Lyrics
Celotno besedilo pesmi »Abraham ma sedem sinov« z angleškim prevodom.
Abraham 'ma sedem sinov, sedem sinov Abraham, vsi so jedli vsi so pili, vsi so delali tako… vsi tako, vsi tako, vsi so delali tako…
#Niso pili, niso jedli, niso jedli, niso jedli, niso pili, niso jedli, niso delali tako…
#English translation
Abraham has seven sons, seven sons has Abraham, they all ate, they all drank, they all did it like this… all like this, all like this, they all did it like this… They didn't drink, they didn't eat, they didn't eat, they didn't eat, they didn't drink, they didn't eat, they didn't do it like this…
#Abraham ma sedem sinov at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia
- Sung in
- Slovenian
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- not documented
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- dancing, playful
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
How to sing it
- On "vsi so delali tako" ("they all did it like this") the leader shows a movement — waving an arm, nodding, tapping a foot — and everyone copies it.
- Sing the song again with a new movement each time.
Meaning and origin
The words barely matter here: Abraham has seven sons who ate, drank, and “all did it like this” — and on that line everyone performs the same action together, whatever the leader chooses, from waving an arm to nodding a head. The text on the Slovenske narodne pesmi archive, sung by a children’s choir, adds a second verse that turns it all around: they didn’t drink, they didn’t eat, they didn’t do it like this. It is less a song than a group challenge — do what everyone else is doing, and keep going.
The same game exists in other languages. In Dutch it is “Vader Abraham had zeven zonen”, which Wikipedia credits to Pierre Kartner in 1971 — the song from which he took his stage name — and in English it is sung as “Father Abraham had seven sons”. How the Slovenian words came to be, and when, is not documented; the archive that carries them records no author. What is certain is that a child can join in without knowing a word of Slovenian, simply by copying what everyone else is doing.
Common questions
- How do you play "Abraham ma sedem sinov"?
- As a copy-the-action game. The song says Abraham had seven sons who ate, drank and "all did it like this" — and on that line everyone performs the same movement together, whatever the leader chooses. Sing it again with a new movement each time.
- Is "Abraham ma sedem sinov" originally Slovenian?
- The Abraham-and-seven-sons game is sung in other languages too: in Dutch as "Vader Abraham had zeven zonen", which Wikipedia credits to Pierre Kartner in 1971, and in English as "Father Abraham had seven sons". How the Slovenian words relate to those versions is not documented, and they have no recorded author.
- What is "Abraham ma sedem sinov" good for?
- Coordination, listening and pure fun. Copying a movement together keeps a whole group moving at once, and the song can be repeated with as many new actions as the singers can think of.
