Hymn of Glory (Shir ha-kavod)

Unknown

Late 12th Century

I’ll sing hymns and weave songs,
   for my soul yearns for You. My soul craves Your hand’s shade,
   to know all Your mysterious secrets. As I keep speaking of Your glory,
   my heart churns for Your love.
Therefore, I’ll speak dignifed things about You,
    and I’ll dignify Your name with songs of friendship.
I’ll tell of your glory, though I haven’t seen You.
    I’ll give you metaphors and nicknames, though I don’t know You.
Through the hand of Your prophets, the assembly of Your servant,
   You gave metaphors about Your beautiful, splendid glory.
They gave nicknames to Your greatness and Your power, in accordance with Your mighty deeds.
They made metaphors about You, but not about Your essence; they made comparisons about You, but [only] in accordance with Your deeds.
They gave metaphors about You in many visions—but You are one, throughout all the metaphors.
They saw both old age and youth in You; they saw Your head’s hair as both hoary and black.
Old age on judgment day, youth on battle day, like a man of war whose hands are sufficient.
He wore a victor’s helmet on His head; His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory.
His head is full of dew of light, and his locks of nighttime droplets.
He takes pride in me, since He wants me. He will be a crown of glory for me.
The image of His head is like pure gold, and He has His glorious holy name inscribed on His orehead.
With beauty and honor, glory and splendor, His nation has bedecked him with a crown.
The locks on His head are like those of youth. His curls are dark ringlets.
His righteous home [Jerusalem] of glorious splendor—may He make it prominent over His chief joy.
May His treasured people be a crown in His hand, a royal diadem of glorious splendor.
He bore them as a load and donned them as a crown; they were so precious in His eyes, and accordingly He showed them honor.
I wear His praise, and He wears mine.1 He is close to me when I call out to Him.
He is dazzling and red, and His garments are red, when he treads the winepress [of His enemies’ blood] when He comes from Edom [Christendom].
He showed the knot of his tefllin to the meek one [Moses]—an image of the Lord in front of
his eyes! He is pleased with His people, and He beautifes the meek. He sits enthroned on praises, by which He is glorifed.
The opening of Your words is truth.2 From the beginning, it predicted all the generations. Seek the people who seek You!
Place my many songs upon You and let my singing approach You! May my praise become a crown for Your head, and my prayer be set in front of You as incense.
May the pauper’s song be precious in Your eyes, as a song sung over Your sacrifices.
May my blessing reach the head of the provider, the creator, the progenitor, the mighty righteous One.
And may You nod your head at my blessing, and accept it as prime spices.
May my speech be pleasing to You—for my soul yearns for You!
Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[According to b. Berakhot 6a, Israel wears tefllin, which praise God as the unique god, and God wears tefllin, which praise Israel as the unique nation.—Trans.]

[Genesis begins with the words “In the beginning, God created,” whose fnal letters spell the Hebrew word emet, “ t r u t h.”—Tr a n s .]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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The “Hymn of Glory” gives expression to a central aspect of German Pietist theology, namely, that the divine glory (kavod), an aspect of God, was accessible to Israel’s prophets. Building on older traditions, the Pietists invoked the kavod in order to solve the problem of anthropomorphism; for them, it was the kavod that had been personifed and witnessed in the past, not the more sublime aspects of God. This poem begins with a confession that God cannot truly be described but then goes on to enumerate biblical visions of the divine. It remains popular to this day, despite some controversy regarding its theological claims.

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