Word studies · Hebrew · Strong's H1984
הָלַל · hâlal · appears 165 times in the Old Testament
In one line: Loud, public praise — boasting in God.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!
Psalm 150:6
Halal is to praise — to make a public, unembarrassed noise about the worth of God.
Halal is the Psalms' great word for praise, especially in the closing psalms where everything that has breath is summoned to it. Its range is telling: the same verb can mean to boast, so praising God is boasting in the right place.
Halal's root sense is to shine or be clear, and from there to make a show, to boast, and to celebrate loudly. Hebrew praise is therefore audible and public by definition — the word does not describe a quiet inner appreciation.
English “praise” can sound polite. Halal is closer to acclaim: cheering, boasting, making a scene. That is why the Psalms pair it with instruments, dancing and shouting, and why restrained worship can be a translation problem as much as a temperament.
Halal (H1984) appears 133 times in the Hebrew Bible, and joined to the shortened name of God it gives “hallelujah” — literally “praise Yah.”
Because the same verb covers boasting, Scripture's remedy for pride is not silence but redirection: “let the one who boasts, boast in the LORD.” Praise is the creature's proper speech, which is why the Psalter ends with five psalms of nothing else.
Say something out loud this week about God's worth — to Him, or to another person. Halal is a public word, and silent gratitude is not quite what it means.
to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make ashow, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify
When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
Genesis 12:15And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”
Judges 16:24So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.
1 Samuel 21:13Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.
2 Samuel 14:25And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
1 Kings 20:11David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
1 Chronicles 16:4Press and hold praise in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.