A. Halal verbs (ll’h; , 1984), “praise, celebrate, glorify, sing, boast”. The meaning of “praise” is, in effect, the meaning of the intensive form of the Hebrew verb halal, which in its simple active modality means “to boast”. This latter sense is found in the cognate forms of Old Akkadian, whose dialects are the Babylonian and Assyrian languages. In Ugaritic, the word has the meaning of “shouts” and perhaps “joy”. We find halal more than 160 times in the Old Testament and for the first time in Gen 12:15, where it is indicated that, because of Sarah’s great beauty, Pharaoh’s princes “praised” her (“they praised her”, bj, nbe) in front of him. Although halal is often used only to indicate “praise” to people, including the king (2Ch 23:12) or the beauty of Absalom (2Sa 14:25), the term is mostly used to “praise” God. Furthermore, every living thing and all created things, including the sun and the moon, are called to “praise” God (Psa 148:2-5, 13; 150.1). Typically, such “praise” is expressed in the sanctuary, especially during the great festivals (Isa 62:9). The Hebrew name for the book of Psalms is simply the equivalent of the word “praises.” It has a more appropriate meaning than “Psalms”, which comes from the Greek and has to do with chants accompanied by some string instrument. It is no wonder that the book of Psalms contains more than half of the instances of halal in its various guises. Psalms 113-118 are traditionally called the “Hallel Psalms” as they deal with praising God for deliverance from Egyptian slavery under Moses. For this reason, these psalms form an important part of the traditional worship of Easter. There is no doubt that these are the hymns that Jesus and his disciples sang on the night he instituted the Lord’s Supper (Mat 26:30). From the word halal comes “Alleluia” (hallelujah), a Hebrew expression of “praise” to God that has been incorporated into almost all the languages of the world. The Hebrew term is more accurately translated as “Praise Jah” (or “Ya”), the abbreviated form of “Yahveh” (Jehovah), the particular Israelite name for God. The term “Jah” is found in the rvr translation of Psa 68:4, faithful to the Hebrew text, and the bj translates it “Yahveh” (Psa 68:5). The Greek transliteration of alleluia is found 4 times in the New Testament in the form of “Alleluia” (Rev 19:1, 3–4, 6). No doubt Christian hymns would be greatly impoverished if the term “Hallelujah” were suddenly removed from our praise language. yadah (hd;y: , 3034), “give thanks, praise and praise”. This is a very common Hebrew word for all periods and a very important term in the language of praise. Yadah is found nearly 120 times in the Hebrew Bible. The first of these cases is found in the story of the birth of Judah, the son of Jacob and Leah: “He conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said: This time I will praise the Lord; therefore he called his name Judah” (Gen 29:35). As expected, this word appears most frequently in the Book of Psalms (about 70 times). As an expression of gratitude or praise, it is a natural element of public ritual worship, as well as personal praise of God (Psa 30:9, 12; 35.18). Very often the praises are directed in the name of the Lord (Psa 106:47; 122.4). Some variation in translations can be seen in 1Ki 8:33 “confess” (rv, nbe, blah), “praise” (bj) his name. B. Names tehillah (hl;hiT], 8416), “glory; praise; praise song; laudable deeds.” Tehillah appears 57 times during all periods of Hebrew biblical history. First, the term denotes a quality or attribute of some person or thing; means “glory” or “laudable”: “He is the object of your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things that your eyes have seen” (Deu 10:21). Israel is the “glory” of God when it exists in a state of exaltation and divine blessing: “Do not give him rest until he restores Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth” (Isa 62:7; cf. Jer 13:11). Second, in some cases tehillah represents the words or song in which God is praised in public, or by which his “glory” is publicly declared: “My praise shall be to you in the great congregation” (Psa 22:25 ). Psa 22:22 is even clearer: “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” Third, with a particular nuance, tehillah is used as a musical technical term for a song (sir) that exalts or praises God: “Psalm of praise of David” (heading of Psa_145, which in Hebrew is v. 1). Perhaps Neh 11:17 refers to a choirmaster or someone who leads the “praise” songs: “And Matthias †¦ son of Asaph, the chief, the one who began the praises and thanksgiving at the time of prayer ”. Finally, tehillah can represent actions worthy of “praise”, or actions for which the person responsible deserves “praise and glory”. This meaning is found in the first time that the word appears in the Bible: “Who is like you Jehovah among the gods? Who is like you, magnificent in holiness, awesome in mighty deeds, doing wonders?” (Exo 15:11). Two related names are mahaalal and hilluí†léí†m. Mahaalal appears once (Pro 27:21) and refers to the degree of intensity of “praise” or its absence. Hilluí†léí†m, which appears twice, means “festive retirement” during the harvest of the fourth year (Lev 19:24; Jdg 9:27). toí†da (hd;/T , 8426), “thanksgiving”. This important noun form, found some 30 times in the Old Testament, is used in the sense of “thank you.” The term has been preserved in modern Hebrew as the usual word for “give thanks.” In the Hebrew text, toí†da is used to mark “thanksgiving” through worship songs (Psa 26:7; 42.4). Sometimes the word is used to refer to a praise choir or procession (Neh 12:31, 38). One of the peace offerings was called the “thanksgiving” offering (Lev 7:12).
Source: Vine Old Testament Dictionary