Alleluia or HallelujaH

[Gesetveemet]

Could the word Alleluia in the Authorised King James Version have been translated better?

The Statenvertaling Bible has "Halleluja" and the Geneva has "Hallelujah"

Gill says in his commentary on Revelation chapter 19 that Alleluia is a Hebrew word which it is not.

saying Alleluia; an Hebrew word, which signifies “praise ye the Lord”. The Jews say, that the book of Psalms consists of ten sorts of songs, but Hallelujah is the greatest of them, because it comprehends the name
(Jehovah) and praise in one word:

.

 

[PointyHaired Calvinist]

Saying "Alleluia" is not Hebrew is like saying "Jesus" is not Hebrew. They are legitimate Greek/Latin forms of Hebrew names.

Hallelujah may be better, but then again if you insist on it you might as well translate Peter as Petros, or Isaiah as Yeshayah.

 

[chbrooking]

It's not really a 'translation' so much as a transliteration. Could it be transliterated better?... Does it really matter? You wouldn't really want accurate transliterations of everything -- trust me. You wouldn't want to turn to the book of Yirmeyahu instead of Jeremiah, for example, would you?

 

[jwithnell]

Doesn't matter much to me as long as you don't sing HAH! LA lu YAH as if you were in a karate fight.

 

[Gesetveemet]

Thank you for the replies. I asked for the benefit of my wife who speaks fluent Hebrew and wondered about the word alleluia. I don't insist on either translation. My only desire is that I obtain the one think needful in this life, and that I don't stand before God with a handful of religion.

Have a good Lord's day,
William