Hebrew Root of Amen (Part 1)
Globally, amen (or in Hebrew ah-mehn) is the most well-known Hebrew word.
Hebrew letters – Aleph – Mem - Nun
Meanings
Aleph (1) – Ox/Strength/Leader - The number of Yahwah, unity, completeness, beginning, unique
Mem (40) – Water/Chaos - The number of trial, tribulation, and testing
Nun (50) – Seed/Life/Fish - The number of restoration, Shavuot (50 days after Passover, Holy Spirit, Jubilee, new cycle, freedom, fullness of life
But, do we know the meaning?
This word comes from the root Aman (pronounced ah-mahn), and means to build up or support such as can be seen in Isaiah 22:23 which speaks of a “nail fastened to a sure place.”
Isaiah 22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure (aman) place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.
The noun form, amen, is used in the Biblical text by persons who are affirming a statement. In other words, they are saying I am firmly agreeing with what has been said.
When setting up a tent you always choose “firm” soil to drive in your tent pegs so that when the wind blows, the tent pegs will not be pulled out of the ground collapsing your tent.
For example, see Isaiah 22:23 where the word amen is translated as "sure" in the KJV. This word is the verb form of the word “amen”. When we say “amen”, we are literally saying I stand firm on this prayer.
There exists a recent theory that circulates on Facebook that implies saying the word “amen” at the end of prayers is something we shouldn’t do. The thought goes something like this.
“The word ‘amen’ is actually the name of an Egyptian god. So, when you close your prayer with saying ‘amen’, you are actually addressing that prayer to a specific Egyptian god.”
It is also sometimes mentioned:
“We can’t say the names of other gods. As the Scripture says in Exodus 23:12...”
Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Well, there is indeed an Egyptian god whose name may have sounded like the Hebrew word “amen”.
His name was Amun or Amon. He eventually became known as Amun-Ra. Which is actually the blending of two deities together as one…Amun and Ra. To our understanding, he became known as the king of the gods and the god of the wind. Research suggests that Amun or Amon is not likely pronounced the same as “amen.”
But all that aside, as mentioned, this was indeed an Egyptian God whose name may have been linguistically close to the Hebrew word “amen”. Depending upon where you look, some references actually have his name as “Amen” or “Amen-Ra”.
That all being said, we struggle with the idea of NOT saying a Hebrew word because it is linguistically similar to something in a pagan religion.
Should we not say To-rah, because Ra is the Egyptian sun god?
Should we not say set-apart as the meaning of holy or qodesh because set is also an Egyptian god (Set)?
If Egypt was to announce today that they have a new god called Shabbat or Shalom, should we erase “Shabbat shalom” from the Hebrew language?
The point here is that the Torah was written in Hebrew. Other languages may have words that sound like some Hebrew words, and some of those words could even be false gods.
Hebrew appears to be the first language of man. The first man, Adam, is a Hebrew name from the Hebrew language.
To us, the Torah (the Word) is our foundation and it was written in Hebrew. The word “amen” is in the Torah, with a usage of it being “so be it”.
Why should we allow anyone to remove part of that foundation just because another language may have initially stolen a Hebrew word or accidentally invented a word that may sound like another Hebrew word?
Globally, amen (or in Hebrew ah-mehn) is the most well-known Hebrew word.
Hebrew letters – Aleph – Mem - Nun
Meanings
Aleph (1) – Ox/Strength/Leader - The number of Yahwah, unity, completeness, beginning, unique
Mem (40) – Water/Chaos - The number of trial, tribulation, and testing
Nun (50) – Seed/Life/Fish - The number of restoration, Shavuot (50 days after Passover, Holy Spirit, Jubilee, new cycle, freedom, fullness of life
But, do we know the meaning?
This word comes from the root Aman (pronounced ah-mahn), and means to build up or support such as can be seen in Isaiah 22:23 which speaks of a “nail fastened to a sure place.”
Isaiah 22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure (aman) place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.
The noun form, amen, is used in the Biblical text by persons who are affirming a statement. In other words, they are saying I am firmly agreeing with what has been said.
When setting up a tent you always choose “firm” soil to drive in your tent pegs so that when the wind blows, the tent pegs will not be pulled out of the ground collapsing your tent.
For example, see Isaiah 22:23 where the word amen is translated as "sure" in the KJV. This word is the verb form of the word “amen”. When we say “amen”, we are literally saying I stand firm on this prayer.
There exists a recent theory that circulates on Facebook that implies saying the word “amen” at the end of prayers is something we shouldn’t do. The thought goes something like this.
“The word ‘amen’ is actually the name of an Egyptian god. So, when you close your prayer with saying ‘amen’, you are actually addressing that prayer to a specific Egyptian god.”
It is also sometimes mentioned:
“We can’t say the names of other gods. As the Scripture says in Exodus 23:12...”
Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Well, there is indeed an Egyptian god whose name may have sounded like the Hebrew word “amen”.
His name was Amun or Amon. He eventually became known as Amun-Ra. Which is actually the blending of two deities together as one…Amun and Ra. To our understanding, he became known as the king of the gods and the god of the wind. Research suggests that Amun or Amon is not likely pronounced the same as “amen.”
But all that aside, as mentioned, this was indeed an Egyptian God whose name may have been linguistically close to the Hebrew word “amen”. Depending upon where you look, some references actually have his name as “Amen” or “Amen-Ra”.
That all being said, we struggle with the idea of NOT saying a Hebrew word because it is linguistically similar to something in a pagan religion.
Should we not say To-rah, because Ra is the Egyptian sun god?
Should we not say set-apart as the meaning of holy or qodesh because set is also an Egyptian god (Set)?
If Egypt was to announce today that they have a new god called Shabbat or Shalom, should we erase “Shabbat shalom” from the Hebrew language?
The point here is that the Torah was written in Hebrew. Other languages may have words that sound like some Hebrew words, and some of those words could even be false gods.
Hebrew appears to be the first language of man. The first man, Adam, is a Hebrew name from the Hebrew language.
To us, the Torah (the Word) is our foundation and it was written in Hebrew. The word “amen” is in the Torah, with a usage of it being “so be it”.
Why should we allow anyone to remove part of that foundation just because another language may have initially stolen a Hebrew word or accidentally invented a word that may sound like another Hebrew word?
Hebrew Root of Amen (Part 1)
Globally, amen (or in Hebrew ah-mehn) is the most well-known Hebrew word.
Hebrew letters – Aleph – Mem - Nun
Meanings
Aleph (1) – Ox/Strength/Leader - The number of Yahwah, unity, completeness, beginning, unique
Mem (40) – Water/Chaos - The number of trial, tribulation, and testing
Nun (50) – Seed/Life/Fish - The number of restoration, Shavuot (50 days after Passover, Holy Spirit, Jubilee, new cycle, freedom, fullness of life
But, do we know the meaning?
This word comes from the root Aman (pronounced ah-mahn), and means to build up or support such as can be seen in Isaiah 22:23 which speaks of a “nail fastened to a sure place.”
Isaiah 22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure (aman) place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.
The noun form, amen, is used in the Biblical text by persons who are affirming a statement. In other words, they are saying I am firmly agreeing with what has been said.
When setting up a tent you always choose “firm” soil to drive in your tent pegs so that when the wind blows, the tent pegs will not be pulled out of the ground collapsing your tent.
For example, see Isaiah 22:23 where the word amen is translated as "sure" in the KJV. This word is the verb form of the word “amen”. When we say “amen”, we are literally saying I stand firm on this prayer.
There exists a recent theory that circulates on Facebook that implies saying the word “amen” at the end of prayers is something we shouldn’t do. The thought goes something like this.
“The word ‘amen’ is actually the name of an Egyptian god. So, when you close your prayer with saying ‘amen’, you are actually addressing that prayer to a specific Egyptian god.”
It is also sometimes mentioned:
“We can’t say the names of other gods. As the Scripture says in Exodus 23:12...”
Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Well, there is indeed an Egyptian god whose name may have sounded like the Hebrew word “amen”.
His name was Amun or Amon. He eventually became known as Amun-Ra. Which is actually the blending of two deities together as one…Amun and Ra. To our understanding, he became known as the king of the gods and the god of the wind. Research suggests that Amun or Amon is not likely pronounced the same as “amen.”
But all that aside, as mentioned, this was indeed an Egyptian God whose name may have been linguistically close to the Hebrew word “amen”. Depending upon where you look, some references actually have his name as “Amen” or “Amen-Ra”.
That all being said, we struggle with the idea of NOT saying a Hebrew word because it is linguistically similar to something in a pagan religion.
Should we not say To-rah, because Ra is the Egyptian sun god?
Should we not say set-apart as the meaning of holy or qodesh because set is also an Egyptian god (Set)?
If Egypt was to announce today that they have a new god called Shabbat or Shalom, should we erase “Shabbat shalom” from the Hebrew language?
The point here is that the Torah was written in Hebrew. Other languages may have words that sound like some Hebrew words, and some of those words could even be false gods.
Hebrew appears to be the first language of man. The first man, Adam, is a Hebrew name from the Hebrew language.
To us, the Torah (the Word) is our foundation and it was written in Hebrew. The word “amen” is in the Torah, with a usage of it being “so be it”.
Why should we allow anyone to remove part of that foundation just because another language may have initially stolen a Hebrew word or accidentally invented a word that may sound like another Hebrew word?
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