אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם (אשכנז)‏ | Adōn Olam, translated by Alice Lucas (1894)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=36087

Date: 2021-03-12

Last Updated: 2025-02-18

Categories: Bedtime Shema, Morning Baqashot, Arvit l'Shabbat, Musaf l'Shabbat

Tags: 11th century C.E., 49th century A.M., ABCB rhyming scheme, cosmological, Openers, rhyming translation, אדון עולם Adon Olam, חתימות ḥatimot (concluding prayers), פיוטים piyyutim

Excerpt: The cosmological piyyut, Adon Olam, in its Ashkenazi variation in Hebrew with an English translation. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ בְּטֶֽרֶם כׇּל־יְצִיר נִבְרָא׃ לְעֵת נַֽעֲשָׂה כְּחֶפְצוֹ כֹּל אֲזַי מֶֽלֶךְ שְׁמוֹ נִקְרָא׃	Lord of the universe, who reigned Ere earth and heaven’s fashioning, When to create the world he deigned, Then was his name proclaimed King.
וְאַֽחֲרֵי כִּכְלּוֹת הַכֹּל לְבַדּוֹ יִמְלֹךְ נוֹרָא׃ וְהוּא הָיָה וְהוּא הֹוֶה וְהוּא יִֽהְיֶה בְּתִפְאֲרָה׃	And at the end of days shall he The dreaded one, still reign alone, Who was, who is, and still will be Unchanged upon his glorious throne.
וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי לְהַמְשִׁיל לוֹ לְהַחְבִּירָה׃ בְּלִי רֵאשִׁית בְּלִי תַּכְלִית וְלוֹ הָעֹז וְהַמִּשְׂרָה׃	And he is one, his powers transcend, Supreme, unfathomed, depth and height; Without beginning, without end, His are dominion, power and might.
וְהוּא אֵלִי וְחַי גּֽוֹאֲלִי וְצוּר חֶבְלִי בְּיוֹם צָרָה׃ וְהוּא נִסִּי וּמָנוֹס לִי מְנָת כּוֹסִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא׃	My God and my Redeemer he, My Rock in sorrow’s darkest day, A help and refuge unto me, My cup’s full portion when I pray.
בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי בְּעֵת אִישַׁן וְאָעִֽירָה׃ וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי אֲדֹנָי לִי וְלֹא אִירָא׃	My soul into his hand divine Do I commend: I will not fear, My body with it I resign, I dread no evil: God is near.

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“Adon Olam” is a piyyut that became popular in the 15th century and is often attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058) and less often to Sherira Gaon (900-1001), or his son, Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038). The variation of the piyyut appearing here is the 10 line (5 stanza) version familiar to Ashkenazi congregations. (Sefaradi siddurim have 12 line (six stanza) variants, and there are some with 14 or 15 lines.) The translation appearing here by Alice Lucas (1851-1935) is as found on page 4 of the The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth of Nations (2nd Revised Edition, 1962), compiled by Rabbi Israel Brodie. This translation was first published in her anthology, Songs of Zion by Hebrew singers of Mediaeval times (1894).

Source(s)

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Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Alice Lucas (translation)
  Bio: Alice Julia Lucas (née Montefiore) (2 August 1851 – 25 March 1935) was a British Jewish poet, translator, and communal worker. Alice Julia Montefiore was born in 1851, the elder daughter of Nathaniel M. Montefiore and Emma Goldsmid. Alongside her brother Claude Montefiore, she studied Judaism under Solomon Schechter at the Hochschule in Berlin. On 24 April 1873 she married barrister Henry Lucas, who later served as treasurer and vice-president of the United Synagogue. In 1900 she helped establish the Jewish Study Society, modelled after the Council of Jewish Women, of which she served as the first president. Lucas also sat on the women's committee of the Westminster Jews' Free School and its preparatory nursery, the Jews' Infant School.
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Lucas_(poet)
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/alice-lucas
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
  Bio: 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.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

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Title: 1024px-Observable_universe_logarithmic_illustration
Caption: "Observable Universe Logarithmic Illustration" by Pablo Carlos Budassi, a CC BY-SA licensed logarithmic scale conception of the observable universe with the Solar System at the center, inner and outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri, Perseus Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy, nearby galaxies, Cosmic Web, Cosmic microwave radiation and Big Bang's invisible plasma on the edge.