Amon or Amen
Emails & Questions
Amen or Amon?
Q: What about using the word, AMEN, when finishing a prayer? Some say that that is the name of a pagan god and according to the Bible we should not use it or even be saying it. That is, according to Exodus 23:13, the names of other gods are not even supposed to cross out lip.
A: The New Testament uses the word, amen, some 17 times in the NIV and 29 times in the KJV. According to the Greek, the most popular of the translations from the original languages, being passed down to us today, the word, “amen” is phonetically pronounced as am-ane (G131). Those who want to connect the word AMEN, with Amon, or Ahmon – The Moon – or something like that – then, don’t use the word, stay away from it, if it is sin to you, then it is sin to you. But, you have no business making that decision for me. How about the Hebrew, is this Greek term associated with the Hebrew? Yes, it is. Here is the Hebrew phonetic –aw-mane (H539). Both the Greek and the Hebrew meaning, agree -- "to be true” or “truly” or “honesty” or “faithfully”, or “so be it”. Notice, the pronunciation is not Amon or A-moon, for an Egyptian or Babylonian god.
This used to trouble me and for years I let this bother me because I had been with a group that taught that this word was the name of an Egyptian God -- actually, they did not teach this, outright, but only suggested it, and from this suggestion the rest of us, the lay-members took it to mean a truth. It took some time but eventually I did a little research of my own. Their false reasoning or suggestion, strangely, did not translate over to Abraham -- Ab-Rah-Ham. Clearly there is the name of an Egyptian god, right in the middle of our Patriarch name, Ab-Rah-Ham. Also, the first born of Adam, Abel, or AhBel, which is to say, The Bel, which is the Babylonian name for Baal.
Just a little more – the term LORD, is also a term applied to the pagan god, Baal, which means, Master or LORD. This term, LORD is used by the same people who say using their definition for the word amen.
The very people that want you to not use a term that means, Truly Stated, or Truthfully Said, or So Be it, as a sign off for word and letter, will tell you that it is alright to replace our Savior’s Name. Our Savior’s birth name, a name that existed back then and still exists today, YaHshua. In the Old English it was seen and understood as JOSHUA, pronounced in the Old English as YaHshua -- even to this day, some European languages still pronounce the "J" letter as it used to be pronounced when the King James Bible was first produced, as today's "Y" letter. Simple, right? But, what do we see today, handed down to us from the word masters, the translators of the Hebrew/Christian Bible? Certain corrections and improvments have been made but they replaced His Name with another. They replaced a name that was given to our Savior before He was born and that Name was NOT JESUS, a name that is pronounced by a large portion of the population of the earth as, HeZeus, or, The Zeus. Who is kidding who? Who is this joke being played on? Argue over something because of appearance, not proof, but ignore the replacement of His Name, a Name given Him by His Heavenly Father, through and Angelic Messenger – Luke 1:30-31. Your Bible, most likely, says, JESUS, but realize, that name never existed until around 400 years ago. The Angel telling Mary the Name to name Him, would never have used a name that never existed. And this leads us into understanding something Peter Preached in His first sermon – Act 4:11-12 -- “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
But, if you are still uncomfortable with this term, AMEN -- amen, then just stop using it and say, for example, at the end of a pray – “so be it”. Or, just, “In His Name, I truthfully say these things.” Or, how about, signing off in word and prayer with; Sincerely or In Sincerity of heart – something like that? What I do, when on those rare occasions I am asked to open or close a meeting or dinner with a prayer, I close with a quiet HaleluYaH, which is to say, Praise be to You, YaH. And with that, I will end this email response with, HalleluYaH.