אדיר הוא | Awesome One: an Alphabetical English Interpretation of the piyyut Adir Hu, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown Author(s)

Shared on:

19 April 2019 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Nirtsah

Tags:

פיוטים piyyutim, 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Alphabetic Acrostic, English vernacular prayer, English piyyutim, אדיר הוא Adir Hu

Adir Hu, a classic Pesaḥ song if ever there was one, is a part of Seder tables all over the planet. Its alphabetical list of God’s attributes, combined with its repeated pleas for a return to Jerusalem, make it a classic, to the point where the traditional German farewell greeting for Passover was not “chag sameach” or “gut yontef” but “bau gut” – build well. This interpretation, while not a direct translation by any means, has the same rhythmic pattern and alphabetical structure, giving a sense of the greatness of God.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
אַדִּיר הוּא, אַדִּיר הוּא יִבְנֶה בֵּיתוֹ בְּקָרוֹב. בִּמְהֵרָה, בִּמְהֵרָה, בְּיָמֵינוּ בְּקָרוֹב. אֵל בְּנֵה, אֵל בְּנֵה, בְּנֵה בֵּיתְךָ בְּקָרוֹב.	Awesome One, Awesome One, Build your Temple quickly Speedily, speedily, in our days, build it quickly. Build it, God! Build it, God! Build your Temple quickly!
	Blessed One, Creator One, Deity One,
	Essential One, Foremost One, Greatest One, Holy One, Ineffable One, Judging One,
	Knowing One, Lasting One, Merciful One, Noble One, Original One, Powerful One,
	Quintessential One, Righteous One, Supreme One, Truthful One, Unlimited One, Vast One, Willing One,
	Xenial One, You are One, Zealous One

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“אדיר הוא | Awesome One: an Alphabetical English Interpretation of the piyyut Adir Hu, by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

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Works of related interest:

AmeriCorps member shows us how to construct a lean to shelter (credit: vastateparksstaff, license: CC BY)

אַדִּיר הוּא | Adir Hu, the acrostic piyyut in its Latin translation by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

בּױגעזאנג | Baugesang (Building Song): an alphabetical Yiddish adaptation of the piyyut Adir Hu (1769)

A golden laurel wreath, hellenistic era." (credit: Jebulon, license: CC0)

אַדִּיר בִּמְלוּכָה | Adir Bimlukhah, a Latin translation of the piyyut by Johann Stephan Rittangel (1644)

"Valley Rock Fountain Tetragrammaton" (Lairich Rig, CC BY-SA)

אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ (מִפִּי אֵל)‏ | Ayn Adir kAdonai (Mipi El) :: There is none like YHVH

Manuscript KC18- Book of blessings and piyyutim for shabbat, 9 leaves (in the Magness Collection of Jewish Art and Life)

אֵין אַדִּיר כַּיְיָ (מִפִּי אֵל)‏ | Ayn Adir kAdonai | לָא קָאדִּר סַוָא אַלְלָה (There is none like Allah), minhag Cairo variation with a Judeo-Arabic translation

אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ | Ashrei Yoshvei Veitekha (Psalms 145), an Alphabetical English Translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ | Ashrei Yoshvei Veitekha (Psalms 145), an Alphabetical English translation by Rabbi Sam Seicol

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AmeriCorps member shows us how to construct a lean to shelter (credit: vastateparksstaff, license: CC BY)

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "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