I am translating a teaching resource for an elementary Bible program from Dutch. It references "small/short Hallel" ("kleine Hallel") referring to Psalm 113 and 114, and "large hallel" ("groote Hallel") as Psalm 115-118. Checking with the Google, I find full and partial Hallel, but with different breakdown. Any idea where the Dutch references comes from, and the appropriate English translation?
Hallel translation
- Thread starter student
- Start date
- Status
Charles Johnson
Puritan Board Senior
When I google I see there is something called "Great Hallel" and "Lesser Hallel."
I imagine that would be the correct translation.
How, the chapters included in each are different from those you mention.
Agree--it can't be the Great Hallel as Psalm 136 is not in the picture here. Thanks to both of you. In the context, it's not critical, as it's in brackets explaining the hymn Jesus would have sang after the Last Supper, but it piqued my interest, and I wondered where the distinction would have come from.
What is the word used for the psalm Jesus sang? There are 150 psalms, and even if we assume the later passover liturgy was used to the letter (which is unlikely 4 decades prior to 70 AD, especially by a preacher who said "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" and "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up... but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man"), there are many options to chose between.
iainduguid
Puritan Board Junior
There's nothing magic in the Greek to explain what exactly Jesus sang after the Last Supper with his disciples: it simply says "After they had sung (humnesantes)..." However, not all psalms would be equally fitting for at the conclusion of Passover: Psalm 1 or 19 would not be obvious choices, for example. More likely, it would be a psalm that celebrated the deliverance out of Egypt - which still leaves plenty of alternatives. It seems that Psalm 136 and the sequence Ps 113-118 were both popular choices at the time, for reasons that are more or less self-evident if you read them. Ending with the messianic psalm 118 (I know they are all messianic, but bear with me) might have seemed particularly fitting on this occasion: "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone...blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord". But we can't know for sure.
BertMulder
Puritan Board Junior
Het Hallel
Het Hallel of Halleel (Hebreeuws voor lofprijzing of lofzegging) is de Joods-liturgische benaming voor het geheel van de Psalmen 113 tot en met 118. Deze werden als lof- en jubelzang gezongen op de Joodse feestdagen, onder andere bij het Wekenfeest, het Loofhuttenfeest en bij het Pesachfeest, ter herdenking van de uittocht uit Egypte.
Psalm 113 en 114 vormen het Klein Hallel. De Psalmen 115 tot en met 118 het Groot Hallel. Ook wordt er wel gesproken van het Egyptische Hallel. Psalm 136 wordt wel aangeduid als het Groot Hallel.
Van Hallel is het woord ”halleluja” afgeleid. Volgens de Talmoed horen ook de Psalmen 120 tot en met 134 bij het Groot Hallel. De Psalmen 145 tot en met 150 worden wel het Dagelijks Hallel genoemd.
Digibron.nl, Zes psalmen in de nacht
De nacht daalt over de stad Jeruzalem. Ergens in een opperzaal in Jeruzalem is een avondmaal genoten. En opeens begint daar iemand te zingen, anderen stemmen in, vallen hem bij. Zomaar zitten er psalmen in de lucht, bij het licht van de maan. Zes psalmen in de nacht.
The Hallel or Halleel (Hebrew for praise or praise) is the Jewish liturgical name for the entirety of Psalms 113 to 118. These were sung as a song of praise and jubilation on Jewish holidays, including the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. and at Passover, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt.
Psalms 113 and 114 form the Little Hallel. Psalms 115 to 118 the Great Hallel. The Egyptian Hallel is also spoken of. Psalm 136 is sometimes referred to as the Great Hallel.
The word “hallelujah” is derived from Hallel. According to the Talmud, Psalms 120 to 134 also belong to the Great Hallel. Psalms 145 to 150 are sometimes called the Daily Hallel.
Claes Jacob Heijndericksz
Puritan Board Freshman
It is indeed very easy to find on Digibron articles written in the 20th century that make this distinction.
Checking Google books and Delpher the earliest reference to the combination of Psalms 113-114 and 115-118 as "Kleine en Grote Hallel", which I was able to find, dates back to 1885 in Ph. J. Hoedemaker's "Handboek voor het onderwijs in het Oude Testament." It states: "De gasten zongen het kleine en groote hallel (den lofzang: Matth. 26:30) – Ps. 113 en 114 en Ps. 115-118. Soms nog Ps. 120-137."
A more important source that would have spread this notion is the first edition of the Christelijke Encyclopaedie voor het Nederlandsche volk of 1926. In the second edition of 1956 it was already changed into the first part and the second part of the hallel. (check the the entry for Paasfeest)
Historically it seems to have been more prevalent for Dutch Reformed christians to designate Psalms 113-118 as the Great Hallel. For this I can find sources dating back to at least the 17th century. In 1673, for example, Franciscus Ridderus wrote: "Dese ses Psalmen noemden de Joden het groote Alleluja" in his work "Sevenderley gesichte in de historie van het lyden en sterven onses Heeren Jesu Christi."
Checking Google books and Delpher the earliest reference to the combination of Psalms 113-114 and 115-118 as "Kleine en Grote Hallel", which I was able to find, dates back to 1885 in Ph. J. Hoedemaker's "Handboek voor het onderwijs in het Oude Testament." It states: "De gasten zongen het kleine en groote hallel (den lofzang: Matth. 26:30) – Ps. 113 en 114 en Ps. 115-118. Soms nog Ps. 120-137."
A more important source that would have spread this notion is the first edition of the Christelijke Encyclopaedie voor het Nederlandsche volk of 1926. In the second edition of 1956 it was already changed into the first part and the second part of the hallel. (check the the entry for Paasfeest)
Historically it seems to have been more prevalent for Dutch Reformed christians to designate Psalms 113-118 as the Great Hallel. For this I can find sources dating back to at least the 17th century. In 1673, for example, Franciscus Ridderus wrote: "Dese ses Psalmen noemden de Joden het groote Alleluja" in his work "Sevenderley gesichte in de historie van het lyden en sterven onses Heeren Jesu Christi."
- Status
