A counting song in thirteen verses, sung near the end of the seder when the reading is finished and the table wants a competition. Each verse asks who knows a number, answers with what that number counts in Jewish tradition, and then recites everything below it back down to one. By verse thirteen that is forty-five words without a breath, and the whole point is to see who can still get there.
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Key: Am · 3 chords used ·Am · Dm · E
132 BPM · 4/4 · fast and getting faster · thirteen verses, each one counting back down to one, so the last verse is forty-five words in a single breath · to reset the chord panel:
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Who knows one? I know one: one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
The frame that never changes: who knows N, I know N, N is X — and then the countdown. שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם (she-ba-sha-ma-yim) and וּבָאָרֶץ (u-va-a-retz) close every one of the thirteen verses, so if you can say the first verse you can end all of them.
Who knows two? I know two: two are the tablets of the covenant. One is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
The tablets Moses brought down from Sinai. Note that שְׁנַיִם (shna-yim) and שְׁנֵי (shnei) are the same number in two forms — the free-standing form and the construct, used before the thing counted. Hebrew changes the shape of a number depending on what follows it, and this song shows the pair side by side thirteen times.
Who knows three? I know three: three are the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From here every verse is the previous verse with one line stacked on top, which is the same engine as Chad Gadya later in the evening.
Who knows four? I know four: four are the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. Four and three sit together in every remaining verse, so the mothers are never recited without the fathers following.
Who knows five? I know five: five are the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
חוּמְשֵׁי (chum-shei) is literally "fifths of" — the five fifths of the Torah, which is how Hebrew names the Pentateuch. It counts the parts rather than the books.
Who knows six? I know six: six are the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
The six divisions of the Mishnah, which is why the whole work is nicknamed by a word meaning "six orders". This verse is where the song stops counting things everyone knows and starts counting things you learn in a study hall.
Who knows seven? I know seven: seven are the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
Who knows eight? I know eight: eight are the days to circumcision, seven the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
Eight days until a boy is circumcised, and nine months until a child is born in the next verse. The song counts a human life alongside the tablets and the Mishnah without any change of tone.
Who knows nine? I know nine: nine are the months of childbirth, eight the days to circumcision, seven the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
Who knows ten? I know ten: ten are the commandments, nine the months of childbirth, eight the days to circumcision, seven the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
תִּשְׁעָה (tish-a) is Aramaic, not Hebrew — the word for the commandments here takes an Aramaic ending, as do the stars, the tribes and the attributes in the last three verses. The song switches language as it climbs.
Who knows eleven? I know eleven: eleven are the stars in Joseph's dream, ten the commandments, nine the months of childbirth, eight the days to circumcision, seven the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
The eleven stars are Joseph's dream in Genesis 37 — his eleven brothers bowing to him. It is the only entry on the list that refers to a single scene rather than to a category.
Who knows twelve? I know twelve: twelve are the tribes, eleven the stars, ten the commandments, nine the months of childbirth, eight the days to circumcision, seven the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
Who knows thirteen? I know thirteen: thirteen are the attributes, twelve the tribes, eleven the stars, ten the commandments, nine the months of childbirth, eight the days to circumcision, seven the days of the week, six the orders of the Mishnah, five the books of the Torah, four the matriarchs, three the patriarchs, two the tablets of the covenant, one is our God, in the heavens and on the earth.
The thirteen attributes of mercy, from Exodus 34. Forty-five words in one verse, and the table is racing by now. The song ends where it began, on שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם (she-ba-sha-ma-yim) and וּבָאָרֶץ (u-va-a-retz), which have closed every verse since the first.
♫ Singing notes
It is a race. The tempo climbs verse by verse and the last three are usually a shambles, which is the intended outcome.
The countdown is the hard part; the question is the easy part. A table that has lost the thread rejoins at מִי (mi), since every verse opens the same way.
One person usually leads the question and the whole table answers. Swapping the lead each verse is common and makes it harder, which is the point.
In some communities each number gets its own melodic turn. If the table has one, follow it — do not flatten thirteen verses into one shape.
♦ About this song
Where it sits
In Nirtzah, the closing section of the seder, with Adir Hu before it and Chad Gadya after. All three are late additions, all three are counting or list songs, and all three arrive when the formal reading is over.
Two languages
The frame is Hebrew and several of the answers are Aramaic — the commandments, the stars, the tribes and the attributes all take Aramaic plural endings. That mixture is a clue to how the song was assembled rather than composed, over time and from more than one source.
Not only Jewish
Cumulative counting songs of this exact form exist across medieval Europe in several languages, some religious and some not. Which direction the borrowing ran is not settled, and this page does not claim it is.
Hebrew: Haggadah, Nirtzah, Echad Mi Yodea · Pesach Haggadah · Public Domain, via Sefaria, pinned in this repo at content/songs/source/022.json.
English gloss lines authored for this site; the source translation is used as raw material only. Transliteration generated by this site's own engine (assets/translit.js).