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What does Amen mean? | Nehemiah 8:6, Jeremiah 11:5, Jeremiah 28:6 | Caleb Torgerson

Why do we say “amen” at the end of a prayer? What does “amen” really mean? How long has the word “amen” been used at the end of prayers? Do we use it as just a way to end a prayer or should it hold more meaning in our lives? These are some thoughts and questions, I’ve been pondering lately. Let’s talk about it.

Saying the word “amen” after a prayer has been a tradition in the church for many centuries. My whole life I’ve said “amen” after a prayer without really thinking about why it is said. Some of the earliest records of the word amen being used is in the Old Testament when they proclaimed “Amen, Amen!” or “Amen, Let it be so, Lord!” (Nehemiah 8:6, Jeremiah 11:5 and 28:6) But what is the reason it's said? 

To help me find an answer to this question, I looked at the Encyclopedia Britannica to see what I could learn about the word “amen.” This is what I found; The word “amen” has two different origins, a Greek and a Semitic origin (Semitic includes the Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic languages) In the Greek translation, the word amen isn’t directly used, rather the word “ amen” is derived from the Greek saying “so be it” which can also be translated into English as “verily,” or “truly.” This translation explains how when we say “amen”, we are saying God will truly do it for us. It is a way to show that we have faith enough to know that we can bring our prayers to God and he will answer. That doesn’t mean he is going to answer in the way we expect or want but God will answer our prayers. This Greek origin closely relates to the Hebrew verb, which means “to be reliable” and “to be trusted.” In this way, saying Amen also means we are saying “Our God is reliable'' and “Our God is trusted.” Both of which are very true statements and the tradition of saying Amen is beginning to make sense. But let’s dig a little deeper and look at the Semitic origin.

The Semitic origin of the word “amen” means “firm,” “fixed,” or “sure.” This translation explains the strength in bringing our prayers to God. When we say “amen”, it is a way to say this prayer is set in place and that we trust God to answer it. Anybody who listens to Contemporary Christian music, (most likely) knows the song, Firm Foundation (He Won’t) by Cody Carnes. I believe we can relate this meaning of the word “amen” with the chorus “Christ is my Firm Foundation, the Rock on which I stand…” because we are bringing our prayer to the Firm Foundation which is Christ. If we go a little further into the chorus, Carnes writes “ I put my faith in Jesus, Cause He's never let me down…” which you could relate to the Greek translation, “truly” because we’re singing “He's never let me down.”

This leads me to my next thought, we as Christians have multiple ways that we end prayers with “amen”, “In Jesus' name Amen,” “And all God’s people said Amen,” etc. When we say this, it’s like we’re saying “In Jesus' name We trust” or “And all God’s people said, You will answer.” But don’t take this as us telling God he has to answer our prayers, (obviously we as humans don’t have the authority to tell the God of the universe, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth what to do) but what we are saying is, we have so much faith in our God that we can bring our prayers to Him and know that he will take care of it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that ending a prayer with “amen” is a proclamation of our faith in God. (A prayer-ending proclamation if you will) So as we continue walking through life and trying to live in the way of Jesus as best we can. Anytime we pray and say Amen, let us not take this prayer-ending proclamation lightly because it's for the glory of God and the faith we have in him. Let us give our worries to God and trust that he will hear our prayers and answer. It most likely won’t be the way we expect him to answer it or the way we may want him to answer. But if we have eyes open to see, we will see the way God is working in our lives and answering our prayers. We know that he truly is the reliable firm foundation to which we give all the glory and praise.

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