Hallelujah!

I'm getting to the end of my psalm per day reflection that I've been sending out to people from church (plus a few others) and in the last few I'm coming across the phrase "Hallelujah" quite a bit. You probably know that it means "Praise Yah", where Yah is short for Yahweh (or, as I choose to write it, Yhwh). It's one of those transliterations, which is to say "Hallelujah" isn't a translation, nor is "Hosanna" or "Baptise" or "Amen" - they have acquired meanings in English but they are not translations. (For those who are interested, Hosanna means save us, baptise means wash or overwhelm, amen is to do with agreement or trust).

Hallelujah is mostly two words, sometimes joined with a maqqep (essentially a Hebrew hyphen), sometimes separated, and once they are joined into one word. Oh, and they all occur in the last third of the psalter, as follows:

• Hallelu-Yah 17 (102:19; 104:35; 105:45; 106:48; 113:9; 115:17; 115:18; 116:19; 117:2; 135:3, 21; 146:1, 10; 147:20; 148:14; 149:9; 150:6b)
• Hallelu Yah 9 (111:1; 112:1; 113:1; 135:1; 147:1; 148:1; 149:1; 150:1, 6a*)
• Hallelujah 1 (106:1)

I think this is all of them - it's from a software search and I haven't double checked it. But you'll notice a couple of things:

1. The two words joined with a maqqep is by far the most common. 
2. There is one case (150:6a) where the verb takes a different form, it's tehallel yah (all breath will praise Yah).
3. Every time the standard form occurs without a maqqep, and including the time where they're joined (106:1), is in the first line of the psalm. The hyphenated form never occurs at the beginning of a psalm, and with the exception of 150:6a, the un-hyphenated form only occurs at the beginning. 
4. If the form begins the psalm, it often occurs later on also. Of the nine which begin with Hallelu Yah or Halleljuah, seven have Hallelu-Yah later on. 
5. As mentioned already, they are all in the last third of the psalter, and are clustered in a few groups: 102-106 (but not 103), 113-117 (but not 114), 146-150, with 135 the only one on its own. 

It's also noteworthy that the phrase Hallelujah (or Allelujah in the KJV) has come into English, perhaps not from the Psalms, but from the book of Revelation, where it is transliterated from Hebrew to Greek and then into English. It occurs four times in Revelation 19:1-6, and is the noise of those in heaven roaring praises to God for destroying Babylon, vindicating his saints, and bringing them to the wedding feast of the Lamb. 

What do we make of all this? I'm not yet sure. But it's interesting! It's also wonderful that we say it so much - and I think probably preserving the meaning - Praise Yah for his powerful works of rescue and redemption on earth, and for the future he is bringing about through the Lord Jesus. Hallelujah indeed!