Selah / סֶלָה -- anybody know what it means?

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It’s in Psalms a lot, and I never really gave it much thought until it was the answer to a clue in the NYT crossword puzzle yesterday.

This isn’t really an “apologetics” issue, insofar as I’m not asking for a defense of a particular position, moreso asking – what’s it mean? Is there a particular Catholic interpretation? Jewish interpretation? Historical interpretation?
 
Nyarlathotep said:
It’s in Psalms a lot, and I never really gave it much thought until it was the answer to a clue in the NYT crossword puzzle yesterday.

This isn’t really an “apologetics” issue, insofar as I’m not asking for a defense of a particular position, moreso asking – what’s it mean? Is there a particular Catholic interpretation? Jewish interpretation? Historical interpretation?
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se·lah slə, s l ]

interjection Definition: **uncertain biblical term: **used to perform a punctuating function between verses of the Bible. It is an ancient Hebrew word of unknown meaning and uncertain grammatical status that appears in some books of the Bible and is therefore, when included in English translations, left untranslated.

[Mid-16th century. < Hebrew *selāh]
 
Outside the book of Psalms it is only found in Habakkuk chapter 3 – the “Prayer of Habakkuk” which takes a form very similar to many of the psalms. Because of the nature of Habakkuk, it has been hypothesized that he was either a Temple musician, or familiar in some way with Temple musicians. Because the psalms are also (obviously) connected with music, it is theorized that “Selah” is a musical indication of some sort, but the definition is lost to us.
 
Evan said:
I saw one biblical translation that rendered Selah as Pause
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That’s probably the most accurate translation, but the one I liked best is “stop and think about this.”

DaveBj
 
I agree with BJ. During the pause, there might have been a musical segway to which the audience would listen while contemplating the words sung.
 
spockrates said:
I agree with BJ. During the pause, there might have been a musical segway to which the audience would listen while contemplating the words sung.
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The fact is, we still don’t know. And it is wrong to assume that we do.
 
Interestingly, thirty-one of the thirty-nine Psalms with the caption “To the choir-master” include selah. Many of the Psalms were sung accompanied by musical instruments (remember the Temple musicians?) So yep, it could be some sort of instruction like ‘pause’ or ‘stop and think’ or, well, something.

The Septuagint renders selah with the equally enigmatic diapsalma.
Origen’s Hexapla merely transliterates it as sel.
Aquila’s Greek translation, St. Jerome’s Vulgate, and the Targum translate it as “always”.

Interestingly, usual translations of the second to last blessing of the Amidah (“Ve’al kulam yitbarakh ve-yitromam…”) render selah as:

*Ve’al kulam, yitbarakh ve’yitromam shimkha, Malkeinu, tamid, le’olam va’ed.
And for all this, blessed and exalted is your Name, our King, always, to the age and yet further (i.e. forever and ever).

Ve-chol ha’chayyim yodukha selah, vi’hallelu et’shimkha be’emet, ha’El y’shuatenu ve’ezratenu selah.
And all the living shall confess you forever, and praise your Name in truth, O God of our salvation and our help, forever.

Barukh atta 'Adonai, ha-Tov shimkha, ulekha na’eh lehodot.
Blessed are you, O LORD, ‘the Good’ is your name, and to you it is right to give thanks.*
 
Thank you all for your insightful replies.

It seems that the consensus is that (1) nobody knows for sure, but (2) it’s probably some sort of musical notation.

I wonder if anybody’s ever tried to reconstruct a recitation of the Psalms with “period” instrumentation…
 
Nyarlathotep said:
Thank you all for your insightful replies.

It seems that the consensus is that (1) nobody knows for sure, but (2) it’s probably some sort of musical notation.

I wonder if anybody’s ever tried to reconstruct a recitation of the Psalms with “period” instrumentation…
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An interesting question. I’m wondering if we even know what period instrumentation might be!
 
Nyarlathotep said:
It’s in Psalms a lot, and I never really gave it much thought until it was the answer to a clue in the NYT crossword puzzle yesterday.

This isn’t really an “apologetics” issue, insofar as I’m not asking for a defense of a particular position, moreso asking – what’s it mean? Is there a particular Catholic interpretation? Jewish interpretation? Historical interpretation?
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The word “selah” is found in two books of the Bible, but is most prevalent in the Psalms, where it appears 71 times. It also appears three times in the third chapter of the minor prophet Habakkuk.

There is a great deal of confusion about the meaning of “selah,” primarily because the Hebrew root word from which it is translated is uncertain. Well-meaning Bible scholars disagree on the meaning and on the root word.

“Selah” is thought to be rendered from two Hebrew words: s_lah, to praise; and s_lal, to lift up. Another commentator believes it comes from salah, to pause. From these words comes the belief that “selah” is a musical direction to the singers and/or instrumentalists who performed the Psalms, which was the hymnbook of the Israelites. If this is true, then each time “selah” appears in a psalm, the musicians paused, either to take a breath, or to sing acapella or let the instruments play alone. Perhaps they were pausing to praise Him about whom the song was speaking, perhaps even lifting their hands in worship. This would encompass all these meanings—praise, lift up, and pause. When we consider the three verses in Habakkuk, we also see how “selah” could mean to pause and praise. Even though Habakkuk was not written to be sung, Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3 inspires the reader to pause and praise God for His mercy, power, sustaining grace and sufficiency.

Perhaps the best way to think of “selah” is a combination of all these meanings. The Amplified Bible adds “pause and calmly think about that” to each verse where “selah” appears. When we see the word in a psalm or in Habakkuk 3, we should pause to carefully weigh the meaning of what we have just read or heard, lifting up our hearts in praise to God for His great truths. “All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Selah! (Psalm 66:4).
 
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