Hatikvah

התקווה
English: The Hope
	Words of the song below an Israeli flag.
	National anthem of Israel
Lyrics	Naftali Herz Imber, 1877
Music	Shmuel Cohen, c. 1887–1888
Adopted	1948
Audio sample
	Instrumental rendition by the United States Navy Band file; help;

"Hatikvah" (Hebrew: התקוה, say: hah-tik-VAH, meaning "The Hope") is a Jewish folk song that is the national anthem of Israel. The words of the song were written by Naftali Herz Imber in 1877, and about a decade later, his words were put to music by Shmuel Cohen. The words of the song are based on a longer poem written by Imber himself.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Background[change | change source]

The song tells about the Jews' two-thousand-year-old hope of returning to their homeland of Israel. The words of the song are based on a nine-stanza poem called "Tikvatenu" (Hebrew: תקותנו, say: tik-və-TEN-oo , meaning "Our Hope"), which was written by Imber himself. "Hatikvah" uses only the first stanza and the refrain of Imber's poem. The last line of the refrain was changed, and the words were put to music. The music is from a very old and popular folk song that Samuel Cohen, a Jew born in Spain, found himself humming one day. It is played in a minor key. The words to the song are about the Jews' hope that one day their sadness will be turned into joy.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Lyrics[change | change source]

Hebrew lyrics	Romanization of Hebrew	IPA transcription
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה, וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה, עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה; עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ, הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם, לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ, אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם. ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]	Kol od balevav penima, Nefesh yehudi homiya, Ulfa‘ate mizrach, kadima, Ayin letziyon tsofiya. Od lo avda tikvatenu Hatikva bat shnot alpayim, Lihyot am chofshi be‘artzenu, Eretz tziyon, virushalayim.	/kol od ba.le.vav pe.ni.ma/ /ne.feʃ je.hu.di ho.mi.ja \|/ /ul.fa.ʔa.te miz.ʁaχ ka.di.ma \|/ /a.jin le.t͡si.jon t͡so.fi.ja \|/ /od lo av.da tik.va.te.nu \|/ /ha.tik.va bat ʃnot al.pa.jim \|/ /lih.jot am χof.ʃi be.ʔaʁ.t͡se.nu \|/ /e.ʁet͡s t͡si.jon vi.ʁu.ʃa.la.jim ‖/

English translations[change | change source]

Literal translation^[1]	Poetic translation
As long as in the heart, within, The soul of a Jew still yearns, And onward, towards the ends of the east, an eye still gazes toward Zion; Our hope is not yet lost, The hope of two thousand years, To be a free nation in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem.	O while within a Jewish breast, Beats true a Jewish heart, And Jewish glances turning East, To Zion fondly dart; O then our Hope—it is not dead, Our ancient Hope and true, To be a nation free forevermore Zion and Jerusalem at our core.

References[change | change source]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 https://www.knesset.gov.il/holidays/eng/hatikva_eng.htm Israel's National Anthem: Hatikva. Knesset. 2009.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 https://www.thetorah.com/article/tikvatenu-the-poem-that-inspired-israels-national-anthem-hatikva Tikvatenu: The Poem that Inspired Israel’s National Anthem, Hatikva. The Torah. Marx, Dalia. 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 http://www.nationalanthems.info/il_'.htm
↑ https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/song/pages/song.aspx?songid=359 התקוה – מילים, ביצועים, פירושים ותווים | אתר הפיוט והתפילה

Other websites[change | change source]

[knesset-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 https://www.knesset.gov.il/holidays/eng/hatikva_eng.htm Israel's National Anthem: Hatikva. Knesset. 2009.

[torah-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 https://www.thetorah.com/article/tikvatenu-the-poem-that-inspired-israels-national-anthem-hatikva Tikvatenu: The Poem that Inspired Israel’s National Anthem, Hatikva. The Torah. Marx, Dalia. 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2020.

[info-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 http://www.nationalanthems.info/il_'.htm

[nli-4] ttps://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/he/song/pages/song.aspx?songid=359 התקוה – מילים, ביצועים, פירושים ותווים | אתר הפיוט והתפילה

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