Hallelujah

The Syrian talented singer, "Manal", sang "Hallelujah" for the Canadian singer Bernard Cowen, and she got the four referees' voices during the premiere stage today. What is the meaning of this word?

Hallelujah

Hallelujah (/ˌhælɪˈluːjə/ HAL-i-LOO-yə) is an interjection. It is a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase הַלְלוּ יָהּ (Modern Hebrew hallūyāh, Tiberian haləlūyāh), which is composed of two elements: הַלְלוּ (second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hillel: an exhortation to "praise" addressed to several people[1]) and יָהּ (the name of God Yah).[2][3][4] The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christian Book of Revelation.[5]

The phrase is used in Judaism as part of the Hallel prayers, and in Christian prayer,[5] where since the earliest times[6] it is used in various ways in liturgies,[7] especially those of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church,[8] both of which use the form "alleluia" which is based on the alternative Greek transliteration.

References

1- Page H. Kelley, Biblical Hebrew, an Introductory Grammar, page 169. Ethics & Public Policy Center, 1959. ISBN 978-0-8028-0598-0.

2- Hallelujah, also spelled Alleluia, Encyclopædia Britannica

3- Brown-Driver-Briggs (Hebrew and English Lexicon, page 238)

page 403, note on line 1 of Psalm 113, 

4- Alter, Robert (2007). The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-06226-7.

5- Woods, F. H. (1902). "Hallelujah". In James Hastings (ed.). A Dictionary of the Bible. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 287.

6- Scott Nash, "Hallelujah" in Mercer Dictionary of the Bible (Mercer University Press 1990 ISBN 978-0-86554373-7), p. 355

7- Alter, Robert (2007). The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-06226-7.

8- Andrew McGowan, "Alleluia" in The New Scm Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship (Hymns Ancient & Modern 2002 ISBN 978-0-33402883-3), p. 6