What About Saying Amen? Just Who Are You Invoking?
What About Saying Amen?
Who or what does saying it invoke?
Shalom, believers of the One Holy One of Israel.
May the Creator Grant you Peace and Blessings.
The English word "amen" is a transliteration of the Hebrew word (#H543) in Strong's which is "'amen" and is pronounced "aw-mane'". Number (#H543) ('amen) comes from number (#H539) (aman) is pronounced "aw-man'" and means to build up or support, to foster as a parent or nurse, to be firm or faithful, to trust or believe, and to be permanent or quiet. If the Hebrew word "'amen" was translated correctly it would be "so be it" and not as the same word less the pronunciation mark.
Notice that Holman's Electronic Dictionary admits that when the Hebrew word 'amen is translated correctly it is "so be it" but when it is incorrectly transliterated it comes out as "AMEN":
"AMEN" is a transliteration of a Hebrew word signifying something as certain, sure and valid, truthful and faithful. It is sometimes translated, "so be it". In the Old Testament it is used to show the acceptance of the validity of a curse or an oath (Numbers 5:22)[1], to indicate acceptance of a good message (Jeremiah 28:6), and to join in a doxology in a worship setting to affirm what has been said or prayed (Nehemiah 8:6)".
So, what is the big deal?
Beverly M. ferreted most of the following information and made this statement:
"A interesting piece of information came to my mind as I was checking out this name "amen" as a possible false deity. In doing a word search for "AMEN" my computer stopped at the word, testAMENt. In resent weeks we have received a tape discussing the fact that the New Testament is indeed a TEST to us to see who we will follow. The following evidence appears to be a clear indication of this test".
From Chris Koster's book The Final Reformation.
"The Hebrew of the Old Testament reveals to us that the Scriptural Hebrew word (which means: so be it, or verily or surely) is "Amein" and not "Amen". Likewise, the Greek equivalent in the Greek New Testament is also pronounced: "Amein". Anyone can check on this or in Aaron Pick's Dictionary of Old Testament Words for English Readers. Why then, has this Scriptural word "Amein" been rendered as "Amen" in our versions? Again we can see how the pagans have been made welcome, been conciliated, by adopting the name of pagan deity into the Church [of Rome].
"The Egyptians, including the Alexandrians, had been worshipping the head of the Egyptian pantheon, 'Amen-Ra', the great 'Sun-god', for more than 1000 years, BCE. Before this deity became known as 'Amen-Ra', he was only known as 'Amen' among the Thebians. This substitution of 'Amen' for Amein was greatly facilitated by the fact that this Egyptian god's name was spelt in Egyptian hieroglyphic language with only three letters: AMN. Just as we find a similar poverty of vowels in the Scriptural Hebrew, which also only spelt its AMEIN as AMN. However, with the vowel-pointing by the Massoretes the Scriptural word has been preserved for us as AMEIN. On the other hand, the Egyptian deity AMN is rendered by various sources as 'AMEN', or 'AMUN', or as 'AMON.' However, the most reliable Egyptologists and archaeologists, (such as Sir E.A. Wallis, Dr. A.B. Cook, Prof. A Wiedemann, Sir W.M.F. Petrie, and A.W. Shorter) as well as some authoritative dictionaries, all render the name of this Egyptian deity as 'AMEN.' "This 'AMEN' was originally the Thebian's 'hidden god who is in heaven' or 'the hidden one, probably meaning hidden sun.'
Funk and Wagnall's Standard College Dictionary, describes it: 'AMEN':
In Egyptian mythology, the god of life and procreation, later identified with the Sun-g-d as the supreme deity, and called 'Amen-Ra'".
James Bonwick, Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, repeatedly and frankly calls the 'Sun-god' of Egypt by its correct name, 'AMEN'. He states on pp. 123-125,:
"AMEN, is in a sense, the chief deity of Egypt - supreme divinity. Whatever else he be, he must be accepted as the sun, the hidden god, the solar aspect is clear, there is the disk of the sun, the 'sun Amen', His identification with 'Baal', establishes him as a solar deity".
Smith's Bible Dictionary expresses:
'AMEN' as, "an Egyptian divinity, He was worshipped, as 'Amen-Ra', or 'Amen the Sun'".
Herodotos recorded for us how the Greeks identified their 'Zeus' with 'Amen-Ra'.
"'Yahshua' (Jesus) calls Himself "the Amen" in (Revelation 3:14). Substituting a title or name of 'Yahshua' with the name of the great hidden 'Sky-god' or the great 'Sun-god' of the Egyptians, 'amen' is inconceivable! The difference is subtle, but it is there. By ending our prayers in 'amen' instead of a-mein [so be it], one could very well ask, "Have we been misled to invoke the name of the Egyptian 'Sun-god' at the end of our prayers"?
Footnotes:
[1] [a]All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations are from the (KJV) of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted. [b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.