אֵל שְׁמֹר הַמַּלְכָּה | God Save the Queen, an adaptation of Hyman Hurwitz’s Hebrew translation of “God Save the King” for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebration (1887)

Contributor(s):

Hyman Hurwitz, Unknown and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Shared on:

3 June 2017 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Commonwealth, British Jewry, British Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, אל שמר El Shemor, Great Britain, national anthems, Needing Attribution, Queen Victoria, Queens

Translation (Hebrew)	Source (English)
אֵל שְׁמֹר מַלְכָּתֵנוּ, לְעוֹלָם תְּחִי מַלְכָּתֵנוּ, אֵל שְׁמֹר הַמַּלְכָּה׃ שְׁלַח שָׁלוֹם בִּנְוֶהָ, בְּעֹז וְהָדָר עַטְּרֵֶהָ, לָעַד הַמְשִׁילֶהָ, אֵל שְׁמֹר הַמַּלְכָּה׃	God save our gracious Queen, Long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the Queen!
אָנָּא אֱלֹהִים קוּמָה, בְּאוֹיְבֵיהָ תְּנָה מְהוּמָה, וְהַפִּילֵימוֹ׃ הָפֵר תַּחְכֻּלֹתָם, סַכֶּל־נָא עֲצָתָם, לְעַמָהּ תֵּן מִשְׁאֲלֹתָם, וְהוֹשִׁיעֵמוֹ׃	O Lord our God, arise, Scatter her enemies,^[1] Cf. Psalms 68:2. And make them fall Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks, On her our hearts are fixed, O save us all.
מִבְחַר בִּרְכָתְךָ אֵל! לְהָרִיק עָלֶיהָ הוֹאֵל, לָעַד תִּמְלוֹךְ!^[2] ”תְּהִי הַמַּלְכָּה” in the 1887 Jubilee rendition. תָּגֵן בְּעַד חֻקֵּינוּ, אָז יִשְׂמַח לִבֵּנוּ, וְנָשִׁיר בְּכׇל מְאֹדֵנוּ, אֵל שְׁמֹר הַמַּלְכָּה!	Thy choicest gifts in store On her be pleased to pour, Long may she reign! May she defend our laws, And ever give us cause To sing with heart and voice, God save the Queen!

“God Save the Queen” is an adaptation of “God Save the King,” a work by an unknown author, first circulated in three stanzas during the reign of Britain’s King George Ⅱ, circa 1745. This Hebrew translation was published in a pamphlet circulated by New Road (Whitechapel) Synagogue in 1892 “on the 73rd Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Victoria,” an event attended by then chief rabbi of the British Empire, Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler. The wording in the Hebrew is different in one line compared to its publication at the Queen’s Jubilee celebration in 1887. The first queen of Great Britain was Queen Anne Ⅰ (1665-1714) who reigned from 1702-14.

The Hebrew translation of “God Save the King,” (El Shemor haMelekh) as translated by Hyman Hurwitz is slightly shorter. (A few lines are added to the last stanza in God Save the Queen). God Save the King was first published in Hurwitz’s The Etymology and Syntax of the Hebrew Language (1831), pp. 276-279, during the reign of King William Ⅳ (1765-1837).

We are grateful to the Jewish East End of London website for providing a page images of the ephemeral document containing the lyrics in 1892. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Service of Prayer and Thanksgiving – Jubilee of Queen Victoria 1887, pp. 14-15

God Save the Queen (Hebrew, New Road Whitechapel Synagogue, 1892)

God Save the King (English, The Gentleman’s Magazine 1745-10-15)

Notes

Notes
1	Cf. Psalms 68:2.
2	”תְּהִי הַמַּלְכָּה” in the 1887 Jubilee rendition.

Hyman Hurwitz

Hyman Hurwitz (1770–1844) was a learned Jew who became first professor of Hebrew at University College, London. He was born in Poznań, Poland in 1770, came to England about 1797 and conducted a private academy for Jews at Highgate, where he established a close friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and corresponded with him. Coleridge once described Hurwitz as "the first Hebrew and Rabbinical Scholar in the Kingdom." In 1828, on Coleridge's recommendation, he was elected professor of the Hebrew language and literature at University College, London. His inaugural lecture was published. He died on 18 July 1844. Hurwitz was buried in the Brady Street Cemetery near Whitechapel in London's East End.

Unknown

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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.)

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Anne Ⅰ, queen of Britain (1702)

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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)