madrid@auvax (Roslyn Madrid) (07/14/83)
Please, could someone tell me what "Amen" means? I have the Sunday-School concept of it meaning something like "Over and out", but it seems that there must, theologically and liturgically speaking, be quite a bit more to it than that. What is the Scriptural, traditional, etc. basis for using it? Is it found in only some Christian groups, or is using it (or its functional equivalent) found elsewhere? Are there groups which do not use it? What about its occurrence in literature? R. auvax!madrid
cfiaime@ihnp4.UUCP (07/15/83)
----- News saved at Fri, 15-Jul-83 14:58:17 CDT Going back to my confirmation days, and paraphrasing Luther's Small Catechism, "AMEN" basicly means "Yes, it shall be so". It is an affirmation of faith. Wait until Monday, and I will post the quote from Luther. Jeff Williams BTL Napervile ihnp4!cfiaime
liz@umcp-cs.UUCP (07/16/83)
"Amen" means "so be it" or "truth". I just found it in a concordance that points to a Hebrew word with the same pronunciation whose meaning is what I gave. This word also comes from another Hebrew word which has to do with faithfulness and assurance. It does tend to mean "over and out" these days which is kind of a shame -- it tends to weaken the word. Though it is also used to express verbal support for what someone else has just said. -- -Liz Allen ...!seismo!umcp-cs!liz (Usenet) liz.umcp-cs@Udel-Relay (Arpanet)
smb@ulysses.UUCP (07/16/83)
"Amen" is derived from the equivalent Hebrew word (best transliterated as "ah-MAIN" or "or-MAIN"), and is a standard feature of Jewish liturgy. The dictionary I have at home (Random House American College Dictionary) gives the following: a-men, interj. 1. it is so; so be it (used after a prayer, creed, or other formal statement). --adv. 2. verily, truly. --n. 3. an expression of concurrence or assent. [from Hebrew]. A Hebrew-English dictionary I have translates the Hebrew word so "so be it". Perhaps coincidentally, the Random House dictionary also has an entry for "Amen", a minor Theban god with the head of a ram, symbolizing fertility and life, later identified by the Egyptians with the sun god, Amen-Ra, their principal deity. The name is also spelled "Amon". The etymology given is "taken from Egyptian, explained as "the one who hides his name"]. I don't know if there is any etymological connection between the Hebrew and Egyptian words; any experts out there?
daemon@ucbvax.UUCP (07/17/83)
From: arens@UCBKIM (Yigal Arens) Sorry to present a dissenting view again, but "amen" is one of those many biblical words whose original meaning is a bit obscure. I don't have any of my books with me at the moment (not even a bible), so I'm writing this from memory. The explanations given in this newsgroup by ulysses!smb and by umcp-cs!liz are accurate as far as the traditional meaning given to the word. In the bible, however, the word only appears at the end of psalms (sometimes followed by the even more obscure "sella") and its meaning is not obvious from the context. Some believe that it may have originally been meant to inform people reciting the verses about some musical aspects of it. Yigal Arens UC Berkeley (soon USC)
larry@grkermit.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (07/18/83)
amen means "so be it" -- Larry Kolodney #13 (I try harder) (USENET) decvax!genrad!grkermit!larry allegra!linus!genrad!grkermit!larry harpo!eagle!mit-vax!grkermit!larry (ARPA) rms.g.lkk@mit-ai
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (07/18/83)
It is true that Amen comes from the Hebrew and basically means "so be it". It is used throughout Jewish observance when one hears a blessing (e.g., when one hears a blessing that someone else says before eating food). "Amen" is an acrostic made up of the Hebrew letters A-M-N (aleph, mem, nun), which stand for "G-d is a faithful king" (E-l Melech Ne-eman). Incidentally, posting this article leads me to wonder about how to deal with a particular religious problem. Judaism is *very* concerned about the sanctity of holy names, and a piece of paper with G-d's name on it (in any of several versions) should never be destroyed. Similarly, there are substitute oral names (e.g., I would pronounce the version of the name which the aleph in the above reference stands for as "Kel", unless actually using it during prayers). Now, I wonder what the effect is of someone "writing" a holy name in digital form? Talk about "destroying" is is kind of meaningless, because the name only exists visually on a screen which is somewhat ephemeral anyway. And it's going to be "copied" electronically across the whole continent, and thousands of other people are going to have the name "written" on their terminals and then will "destroy" it. Those people with hardcopy terminals will definitely get it on paper and then, in most cases, destroy it. And then, after two weeks, the article will expire and be "destroyed" hundreds of times. Of course, this is only an English transliteration (or, in the case of "G-d", a translation), but it still makes me wonder. Since I'm not sure, I've written both the English and the Hebrew (transliteration) above with hyphens. Does anyone have any comments on this? Dave Sherman Toronto
ecn-pc:ecn-ed:vu@pur-ee.UUCP (07/22/83)
Does anybody know when was "amen" first used, and by whom ?
ecn-pc:ecn-ed:vu@pur-ee.UUCP (07/22/83)
One thing I forgot: my pathname is ecn-pa:pur-ee!vu Sorry. Vu.