Word Study: Hallelujah
Word group: Hallelujah, Alleluia, Hosanna, Abba, Maranatha.
Related ideas: praise, prayer, doxology, benediction, worship, heaven
Definitions:
- Hallelujah (Alleluia) means “Praise the LORD!”
- Hosanna means “A plea to save us!”
- Abba means “Father!”
- Maranatha means “Our Lord Come!”
Greek and Hebrew References:
- αλληλουια (alleelouya) 239 (Strong) cf Hebrew 1984 hallal praise + Hebrew 3050 yahh LORD
- `ωσαννα (hosanna) 5614 (Strong) cf Hebrew 3467 yasha save, + Hebrew 4994 na beseech
- αββα (Abba) 5 (Strong) cf Hebrew 1 ab father
- μαραν αθα (maran atha) 3134 (Strong) An Aramaic phrase
Scripture:
Hallelujah (Alleluia)
- Revelation 19:1-6 “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God... Amen, Hallelujah!”
Hosanna
- Matthew 21:9,15 “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!” (repeated in Mark 11:9-10 and John 12:13).
Abba
- Mark 14:36 “Abba! Father! All things are possible for you.”
- Romans 8:15 “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out Abba! Father!”
- Galatians 4:6 “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba! Father!”
Maranatha
- 1Corinthians 16:22-23 “Maranatha! The grace of the Lord be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus, Amen.”
Comments: This is a group of rare words. The above scripture chain includes all references where these words are used in the Bible —you may be surprised to find that Hallelujah is used in only one Bible passage. These four words are not really Greek words, but Hallelujah, Hosanna, and Abba are Hebrew words, whilst maranatha is Aramaic.
Some people link maranatha to anathema, to make the phrase anathema maranatha which is said to mean "Be cursed and our Lord come to judge you!" I am more inclined to think that Paul used the word maranatha as the first word in his closing benediction.