AMEN ā mĕn’ (in ritual speech, prayer, and song, ä-men, ä'-men) (אָמֵן, H589).

1. Meaning. “Amen” in both Gr. and Eng. is a transliteration from the Heb., while the same spelling is also retained in Lat. and Ger. In fact, it is probably the most universal of all words, with only “ma” for mother a close second. The Heb. means “to make firm,” to “found, to prop up, to build”; hence, “support,” “confirm, so be it.” In addition, the Gr. usage may more clearly be defined as truly, verily, indeed, “so is it, so be it,” or “may it be fulfilled.” Therefore “Amen” is far more meaningful than a period, a stop, or a signing-off word by which a prayer, song, or declaration is terminated. It carries the weight of approval, confirmation, and support of what is said or sung. Its significance is seen in Moses’ instructions to Joshua. When the curses were to be read by the priests at Shechem, “all the people shall say, ‘Amen’” (Deut 27:15-26). Subsequently it became a Jewish custom in the synagogues, and from them was passed on into Christian assemblies. After a reading or a discourse when a solemn prayer was offered to God, members of the audience responded with “Amen,” thereby making the substance of what was uttered their own (see the “Amen” in 1 Cor 14:16). Grammatically, “Amen” is used as an adverb at the beginning of a sentence—verily, truly; optatively at the end of ascriptions of prayer or praise; and substantively as a name of Christ (Rev 3:14). In Heb. it is usually an adjective, “true” or “faithful.”

2. In the OT. The earliest reference to “Amen” is in the court procedure which Moses prescribed for the trial of a woman suspected of adultery. After the priest administered the oath, “the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen’” (Num 5:22). Similarly, when Nehemiah, the governor, assembled the rulers in an economic crisis, he administered an oath to the priests whereby real estate was to be restored to its rightful owners and tax collecting ceased; “And all the assembly said ‘Amen’ and praised the Lord” (Neh 5:13). Assent of the congregation to the law was to be a responsive “Amen” in unison (Deut 27:15-26; Neh 8:6). Another common use of “Amen” was in the doxology (1 Chron 16:36; Pss 41:13; 106:48). Doxologies of the first three Books of Psalms are concluded with “Amen” (Pss 41:13; 72:19; 89:52). The last two had the added emphasis in the unusual phraseology “Amen and Amen”! It was also customary to respond to good news with “Amen” (Jer 28:6). Benaiah responded to David’s appointment of Solomon as his regal successor with a hearty “Amen” (1 Kings 1:36). Finally, “Amen” is used as a divine title or attribute of God: “The God of truth” (Isa 65:16).

3. In the NT. Following the precedent set by Jesus, “Amen” came into popular use in the NT. It was always used with discretion, purpose, and meaning. It appears in benedictions, prayers, doxologies, and other religious parlance. The Lord’s Prayer, according to some authorities, was concluded with “Amen” (Matt 6:13 n.), and as such is a prevailing custom among Protestants today. The synoptic gospels record fifty-four instances of Jesus’ use of the Gr. word “Amen,” all of which are tr. “truly” in the RSV (Matt. 31 times; Mark 14 times; Luke 9 times). In most of these instances Jesus prefaced some important statement with the term, “Truly, I say to you” (Matt 5:18, 26; 6:5; 10:15; 13:17). John’s gospel alone uses “Amen” double and does so in every one of the twenty-five times where it occurs. In every instance it occurs in an introductory phrase by Jesus, tr. in the RSV as, “Truly, truly, I say to you” (John 1:51; 3:3; 5:19, 24, 25; 12:24; 14:12; etc.). This double use has the force of a superlative. As already seen, some double uses of “Amen” occurred in the OT (Num 5:22; Neh 8:6; Pss 41:13; 72:19; 89:52).

Other writers in the NT employed “Amen” in all its customary uses. Paul favored it in his written benedictions, which sometimes appear in the body of his letters as well as at the end (Rom 15:33; 16:27; 1 Cor 16:24; Gal 6:18; Phil 4:20; 1 Tim 6:16); following doxologies (Rom 11:36; Gal 1:5; Eph 3:21; Phil 4:20); and similar laudations (1 Tim 1:17; 6:16; 2 Tim 4:18). Paul found “Amen” to hold a singularly elegant connotation with reference to God (Rom 1:25; 9:5; 2 Cor 1:20). Other NT writers concluded their doxologies with “Amen,” usually preceded by the phrase “for ever and ever” (Heb 13:21; 1 Pet 4:11; 5:11; 2 Pet 3:18; Jude 25; Rev 1:6; 7:12). The author of Hebrews concludes both the benediction and the postscript with “Amen” (Heb 13:21, 25). John employs “Amen” nine times in a variety of ways in Revelation, reaching its climactic application in a name for Jesus Christ: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of Gods’ creation” (Rev 3:14). John seems to see the personification of “Amen” in Jesus Christ who confirms, approves, and supports God in revelation and creation. John mentions three instances in his vision in which “the four living creatures said, ‘Amen’,” joined in the third instance by “the twenty-four elders” (Rev 5:14; 7:12; 19:4). Appropriately, John concludes Revelation with a repetition of Amen: in response to the Lord’s Second Coming, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” and, the final benediction, “Amen” (Rev 22:20, 21).

Bibliography J. H. Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT (1889), 32; Davies-Mitchell, Student’s Hebrew Lexicon (1960), 46; Zondervan’s The Interlinear Greek-English NT, Lexicon Division (1965), 6; H. M. Buck, People of the Lord (1966), 477.