Selah (Hebrew: סֶלָה)
Selah comes from the Hebrew Bible; it succeeded psalms (in most cases verses), and as a concept is very difficult to translate (mainly because its etymology is unknown):
- Selah might come from the Hebrew word calah which means ‘to hang,’ and by implication to measure (weigh). Seeing as how in Biblical history valuables were weighed (measured) by hanging or suspending them on a type of balance to determine their value, this implies the possible meaning is as an instruction to measure carefully and reflect upon the preceding statements.
- Greeks treated selah as to mean something similar to the Greek term diapsalma (διάψαλμα: interlude – “apart from psalm”), which signified a change in rhythm or melody at the places marked by the term, or a change in thought and theme.
- Others say that it means “forever,” or comes from two Hebrew words – s_lah (to praise) and s_lal (to lift up, exalt); or is derived from shelah, which as a verb in many contexts (shala, shalu, sheli, shalew, shalwa), means “to rest, be quiet, and/or prosper.”
- But yet others believe it to be a variant of salah (to pause). And from this comes the belief that selah is/was a musical direction (as paralleled by the Greeks) to the singers and/or instrumentalists who performed the Psalms to pause each time it appeared (either to take a breath, or to sing a cappella, or to let the instruments play alone).
Selah is a very difficult concept to translate and grasp, but that’s half the reason why I like it so much. If one takes all interpretations of selah to be somewhat true, as I somewhat do, then it means “to pause, be quiet, and rest, in order to reflect, and to change rhythm and prosper forever.” As a definition, that’s right up there with the best of them.
Next time, when you find yourself faced with a fork in the road of life, selah.