Hallelujah

By John Hendrix

"Hallelujah" and "Alleluia" appear in many of our songs. Most - if not all - of us know that they are an expression of happy praise. Of the two, "Hallelujah" is more commonly heard in our language; unfortunately it is usually used sarcastically, indicating that the speaker is not at all happy or impressed with the good fortune of another.

I hope in this article to raise Christians' awareness of the origin of the words and, thus, encourage us all to use the words with care.

Even Merriam-Webster Online still remembers its original derivation: "praise (ye) the Lord - used to express praise, joy, or thanks".

Wikipedia-the online encyclopedia-has this to say:

Hallelujah, Halleluyah, or Alleluia, is a transliteration of a Hebrew word that means "[Let us] praise God" (or "Praise [the] Lord".) It is found mainly in the book of Psalms. It has been accepted into the English language. The word is used in Judaism as part of the Hallel prayers and has also been adopted by Christianity as a term used to praise God.

Halleluyah is a composite of Hallelu and Yah. It literally translates from Hebrew as "Praise Jah/Yah, [you people!]" or simply "Praise Jah/Yah!" Jah/Yah is the shortened form of the name Jehovah/Yahweh.

The term is used about 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (mainly in the book of Psalms (e.g. 113-118), where it starts and concludes a number of Psalms, and four times in Greek transliteration in Revelation.

Transliteration is a term for using our alphabet to echo the sounds of a word in another language. Translation is when an equivalent word in our language is used.

Eastman's Bible Dictionary says this about Alleluia:

the Greek form (Revelation 19:1,3,4,6) of the Hebrew Hallelujah = Praise ye Jehovah, which begins or ends several of the psalms (106,111,112,113, etc.).

The Old Testament references can be illustrated with one quotation:

Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalm 106:1, KJV)

The expression "Praise ye the LORD" at the beginning of this verse, when pronounced in Hebrew, has a sound that is akin to "Hallelujah." When John wrote the Revelation, he transliterated the Hebrew expression into Greek. That term was, in turn, transliterated to English for us.

What of all of this? Simply this: Hallelujah and Alleluia are custom-built words, not just for expressing happiness, but for specifically praising God about something of which we are happy. Hallelujah is a good and proper expression, for example, on the birth of a child; God certainly deserves the praise. On the other hand, one might consider a casual use of these words as, in fact, a casual use of the name of God Most High.

These are good words when used properly, for we have much to say "Praise the LORD!"-Hallelujah!-about.