The Hebrew word selah appears 70+ times in the Hebrew Bible. Three times in the book of Habakkuk, the rest of the time in the Psalms. The meaning of this word is uncertain – it may be a musical or liturgical term.
Some believe that selah is a conjunction that links two thoughts together in a way that brings contrast, further explanation, or establishes a cause and effect relationship between two thoughts.
The general consensus is that selah comes from the Hebrew root word calah which means ‘to hang,’ ‘to weigh’, ‘to measure carefully’. It denotes an intentional musical interlude, or pause in reading text.
The Amplified Bible translates selah as “pause, and think of that”. It can also be interpreted as a pause in preparation for the next thought or paragraph.
What does selah say to me then?
“slow down and listen”
“pause and reflect”
“stop and take it all in”
It makes sense to pause at the end of a thought, to slow down to take it all in, to chew on it for a while, to savor it, then digest and assimilate it. In my rushing around, I’m tempted to quickly glide over words I read and then move on to the next thing.
Selah reminds me to linger.
~shini abraham, ©2016, duco divina – contemplative doodling
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