Up high in heaven is Your throne of glory

Ḥiyya ben al-Dā’ūdi

First Half of the 12th Century

About This Entry

This poem is a kedushah that would be inserted near the recitation of Isaiah 6:3 (“And one called unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory”) in the liturgy. The author plays with the ascription of that verse to the divine retinue, expanding on the idea that Israel and the angels praise God in the same way. God’s rule is said to extend through heaven and earth, and even the great divine beings tremble in front of the divine glory. The opening words of the first, second, and fourth stanzas derive from Job 11:8; the absence of this phrase in the third stanza calls attention to the impermanence of the human realm.

Up high in heaven is Your throne of glory,
and in the lands of earth are the footstool of Your kingdom and glory.
These [on high] testify to all Your glory.
And these [on earth] tell whose is the glory.
The Lord of hosts is the King of glory!
Up high in heaven are angels, hewn of fire and wind,
wind in fire and fire in wind.
Flashing is the fame, flying is the wind.
The cherub is for riding, prepared for every wind.1
He bequeathed them a good gift—to serve Him with one shoulder.
The lands of earth, dry land, and water,
are a great retinue for You, wide.
For Your kingdom extends on all sides,
from the depths of the earth to the heights of heaven.
Only You will survive, when they all perish entirely!
Up high in heaven the formidable [angels] are aflame.
They stand forever in front of [God’s] glory.
They sparkle and run, and tremble and return,
and one calls out to another to declare His sanctity, and they say:
O divine beings, give glory to the Lord!
Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[“Wind” in the sense of spirit or soul, referring to every person. This is prepared so that everyone may serve Him.—Trans.]

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

Engage with this Source

This poem is a kedushah that would be inserted near the recitation of Isaiah 6:3 (“And one called unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory”) in the liturgy. The author plays with the ascription of that verse to the divine retinue, expanding on the idea that Israel and the angels praise God in the same way. God’s rule is said to extend through heaven and earth, and even the great divine beings tremble in front of the divine glory. The opening words of the first, second, and fourth stanzas derive from Job 11:8; the absence of this phrase in the third stanza calls attention to the impermanence of the human realm.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Liturgical Poetry (Piyyut)

7th to 12th Century

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