Hallelujah (/ˌhæləˈluːjɑː/ ^ⓘ; Biblical Hebrew: הַלְלוּ־יָהּ‎, romanized: haləlū-Yāh, Modern Hebrew: הַלְּלוּ־יָהּ‎, romanized: halləlū-Yāh, lit. 'praise Yah') is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christian Book of Revelation.

The phrase is used in Judaism as part of the Hallel prayers, and in Christian prayer, where since the earliest times it is used in various ways in liturgies, especially those of the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the three of which use the Latin form alleluia, which is based on the alternative Greek transliteration.

Hallelujah is a transliteration of Hebrew: הַלְּלוּ יָהּ (hal[lə]lū yāh), which means "praise ye Jah!" (from הַלְּלוּ, "praise ye!" and יָהּ, "Jah"). The word hallēl (הַלֵּל) in Hebrew means a joyous praise in song. The second part, Yah, is a shortened form of YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah in modern English). It has been suggested that the acclamation arises from and is an onomatopoeic rendition of the ancient tradition of ululation.

In the Hebrew Bible hallelujah is actually a two-word phrase, hal(le)lu-Yah, and not one word. The first part, hallelu, is the second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hillel (הִלֵּל). From Hebrew הַלְלוּ־יָהּ (haləlū-yāh) “praise Yah,” combining the plural imperative of הָלַל (“to praise”) with יָהּ, the short theophoric form of the Tetragrammaton."Hallelujah". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 October 2025. The phrase "hallelujah" translates to "praise Jah/Yah", though it carries a deeper meaning as the word hallel in Hebrew means a joyous praise in song, to boast in God.

The second part, Yah, is a shortened form of YHWH, and is a shortened form of his name "God, Jah, or Jehovah". The name ceased to be pronounced in Second Temple Judaism, by the 3rd century BC due to religious beliefs. The correct pronunciation is not known. However, it is sometimes rendered in non-Jewish sources as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah". The Septuagint translates Yah as Kyrios (the LORD, stylized in all-capitals in English), because of the Jewish custom of replacing the sacred name with "Adonai", meaning "my Lord".

The linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann argues that the word Hallelujah is usually not replaced by a praise God! translation due to the belief in iconicity: the perception that there is something intrinsic about the relationship between the sound of the word and its meaning.

הַלְּלוּיָהּ is found in 24 verses in the Book of Psalms (104–106, 111–117, 135, 146–150), but twice in Psalm 150:6. It starts and concludes a number of Psalms.

The Greek transliteration ἀλληλούϊα (allēlouia) appears in the Septuagint version of these Psalms, in Tobit 13:17 and 3 Maccabees 7:13, and four times in Revelation 19:1–6, the great song of praise to God for his triumph over the Whore of Babylon. It is this usage that Charles Jennens extracted for the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's Messiah. This transliteration is the basis of the alternative Latin transliteration "Alleluia" that is also used by Christians.