Hallelujah is an expression of joy typical of the Christian liturgy, particularly the Easter period.
It comes from the Hebrew hallĕlū yăh, which means ‘praise God’, but that has reached us without being translated thanks to its euphony and the value assigned to it in the liturgical song in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
By extension, Hallelujah has also been assumed as an exclamation of joy: “Hallelujah, you remembered to buy milk”; or good news: “I bring hallelujah for all.”
An alleluia, on the other hand, is also a poetic composition formed by two verses of eight syllables, generally of a popular nature.
Hallelujah is also called to the stamps that contain the explanation of a pious matter, which were thrown into town on Holy Saturday, or at any other time, when the processions passed.
Hallelujah in the Judeo-Christian tradition
Hallelujah is a song that is linked to the celebration of Easter, both Jewish and Christian. As such, it is a liturgical acclaim of joy that expresses a series of religious feelings. It is characterized by being the song of men rescued by God and redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Hallelujah in the Bible
In the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, the phrase hallelujah usually appears in the Psalms, which are compositions of praise to God, hence many of them begin or close to that acclaim, such as the Psalms 111, 112 or 113. In the New Testament, on the other hand, it appears in the Apocalypse: “And I heard as the voice of a great company, and as a noise of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder, which said: Hallelujah, because God, our Almighty God, has reigned! ”(19: 6).