Citations:selah
English citations of selah
Interjection edit
- (biblical) A word occurring between verses or paragraphs in parts of the Hebrew Bible, namely in Habakkuk and the Psalms, perhaps indicating a pause for contemplation.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 52:5:
- God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
- 1841, Lancelot Andrewes, Ninety-six Sermons [Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology; 4], volume IV, Oxford: John Henry Parker, →OCLC, page 110:
- And upon these two, in the verse, there is a Selah. […] But this Selah is no Selah to God. He hath a Selah, or an Elah, above this Selah.
- 1903, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, volumes 19–20, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, →OCLC, page 61:
- He himself finds strophes where there is no Selah, and Selahs where there is no strophe; nor does he hesitate to deal arbitrarily with the Selah, displacing it, and changing the text to bring it in, as seems good to him.
Noun edit
- (Christianity) A pause or rest of a contemplative nature.
- 2003, Stan Smith, Prophetic Song: Gateway to Glory, [s.l.]: Xulon Press, →ISBN, page 142:
- Unless the musicians themselves develop a prophetic lifestyle, the selah will be only an irritating piece of ritual. But if the musicians have an ear to hear, a selah will be a highly creative interlude that opens the door for the Holy Spirit to take the church into a higher level of inspiration.