Amen! One of the most popular and used words in prayer across religions, but what are its origins, what does it actually mean, and how come it only shows up in the Pslams in today’s 41st chapter - and twice?
Chapter 41 wraps up the first of the five books of the psalms, likely meant to indicate reference to the five books of Moses - the Torah. Today’s chapter ends with an emphatic bookend, and introduces the Amen effect into our prayer life:
בָּ֘ר֤וּךְ יְהֹוָ֨ה ׀ אֱלֹ֘הֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל מֵֽ֭הָעוֹלָם וְעַ֥ד הָעוֹלָ֗ם אָ֘מֵ֥ן ׀ וְאָמֵֽן׃
Blessed is the ETERNAL, God of Israel,
from eternity to eternity.
Amen and Amen.
Ps. 41:14
So where does Amen come from, exactly? The word appears only twice before today’s chapter - in the Torah. The first is a ritual response spoken by the woman who is accused of adultery, as part of the elaborate, complex and troubling ceremony of the Sotah, outlined in the Book of the Wilderness, chapter 5. The ordeal includes her literally drinking a potion that includes the divine name, and then responding to the priest’s oath with the words “Amen Amen.”
The second time Amen shows up is towards the end of the Torah, As Moses creates another elaborate public ritual with the twelve tribes positioned on opposite mountains and the Levites between them proclaiming a series of blessings and warnings. The only ritual response from the people is to be “Amen.”
While the root of the word "’-m-n" which means ‘firm, steadfast, enduring, trustworthy, faithful’ appears in different forms, the specific call-out word “amen” appears in the Torah only in these two ceremonial contexts, with their interplay between light and shadow, truth and doubt.
Some scholars suggest that Amen’s appearance in today’s chapter is an intentional reclaiming of the word and its transformation -repurposed as a positive response to prayer.
Amen is a powerful way to show up, to be present with a single word that means - I hear, I see, I’m with you, and together we affirm.
The Amen Effect- my dear teacher and friend, Rabbi Sharon Brous’ astounding book delves deep into the meaning of this term as an essential tool for our increasingly discordant lives:
“The promise of the amen effect, the ritualization of care, is that we can break the spell of avoidance and denial to find our way to each other, meaningfully, and lovingly, even - and especially- in the dark..You show up for the celebration, and you show up for the funeral. Err on the side of presence.”
Rabbi Sharon Brous, The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World
Amen and Amen.
Our Next Monthly Zoom Session:
If it wasn’t King David who wrote the Psalms, despite popular religious lore, and according to most reliable scholarship - then who are the authors of these poets of piety and protest? Did they leave us some important information to decode as we struggle with our personal and public problems?
Clues are everywhere.
Join me on June 6th for our monthly Zoom conversation Below the Bible Belt - and find out more about the authors and how these ancient hymns may be helpful to us during this difficult time in the world, and as we each face challenges and celebrate life’s blessings.
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Thanks to you and to Rabbi Brous!
Amen!