אדון עולם אשר מלך בטרם כל יצור נברא
Some years ago Prof. Marc B. Shapiro dealt with the
translation of the opening words of the well known Adon Olam prayer in a post on the Seforim Blog. He began with the premise that the proper translation must be “Eternal
Lord”, but goes on to explain that based upon the expert opinion of Rabbi Meir
Mazuz, he is forced to admit that Artscroll’s translation “Master of the
Universe” and other similar renderings are in fact more correct. The central
point is that the sages of the post biblical era who composed Adon Olam
understood “olam” to mean “world” or “universe”, although in the Biblical Canon
it usually means “eternal”, or “forever”. Subsequently, another blogger by the
name of Zack (Sholem) Berger, took issue with Shapiro’s conclusion. Here
again the premise is that the rendering of “olam” as “eternal” is “more
plausible”.
While neither Shapiro, nor Berger, justify their premise, their
line of reasoning should be clear enough: The words “adon olam” are directly
qualified by the continuation of the verse “asher malach beterem kol yetzur nivrah” – since G-d is described here as the one “who who reigned before any
form was created”, G-d cannot be simultaneously described as Master (or Lord)
of the as yet non-existent universe.
Long before this issue was raised in the blogosphere it was
addressed in a Chasidic discourse (mamer) delivered by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak
Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch. In that discourse (see Sefer Hamamrim 5703, pages 10-11) the Rayatz points out that even if
we were to translate “adon olam” as “Eternal Lord”, we would still be left with
an unresolved contradiction implicit in the qualifying description itself: The
concept of kingship – reign – applies to a particular form of relationship that
can only be achieved by a ruler in relation to a group of people who, save for
the dynamic of kingship would exist as entirely separate and independent selves.
The designation “who reigned” (“asher malach”) cannot be applied to the Eternal
Lord absent the creation of ostensibly independent entities (“before any form
was created”) over which He may reign.
