Selah

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title: "Selah" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hebrew-words-and-phrases", "jewish-prayer-and-ritual-texts", "psalms", "words-and-phrases-with-no-direct-english-translation", "hebrew-words-and-phrases-in-jewish-prayers-and-blessings"] description: "Biblical Hebrew word of uncertain meaning" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Biblical Hebrew word of uncertain meaning ::

hbo (; ) is a word used 74 times in the Hebrew Bible. Its etymology and precise meaning are unknown, though various interpretations are given.

It is probably either a liturgical-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, with the meaning of "stop and listen". Another proposal is that hbo can be used to indicate that there is to be a musical interlude at that point in the Psalm. It can also be interpreted as a form of underlining in preparation for the next paragraph.

It should not be confused with the Hebrew word hbo ({{Script/Hebrew|סֶלַע}}) meaning "rock".

Occurrences

This word occurs 71 times in 39 of the Psalms, and three times in Habakkuk 3: altogether 74 times in the Bible. It is found at the end of Psalms 3, 24, and 46, and in most other cases at the end of a verse, the exceptions being Psalms 55:19, 57:3, and Habakkuk 3:3, 9, 13.

At least some of 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 hbo.

Interpretations

Historical

The significance of this term was apparently not known even by ancient Biblical commentators. This can be seen by the variety of renderings given to it. The Septuagint, Symmachus, and Theodotion translate it as (grc, or "apart from psalm") — a word as enigmatic in Greek as is hbo in Hebrew. The Hexapla simply transliterates it as σελ (grc). Jerome, and the Targum translate it as "always", and in Jewish liturgy the word is used to mean "forever" (notably in the second to last blessing of the Amidah).

According to Hippolytus, the Greek term διάψαλμα signified a change in rhythm or melody at the places marked by the term, or a change in thought and theme. Against this explanation, Baethgen notes that hbo also occurs at the end of some psalms.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Stralsund,_Germany,_Nikolaikirche,_Tür_zur_Semlower_Straße,Detail(2006-09-29).JPG" caption="St Nicholas Church]], in [[Stralsund]], Germany"] ::

Modern (1900s)

Imperative: "lift up", "exalt"; pause

One proposed meaning assigns it to the root סלל, as an imperative that should properly have been vocalized סֹלָּה, hbo. The meaning of this imperative is given as "lift up", equivalent to "loud" or "fortissimo", a direction to the accompanying musicians to break in at the place marked with crash of cymbals and blare of trumpets, the orchestra playing an interlude while the singers' voices were hushed. The effect, as far as the singer was concerned, was to mark a pause. Similarly, another opinion understands hbo being held to be a variant of the verb hbo (meaning "pause"). But as the interchange of hbo (ש) and hbo (ס) is not usual in Biblical Hebrew, and as the meaning "pause" is not held to be applicable in the middle of a verse, or where a pause would interrupt the sequence of thought, this proposition has met with little favor.

The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (2006) states that the main derivation of the Hebrew word hbo is found through the fientive verb root סֶ֜לָה which means "to lift up (voices)" or "to exalt", and also carries a close connotational relationship to the verb סָלַל, which is similar in meaning: "to lift up" or "to cast up". The word סֶלָה, which shifts the accent back to the last syllable of the verb form, indicates that in this context, the verb is being used in the imperative mood as somewhat of a directive to the reader. As such, perhaps the most instructive way to view the use of this word, particularly in the context of the Psalms, would be as the writer's instruction to the reader to pause and exalt the Lord.

Marker between paragraphs or of a quotation

Heinrich Grätz argues that hbo introduces a new paragraph, and also in some cases a quotation (e.g., Psalms 57:8-12 from 108:2-6). The fact that the term occurs four times at the end of a Psalm would not weigh against this theory. The Psalms were meant to be read in sequence, and, moreover, many of them are fragments; indeed, Psalms 9 and 10 are considered one psalm in the Septuagint; the Septuagint also omits the word διάψαλμα (grc, "pause") at the end of Psalms 3, 24, 46 and 68.

B. Jacob concludes (1) that since no etymological explanation is possible, hbo signifies a pause in or for the Temple song; and (2) that its meaning was concealed lest the Temple privileges should be obtained by the synagogues or perhaps even by the churches.

Other proposals

Another interpretation claims that hbo comes from the primary Hebrew root word hbo (סָלָה), meaning "to hang", and by implication "to measure (weigh)".

Philosophy

The term hbo is used by the Czech philosopher John Amos Comenius (1592–1670) at the end of his book Kšaft umírající matky, Jednoty bratrské. Likewise, hbo appears several times in the Wanderer and Shadow's song in Among the Daughters of the Desert from Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Eliphas Levi (1810–1875), in his work "Transcendental Magic", says "Selah! Fiat! So mote it be!" at the end of one of his magical invocations of the elemental spirits.

Rastafari usage

hbo is used in Iyaric Rastafarian vocabulary. It can be heard at the end of spoken-word segments of some reggae songs. Its usage here, again, is to accentuate the magnitude and importance of what has been said, and often is a sort of substitute for amen.

As a given name

"Selah" has been used as a female given name in the US since 2005. In 2024, the name reached 280th place in the US, with 1122 recorded births. The name has also seen usage in the Netherlands, reaching 481st place in 2016, with 26 births, and 467th place in 2024, with 28 births.

Institutions named Selah

• The Selah Workshop of the Israel Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, Galilee, Israel
• Selah: The Israel Crisis Management Center, helps "immigrants [to Israel] struggling with tragedy"

References

References

1. Hobbins, John F.. "Selah in the Psalms".
2. (25 January 2017). "'Selah': It Appears 74 Times In The Bible But What Does It Mean?".
3. [[Aquila of Sinope
4. De Lagarde, "Novæ Psalterii Græci Editionis Specimen" 10
5. "Psalmen," p. 15, 1st ed. Göttingen, 1892
6. Ewald, "Kritische Grammatik der Hebräischen Sprache," p. 554; König, "Historisch-Kritisches Lehrgebäude der Hebräischen Sprache," ii., part i., p. 539
7. "[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=S&artid=449 Selah]", in ''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]''. Re-accessed 28 November 2021.
8. Brown, F., S. Driver, and C. Briggs. ''The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon''. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.: Peabody, MA, 2006. p. 699
9. Grätz, H., "Kritischer Commentar zu den Psalmen", i. 93 ff., quoted in "Selah", ''Jewish Encyclopedia''. Re-accessed 28 November 2021.
10. B. Jacob in Stade's "Zeitschrift" xvi (1896), p. 129 ff., quoted in "Selah", ''Jewish Encyclopedia''. Re-accessed 28 November 2021.
11. Tony Warren. "What Does Selah Mean". The Mountain Retreat.
12. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Selah".
13. (2009). "The Selah Workshop homepage".
14. "Selah web site".

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