וְעַתָּה בָנִים שִֽׁירוּ לַמֶּֽלֶךְ | v’Atah Vanim Shiru laMelekh (Come, children, chant the King), an ofan piyyuṭ for Shavuot by Rabbi Shimon ben Yitsḥaq Abun of Mainz (rhyming English translation by Israel Zangwill)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Israel Zangwill (translation) and Shimon bar Yitsḥaq of Mainz

Shared on:

8 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Tags:

10th century C.E., 48th century A.M., ofanim, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation, יוצר אור yotser ohr, יוצרות yotsrot

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
וְעַתָּה בָנִים שִֽׁירוּ לַמֶּֽלֶךְ בְּתִפְאֶֽרֶת מְפֹאָר בְּרִקְמֵי שִׁיר מְעֻטָּף וּמְעֻטָּר וּמְתֹאָר בְּהוֹד וְהָדָר וְשֶֽׁבַח מְבֹאָר בַּעֲטֶֽרֶת גֵּאוּת וְכֶֽתֶר נוֹרָא יִתְפָּאָר׃	Come, children, chant the King arrayed in glory, Enswathed in praise eternally intoned. His splendor is the theme of song and story: In awful majesty He sits enthroned.
שִׁמְעוּ לִי מְלָלוֹ עִזּוּז נוֹרָא פִּלְאֵי גָדְלוֹ שֶׁשְּׁמוֹ עָרֵב לוֹ וְזִכְרוֹ נָעִים לְהַלְלוֹ	O hear the tale of His tremendous power: His very name bespeaks His wondrous might. ’Tis sweet upon His shrine our hymns to shower; His Temple’s rites are pleasing in His sight.
וְהֵיכָלוֹ נֶחְמָד לוֹ וּכְבוֹדוֹ נֶהְדָּר לוֹ וְהוֹדוֹ נָאֶה לוֹ וּמְשָׁרְתָיו מַנְעִימִים לוֹ׃	His glory is a fitting decoration, His robe of majesty beseems the King; Hence rises in eternal exaltation The song His ministering angels sing.
וְאַשְׁרֵי עֲבָדָיו הַמַּשְׁמִיעִים בְּקוֹל שִׁבְחוֹ כִּי עֲרֵבִים לְפָנָיו וּמְקֻבָּלִים נִכְחוֹ שַׁמְעִיאֵל הַשָּׂר מַשְׁמִיעָם בְּכֹחוֹ לְשַׁתֵּק הֲמוֹן מַעְלָה בְּרֹן בְּנֵי אֶזְרָחוֹ׃	And we His servants, ’tis our happy function A still more pleasing offering to bring; Hence heaven’s Prince proclaims the high injunction That angels hush when Abram’s children sing.
דְּרָכַי וְחוֹבַי תֵּת קְדֻשָּׁה לַמְקָרֶה אַוֵּרִים הַמֻּשְׂגָּב וּמֻכְתָּר בְּכִתְרֵי כְתָרִים פְּאֵר מְלָכִים תְּהִלָּה לִבְרוּרִים מִפַּחְדּוֹ יָחִֽילוּ אֵיתָנִים וְצוּרִים׃	I hallow Him—the skies are of His making, And as He sits, with diadem bedecked. He hears the mighty rocks with terror quaking, And—prouder tribute—praise from His elect.
יִשְׁמֹֽרוּ נִכְסָפִים בְּחַצְרוֹת מְעַט מִקְדָּשׁוֹ בְּפַֽחַד וְיִרְאָה לְהַעֲרִיצוֹ וּלְהַקְדִּישׁוֹ אַחַר שְׁתֵּי תֵבוֹת מַזְכִּירִים שֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ לְהוֹדִֽיעַ לַכֹּל כִּי הֵם זֶרַע קְדוֹשׁוֹ׃	May Israel in the Synagog assembling Be ever heedful of His holy Name, The right to utter which in fear and trembling Serves Israel’s sacred scions to proclaim.

This is Israel’s Zangwill’s versified English translation of the ofan piyyut of Shimon ben Yitsḥaq Abun of Mainz as published in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Ḥag haShavuot (1909), p. 149. Zangwill’s adapted translation has six stanzas opposite the piyyut’s five; for the second stanza, Zangwill provided two. To reflect this adaptation, we have separated that stanza in order to keep the source text set side-by-side with the translation. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Israel Zangwill (translation)

Israel Zangwill (1864–1926), born in Whitechapel, London, was a British author at the forefront of cultural Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the prime thinker behind the territorial movement

Shimon bar Yitsḥaq of Mainz

Shimon bar Yitsḥaq (also, Simeon bar Isac; ca. 950-ca. 1020), born in Mainz, Germany, was a scholar of his time. As a paytan he composed yotserot, qerovot, seliḥot, hymns, and rashuyyot le-ḥatanim. It is probable that he sang his piyutim himself. His piyutim bare traces of the language found in early piyutim, and they are marked by the pain of the persecutions of the Jews in bar Isaac's lifetime.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)