EDD "Amen"
˒amen (אָמֵן, 543), “truly; genuinely; amen; so be it.” The term ˒amen is used 30 times as an adverb. The Septuagint renders it as “truly” (lethinos) once; transliterates it as “amen” three times; and translates it as “so be it” (genoito) the rest of the time. This Hebrew word usually appears as a response to a curse that has been pronounced upon someone, as the one accursed accepts the curse upon himself. By so doing, he binds himself to fulfill certain conditions or else be subject to the terms of the curse (cf. Deut. 29:15–26).
Although signifying a voluntary acceptance of the conditions of a covenant, the ˒amen was sometimes pronounced with coercion. Even in these circumstances, the one who did not pronounce it received the punishment embodied in the curse. So the ˒amen was an affirmation of a covenant, which is the significance of the word in Num. 5:22, its first biblical occurrence. Later generations or individuals might reaffirm the covenant by voicing their ˒amen (Neh. 5:1–13; Jer. 18:6).
In 1 Kings 1:36, ˒amen is noncovenantal. It functions as an assertion of a person’s agreement with the intent of a speech just delivered: “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the Lord God of my lord the king say so too.” However, the context shows that Benaiah meant to give more than just verbal assent; his ˒amen committed him to carry out the wishes of King David. It was a statement whereby he obligated himself to do what David had indirectly requested of him (cf. Neh. 8:6).
These various possibilities of usage are based in the dialectic of the term. ʾāmēn intends to indicate that something which has been said stands firm, is “true.” But at the same time this truth is recognized as “valid” and therefore also as obligatory for the speaker of the Amen.
A special usage of the Amen occurs in the (doubtlessly late) doxologies at the conclusion of the divisions of the Psa (Psa 41:14; 72:19; 89:53; 106:48, in each case ʾāmēn ʾāmēn). 1 Chron 16:36 indicates how this Amen should be understood. It is responsive in character; through it the celebrating community identifies itself with the prayer leader when he has spoken praise. The repetition of the term underscores that one agrees sincerely and joyously.
In the OT1 the word is used both by the individual and the community (1) to confirm the acceptance of a task allotted by men in the performance of which there is need of the will of God (1 K. 1:36), (2) to confirm the personal application of a divine threat or curse (Nu. 5:22; Dt. 27:15 if.; Jer. 11:5; Neh. 5:13), and (3) to attest the praise of God in response to a doxology (1 Ch. 16:36; Neh. 8:6), as at the end of the doxologies of the first four books of the Psalms (Ps. 41:13; 72:19; 89:52: אָמֵן וְאָמֵן; 106:48: אָמֵן הַלְלוּ־יָהּ). In all these cases אָמֵן is the acknowledgment of a word which is valid, and the validity of which is binding for me and then generally in this acknowledgment. Thus אָמֵן means that which is sure and valid.
If, however, this meaning of Amen is retained in the Christian community, it is best preserved in the ἀμήν which Jesus places before His sayings in the Synoptic Gospels (30 times in Mt., 13 in Mk. and 6 in Lk., though the latter also uses ἀληθῶς at 9:27; 12:44; 21:3 and ἐπʼ ἀληθείας at 4:25), and also in John’s Gospel (25 times, liturgically doubled). That Jesus’ command not to swear played any part in its use 10 is nowhere indicated. For בְּקֻשְׁטָא or מִן קֻשְׁטָא might also have been adopted. The point of the Amen before Jesus’ own sayings is rather to show that as such they are reliable and true, and that they are so as and because Jesus Himself in His Amen acknowledges them to be His own sayings and thus makes them valid. These sayings are of varied individual content, but they all have to do with the history of the kingdom of God bound up with His person. Thus in the ἀμήν preceding the λέγω ὑμῖν of Jesus we have the whole of Christology in nuce. The one who accepts His word as true and certain is also the one who acknowledges and affirms it in his own life and thus causes it, as fulfilled by him, to become a demand to others.
Isa 65:16 requires particular mention: Whoever blesses oneself and, likewise, whoever swears should do so bēʾlōhê ʾāmēn. If one accepts the text, then one must interpret, e.g., with Delitzsch, according to 2 Cor 1:20 (cf. also Acts 3:14): “the God of Amen, i.e., the God who turns what He promises into Yea and Amen” (KD, Isa 2:487; cf. comms.). ʾāmēn may be substantivized here, so that one may translate “God of dependability.” The emendation of ʾāmēn into the subst. ʾōmēn is, however, more likely; cf. ʾēl neʾemān (Deut 7:9; Isa 49:7) and ʾēl ʾemet (Psa 31:6).