To be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine ; hence, to make a show , to boast ; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish ; to rave ; causatively, to celebrate ; also to stultify
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הָלַל is the praise-word at the center of Israel's worship vocabulary — the root of Hallelujah, the verb of the Hallel psalms, the engine of Psalm 150. The Piel form (praise loudly, celebrate publicly) dominates: it is not quiet admiration but clamorous acclamation, the kind that fills a temple or a gathered congregation.
Reader summary
Full entry for הָלַל (H1984) · Open the biblical lexicon
הָלַל is the praise-word at the center of Israel's worship vocabulary — the root of Hallelujah, the verb of the Hallel psalms, the engine of Psalm 150. The Piel form (praise loudly, celebrate publicly) dominates: it is not quiet admiration but clamorous acclamation, the kind that fills a temple or a gathered congregation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 165 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Hallelujah (24), praise Him (17), praise (12), boast (5), and praise (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 12:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (94), Jeremiah (13), 2 Chronicles (12), 1 Chronicles (9).
הָלַל is the praise-word at the center of Israel's worship vocabulary — the root of Hallelujah, the verb of the Hallel psalms, the engine of Psalm 150. The Piel form (praise loudly, celebrate publicly) dominates: it is not quiet admiration but clamorous acclamation, the kind that fills a temple or a gathered congregation. Ps 113:1-3 sets the geography: 'Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.' The coverage is temporal (forever) and spatial (everywhere) — praise is what fills all of time and all of space when creatures are rightly oriented. The Hithpael register adds the 'boasting in' dimension: Jer 9:23-24's contrast between boasting in wisdom/strength/wealth and boasting in knowing YHWH makes הָלַל the word for what replaces prideful self-promotion.
The NT receives this via Paul's 'let him who boasts, boast in the Lord' (1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17, citing Jer 9:24 LXX). The verb's breadth — from shining to boasting to praising to raving — captures something true about genuine worship: it spills out of decorum into something larger than polite appreciation.
הָלַל appears in the local Hebrew index about 165 times, with notable concentration in the Psalms and significant presence in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Job. The Hallel psalms (113-118) are the liturgical center; Psalm 150 is the doxological climax of the entire Psalter.
Hallelujah! Give praise, O servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord.
The opening of the Hallel (Ps 113-118), sung at Passover. The triple imperative ('praise... praise... praise') in the opening verse establishes הָלַל as the act that defines the identity of YHWH's servants. The name of the Lord is the specific object — not His abstract attributes but His revealed self-disclosure (Exod 34:5-7).
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
The final verse of the final psalm of the Psalter. After five books, 150 psalms, and the full range of lament, confession, thanksgiving, and teaching, the Psalter's conclusion is this: הָלַל covers every breath. The scope is universal and unbounded — 'everything that has breath' makes הָלַל the telos of creaturely existence.
Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
YHWH is described as inhabiting (or enthroned on) the תְּהִלּוֹת (praises, from the same הָלַל root) of Israel. This is one of the most concentrated theological statements about worship in the OT: the praises of the congregation constitute something like YHWH's throne. This verse is the ground of the claim that praise is not merely human expression but something God inhabits.
Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.
הָלַל embedded in Jeremiah's Confessions — after the most anguished lament passage in the prophets (vv.7-12). The praise is not a resolution of the suffering but an eruption within it, grounded specifically in YHWH's deliverance of the vulnerable. This is the Psalter's discipline lived out prophetically: lament does not displace praise; they coexist.
May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah!
The Hallelujah formula (הַלְלוּ יָהּ) appears here at the end of a creation hymn. The praise bursts out of contemplating the world YHWH made — not a fixed liturgical response alone but the natural overflow of attending to creation. This pattern (creation-to-praise) is the structural logic of Ps 8, 19, and 104 together.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. To shine or make clear moves from audible boasting to celebratory praise; foundational to Hebrew worship language.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 165 lexical occurrence verses.
הָלַל is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Ps 22:3 — 'you are enthroned on the praises of Israel' — is the theological claim that makes the discipline of praise non-optional. YHWH does not merely receive praise as an offering; He inhabits it. This is why the Psalter ends with Ps 150 and why Revelation's throne-room is continuous acclamation (Rev 4-5; 19:1-6, where הַלְלוּיָהּ is transliterated as Ἁλληλουιά).
The fear of the Lord (יָרֵא) and the praise of the Lord (הָלַל) are the two poles of the creature's response to YHWH — awe that produces posture and joy that produces acclamation. Neither is complete without the other. Neither awe alone nor joy alone tells the whole truth about who YHWH is and what He has done.
Ps.113.1
Hallelujah (הַלְלוּ יָהּ) is a Piel imperative plural of הָלַל + the shortened divine name יָהּ (Jah). It is the most concentrated praise-word in the OT and passes untranslated into the NT (Rev 19:1, 3, 4, 6) — one of the Hebrew liturgical cries preserved in NT worship language. This untranslatability is itself significant: Hallelujah is not explained to Revelation's readers but simply quoted, as if the sound itself carries the meaning.
The Hithpael register — to glory in, to boast in — shows that הָלַל is not only congregational liturgy but the orientation of an individual who finds their deepest identity in YHWH: Jer 9:23-24's contrast makes self-promotion and YHWH-praise mutually exclusive.
The Hallel psalms (113-118) were sung by Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper (Matt 26:30 'and when they had sung a hymn they went out'). The Passover context makes הָלַל the praise framework of the night of Jesus' betrayal — the praise of YHWH's Exodus deliverance is the liturgical ground on which the new Passover is enacted. Rev 19:1-6's four-fold Ἁλληλουιά is the eschatological completion: creation's הָלַל fills the new heaven, the new earth, and every breath that has existed.
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