Hallel (הלל, hll; Hebrew, “to praise”). The name given to several collections of biblical psalms of praise used in the temple and synagogue, at least since the Tannaitic period (ad 10–220), with probable roots in ancient Hebrew practice.

The term Hallel is often used for Pss 113–118, which is more specifically called the “Egyptian Hallel” (from the reference to Egypt in Psa 114:1) and associated with the joyous feasts—Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The “final Hallel,” sometimes called the “Hallelujah Psalms,” contains Pss 146–150 (Human, “Psalm 136,” 73). The “Great Hallel” is the name given to Psa 136, which contains the greatest praise of all the Psalms (Great Hallel can also designate Pss 120–136 or Pss 135–136, and occasionally refers to the complete version of the Egyptian Hallel, without any excluded verses; Waltner, Psalms, 562). The Hallel would have been part of the “mental furniture” of the first-century Jew (Wright, New Testament, 241).