Adon Olam: A Prayer of Jewish Faith

Adon Olam means "Master of the Universe" (some translate it "Lord of the World"). It is a short Hebrew hymn from the Middle Ages, five stanzas long. It sums up what Israel believes about God: He reigned before creation, He will reign after it, He is one, and He is near enough to trust with your life every night. The full Hebrew lyrics, a transliteration and an English translation are below, followed by what the lines mean and where they come from in Scripture.

The opening words, adon olam asher malach, mean "Master of the Universe, who reigned." That first line sets the theme for everything after it. God was King before there was anyone to call Him King.

Where and When Adon Olam Is Sung

Adon Olam appears in nearly every Jewish prayer book. Many communities open the morning service with it. Many close Shabbat and festival services by singing it together. It also belongs to the prayers said at bedtime, which suits its last stanza perfectly. In some congregations it is sung right after Ma Tovu, the prayer said on entering the synagogue, so the first thing a gathered people does is declare who God is.

No one knows for certain who wrote it. It has often been attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol, the Jewish poet of eleventh-century Spain, but that has never been proven. The craftsmanship is easy to see, though. Every line ends on the same sound (-ra), and the meter is so steady that the hymn is sung to a great many melodies, some slow and stately, some quick enough for children to clap along.

Adon Olam Prayer in Hebrew

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ
בְּטֶרֶם כָּל יְצִיר נִבְרָא
לְעֵת נַעֲשָׂה בְּחֶפְצוֹ כֹּל
אֲזַי מֶלֶךְ שְׁמוֹ נִקְרָא

וְאַחֲרֵי כִּכְלוֹת הַכֹּל
לְבַדּוֹ יִמְלךְ נוֹרָא
וְהוּא הָיָה. וְהוּא הוֶה
וְהוּא יִהְיֶה בְּתִפְאָרָה

וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי
לְהַמְשִׁיל לוֹ לְהַחְבִּירָה
בְּלִי רֵאשִׁית בְּלִי תַכְלִית
וְלוֹ הָעֹז וְהַמִּשְׂרָה

וְהוּא אֵלִי וְחַי גּוֹאֲלִי
וְצוּר חֶבְלִי בְּעֵת צָרָה
וְהוּא נִסִּי וּמָנוֹס לִי
מְנָת כּוֹסִי בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָא

בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי
בְּעֵת אִישָׁן וְאָעִירָה
וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי
ה' לִי וְלֹא אִירָא

Transliteration of Adon Olam

Adon olam asher malach,
beterem kol yetzir nivra.
Le’et na’asah vechef’tzo kol,
azai melech shemo nikra.

Ve’acharei kich’lot hakol,
levado yimloch nora.
Ve’hu hayah, ve’hu hoveh,
ve’hu yihyeh betif’arah.

Ve’hu echad ve’ein sheni,
lehamshil lo lehachbirah.
Bli reisheet, bli tachlit,
velo ha’oz vehamisrah.

Ve’hu Eli vechai go’ali,
v’tzur chevli be’et tzarah.
Ve’hu nisi u’manos li,
menat kosi beyom ekra.

Beyado afkid ruchi,
be’et ishan ve’a’irah.
Ve’im ruchi geviyati,
Adonai li velo ira.

English Translation of Adon Olam

Master of the Universe
who reigned before any form was created,
at the time when all was made by His will,
then was His name proclaimed King.

And after all things cease to be,
He alone, in awe, will reign.
He was, He is, and He shall be
in glory everlasting.

He is One, there is no other,
alone, unique, beyond compare.
Without beginning and without end, His is the power and the rule.

He is my God, my Redeemer lives,
my Rock in times of trouble.
He is my banner, my refuge,
my portion when I call upon Him.

Into His hand I entrust my spirit,
when I sleep and when I wake.
And with my soul, my body too, the Lord is with me, I shall not fear.

Reading It Stanza by Stanza

Before the beginning, after the end

Look closely at the first stanza, because the poet is careful. God did not become King when the world was made. He already reigned "before any form was created." Creation was simply the moment His kingship was proclaimed. The psalmist says the same: "Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting" (Psalm 93:2).

The second stanza runs to the other end of time. When everything has ceased, He alone will reign. Then comes the line many people remember: ve’hu hayah, ve’hu hoveh, ve’hu yihyeh, "He was, He is, and He shall be." These are three forms of the Hebrew verb "to be," the same verb behind God's answer to Moses at the bush, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14), and behind His name.

One, and beyond compare

The third stanza is the Shema set to poetry: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew phrase lehamshil lo lehachbirah means there is no one to liken Him to and no one to pair with Him. Isaiah asks the question the hymn answers: "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One" (Isaiah 40:25). "Without beginning and without end" echoes Isaiah 44:6: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god."

The turn to "my"

Then the whole poem changes key. For three stanzas God has been Master of the Universe. In the fourth He is Eli, "my God." The cosmic King is suddenly the One you can run to.

Every title here has a Scripture behind it. "My Redeemer lives" echoes Job, who said from the ash heap, "I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). "My banner" (nisi) recalls the altar Moses built after the battle with Amalek and named "The LORD is my banner" (Exodus 17:15). A banner told an army where to gather. "My refuge" (manos) sounds like Psalm 59:16, "a refuge in the day of my distress." The phrase translated "my portion" is literally menat kosi, "the portion of my cup," from Psalm 16:5: "The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup."

Into His hand

The last stanza is a prayer for lying down and getting up. "Into His hand I entrust my spirit" adapts Psalm 31:5 (31:6 in Hebrew Bibles). The psalm speaks to God directly, "into your hand," and the hymn turns it into a confession, "into His hand." Body and soul together go into His keeping. The final words, Adonai li velo ira, come from Psalm 118:6: "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear."

What the Apostles Would Have Recognized

We should be honest about dates. Adon Olam is a medieval poem, written roughly a thousand years after Yeshua (Jesus) walked in Galilee. No one in the first century sang it, and we should not read it back into the Gospels. Still, almost every line is built from Scriptures that Rabbi Yeshua and the apostles read, prayed and quoted, so a first-century disciple would have recognized nearly all of it.

When a scribe asked Yeshua which commandment was first, He answered with the Shema, "The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Mark 12:29). That is the confession at the center of the hymn's third stanza.

The line "He was, He is, and He shall be" has a close cousin in the New Testament. John greets the churches "from him who is and who was and who is to come" (Revelation 1:4), and the Lord Himself says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega... who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). Later He says, "I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22:13), language taken straight from Isaiah 44:6.

The strongest connection is Psalm 31:5. As Yeshua died, Luke tells us He cried out, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46). Stephen prayed in the same spirit as he was stoned: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). Peter told suffering believers to "entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good" (1 Peter 4:19). Notice that he calls God the Creator. That is the shape of Adon Olam: the One who made everything is the One who can be trusted with you. Centuries later, Jewish tradition placed the same verse in the prayers said at bedtime, and this hymn sets it there too.

Praying Adon Olam at Home

You do not need a synagogue or a prayer book to pray these words. They are Scripture in poetic form, and they belong to anyone who trusts the God of Israel.

In the morning, sing or read the first three stanzas before the day starts making demands. Some families say them right after the traditional prayer upon awakening. One thanks God for the return of your soul. The other reminds you whose world you are waking up in.

At night, the last stanza does what it was shaped to do. Children pick up the transliteration quickly, because the rhyme carries them. Try learning one stanza a week together, and look up its verses in your Bible as you go: Psalm 93, Isaiah 44, Exodus 17, Psalm 16, Psalm 31, Psalm 118.

Tonight, read Psalm 31 slowly and stop at verse 5. Then say the last stanza of Adon Olam, aloud if you can. Before you sleep, ask yourself one question: what am I still holding that belongs in His hand?

Questions people ask

What does Adon Olam mean in English?

Adon Olam means "Master of the Universe" or "Lord of the World." It is the name of a medieval Hebrew hymn that praises God as eternal King and then turns to Him as a personal Redeemer, Rock and refuge.

What does "adon olam asher malach" mean?

It is the opening line of the hymn and means "Master of the Universe, who reigned." The line continues "before any form was created," stressing that God was already King before the world existed.

Where can I find Adon Olam lyrics in transliteration and English?

The full lyrics are on this page in three versions: the Hebrew text, a line-by-line transliteration for those who don't read Hebrew, and an English translation. All five stanzas are included.

When is Adon Olam sung?

Many communities sing it to open the morning service, and many sing it together at the close of Shabbat and festival services. It is also part of the prayers said at bedtime, which fits its final stanza about entrusting your spirit to God when you sleep and wake.

Can Christians pray Adon Olam?

Yes. The hymn is built almost entirely from the Hebrew Scriptures, including Deuteronomy 6:4, Job 19:25 and Psalm 31:5. Yeshua (Jesus) prayed the words of Psalm 31:5 from the cross (Luke 23:46), so believers will find familiar ground in its last stanza.