Selah James Earl was my grandfather who died before I was
born. My mother always pronounced it 'Seal yah' and not 'See lah'
as it is in the Bible. He was called Seeley most of the time and
his name appears in the Delaware County census as Seeley.

In Hebrew, according to several Bible reference books I have,
it means tranquil; secure; at rest; pause; quiet; peaceful; serene;
prosperous. It occurs many times in the Psalms.

According to a Metaphysical Bible Dictionary - The state of mind in
prayer in which we relax from our affirmation of Truth and thanksgiving
for good received and to be received, and "wait" on God in the stillness,

that the Holy Spirit may reveal more of its inspirations to us and that
it
may establish our thoughts and our heart more firmly in the divine
harmony and good.

God Bless
Ruth Ann Messick
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On Fri, 17 Jan 2003 16:23:50 -0500 "Pullen, Sharon"
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>         Ok, this may be a stupid question, but was "Selah" a common
> first
> name in the 19th century?  I keep finding it in my records here, and
> I think
> it's being used as a male first name, but my only other recollection
> of it
> is as a kind of exclamation in the Bible.
>         Does anybody have any information on this?
>
> Sharon A. Pullen, C.A.
> Archivist
> Office of the County Clerk
> Historic Documents Library
> 310 Center Drive
> Riverhead, NY 11901-3392
>
> Phone: 631-852-2015
> Email:  [log in to unmask]
>