Words · Hebrew Words · Lesson 5, word 2 of 5
אָמֵןamen
'Truly, so be it', the word that stakes you to a statement.
Why this word is here. Ends psalms, seals curses and blessings, and becomes one of Jesus' most distinctive words ('Truly, truly I say to you'); Revelation even names Christ 'the Amen'.
What it means
The lexicon gives: verily, truly, amen, so be it. Amen is a spoken confirmation: what was said stands, and the speaker binds himself to it. From the same root as emet (truth, firmness) and emunah (faithfulness), amen is the congregation's 'that is firm, and I am in it'.
In the Old Testament, people say amen to blessings, to curses they accept as just (Numbers 5; Deuteronomy 27), and to praise (the ends of the psalm books). Jesus moves the word to the front of his own sentences: 'Amen, I say to you', the BSB renders it 'Truly'.
Where you meet it
May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’
Numbers 5:22 (BSB)
Anchor verse The woman in the test for jealousy 'shall say, "Amen, Amen."' Amen as accepting God's judgment on oneself, not applause.
Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and amen.
Psalm 89:52 (BSB)
'Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.' The doubled amen closes the third book of the Psalms.
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
Revelation 3:14 (BSB)
Across the testaments: the risen Christ names himself 'the Amen, the faithful and true Witness'. The word has become a title, faithfulness in person.
Why it matters
Amen teaches what assent means in the Bible: not a polite full stop at the end of prayers but a self-involving pledge, the hearer staking himself on the truth of what God said. It is the smallest complete act of faith in Scripture, which is why Paul can describe all God's promises finding their 'Yes' in Christ and the church answering 'Amen' (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Watch out
The over-claim treats amen as a spiritual full stop or a lever: end a prayer with it and the prayer is powered. In Scripture amen is response to truth already stated, sometimes to judgment on oneself (Numbers 5), which is the opposite of a technique. It is also not Hebrew for 'I agree with the preacher'; it binds the speaker to God's words, including the unwelcome ones.
In this lesson
- yirah (יִרְאָה): Fear of God: awe, reverence and real trembling together.
- shabbat (שַׁבָּת): The Sabbath: the seventh day, blessed and made holy.
- tselem (צֶלֶם): An image or likeness, what humans are, of God.
- hineni (הִנְנִי (from הִנֵּה, hinneh)): 'Here I am', full availability to the one who calls.
Sources
- Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906)
- Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible / STEP Hebrew data
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