כְּהשַֽׁעְתָּ אֵלִים | Kehoshata Élim (Savior of mighty ones…), a hoshana piyyuṭ for the second day of Sukkot by Elazar Kilir (translated by Elsie Davis)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Elsie Davis (translation) and Elazar ben Qallir

Shared on:

4 November 2025 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Tags:

45th century A.M., 7th century C.E., הושענות hoshanot, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
	for the Second Day:
אֶֽבֶן שְׁתִיָּה בֵּית הַבְּחִירֲה גֹּֽרֶן אָרְנָן דְּבִיר הַמֻּצְנָע הַר הַמּוֹרִיָּה וְהַר יֵרָאֶה זְבוּל תִּפְאַרְתֶּֽיךָ חָנָה דָּוִד טוֹב הַלְּבָנוֹן יְפֵה נוֹף מְשׂוֹשֹ כׇּל הָאָֽרֶץ כְּלִילַת יֹֽפִי לִינַת הַצֶּֽדֶק	Save the world’s corner-stone,^[1] The Temple; cf. T.B. Yoma 54b. the house of thy choice, the threshing-floor of Ornan,^[2] The Jebusite from whom David bought the site of the Temple. 1 Chr. 21:22. the veiled shrine, even Mount Moriah, hill of revelation and abode of thy majesty, where once David dwelt, goodliest of Lebanon, lovely height, the joy of the whole earth, perfection of beauty, lodging-place of righteousness.
מָכוֹן לְשִׁבְתְּךָ נְוֵה שַׁאֲנָן סֻכַּת שָׁלֵם עֲלִיַּת שְׁבָטִים פִּנַּת יִקְרַת צִיּוֹן הַמְצֻיֶּֽנֶת קֹֽדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים רָצוּף אַהֲבָה שְׁכִינַת כְּבוֹדֶֽךָ הוֹשַׁענָא תֵּל תַּלְפִּיּוֹת הוֹשַׁענָא׃	Help thine established dwelling, the tranquil habitation, the tabernacle of Salem, the goal of the tribe’s ascent, precious corner-stone,^[3] Isaiah 28:16. even Ẓion, monument of our greatness, the holy of Holies, with love overlaid, home of thy glory. O save her, yea save her embattled hill.
אָנִי וָהוֹ הוֹשִֽׁיעָה נָּא׃	O Eternal, we beseech thee, save us now.
כְּהשַֽׁעְתָּ אֵלִים בְּלוּד עִמָּךְ בְּצֵאתְךָ לְיֵֽשַׁע עַמָּךְ כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	Saviour of mighty ones that dwelt with Thee In Lud,^[4] Egypt. the land whence Thou didst set them free; So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ גּוֹי וֵאלֹהִים דְּרוּשִׁים לְיֵֽשַׁע אֱלֹהִים כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	As Thou didst save together God and nation, The people singled out for God‘s salvation; So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ הֲמוֹן צְבָאוֹת וְעִמָּם מַלְאֲכֵי צְבָאוֹת כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	The hosts of Thy redeemed, with manifold Angelic hosts were saved by Thee of old. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ זַכִּים מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים חַנּוּן בְּיָדָם מַעֲבִידִים כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	From bondage grim Thy power brought forth the pure, Thou, Gracious One, didst all their grief endure. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ טְבוּעִים בְּצוּל גְּזָרִים יְקָרְךָ עִמָּם מַעֲבִירִים כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	They passed between the deep divided sea; And with them for their guide, the light from Thee. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ כַּנָּה מְשׁוֹרֶֽרֶת וַֽיּוֹשַׁע לְגוֹחָהּ מְצֻיֶּֽנֶת וַיִּוָּשַׁע כֵּן הוֹשַענָא׃	“He saved”: Thy stock^[5] Israel. with joyful singing told: Then saved was He, who gave them birth of old. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ מַאֲמַר וְהוֹצֵֽאתִי אֶתְכֶם נָקוּב וְהוּצֵֽאתִי אִתְּכֶם כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	“And I will bring you out,” the mandate said: “And I went out with you,” the mystics read. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ סוֹבֲבֵי מִזְבֵּֽחַ עוֹמְסֵי עֲרָבָה לְהַקִּיף מִזְבֵּֽחַ כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	Thy sons with circling step, (their guardian Thou!) Around Thine altar bore the willow bough. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ פִּלְאֵי אָרוֹן כְּהֻפְשַׁע צִעֵר פְלֶֽשֶׁת בַּחֲרוֹן אַף וְנוֹשַׁע כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	Thine Ark was won by marvels from the foe, Philistia, sinful, by Thy wrath laid low. So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ קְהִלּוֹת בָּבֶֽלָה שִׁלַּֽחְתִָּ רַחוּם לְמַעֲנָם שֻׁלַּֽחְתָּ כֵּן הוֹשַׁענָא׃	And with Thy banished throngs to Babylon Journeyed in love Thy Presence, Gracious One! So save Thou us!
כְּהוֹשַֽׁעְתָּ שְׁבוּת שִׁבְטֵי יַעֲקֹב תָּשׁוּב וְתָשִׁיב שְׁבוּת אָהֳלֵי יַעֲקֹב וְהוֹשִֽׁיעָה נָּא׃	Helper of Jacob’s captive tribes of yore, Return, and Jacob’s exiled tents restore, And save Thou us!
	[Saviour of them that sought to do Thy will And yearned for Thy salvation, save us still! O save Thou us!]
אָנִי וָהוֹ הוֹשִֽׁיעָה נָּא׃	O Eternal, we beseech thee, save us now.

This is the piyyut “Kehoshata Elim (Savior of mighty ones…)” by Eleazar Kalir for the hoshanot on the second day of Sukkot, published in Adler and Davis’s Maḥzor for Sukkot, Avodat Ḥag ha-Sukkot (1908), pp. 144-145 and again for Hoshana Rabba on pp. 175-176.

Source(s)

Notes

Notes
1	The Temple; cf. T.B. Yoma 54b.
2	The Jebusite from whom David bought the site of the Temple. 1 Chr. 21:22.
3	Isaiah 28:16.
4	Egypt.
5	Israel.

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.)

Elsie Davis (translation)

Elsie Naomi Davis Schryver (1876-1933), born in Derby, England, was a Jewish translator of liturgy and a mother. She was born at Friarfield House, Derby, the oldest of two children of Louisa (née Jonas) and Arthur Davis. Her father's family were secular Jewish precision instrument makers, who had immigrated to England from Bavaria in the early nineteenth century. A civil engineer by trade, Arthur Davis became religiously observant and mastered the Hebrew language, becoming an accomplished Hebraist noted for his study of cantillation marks in the Tanakh. The family moved to Kilburn, London when Nina was six weeks old, later settling in Bayswater. There, Davis gave his daughters an intensive scholarly education in Hebrew and Jewish studies, teaching them himself each morning before breakfast from the age of four, and taking them regularly to the synagogue. The Davis's moved in learned Jewish circles, and friends of Nina's parents included the families of Nathan Adler, Simeon Singer, Claude Montefiore, Solomon Schechter, Herbert Bentwich, and Elkan Adler. Arthur Davis was one of the "Kilburn Wanderers"—a group of Anglo-Jewish intellectuals that formed around Solomon Schechter in the 1880s—members of which took an interest in Nina's work and helped her find publication for her writings. Eleven of Elsie's translations of piyyutim are credited in the maḥzorim of Herbert Adler and her father Arthur Davis. With her husband, Samuel Barnett Schryver, she was the parent of two daughters, Rosalind Leah Schryver and Priscilla Naomi Schryver. Elsie was the older sister of Nina Salaman Davis (1877-1925), who also translated medieval piyyutim.

Elazar ben Qallir

Elazar ben Qallir, also known as Eleazar Kalir, Killir, Qalir or El'azar HaKalir (c. 570 – c. 640) was a Hebrew poet whose classical liturgical verses, known as piyut, have continued to be sung through the centuries during significant religious services, including those on Tisha b'Av and on the sabbath after a wedding. He was one of Judaism's earliest and most prolific of the paytanim, Hebrew liturgical poets. He wrote piyutim for all the main Jewish festivals, for special Sabbaths, for weekdays of festive character, and for the fasts. Many of his hymns have found their way into festive prayers of the Ashkenazi Jews' nusaḥ. (via wikipedia).

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=64319

Associated Image:

construction of the Tower of Babel with pulleys and levers, a mosaic in the synagogue at Huqoq, ca. 5th c. CE (photo credit: Jim Haberman)

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Elsie Davis (translation) and Elazar ben Qallir.
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=64319>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

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)