Ein Keloheinu: There Is None Like Our God

Ein Keloheinu means "There is none like our God." It is a short Hebrew hymn of five stanzas that calls God by four names (our God, our Lord, our King, our Savior) and then closes with one surprising line about the incense offered in the Temple. In Ashkenazi synagogues it is sung near the end of the morning service on Shabbat and festivals. In many Sephardi communities it is said every day. The full Hebrew, a transliteration you can sing from, and an English translation are below.

Where the hymn comes from

No one knows who wrote Ein Keloheinu. It already appears in Jewish prayer books from the Geonic period, the ninth and tenth centuries. That is centuries after the New Testament, so this is not a song Yeshua (Jesus) or the apostles sang. What they would have recognized at once is its vocabulary. The questions, the titles and the thanksgiving all come straight out of the Psalms, the Song of the Sea and the prophets.

The hymn went wherever Jewish communities went. Sephardi Jews sing it with a Ladino version, "Non komo muestro Dio," and many still do. Ashkenazi congregations have several tunes of their own. That is why a search for the Ein Keloheinu "song" can turn up melodies that sound nothing alike.

You will also see it spelled Ein Kelokeinu, with lines like "hu Elokeinu." Many observant Jews change the "h" sound to a "k" when they say a name of God outside of actual prayer, out of reverence. It is the same hymn.

Ein Keloheinu Prayer in Hebrew

אֵין כֵּאלֹהֵינוּ
אֵין כַּאֲדוֹנֵינוּ
אֵין כְּמַלְכֵּנוּ
אֵין כְּמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ

מִי כֵּאלֹהֵינוּ
מִי כַּאֲדוֹנֵינוּ
מִי כְּמַלְכֵּנוּ
מִי כְּמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ

נוֹדֶה לֶאֱלֹהֵינוּ
נוֹדֶה לַאֲדוֹנֵינוּ
נוֹדֶה לְמַלְכֵּנוּ
נוֹדֶה לְמוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ

בָּרוּךְ אֱלֹהֵינוּ
בָּרוּךְ אֲדוֹנֵינוּ
בָּרוּךְ מַלְכֵּנוּ
בָּרוּךְ מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ

אַתָּה הוּא אֱלֹהֵינוּ
אַתָּה הוּא אֲדוֹנֵינוּ
אַתָּה הוּא מַלְכֵּנוּ
אַתָּה הוּא מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ

אַתָּה הוּא שֶׁהִקְטִירוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְפָנֶיךָ אֶת קְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים

Ein Keloheinu Transliteration

Ein keloheinu.
Ein ka'adoneinu.
Ein kemalkenu.
Ein kemoshi'enu

Mi keloheinu.
Mi ka'adoneinu.
Mi kemalkenu.
Mi kemoshi'enu

Nodeh le'eloheinu.
Nodeh la'adoneinu.
Nodeh lemalkenu.
Nodeh lemoshi'enu

Baruch eloheinu.
Baruch adoneinu.
Baruch malkenu.
Baruch moshi'enu

Ata hu eloheinu.
Ata hu adoneinu.
Ata hu malkenu.
Ata hu moshi'enu

Attah hu shehiktiru avoteinu lefaneicha et ketoret hassammim

English Translation: There Is None Like Our God

There is none like our God.
There is none like our Lord.
There is none like our King.
There is none like our Savior.

Who is like our God?
Who is like our Lord?
Who is like our King?
Who is like our Savior?

We will give thanks to our God.
We will give thanks to our Lord.
We will give thanks to our King.
We will give thanks to our Savior.

Blessed is our God.
Blessed is our Lord.
Blessed is our King.
Blessed is our Savior.

You are our God.
You are our Lord.
You are our King.
You are our Savior.

You are the One before whom our ancestors offered the incense of spices.

Five stanzas that move in one direction

At first glance the hymn looks like the same four words repeated five times. Read it slowly and you will see it going somewhere.

It opens with a flat statement: there is none like our God. Then it turns that statement into a question, "Who is like our God?", the question Moses and Israel sang on the far shore of the sea in Exodus 15:11. (The synagogue sings that verse every day in Mi Chamocha: Who is Like You?.) Once the answer is settled, the only fitting response is thanks, so the third stanza gives thanks. The fourth blesses Him. And the fifth does something the first four do not. It stops talking about God and starts talking to Him: "You are our God."

That is a good pattern for any prayer. Truth, then wonder, then gratitude, then blessing, and finally a direct, personal word.

The Hebrew hides one more detail. The first letters of the first three stanzas (Ein, Mi, Nodeh) spell amen. The first letters of the next two (Baruch, Atah) spell ba, "comes." Some early prayer books put the "Who is like" stanza first. The order most congregations sing today seems to have been arranged at least partly to produce this acrostic, and Jewish commentators have offered several explanations for it over the centuries.

Four names for one God

Every stanza runs through the same four titles: Eloheinu (our God), Adoneinu (our Lord), Malkeinu (our King) and Moshi'enu (our Savior). Isaiah 33:22 strings similar titles together: "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us." In Hebrew, "he will save us" is yoshi'enu, the same word family as Moshi'enu.

Each title says something different. God is the One we worship. Lord is the One we answer to. King is the One whose rule we live under, the same title Israel leans on every fall in Avinu Malkeinu: Our Father, Our King. Savior is the One we cannot do without.

Why the last line mentions incense

After all that simple praise, the final line sounds like it wandered in from somewhere else: "You are the One before whom our ancestors offered the incense of spices." It is actually a doorway. In the traditional service, Ein Keloheinu leads straight into Pittum HaKetoret, a reading from the Talmud that lists the spices of the Temple incense. Exodus 30:34-38 gives the original instructions for that holy incense.

Scripture ties incense and prayer together again and again. "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense" (Psalm 141:2). When Zechariah went into the sanctuary to burn incense, "the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense" (Luke 1:9-10). Peter and John went up to the Temple "at the hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1). The early believers in Yeshua and the Second Temple were bound up together long before the synagogue added this line. In Revelation 5:8 the golden bowls of incense before the throne are "the prayers of saints."

So when a congregation sings this last line, it says that its prayers today stand in the same line as the incense once offered in Jerusalem.

Our Savior, and the name Yeshua

A Christian singing this hymn will hear something familiar in Moshi'enu. It comes from the same Hebrew root as Yeshua, the name the angel gave "for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). When old Simeon held the baby in the Temple, he said, "mine eyes have seen thy salvation" (Luke 2:30), and in Hebrew "salvation" is yeshu'ah.

Peter preached that "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). He was speaking as a Jew to Jews, in the language of Israel's Scriptures. The God of Israel is the Savior, and the apostles proclaimed that He had brought that salvation through Yeshua. A disciple can sing "there is none like our Savior" with a full heart.

Singing it at home

The repetition that makes the hymn look simple is exactly what makes it easy to learn. Once you know the four titles and the five opening words (Ein, Mi, Nodeh, Baruch, Atah), you know the whole song. Children often pick it up after a few weeks.

A few ways to use it:

• Sing it on Shabbat morning, or at the table before the Shabbat midday meal, since that is the part of the week it belongs to.
• Teach your children one stanza at a time, with the English line after each Hebrew one.
• Use its five movements for your own prayer: say what is true about God in your situation, ask "who is like You?", give specific thanks, bless Him, then speak to Him directly as your King and Savior.

In the synagogue the morning service moves on to Aleinu soon afterward, so you are near the close of the service here. Before you sing it this week, read Exodus 15:1-18 and Isaiah 33:17-22 aloud. Then ask yourself which of the four titles you have been slowest to say to Him lately, and start there.

Questions people ask

What does Ein Keloheinu mean?

Ein Keloheinu means "There is none like our God." The hymn declares that no one compares to God, asks "Who is like our God?", gives thanks, blesses Him, and ends by speaking to Him directly as our God, Lord, King and Savior.

Where can I find the Ein Keloheinu transliteration and lyrics?

The full Hebrew text, a line-by-line transliteration and an English translation are on this page. Each stanza swaps one opening word (Ein, Mi, Nodeh, Baruch, Ata hu) and repeats the same four titles, so it is easy to learn by heart.

When is Ein Keloheinu sung?

In Ashkenazi synagogues it is sung near the end of the morning service on Shabbat and festivals. Many Sephardi communities say it every day. Its final line leads into a reading about the Temple incense.

Why is it sometimes spelled Ein Kelokeinu?

Many observant Jews replace the "h" sound with a "k" when saying a name of God outside of actual prayer, as a sign of reverence. That is why you will see spellings like Kelokeinu and Elokeinu. It is the same hymn.

Is there a Ladino version of Ein Keloheinu?

Yes. Sephardi Jews sing a Ladino version, "Non komo muestro Dio," often alternating with the Hebrew. It carries the same meaning: there is none like our God.