A journey on discovering meaning

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
— 2 Corinthians 1:20

As a Christian, I was always dissatisfied with the common use of the term ‘Amen’.  I never felt that I understood what it meant, and the answers I received when I asked about it all fell short.  It was never enough for me to know that ‘Amen’ meant ‘I agree’ or ‘I agree that this is true’, and so its use in my prayer or as a response felt contrived or at best, rote.

I wanted to know more than just ‘what does this word mean’, but “How do I live with this word in a way that has meaning to me?”

This post is a result of my journey to discover ‘Amen’, it covers some of the origins of the word, and its use in both the Old and New Testaments.

I sincerely hope that my findings will show you how to turn ‘Amen’ from a punctuation mark of habit into a deeply meaningful spiritual affirmation.

Etymological Meaning

The word Amen comes from the Hebrew root א-מ-נ (aleph-mem-nun), which conveys ideas of firmness, reliability, faithfulness, and trust.  This root gives rise to words like:

• אֱמוּנָה (emunah) – “faith” or “faithfulness”
• נֶאֱמָן (ne’eman) – “faithful”
• אֱמֶת (emet) – “truth”

So Amen is best understood as an affirmation: “It is true”, “truly”, or “so it is in truth” – not simply ‘so be it’, but “this is trustworthy and reliable”. 

Yet this description of what the word technically means leaves a lot unsaid. It doesn’t really cover the implied inflections of what Amen truly means in context. 

In Use (Biblical and Post-Biblical)

In the Hebrew Bible, Amen is used as:

• A response to a blessing or declaration (e.g., Deut. 27:15-26 “And all the people shall say, Amen”)
• A confirmation of truth (e.g., Jeremiah 28:6 “Amen! May the Lord do so!”)
• A personal assent in prayer or praise (as in Psalms)

In Christian liturgy, especially in early church writings, the word maintains this Hebrew sense of affirming truth – e.g., at the end of a doxology (short hymns of praise), “Amen” affirms “Yes, this is true.”.  These early writings offer some of the clearest continuity between Jewish worship and Christian affirmation theology.  The early church didn’t discard the Hebrew meaning of Amen – they doubled down on it as a spoken seal of truth, especially in the context of communal praise, Eucharistic prayers, and doxology.

New Testament Doxologies Ending with Amen

These are likely among the earliest liturgical formulas, and you’ll find them in multiple epistles:

• Romans 16:27
  “To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
• Galatians 1:5
  “To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
• Philippians 4:20
  “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

These reflect a Jewish pattern of concluding public blessings with Amen, not as a full stop but as a communal affirmation of God’s truth and glory.

Paul’s Letters

Paul frequently ends doxologies with Amen-but these are not merely formal closings. They carry a kind of personal, collective “Yes, I agree. This is true.”

Romans 11:36

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen”

This Amen isn’t saying “we’re done.” It’s a seal of conviction. A “Yes-this is true, and I submit to it.”

Galatians 1:3-5

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Again, Amen is linked to ascribing honor, not closing prayer. It’s almost an exhale of devotion and loyalty– very much in the spirit of “El Melech Ne’eman.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 – Jesus as the Living “Amen”

Perhaps the most theologically loaded use of the word in Paul’s writing:

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Here, Paul is saying:

• Christ is the “Yes” to God’s promises,
• And we, the church, echo that by speaking the “Amen”

This is the clearest depiction of Amen not as an ending, but as a statement of belief, trust, and participation in God’s fidelity. 

You could paraphrase this as:
“Through Jesus, God proved faithful – and we respond by declaring, ‘God is my faithful king.”

Key Phrase in Greek:

δι’ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀμὴν — “through Him [is] the Amen”

• δι’ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou) = “through Him” (i.e., through Christ)
  and
• τὸ ἀμὴν (to amēn) = “the Amen” (used as a substantive noun)

This isn’t a casual phrase. It implies mediation – our Amen (our affirmation, our trust, our participation) reaches God because of, and through Christ.

What does “Through Him” mean?

1. Chris is the Mediator of the Covenant
   1. All the promises of God (especially from the Hebrew Scriptures) are fulfilled in Jesus.
   1. Therefore, when we say Amen, we’re not just affirming abstract truths-we’re affirming God’s faithfulness as revealed in Christ.

Our trust and affirmation flow through Him because He is the proof that God keeps his promises.

• Christ Enables Our Access to God
  • This ties directly to Paul’s theology elsewhere: we now have access to God “through Christ”
    “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2)
    “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18)

Use in the Eucharist (The Lord’s Supper)

1 Corinthians 10:16

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?”

Here, Paul describes a blessing over the cup, which, in Jewish tradition, would have ended with a communal Amen.  This was carried into Christian Eucharistic practice.

Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD)

In his description of Christian worship, Justin writes:

“When the prayers are ended, we salute one another with a kiss.  Then there is brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine… and he gives praise and glory to the Father… and the people assent, saying Amen.”
(First Apology, Chapter 65)

This shows that by the second century, the Amen was already an expected communal response, following the pattern of ancient Jewish synagogue worship.

Didache

The Didache, one of the earliest Christian teaching texts outside the New Testament, includes Eucharistic prayers and ends each one with Amen:

“We thank You, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your servant. To You be the glory forever. Amen.”  -Didache 9

This reinforces the early Christian habit of using Amen to conclude prayers with conviction, echoing the structure of Jewish blessings (berakhot).

Amen as Responsive Participation

In 1 Corinthians 14:16 Paul writes

“Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?”

This assumes a cultural norm where listeners were expected to say Amen—affirming the truth of what was just prayed or declared. The implication is that Amen isn’t just for the speaker—it’s a participatory act of the listener.

Rabbinic Interpretation

Latter rabbinic interpretation, often cited in textual interpretation (midrashic contexts), especially in Kabbalistic literature and Jewish prayer traditions often refer to Amen as a notarikon formed from the phrase אֵל מֶלֶךְ נֶאֱמָן (El Melech Ne’eman), meaning “God, Faithful King”.  In this view:

• א = El (God)
• מ = Melech (King)
• נ = Ne’eman (Faithful)

This interpretation is not historically the etymological origin of the word Amen, but it is a theologically rich reading, embraced in devotional or meditative practice.  You’ll find it especially in siddurim (Jewish prayer books), often used to explain the power or spiritual weight of the word when recited with intention.

In some traditions, when the Shema (“Hear, O Israel…”) is recited privately – without a congregation to say “Amen” after the blessings- the person reciting it says:

אֵל מֶלֶךְ נֶאֱמָן (El Melech Ne’eman)

… before beginning the Shema, as a way to “make up for” the communal Amen.  This is both affirmation of God’s trustworthiness and a way to embody the word Amen through its letters.

While no biblical verses explicitly spell out “El Melech Ne’eman,” some psalms and prophetic texts emphasize those three attributes of God—God, King, and Faithful—in close proximity:

Deuteronomy 7:9

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

Jeremiah 10:10

“But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.”

While not notarikon-based, these texts give weight to the thematic resonance that led the rabbis to bundle those attributes together into Amen as a meditative declaration.

In Closing

Amen is a simple word with simple meanings, but how those definitions tie back to your own personal experience, and what emotions they engender, is tied to your understanding of the word and the expectations of its use.

In summary:

• Etymology: “Amen” = “true”, “faithful”, “reliable”, “trustworthy”
• Usage: An affirmation of truth or agreement
• Spiritual Interpretation: “El Melech Ne’eman” (God, Faithful King) is a beautiful interpretive acronym, not the word’s literal derivation.

The early Church didn’t just inherit Amen from Jewish tradition—they recognized it as the natural word for trust in action. It marked a moment of communal faith, personal affirmation, and liturgical power.

For me, there are certain places where the etymological definitions of the word make sense, especially when reading scripture, or in response to teachings, but in other places, such as in my private prayer, or after grace, affirming that “God is my faithful King” not only makes more sense but gives the word a far more personal and emotional context.

If you think of Amen as testimony, rather that convention or habit, then it becomes a declaration of alignment with God.

This is where I feel that the Rabbinic expansions – while not etymologically correct – can restore intention in deeply human ways.  I sensed a hollowness in how Amen was used (or in how I was using it) and found in the notarikon version a way to restore its weight, trust, and personal relevance.