Jerome has an interesting reference to the loud congregational Amen, which he describes as re- sounding like thunder ('ad siiuilitudini'm ccelestis tonitrui ' — Com. ad Gala/ L 'tin- .Miirsponds to a synagogue custom ol nii^i! _ i!m' 'Amen with the full power' of the \ >■ . ! rj'/).
The modern practice of siii;,iu.i; ^iinLii at the close of hymns in public wovsliip is partly due to a musical demand for a suitable cadence to con- clude the tune : but it is also in harmony with the most ancient practice of closing hynms with doxologies, which naturally carried an Amen with them. The discrimination observable in some hymnals, whereby hymns containing a prayer or
52
AM HA'AEEZ
a:n"drew
a doxology are closed with Amen and others not, arises from misapprehension. Amen not only means ' So lie it,' Init equally ' So it is,' and should thus he suitable as a conclusion to all hymns that are appropriate for Christian worship.
(c) Mohammedan. — Among the Mohammedans Amen is used liturgically, hut only to a slight extent. It is universally used by them after every recital of the hrst Sura of the Koran — the so-called Sural al-FAtUuit ( = Preface or Introduction). This brief, prayer-like form is held in great veneration, and has among them a place corresponding to that of the Paternoster amongst Christians.
LiTERATrRE. — ^The Bible Dictionaries, s.y. ; Jewish Encycto- l>f(lia, s.r. ; Bcrnkhoth i. 11-19; H. W. Hogg, Jewish Quart. Review, Oct. 1896; articles in Bxposilonj 'Times, bv Nestle (Jan. 1S97), and Jannaris (Sept 1902); Dalman, Die Worte Jcsu (En-, tr. 1902, p. 226 ff.); Scudamore, Sotitia Euekarietica.
J. S. Clemens.
AM HA'AREZ (fixn cu) means literally 'the people of the land.' Sometimes — particularly in later books of OT— it is found in the pluralV()H//ic hrVarcz or 'amme hcCardzoth. Its use in the time of Christ indicates the following development : — From being (1) applied to the ordinary inhabitants of the land {(in 23'- '- ^^) or to the people at large as a body (-1 K H»-is.i9.=o is^ 16'5 21^ etc.), the term came (2) to be used to designate the common people as distinguished from the king, princes, priests, etc. (Jer U^^, Hag 2\ Zee 7'), and (3) like ' pagan ' from pagus, was applied to those remote from or untouched by the culture (particularly religious culture) of the time, till it became (4) finally, an expression of contempt meaning 'uncultured,' 'rude,' 'barbarous,' 'irreligious,' applied to a certain class or even to a member of that class. To the 'am hd'arez the Pharisees directly refer in .In 7^' 'This multitude which knoweth not the Law are accursed.'
The origin of this cleavage is found in the OT. At the Exile we are told ' none were left save the very poor of the people of the land' (nxri c-j_ nh 2 K 24"). These mingled with the neighbouring non-Israelites and perhaps also with tlie settlers from Assyria, intermarrying \\itli tliem, :ind prob- ably adopting their customs, lleiue at the I'leturn both Ezra and Nehemiah demanded a complete separation (Ezr 9'- ", Neh 10^=') between the rs- turned exiles who observed the Law strictly, and those settlers who constituted ' the people of the land.'
This idea developed and led to the formation of a party called 'Separatists,' Hastdim or Pc- rushim (Aram. Pcrishnijya' ; see art. ' Pharisees ' in Hastings' DB iii. p. 826''), who regarded all contact with the vulgar crowd {'am ha'arez) as defiling, observed a strict regime of ceremonial purity, anil called each other haber (i.e. 'brother'). The 'am ha'arez was the antithesis of the Mber, outside the pale of this higher Judaism, poor', ignorant of the Law, despised. In Rabbinical literature, where he is always regarded as a Jew, many definitions of the 'am hfi'drez are given. Thus in the Talmud (Brrakhi'jih 476) he is described as one ' who does not give his tithes regularly,' or 'who does not read the Shema morning and evening,' or ' who does not wear tcphi//im,' or ' who has no mezxizah on his doorposts,' or ' who fails to teach his children the Law,' or ' who has not associated with the learned.' Montefiore in his Hibbcrt Lectures denies that such sharp cleavage between the Hasidim and the 'nm ha'arez ever existed save in the minds of later Rabbis who had difficulty in defining 'am hd'arez, and consequently he questions the authenticity of Jn 7^', but on insufficient grounds. A great gulf and much bitterness existed between the two. A Pharisee would not accept the evidence of an 'am huurez as a witness, nor give him his daughter
in marriage. Even the touch of the garment of an 'am hitdirz was defiling ; and Lazarus (Ethics of .Titdrii.sm) quotes a saj'in<r, ' An 'am hd'arez may be killed on the Sabbath of Sabbaths, or torn like a fish.' This can hardly be taken literally ; yet it illustrates the feeling wliich doubtless prevailed in the time of Christ towards t\\e'am hd'drcz. The mind of Jesus triumphed over this narrow sijirit. In these poor despised outcasts He saw inlmite possibilities for goodness. They were the objects of His special care. To them had the Father sent
sheep of the house of Israel '
leyv (Mt
10«).
AMON.— A king of Judah (c. 640 B.C.) mentioned in our Lord's genealogy, Jit 1'" (Gr. 'A^us, RVm Amos).