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HALLELUJAH.—A Hebrew expression, used liturgically in Hebrew worship as a short doxology, meaning ‘praise ye Jah.’ With one exception (Psa_135:3) it occurs only at the beginning or the end of psalms, or both: at the beginning only in Psa_111:1-10; Psa_112:1-10; at the beginning and end in Psa_106:1-48; Psa_113:1-9; Psa_135:1-21; Psa_146:1-10; Psa_147:1-20; Psa_148:1-14; Psa_149:1-9; Psa_150:1-6; at the end only in Psa_104:1-35; Psa_105:1-45; Psa_115:1-18; Psa_116:1-19; Psa_117:1-2.
In the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , however, the Gr. (transliterated) form of the expression occurs only at the beginning of psalms as a heading, and this would seem to be the more natural usage. The double occurrence in the Heb. text may in some cases he explained as due to accidental displacement (the heading of the following psalm being attached to the conclusion of the previous one).
As a liturgical heading the term served to mark off certain well-defined groups of psalms which were probably intended in the first instance for synagogue use, and may once have existed as an independent collection. With the exception of Psa_135:1-21, these groups (in the Heb. text) are three in number, viz. 104–106; 111–113, 115–117; and 146–150. But in the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] a larger number of psalms is so distinguished, and the consequent grouping is more coherent, viz. 105–107; 111–119 (135–136); 146–150. In the synagogue liturgy the last-mentioned group (146–150). together with 135–136, has a well-defined place in the daily morning service, forming an integral part of the great ‘Benediction of Song’ (in certain parts of the early Church, also, it was customary to recite the ‘Hallelujah’ psalms daily).
The ‘Hallel’ (Psa_113:1-9; Psa_114:1-8; Psa_115:1-18; Psa_116:1-19; Psa_117:1-2; Psa_118:1-29), which forms a liturgical unit in the synagogue liturgy, is the most complete example of ‘Hallelujah’ psalms in collected form. (In the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , notice all the individual psalms of this group are headed ‘Alleluia’).
All the psalms referred to exhibit unmistakable marks of late composition, which would accord with their distinctively synagogal character. Like other Jewish liturgical terms (e.g. ‘Amen’), ‘Hallelujah’ passed from the OT to the NT (cf. Rev_19:1-7), from the Jewish to the Christian Church (cf. esp. the early liturgies), and so to modern hymnody. Through the Vulgate the form ‘Alleluia’ has come into use. The AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] , however, render ‘Praise ye the Lord.’
G. H. Box.