ἀμήν

Forms

• ᾱ̓μήν (āmḗn), indeclinable.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן (ʾāmēn, “surely; so be it”), a solemn formula of assent.^[1][3][2] Abbott-Smith and Thayer explain the Hebrew word as a verbal adjective “firm”, from a root meaning “to prop up” and “to be firm”.^[2][4] The Septuagint usually translated the Hebrew word, most often as γένοιτο (génoito, “may it be”), and kept it as ἀμήν only in a few places.^[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Septuagint, at the end of a psalm of praise in 1 Chronicles 16.36, where the people answer “amen”: a word of assent meaning “so be it”.^[6][3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the New Testament the word is frequent.^[5][7] At the end of a prayer or doxology it is the hearer's or the speaker's assent, and 1 Corinthians speaks of “saying the amen”, the congregation's response.^[5][2] In the Gospels alone it opens a solemn statement, in Jesus' formula “amen I say to you”, “truly”;^[4][8] John's Gospel always doubles it, which gives it the force of a superlative.^[2][4][8] In Revelation 3.14 it is even used as a name, “the Amen”, of the faithful witness.^[2][4]

Ancient writers explained the word in Greek: Justin Martyr says that in Hebrew it means “may it be”, and the translators Aquila and Symmachus rendered it with Greek words meaning “faithfully” and “so be it”.^[9] The Byzantine lexica gloss it as “truly” or as a substitute for “yes”.^[10][3] Christian papyri sometimes write it with the number 99, the sum of its letters' numerical values.^[5][9] It was borrowed into Coptic.^[11]

In Medieval Greek it is a wish and a confirming particle,^[12] and Modern Greek αμήν (amín) still closes prayers and answers good wishes; as a noun, “the amen” is the very end, the limit of one's patience, because the word comes at the close of church services.^[13]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint has it in 1 Chronicles 16.36, and later in Nehemiah, Tobit and 3 and 4 Maccabees.^[7][3][2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it after prayers and doxologies, and in the Gospels to open solemn sayings.^[5][2]
• 2nd century AD – Justin Martyr explains that the Hebrew word means “may it be”.^[9]
• 4th–5th century AD – Christian papyri end prayers with it.^[9]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use αμήν (amín) as a wish and as a confirming word.^[12]
• Modern Greek – αμήν (amín) closes prayers and also means “the very end”.^[13]

Meanings

Adverb

1. So be it, amen: said at the end of a prayer, a doxology or another's statement, to show assent.^[8][5][6]
2. Truly, verily: introducing a solemn statement, in the Gospels; doubled in John.^[8][2][4]
3. (as a noun, with the article) The amen, the response of the congregation; in Revelation, a title of Christ, “the Amen”.^[6][2]

Related words

• γένοιτο (génoito)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
3. ^ a b c d e Rosół, Rafał, ed., Lexicon of Oriental Words in Ancient Greek, https://orientalwordsingreek.org
4. ^ a b c d e Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
5. ^ a b c d e f Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
6. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
11. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
12. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki