Thursday, September 10, 2009

Selah - the meaning

I meant to include this in my previous post, but...
For all of those wondering what in the world Selah means, here are a few definitions. My favorite meanings of selah are "to weigh or determine the value" "to pause and reflect" "let those with eyes see and with ears hear"
I love her name even though most people have lots of questions about it and don't pronounce it the way we intended. I love that it is rich in meaning and significance just like her!


From Wikipedia:


Selah (Hebrew: סלה‎) is a word used frequently in the Hebrew Bible, often in the Psalms and is a difficult concept to translate.
Selah is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen". "Let those with eyes see and with ears hear" is most concise. The Psalms were sung accompanied by musical instruments and there are references to this in many chapters. Thirty-one of the thirty-nine psalms with the caption "To the choir-master" include the word "Selah". Selah notes a break in the song and as such is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage. Alternatively, Selah may mean "forever", as it does in some places in the liturgy (notably the second to last blessing of the Amidah). Another interpretation claims that Selah comes from the primary Hebrew root word [calah] which means "to hang", and by implication to measure (weigh).[1] Also "Selah" is the name of a city from the time of David and Solomon.[2]
It is translated into today's general language with the meaning: think about it or praise [the Lord]. Other editions just leave it untranslated as "sela" or "selah"
In
Islam and in Arabic generally, Salah (also pronounced Ṣalāt) means prayer, and Selah means connection. Both words come from the same original root Sel which means connect.

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