Protestant denominations, the Alleluia, along with the Gloria in Excelsis Deo, is not spoken or sung in liturgy during the season of Lent, instead being replaced by a Lenten acclamation, while in Eastern Churches, Alleluia is chanted throughout the Lent in the beginning of the Matins service, replacing the Theos Kyrios, which is considered more joyful. At the Easter service and throughout the Pentecostarion, Christos anesti is used in the place where Hallelujah is chanted in the western rite.

Among many Protestant Christians, the expressions of Hallelujah and Praise the LORD are acceptable, spontaneous expressions of joy, thanksgiving and praise towards God, requiring no specific prompting or call or direction from those leading times of praise and singing.

See also

References

  1. ↑ E.g. Woods, F. H. (1902). "Hallelujah". In James Hastings. A Dictionary of the Bible. 2 (Feign-Kinsman). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 287. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hastings/dictv2/Page_287.html. 
  2. ↑ William Robertson Smith in his The Religion of the Semites suggested that the hallelujah originated as a cry made at the moment the throat of a sacrificial victim was cut.
  3. ↑ Page H. Kelley, Biblical Hebrew, an Introductory Grammar, page 169. Ethics & Public Policy Center, 1959. ISBN 978-0-8028-0598-0.
  4. ↑ George Fohrer. Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, under הלל. Walter de Gruyter, 1973. ISBN 978-3-11-004572-7.
  5. ↑ All quotes from the Hebrew are taken from Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, EDITIO FUNDITUS RENOVATA, cooperantibus H. P. Ruger et J. Ziegler ediderunt K. Elliger et W. Rudolph, Textum Masoreticum curavit H. P. Ruger MASORAM ELABORAVIT G. E. WEIL, Editio quinta emendata opera A. Schenker, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.