08/16/2026
Kachi's Commentaries
Hallelujah, the Igbo Chorus of the Heavenly Host
As early as one can remember, the word Hallelujah has been a constant presence in speech, especially as it connects to devotion and worship. Tons of Christian songs released worldwide incorporate this divine phrase into their ministrations.
But like many things in our daily existence, we use and apply without a moment's pause to reflect. What does Hallelujah really mean anyway?
Today, we're going to go on a journey exploring the roots of the word and discover ultimately that this Old Hebrew word exists natively in the language of the Igbo people of West Africa.
We set forth by investigating the word's etymology.
Hallelujah: What It Really Means
The word "Hallelujah" comes from a merging of two words Hallel/Hallelu and Yah. Hallel (הַלֵּל) refers to the action of praising most frequently, though it has other related meanings. Yah (יָהּ) refers to God. Both words are Hebrew.
Root and Related Words To Hallelujah
In the Hebrew language, many words are noted to have what is called a shoresh/root (שׁוֹרֶשׁ). The shoresh of a word helps you to identify a word's 'siblings' as well as discover its core underlying meanings.
The shoresh of Hallel/Hallelu is (H-L-L), pronounced Heh Lamed Lamed.
From this root (H-L-L), you get:
Hallel, to praise, glorify, exalt, etc.
Hillel to shine
Holel, to act wildly, raving mad
Hithallel to celebrate, etc
This 4-word list is crucial and must be noted closely if one is to understand the concurrent linguistic processes occurring in the Igbo language.
Historical morphing of the Heh sound in Igbo
The root mentioned earlier, (H-L-L), exists wholly and similarly in the Igbo language. However, a vital point to note is that the Old Hebrew Heh or /h/ sound has historically morphed into a /w/ sound [M.H: (וו)] in many dialects of Modern Igbo.
This sound change is extremely common in migrating languages and has thus phonetically shifted (H-L-L) in Old Hebrew to (W-L-L) or (W-L-') in Igbo .
Having taken note of this, we proceed into the heart of the discussion.
Hallelujah in the Igbo Language
From the roots (H-L-L)/(W-L-L) the Igbo language has gotten:
Welie/Welielu: to raise to higher prominence or greater visibility, to exalt, further on to praise (Hallel, O.H)
Nwu: the quality of shining, radiance. The /nw/ sound is a nasal /w/ in Igbo (Hillel, O.H)
Wu ala/Wulu ala: to rave mad or act maniacally (Holel, O.H)
Nwulị/Nwulịa: to celebrate joyously, to have joy (Hithallel, O.H)
Further on in the Igbo language, the root has also brought about the word Wuli.
Wuli sounds incredibly close to Nwuli, which means celebrating joyously, but this word actually means to leap about, either in joy, as playing, or dramatically.
Presenting our words side-by-side, we get the following:
(H-L-L) => (W-L-L)
Hallel => Welie, Welielu
Hillel => Nwu
Holel => Wulu
Hithallel => Nwuli, Nwulia
With this understanding, we hence observe that the ubiquitous Hebrew phrase Hallelujah is really Welieluyah in the Igbo language.
Other Derivations from (H-L-L)/(W-L-L)
Beyond the regular meanings and applications provided above, there are other poetic and colloquial usages of interest noted within Ancient Hebrew speech.
Put simply, words like helel (הֵילֵל), yahel (יָהֵל), ya'ahil (יַעֲהִיל), and so on were used to refer to the shining qualities of the sun and moon. These words all derive from the root (H-L-L).
Following from the above and duly expected, the words for the sun and moon in the Igbo language reflect this poetic application—carried on into standard adaptation.
In the Igbo language, the word for the sun is Anwu, connoting sharp radiance and shining quality and the word for the moon is Ọnwa, which also carries an underlying phonetic of "Nwu," meaning to shine.
By Kachi Amobi
