amen

The word Amen (Hebrew: אָמֵן, Standard Amen Tiberian ’Amen ; Arabic: آمين, ’Āmīn ; "So be it; truly"^[1]) is a declaration of affirmation^[2][3] found in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and in the Qur'an.^[1] It has always been in use within Judaism and Islam. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding formula for prayers and hymns.^[3] In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua (Supplication). Common English translations of the word amen include: "Verily", "Truly", "So be it", and "Let it be".^[1] It can also be used colloquially to express strong agreement^[3], for instance; amen to that.^[4].

Etymology

The word is commonly said to be of a Hebrew origin.^[1] Greek theologians introduced it in Western languages after the translation of the Bible.^[1] Then, it was adopted by the Arabs as it is used in the Qur'an.^[1] Yet in none of these languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Greek) can be found contemporarily the least trace of the word “Amen”.^[1] The only language which offers a clear explanation and confirms the meaning of “Amen” is the Berber language.^[1]

In Kabyle (one of the various dialects of Berber), there is the phrase “am-in” that means synchronically, in common speech, “like that”.^[1] However, if “am-in” is put in the context of a prayer, it means “so be it”; with “it” referring here to what has been said before.^[1]

It has also been proposed that the religious term Amen is a derivative of the name of an Egyptian god, Amun.^[5]

Biblical usages

Three distinct Biblical usages may be noted:

1. Initial Amen, referring back to words of another speaker, e.g. 1 Kings 1:36; Revelation 22:20.^[2]
2. Detached Amen, the complementary sentence being suppressed, e.g. Nehemiah 5:13; Revelation 5:14 (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:16).^[2]
3. Final Amen, with no change of speaker, as in the subscription to the first three divisions of the Psalter and in the frequent doxologies of the New Testament Epistles.^[2]

Amen in Judaism

In Judaism, it is taught midrashically in the Talmud (Sanhedrin) that the word Amen can be read as an acronym for אל מלך נאמן (’El melekh ne’eman), meaning "God, trustworthy King." The word "amen" itself is etymologically related to the Hebrew word emuna ("faith") implying that one is affirming with, and of, "the faith" of Judaism (and its belief in Monotheism).

In traditional and modern Jewish liturgy, "Amen" is a word often used by a congregation as a way to affirm and subscribe to the words uttered previously by whoever leads the prayer.

The word Amen is sometimes preceded by v'Imru (Hebrew: ואמרו), often in Kaddish, which means "and let us say (pl.)", signaling to the congregation to respond together, "Amen".

Jews usually pronounce the word as it is pronounced in Hebrew: "uh-MEIN" (Ashkenazi) or "ah-MÉN" (Sephardi).

Amen in Christianity

The uses of amen ("verily") in the Gospels form a peculiar class; they are initial, but often lack any backward reference. Jesus used the word to affirm his own utterances, not those of another person, and this usage was adopted by the church. The liturgical use of the word in apostolic times is attested by the passage from 1 Corinthians cited above, and Justin Martyr (c. 150) describes the congregation as responding "amen," to the benediction after the celebration of the Eucharist.^[2] Its introduction into the baptismal formula (in the Greek Orthodox Church it is pronounced after the name of each person of the Trinity) is probably later. Among certain Gnostic sects Amen became the name of an angel.

In the King James Bible, the word amen is preserved in a number of contexts. Notable ones include:

• The catechism of curses of the Law found in Deuteronomy 27.^[2]
• A double amen ("amen and amen") occurs in Psalm 89.
• The custom of closing prayers with amen originates in the Lord's Prayer at Matthew 6:13
• Amen occurs in several doxology formulas in Romans 1:25, 9:5, 11:36, 15:33, and several times in Chapter 16.^[2]
• It concludes all of Paul's general epistles.
• In Revelation 3:14, Jesus calls himself, "the Amen, the faithful and true witness."
• Amen concludes the New Testament at Rev. 22:21.

In some Christian churches, the amen corner or amen section is any subset of the congregation likely to call out "Amen!" in response to points in a preacher's sermon. Metaphorically, the term can refer to any group of heartfelt traditionalists or supporters of an authority figure.

In English, the word "amen" has two pronunciations, ah-men or ay-men. The ah-men pronunciation is the one that is used in performances of classical music, in churches with more formalized rituals and liturgy and liberal Evangelical Protestant denominations. The ay-men pronunciation, a product of the Great Vowel Shift dating to the 15th century, is associated with Irish Protestantism and conservative Evangelical Protestant denominations generally, and the pronunciation that is typically sung in gospel music. Increasingly Anglophone Roman Catholics are adopting the "ay-men" pronunciation for speech, although the broad "ah" is usually retained for singing.

Amen in Islam

Muslims use the word "’Āmīn" (Arabic: آمين) not only after reciting the first surah (Al Fatiha) of the Qur'an, but also when concluding a prayer or duaa, with the same meaning as in Christianity^{[citation needed]}.

Notes

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Amen
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Amen
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Amen
• The Laws of Responding Amen in Judaism chabad.org
• Strong's Concordance H543
• Strong's Concordance G281

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