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THE ORIGIN
r LETTERS
AND NUMERALS
BY
PHINEAS MORDELL
PHILADELPHIA
PHINEAS MORDELL
1914
THE ORIGIN
OF LETTERS
AND NUMERALS
PHINEAS MORDELL
PHILADELPHIA
PHINEAS MORDELL
1914
page bears the date of 1914, the author the of this thesis from German)-, where copies did not receive the account of the war. was printed, until August 1921, on
Although the
title
year (1922) by a supplement Distribution was delayed unril this philosophy. aiming at a solution of the Pythagorean requested to serid Magazines and periodicals are respectfully
booklet
thesis to the author, P. Mordell, copies of their reviews of this 4137 Leidy Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.
Printed by H.
F1
i s c
m ann
Breslau (Germany)
DEDICATED
TO THE
MEMORY OF MY SISTER
SARAH MORDELL
1912 vol
11,
and
CHAP.
hardly
another
book
in
Jewish
has
It
literature, the
and
the
Talmud
excepted,
that
been
so
much
commented upon
who regarded
philosopher
as the
source ot
also
to
the
and the
Talmudist.
And
number
Yetzirah
remains
are
sealed
to
upon
him.
to
it
more apt
it
Indeed,
read his
There
to
is
so
difficult
understand as
For
it
was
originally
style.
To
make
matters
cenearly
or
of the
ninth
tury
blended
the
original
"Sefer
Yetzirah"
to
with
an
as
all
the commentaries
on
the
"Sefer Yetzirah"
since the
beginning
of
the
tenth
century
the original
Safer
Yet/.irah.
to
Although
exceedingly
is
hard
many
diflicalties
not impossible.
so
long
of
an unsolved problem
of
knowledge
is
Hebrew orthography,
on
which
based.
Hebrew orthography
there
is
tenth
century,
not
one
Hebrew.
still
For
taught,
not
The Hebrew
believe that
grammarians
rules
for the
under
ortho-
tliose
of
language
the Old
also
for
the
language
of
Testament.
expressing
to
When
the Honorable
my
advised
his
me me
make
which
opinion
Hebrew grammar
extant.
Finding that
Avith
my
harmonized
study
those
it.
of
made an
I
exhaustive
of
After
many
years of study,
the
that
the Sefer
Yetzirah, as
earliest
the
lundamental
rules
of
an
numerals.
This
account
is
my
')
pre.<!ent
purpose to seth
forth*).
J.
S z o 1 d,
and
Prof.
Henry Malter.
me
in
and Dr
I s
aac
fittnded to
in style.
iLis
work, both
in
The
-ispi n'BDi
first
Mishnah
reads
n'
as follows:
ppn ms^^s.
ways
has
the Lord, the Lord of
"Thirty-two
hosts, ordained
mysterious
Hebrew
alphabet, whicli
represent thirty-two
belief
In
letters
accordance
are of divine
with
the
of
origin, the
Sefer Yetzirah
explains
that
(Scribe), the
inspired
to
invent
the alphabet;
(2) "iiBD
(3)
nsD
the material
o.i
which
displayed.
In order to
letters of the
alphabet
He
divides
them
into simple
Altogether
they
") All the commentators explain that the thirty-two ways of wisdom are the twenty-two letters and the ten Sefirot. Below will be found the reasons why the present writer cannot accept this interpretation.
3)
Below
will
to
the
as
is
Sefer Yetzirah,
believed by all
double
The
the
ten,
number
of the
double letters
no
less
and
The
that
we may have
This proves
nature of the
that, at the
letters, or
of
some
at
of
them, was
misunderstood.
We
know,
of the
indeed, that
the
it
time
when
the Greek
translation
for
was believed
e,
that the
>'.
example, could
be transliterated by
o,
or g,
rendered
it
favor of the
But according
If it
a simple letter.
it
is
impossible
if
that
Moreover,
g,
the y
as
mainIf
can
have
it
only
is
we
the sound of A,
should
sound of
or 0, etc.
n,
ti,
Furthermore, according
s are also simple letters,
and each must have had only one sound and not two as in Arabic.
The author
on Hebrew
grammar have
letters
fallen.
By dividing
the
twenty-two Hebrew
make
clear
how
different the
*)
See
text, 3.
Hebrew alphabet
is
which
to
is
known
,s/v.
as
Arabic
suri
themselTcs
used
call
By
was apparently
invented
to
represent
the
Assyrian-Babylonian
or eighteen
language,
which
consisted of
"to/v."
seventeen
the
sounds.
original
letters,
Hence
the
name
When
Arabs,
whose
adopted the
".s-r/yv"
".sw/z-r'
letters
two
or
even
now
As according
consist'^
to the
Sefer Yetzirah
the
Hebrew
alphabet
of ten
double
letters
and
be
ascribed
simple letter only one sound without any regard to their value
in
Arabic.
The
a
T
is
as follows:
= =
e,
=--
0,
f./i
2 -^
in
b,
2
i
d,->
"t/ie,"
/>,
= =
,/
V,
u,
= = w,
n
ff,
^
',
as English j (?)
k, 2
in
is
"
German
ch or Arabic
bic ^,
tr
/',
.sA,
= c =
or ph, n
=
?,
"
=
^/^
r or Ara-
French
(?),
=
= =
"tlrnxkr
The
r!
as follows:
/,,;
=
'^
English
;,
:
n
w,
=
D
/;
(Arabic
.V,
/',
u
,
<,
=
p
German
i,h
I,
m,
fe,
^.
letters,
all
the
words that
')
text,
5,
and
7.
10
upon
combinatinm are
bated.
a a
yi
tfi
"-"
a o
v: v.
\T-
vi Vi
NX' n: v:
>r:
v:
%,i
t^
vi
vi
v. V.
a a
-J-
vi
)^
vi
vi
i^
VJ
15
13
N-
a d o a a a a
Ki
vi
a g
no
a,
is
NT- NT- ^X' "^^ ^I" ^'" NX- %/ :J~ NX" NX- .J- NX- NX- NX- 'X'
nT
-J
u u -I
-<i
u
15
6 ^ J
-J
3 3 3 Q
'
G 3 ^ ^ 3
-1
li
3C
3 ^
II
"3
^ 3
VJ
aC;S-^J":SG3=JiJ3Z}duJC a
4j
3Q--JW>5^a>-"OX-<J 'G3-'-'3-l'-'UX
l- 4-#
i.
Sj
t.
j^
t,
Ij
Ij
i.#
i_,
S^
l.
i^
i^,
j_,
ij
l_^
j^
!_,
^G3-"3J>^U3C Z X 3^j-Oii;WvjoCO\ru-^03253j
OnX-u
1 ]
The purpose
..pliiisizc
the superiority
by
all
the
nations
If
now by
cally all
a great portion of
mankind.
as
biliteral combinations,
all
the
all
joining x with
letters,
2 with
(22-'
letters,
etc.,
there
must
= 484).
'?:i"?;n
mm
indi-
noD^
i^vi
y^V
r^bvab
lai^ the
Sefer
Yetzirah
made
to
the basis of
all
trilitcral
combinations
If
we
desire
arrange
the
triliteral
letters,
their
number
be
22'
or
10,()48.
For this
it
would be
necessary to draw up twenty-two tables with the biliteral combinatioi.s, leaving sufficient space
for the addition
of a letter.
On
combination, and
result would
making a complete
484
triliteral
com-
Proceeding thus
possible triliteral
letters,
we should get
all
combinations
that
can be
made
saved,
letter is
Should we desire
to
22
letters,
we have only
make twenty-two
copies of
12
all
two successive
combinations
for
the addition of a
new
letter;
of each triliteral
com-
we
shall attain
in
10,648 quadriliterals
beginning with
an
N.
Proceeding
the
;,
we
shall obtain
and
so
remaining
letters,
total of
2"2*,
or 234,256.
to
The number
of
combinations
would amount
22\
or 5,153,632.
The powers
of
twenty-two up
to
12 are as follows:
484
10,648
-=-
22^
22' 22* 22* 22 22' 22 22'
22'" 22i'
234/256
5,153,632
113,379,904
2,494,357,888
54,875,873,536
1,207,269,217,792
26,559,922,791,424
584,318,501.411,328
12,855,002,631,049,216
= = = = = = = = =
22
'^
Thus
it
is
letters
will
admit
to
of an infinity of
combinations and
all
arrangements, sufficient
of
\B^
\
conceptions
'
languages whatever.
results
The same
would
be
obtained, according
to
the
When
a letter
is
added
at the
is
called
13
as
'?.i'?3n
"inni,
the
table "tarns" in
and when a
letter
added
at
the
end,
it
is
mim, the
table
letter,
as
Thus, as either
^J
bination
by adding an
be
made
tional
letter,
the
beginning
or
at the
end of the
triliterals.
biliteral combinations,
etc.,
anew, when
new combmations
How
twenty-two
tations in
infinite
letters,
numbers
of
words
are
demonstrates by permu-
change
their places. as
:
Out
of
two
let ers")
two
biliteral
2N, X3
Out of three
Out
of four letters
i3:iK,
24 quadri-
21M, 1X33;
Out
of
HlZi, 3X13,
five
3X31, X331.
letters
six-
letters
720
seven-letter letter words are formed and out of seven letters 5,040
The
and
Sefer Yetzirah
that of seven
concludes
the Mishnah
is
by saying: "Go
unable to hear."
See
teit,
8.
14
The
factorials
up
to that of
1"2
are as follows:
1
2
6
24
120
720
5,040
= = = = = =
(1
(2 (3 (4
(5
(6
(7
40,320
=
= = =
==
(8 (9
362,880
3,628,800
(10
(11
(1-2
39,916,800
479,001,600
The
art.
factorials
up
to
36 are given
treating of
in
Eees' Encyclopedia,
Cipher.
The Mishnah
all
explained by
\V.
commentators, especially by
of
Donnolo.
permutation says'):
permutations
decided
Thus the
according
A, B, C, will make
first,
different
as
stands
second
places
or third;
having
between
which we may
Accor-
2 X
or 6 in
number.
With
letter,
three for the second, two for the third, and one for the fourth, so
that there will be altogether 4 x 3 x 2 x
1,
or
24 permutations.
The
Principles of Science,
London 1887,
17S, 179.
of things,
we multiply
"
at each step
by a number
decreased by a unit
He
further says:
"Many
writers
have
from
time to time
we
deal
in
this subject.
Taquet
calculated
that
in
the
may be
arranged
more
a thousand million of
for the
same number
man
filled,
forty
arrangements
task,
in
each, they
the
as
they
of
would
have
584 thousand
trillions
instead
620 thousand
CHAP,
combined
and
permuted
"One Name"
all
languages^).
Sefer
the alphabet
did
held by
many
Semitic
scholars, but
had
vowels
also,
the(
letters of the
Indeed,
8)
9^
See
text, 9.
Comp.
I,
69.
IQ
letters of the
Tetragammaton can
vowels
is
necessary
to
know
widely.
Dunash
was
shared
by
many Hebrew
the original
that
the three
letters '"S
are
vowels of
the
Hebrew alphabet;
vmns
were
originally vowels;
five letters y'ir;N
In
my
opinion
still
the
original
vowels
which are
scribing other
languages in Hebrew
characters.
The Sefardic
Jews, when
writing Spanish
e
by X;
and
by
"';
and u and
by
when
by N,
writing
e
letters, transcribe
by V, M by
and
or
./
by \
An
investigation into
me
o,
''
has
its
H of
e,
and
of
i,
and
of u,
besides
sounds of w.
If this
rect, not
only an x
hidden under a n
of the
Tetragramma-
In order to understand
must be
We
17
This
is
Yetzirah.
It
counts n
among
of
/(
can be attached to
On
the n
it
occurs
at the
end of words as
silent,
indicating that
therefore
We
must
among
zero
is
among
occupies
itself,
numerals.
the place
As
but
only
and the n
after the
occupy
vowel
The
instead of ~'~\
tiie
"great secret,"
which
Dunash
'IS,
Ibn
Tamim
he
declared
to
which
identified
with
the
Tetragrammaton
"in''
the
"secret name."
In
in
my
'28,
opinion, b'dn
te.xt
nDS
which occurred
the Rashi
commentary on Job
''VS.
27;
8.
Sachs, ~jvn,
According
letters,
to
mother
by
the
the
1
letters
"Vh:
the x
'.
by
s,
the
a by the
V.
the
tf
by
From
these four
letters
emanated,
air,
according
fire,
water,
and
earth.
The
characters
Sefer
Yetzirah
apparently
used
the
ntfDX
as
secret
is
representing
'""VX^
because
Hebrew alphabet
l8
arranged
beginning,
;
the
in
the
middle,
and the
and the n
at the end
while
at the
the
Arabic alphabet
beginning, the V in
and
',
at the end.
u?
'
)
1
'
CI
j
"^
~^
>-J
~'
t2
^^
a
LK'
J
n
^
~
V
2
'
N
bethe
The
ginning,
fact
at the
'
the
middle,
and
the
"
and
the
at
") As
sound,
'""VS were originally vowels and as ,~ has an aspirate which originally may not Lave been counted as a ci nsonant,
Hugo
/.ig
190i
(P. 47)
Says: Es warden
^Konsonanten""
nach
dem
Tierkreiszeichen
benannte
unterschicden, wclche durch drei Vokale rogiert wcrder, wie der Tieiknis
<lurch die drei
Regfuten.
The Hebrew
'J
letters according
to the
Arabic
were also the original order of the Hebrew alphabet, the s at the beginning, the y in the middle and the \ and
at the beginning,
in the middle,
and
\i.'
its
Although the S has been placed at the beginning of the alphabet o, however, harmonize between a and u the sounds
and
1
of y
respectively.
^"bui
r'p^'Z'
(1=)
]"^Z'
TDOl"
(y
CnrD y'DD
(Text
10).
This would
indicate
that
the author
^) n"D km w
a.
'ISSy
i,
u,
o, e,
G. H. von Meyer
says: T'zerniack
first
New York
1881
p.
'2:>5
eleva'.ion occurring
wilh
(ee in see)
u,
o,
e,
a."
The
Sefer
19
alphabet
trary
is
is
although
tlie
con-
The
whole
alphabet
was
Tlie
anciently
believed
to
symbolize
the
universe.
vowels
wiiich
were
of the Tetragrammaton,
the
\s
middle, and
the
at
~'.~->
God
He
is
the
beginning,
tlie
middle, and
end.
According
alphabet,
ii
to tlieir
sounds, we
may
count, in
tlie
Hebrew
i
thirtytwo
r),
'
letters,
'-=
divided
>'
<(,
e,
s=
= u,
'
i)
and twenty-seven
consonants.
1,
Each
stands
Tiii)
by
itself,
made
in
says:
V
CHAl*.
III.
SEFIROT.
The
luestion
fflyphics,
origin
of
the
still
is,
burning
liioro-
to scholars.
Did
or from
or
from
the
')
1883,
I,
125.
'20
I'llE
of
Cyprus?
The
it
"From the
Sefirot"'^).
mean by
it
Setirot?
On
designed
mysteries.
to
express
philosophical,
or
physical
Most of the
bent
meant the
and
0.
1,
2,
8,
'^),
\),
This
view
is
shared
by
meant
Sefi-
would
iiave said
licant
numbers.
A much
weightier
reason
for
opposing
is
the
identification
tliat
the fact
number resulting
and
is
from
total
addition
of
the
numerals
1,
2,
4,
and the
added together
45.
be
no
have
that
studied various
it
systems of antiquity
and
have
found
harmonizes
amounting
in
to ten
| 1 1 1 1 1
1
1,
1
1
0.
2,
3,
indicated
by
such a series of
the old
strokes, as is well
known
to
all
familiar with
Roman,
Greek,
and
The numeral
'^)
See
text,
14.
"')
21
Phoeuicians,
5,
G, 5,
Egyptians,
7,
|||
Babylonians
tlie first
1 ]
1
etc.,
even
indicated
of
1
numbers
||
8 and 9 by
1
1 1
four groups
strokes,
=== ><,
as
III
|||
=
111
G,
|
|||
=
1,
7,
||
|||
and
III
9.
fore,
that
and
4 written in
to ten "),
number amounting,
it
and by
meant
zero,
whicli,
being a symbol
in
for nothing, is
"nothing"
Hebrew.
ib*v
My
belief
is
rn^Ec
~ai'?;'i
=
all
ten digits
and
zero.
it
is
possible to ex-
numbers by the
numbers,
the
ten
ten
Sefirot"*),
we must demonstrate
nine,
all
tiian
may
be indi-
cated
by
The
strokes to indicate
numbers
^^=.
means
they
of the strokes
and the
zero, all
as
are
The numbers
50
500.
.5000
^00,^000,^0000.
=0
^'^i.
Abraham
my attentiou to the following passage of r^zp- "ODn 'u.'i, Leipzig 1853, p. 20: 'n-.o m'^'ssn riMVi 's^ ya-us: -^^bbz: D-tr pitec iry -sic pu'n "ra" n^-^sn -rs -;"; 3"!< -i -^^a 'sibH -r 'zrz: '.^S2) n; db's r-h-im
") Dr.
H.
Malter
calls
Abulalia in Jellinek's
_. ^-|j^ -;)
This passage
to
proves that
writers.
some Hebrew
16-
See
teit, S
|iosi-
page 202).
22
is
apparently
of the
was
tlie
Chinese,
tlie
and may
origin
Arabic numerals,
of wliich
admittedly doubtful.
To avoid writing
to
1),
too
many
made one
4, 5,
(J,
stroke
7,
The numerals
|
2,
3,
8,
were
written,
for
|,
M| M
M
|
|,T
TT.
|||||
4(i
in._lTTl^
14U5r)36
instace
was written
=0^
:
||
(sec
M.
1863,
and 47;
first
The East-Arabian
ted
figures
',
^
|
^,
(1,
"2,
3,
and
4) origina-
|||
||||.
They
to
are only
indicate the
The
figure
^^
for
5 originated
from
the
which
was
The East-Arabian
figures,
",
'^.
^ (6,
7,
1
and
8)
are
each
The
figure
originated apparently
a
zero.
Many
principle
writers
of
maintain
that
only at a later
period
the
are,
position
and
the
We
In
however,
now
certain that in
Babylon,
many
centuries
before
my
the sexagesimal
which
was
23
principle
system.
its
F.
Cajori
says:'")
"The
of
in
for
general
symbol
zero.
We
ask,
Did
tiie
Had
am
zero
is
as
old
a.-
tlie
i)rinciple of position
'Die final
but
tion
ratlier in
pointing out
principle of posi-
witii
nine
figures,
such as
2,
3,
4,
a,
G,
7,
8,
and
9.
Although
Babylonia, yet
"'^
tlie
it
in
higher mathematics, as in
1894, p. 7.
History of Mathematics,
New York
177, G. A. Miller
portant
qnestions
Cantor's
I),
in
On page
(second
576
of
]'orlesuiigeii
GesvhUhte
der
Mathonatil;
to
edition, vol.
"According
as
follows:
our opinion
stateto
due
to the
Hindoos."
reads
The corresponding
ment
our
the
in
page 616,
is
"According
opinion
the discovery
is
due
to the
Babylonians,
the deepening of
concept
due
to the Hindoos.''
"The
their sexagesi-
The
earliest
known
date.
use of this
symbol
it
Babylonian
init
C, but
is
supposed that
At the International Mathematical Congress held in Paris in 1900, Cantor suggested that zero was probably in use among the Babylonians as early as 1700 B. C. Even if
much
earlii r
it
hereafter
attribute
the
discovery
of
arithmetic
to the
24
astronomy,
etc.;
for
ordinary
purposes
tiie
there
was a decimal
system
of
notation,
without
principle of position.
When
of
we
find
that in
notation
was
used,
may
not be taken as proof that the decimal position and zero were
unknown.
of
position
was
When
0,
it
was, that
tlie
primitive numerals,
|,
||,
{,
{,
were
clianged
the
by the East-Arabs,
7, 8,
to
indicate
not
numbers
to
2,
3,
4,
it
5,
is
6,
and
9.
shall
tliat
venture
conjecture.
But
to
proper to assume,
they they
a few learned
men
long
before
be
widely
used.
Tliey
may have
'-'-).
even been
"i'^"";
known
author
of tlie
Sefer Yetzirah
Yet by
"')
rezini
said
lodians
notation
(M. Cantor's
Itlnl/it-nintUclie
Halle
1863,
pagi? 269),
this system, or
to the Arabs.
But
it is
Mohammed
Ethio-
ben
used
Musa meant by
or
Indians.
pians,
any
other
nation
Writing,
tu denominate as Indians (T. Astle, The Origin and Progress of London 1784, p. 41: rhu!', IX, 354, 439). <r he could have meant Jewish astronomers like JIashallah, who was called by Abraham ibn Eira an Indian sage (mr; Din) (see M. Steinschneider, Arab. Litf
<ler
ratur
of
notation
apparently
it
originated
from
philosophy
of the
Sefer
Yetzirah,
as
its
II.
is
who claim
the
Hebrews
delphia 1876,
25
but
primitive numerals,
||,
|||.
0,
numerals originated.
As, according to the Sefer Yetzirah, the alphabet originated from the ten Sefirot, which are, as was demonstrated,
first
the
amounting
to ten,
we must assume
that
first
strokes.
This
harmonizes
best
with
tjie
Libjanfirst
Uerberic alphabet,
four groui)s
circle
which we actually
.
of
strokes;
is
__.
^. =,
as
||,
|||,
||||
and the
or
each a
letter.
the
to
origin
in
||
|||
||||.
Two,
three,
or four strokes
combined as
to
indicate the
various
etc. 25).
letters
asn,_[.
these
Tl
IJ-
GZl'TTllll
QD
which
Similar
iiave
to
been
J.
found
on
the
Egyptian pottery.
says:
On
this subject,
Mr. W.
Harding King^*)
"Mr. Evans
and Professor
found on
form a sig-
The
linear characters in
a
Egypt
the hieroglyphics,
though
may
Evolved at a
Bickell,
Hebrew Grammar,
Euting, No. 52, 03.
*<)
Loipiig 1877.
by Julius
A Search
fur the
p. 322.
26
date
nitli
It
it:
THE OniGlN OE
hfiTTfiRS
AND NUMERALS;
when
hieroglyphic
vitality,
lliat,
wTitiiig
was unknown,
tliey
persisted
a strange
and
in
proper to note
three, or
-^j,
one,
to
two,
four
dots
are
various positions,
indicate ...
.,
ditlerent
letters.
The
triangular I'orm
.-...
as
representing
tlie
first
four
numbers
2,
3,
and
4'*^).
As
al-
lirst
similar to
may
have
alphabet.
writing':'
May
not
"SJ';:^'-
originally have
meant Libyan
According
alphabet
|
to
is
J.
Halevy's
||
decipherment
is
..
of
is
the
V,
Libyan
is
or
to
II
or
s,
or
|||
or 11.
||||
^
or
||||
n.
According
or
10,
18,
19,20, 21)
is
'.
is
N,
is
V,
|||
or^is
Hence,
tlie
the
vowel-letters
vyx were
to
originally
strokes,
|,
indicated
||,
by
or
four
groups
If
amounting
vowel
ten
|||,
||||
=^=The
these
and
four,
were
invented
of
at
the
same time
as
the numerals.
invention
sisted,
such
of
chiefly
symbols
for
") K. Faulman,
">)
p.
257-8.
in
Cyrus
Thomas
the
19lh Annual
Report of
the Bureau of
860.
.'Viaericau
98,
p.
27
were
alre;iily
in
existence
from
tiie
were invented.
In
tliis
tlie
gammatoni
~'''-^I
originally
identical
also
in
II
lllj.
This
is
commentary
~".~ s:r
'
name
the
tions
wiiicli
is
.lehovah.
"-rr^r.
for
He
comijriscs
it
Ten
Setirot.""
r.-'2c
"When
men-
means the
"it
Seitirot themselves." in
tlie
n-^ECn
-2-':
that,
nux
-irna-:
it
was explained
it
se-
cond chapter
wherever
says 'mothers,'
alludes to the
Scfirot themselves."
""' r-iUS
loxr
Dip;> ^: >:
;"5: 't-rs
-123
The
it
tire,
was
anciently
to
believed
Sefer
everything was
emanated,
air
according
the
Yetzirah,
from
',',
the
tire
vowels ^'jn;
emanated
from
".
from the
".
and
is
The
Setirot
cosmogony
is
given
by the Sefer
Yetzirah as follows:
With hewed
out
'two'
'one.'
the
air,
living
God
and
voice,
the Holy
Spirit.
With
is
Void
chaos
whole universe,
and
refers to
forth."
") .SV/Vr
-"')
YeUtni/i,
17.
Warsaw
1884,
]).
6!),
74,
W.
See
teit,
28
Witli
Hl'
'three'
clay.
like a
garden bed.
like a
He
set
tiiem
up
wall.
tliein
He
snort',
covered
them
pavement,
and
poured upon
"\\'ith
God
the
graved
ministering angels"
"'i.
Chaos
finite
.signified
in
space
out
of
which sprang
as
Later
cosmogonists,
shapless
such
out
Ovid,
represent
as
the
confused,
a
mass,
of
W. Enfield")
says:
"By Chaos
He
further says:'^)
to
"The theogonists
in
tiie
certainly do
not
suppose
God
order of time to
at variance
with
tlie
Sefer Yetzirah,
which emphasizes
doctrine
"He
(Mishnah
'22i.
It
first
thing
created, but
was preceded by
and speech-").
ISO.
131.
of Pythagoras
History
of Philosophy London,
1819
vol.
p.
383) as follows
, Intelligible
numbers
are those
which subsisted
It is the
in the divine
its
mind
be-
form, and
which
ANlJ
NUMEUaLS.
29
as
I
of
tlie
Sefer
Tetzirah,
have ex|,
may
0,
be
considered
to
consist
fifth
of live symbols,
||,
nil,
symbol.
From
this
sym-
numeral
(.ji
in
identical
in
("> ol the
Arabic alpha-
bet.
As the in
its
it
and
is
similar
of a digit,
The
first
primitive
numerals
five
|,
||,
||||,
0,
marily
identical,
with the
of
originally
the
letters
the
Tetragrammaton
-,r,\
Tiie five
primitive symbols are the five elements with whicli God created
in
.
all
.
.
its
parts,
is
framed.
or unity,
:
beings
The Monail,
whence called Monad. It is the fountain of all numbers. The Duad is impeif^ct and passive, and the cause of inciease and division. The Triad, composed of llie Monad
of all nnnibcr,
being deprived
remains fixed
of the
nature of both.
The Tetrad,
Tctractys, (jualeris
the
sum
of the
woild
(in the Sefer Yetzira, the earth) formed by the union of the two former:
and the
the
Tetiacly.-i,
the perfection
of nature.
this mysterious
uiimbor
human mind:
made use
of this
number
to
express
the
mamc
cxpretsed in
the
Hebrew language.
word r,;~\ by which that name is But every attempt to unfold this
mystery has hitherto been unsuccessful". The reader \Vill find below my view on the origin of the Pythago1 will only say here that there is no absurdity in rean philosophy. identifying the Tetractys with the Tetragrammaton; and moreover the
identity
is
Jj^
the universe,
tlie
rt
or
tlie
C':2H
-ryi
trot:
^rno
nr
-ns
nm
'
;;':
DNitrT
antry
lai'' |D'ci
rsr:
-irsB*
tisd mr.-;.
"He formed
intangible
air,
thus, twenty-
The word
is
'"n (void;
'J''?^
it
so-
mething
ching
the
of
out
ot
nothing.
in
accordance
witli
tlie
tea-
universe
element (Wilhelm
Bauer,
1.
iK-r
iiltcr,'
l\ltha(ii,rei^mn.s,
We
ratiier
must conclude
originated
the "alphabet
or
0,
L. D.
") See
^')
teit, 22.
Coinp.
"An Essay
Elements of Language
and Letters" by
Nelme, London
I7G:'.
On
page 16 we read as follows: "All his (Gods) creation, and every minutest the line 1 the part thereof, participates of two most essential forms
:
symbol
of
the
altitude,
and
the
circle
lirst
the
symbol
of
the horizon.
all
Th'se s5mbol8 contain in them the There doth not eiist ted nature.
crea-
in
tlie
or
human
tirst
mind conceive
elements:
every
thtin
of
any
are
oxis'ence,
which
of
to
idea
the
matter
human mind:
they contain iu
elements
of every art,
letters also,
tllE ORIGIN
3l
elementary
line
cliaracters,
or letters,
derive
tlieir
and
holds
the
circle.
all
As
also
that
and a
unity,
circle,
and
that was
originally
< those
for
L. L. Conant"^j says:
"Two
ed philosopher
and
system system
of
numeration,
only
. .
symbols
needed
in
such a
would he
and
tation of all
numbers by means
and
a fitting
of
the
We
but
system
of
numeration,
decimal
system
it
may
been
Moreovei-,
has
.Arabic
tore,
,
numerals
originated
There-
with which
for
God
digit
and a
zero;
as
the
so
ten digits
may be
expressed
by nine digits
and
zero,
may two
digits be
a zero.
bits,
Thus, the
Sefer Yetzirah
may have
of the
and
j
a tilting
symbolization
out of
chaos or nothing,
of the universe, by
number
189G, p.
10>.
32
may
sists
say that
tlie
of nine digits
and the
zero.
For
|
||
|||
||||
||||||||| 0,
The
it
and
re-
presented,
calls
according to
Halevy,
The
Sefer Yetziraii
=^
is
from which
civiliz-
ation originated.
Sefirot,
the vowels
and
the
Tetragrammaton,
the
is
it
containing
name ~'~\
chiefly
referred
in
Exodus
-23,
20, 21.
This
angel
known
name
"Metatron,
Prince
is
identified
the
prophet
Elijah'*).
He
is
the
~~''i^~
ir
Logos,"
witii
Upon
tlie
heaven,
'^1.
earth,
seas,
rivers,
and
the elements of
creation
To
of
this angel
God
all
Law,
and
to
wisdom;
as
and
known
him
^')
Comp
19.
1).
H. Mailer,
Vienna
18S9, p.
p.
47b.
")
Ibiil.,
5-2b.
33
the
same
'great secret'
forbidden by the
1.
10, 11, 14
This secret
the angel
symbolized
as 4=.
by
the
letter
V,
character
in
Jewish history
is
is
the
the
God
and no other.
-|S~^.
It
is
He
is
is
nant,
r,''i2~
He
believed
cumcision.
decide
all
also believed
that he
bound
to
come and
In kabbalistic literature,
all
not only
tiie
vowel letter
y.
but
In Sefer Raziel
(ed.
Amsterdam,
t;"i
p.
n";pn ana
"Like
mBJU'
Adam who
engraved
letters
those angels
Blessed be He, rebuked and cast down from the high heavens.
He
then
The
however,
the
letters
of
the
Tetra-
grammaton,
the cipher ~
a picture
Since
is
also
a letter of the
Tetragrammaton,
it
also
and
image
of a superior angel.
is
n symbolizes,
to
apparently Satan
all
who appears
God
prosecute
mortal
beings as he prosecuted
34
Job
1,
C r2:
i*,
7;
Zechar. 3,
Like
cipher ~ so the
in
system
of
notation,
and
originated,
or Satan*'),
symbolize the
one
1,
evil
deity,
contrast
to
the
numeral
which was
all
thought
emanated.
to
symbolize
the
good God,
1
from
the
zero
whom
good
The
numeral
one
and
are a fitting
"23)
says as follows:
"Also God
evil,
set
and
evil
against good:
evil,
evil out of
is
evil;
good testing
for the good,
and
evil
testing good:
good
stored
away
and
of
stored
of
away
letters
The
account
the
origin
"When Abraham
ed and
revciiled
himself to him,
at
lirst
tlie
and made a
precise
fiii<
to
tumprehend
itself,
rank
and
its
value
trace
tor
to
printed
numeration,
in
allusion
to hang over the practice of wo still speak of decipherinj;, and of writing in (iphor, some dark or concealed art" (The Philosophy of Arith-
on
language,
seemed
metic,
by John Leslie,
of
Edinburgh
in
1817, p.
114).
history
arithmetic
Europe
....
:
longing
prejudice
to black art
tliat
and
delayed
general
introduction
(E
107).
35
with
witli
bini
and
tlie
with
his
seed forever.
He made
a
is
him nn
and
on
the
and
two
tlic
covenant
ot
letters of the
"Torali""
to
him
The name
of
Abraham
to
whicli
is
mentioned
tliat
in
tiie
closing
Mishnah suggested
self wrote the Sefer
many commentators
As such
a
Abraham himis
Yetzirah.
view
entirely
re-
pugnant
closing
is
to the
modern
critical raind,
this
Mishnah
doubt
for
as a later interpolation.
this
in
my
tlie
opinion there
original Sefer
no
that
it
Mishnah belongs
perfect
of
Yetzirah,
material.
is
harmony with
all
The
mention
the
name
of
Abraham does
but that
tlie
("iSiD)
mentioninspired
whom God
with
it.
It
is
worthy
to
ot
tirst
inven-
tion
of letters
in
Abraham
also Suidas
Abraham and
H).
CHAP.
IV.
THE TEXT.
No Hebrew book
Yetzirah.
tiie
Sefer
As
it,
early
as the tenth
century
versions of
arrangement.
There
^y
whicli
were
edited
in in
Mantua
Paris, in
others.
as
in
J
edited by M.
Lambert,
texts is different
Iromthe
almost
ot
Mantua
of
tlie
differs
materially tlierefrom
it
arrange-
ment
Mantua
may
;
be found
while entire
])aragraphs in
Mantua
a general
II
in
arrangement, but
I,
Mantua
former
words.
contains twice as
much
material as Mantua
the latter
only
the
numbering
about 2400
words,
1200
A
]
critical
study^leads
to
the
conclusion
of
tliat
these
verSafer
tiOO (iOO
words
words
in
the
original
1
Yetzirah.
Mantua
or
tlie
1800
words
in
Sefer Yetzirah.
original
Sefer
refl'e-
Yetzirah,
red to
also as
as
arranged as
separate
I.
treatise,
which may be
1
Sefer Yetzirah
arrangeii
a separate treatise,
II.
which
may
be
leferred
to as
Sefer
I,
Yetzirah
it
now remains
(f
II.
need be said
it
abounds
in
trifles,
Although
its
it
was inten-
He
37
of the
in
it
only a
tlie
letters
al-
phabet and
Setiroth.
liim
God
created
the
letters.
The
ten
Se-
are:
The
Spirit of God,
and South.
From
emanated
the
second:
fourtii,
six
permuta-
the letters
With
letters,
;
created the
jtarts, or
twenty-two
and
them
;
into
thre
hooks innED
ntt'^tt')
seven double
'ttn
letters
r"^E; -"i2,
psv Dib
nn.
With
the
of
various parts
tiie
world
ish'-j),
of
the year
("Jti')
and
soul.
WZi).
of
The author
11
contradicts
himself:
three
mother
letters,
C?'" TiD)
letters
"-
of the great
all
name "-;
the mothers
As a
the
matter of
fact,
of
parts,
in
a twofold
For, tinally, he
ift:s
msD
the
^33,
The
whole theory
of
year,
and of the
says^^) as
2)
soul, is expressed
Indeed he
loUows
11
Mantua
II,
chap. V.
98
.... ....
The world The year
The
It
is is
is
iB'v
c^Jtt*"
~itt*yn
T-^Ec
n'--,";
-E*v D';b't
r-rv: nr-'EC
b-e:
soul
the
Sefer Yetzirali
the
twenty-two
letters
double rns: -:c ,rox and twelve simple letters psy cjr "un
According
to
II,
however,
each
simple
letters,
therefore, are,
according
him,
ten
only
ways
are
of
wisdom.
Sefiroth,
tire,
The
remaihe
ning
ways
wisdom
the ten
air,
which
water,
height, depth,
and south.
Tlie author of
.
tlie
Sefer Yetzirali II
.V-"x
'-"'^'
.crs"
tirst,
.rnx
mean
second,
He imagined
that the
and
after
iiad
for-
gotten
to
count
the
tlie
Sefiroth,
and
explainair,
ing
er,
that
four
are
wat-
and
tire,
west, north,
of
and
Se-
number
the
ten
The
truth
is
....
:\"K'
.... rns
these
numbers
them.'selTes
from which
all
39
The
Sefiroth, therefore,
The
latter
view requires
all
wisdom
by
all
11
which
is
followed
commentators.
CHAP.
Saadia.
grouiis
to
V.
who was
the
first
to
divide
the
letters
all
into
five
vnns,
fio^:, p:>;,
nb^-,,
y-'jfC',
believed
be consonants.
He
interpolated
this
division in
meant vowels.
The
first
to
*'),
perceive
that
max
that
means
by the
three
vowels
three
who explained
meant
mother
letters
the
vowel
letters "x.
He
of contrast
riTnr must
his version
necessarily
mean consonants.
many
mistakes, that
commenYet
exist.
three
classes
named:
-'^2
three
mother
letters
B'tss,
seven
'-
double
psv-
letters
msz
and twelve
is
simple letters
DJ^
'cn
The category
,mothers' (mos)
*')
")
40
witli
I'HE
trast
admirably
witii
eacli
otlier.
Moreover,
Yetzirali,
he
there
failed
to
Sefer
are
ten
double
all
letters
He
is
also at
variance witii
the
known
give
twelve
ot
simple
"Jit,
letters,
sounds
of whicli
~:.::,
number
Besides,
it
is
very hard
letters
tlie
'^'
as
and declare
at
same
inust
"
time
and
consequeiitlv
i
the sounds of
and e:
ot
Long
tiiat
tlie
before
had concluded
double
Hebrew alphabet
tetters with
I
simple sounds;
to
thus
represen-
came
ating
tind in
1
the pronunciation
of the vowels,
will
my nNrpr:
discussed
it
-ip;r
at
"prT
in
which
are:
,2 ,s
have
lengtii.
letters
,
,r
,-
,i
,:
"
,;
letters
are:
on
the
assunaption
"VX
Hebrew
alphabet,
:
and that
a,
^e,
0,
'
i,
u,
'
V.
'N
letters,
the
41
letter
lioiR'.e,
and the
ten
I
letter
^'
were
known
to
be double
letters:
letters
con-
I'lusion,
Ibnnd
tliat
In
fact,
number and
the
same
is
classilication
it
the
single
that
counts
*
the
among
the
simjile letters,
while
c.
considered the
Nevertheless,
I
as
do
not believe
from
as a
simple
only
tt-
letter instead
could
have
counted
the
seven
double
is
letter
which
still
pronounced
people.
Further
investigation
anciently
there
As
is
grammarians,
among whom
as
making
the
total
number
oi
ot
the
Talmud and
the
Midrash
the
that
form respectively
*''i,
beginning,
middle,
if
we
as
make
not
the
total
number twenty-seven,
the
o can
be
in
the
as separate
letters,
*5)
in
17.
42
iiifle,
-;.r
and the
"i
or the
'
as
lourteen letters.
Convinced
I
tliat
have
been
letters
without the
and thirty-seven
or thirty-nine
with
but the
the middle of
tlio
alphabet.
I
On reaching
ity
this conclusion.
sought
to find
in
the
tlie
"
in
of
the al}ihabet.
This
fact,
if
established,
would
prove
the
correctness of
relation nx'ipr':
to
my
the vowel
it
V'X
as explained
in
Tip"
7'?'^'^
and
as ten,
To
my
great delight,
found,
in
following:
"Why
is
is
the letter T
Because
it
in
tiie
middle of the
also
found
in
*''i.
in the
middle of the
the
These
passages
make
and
it
clear
their
that
ancients
al-
letters,
in
arrangement of the
^'i.
rVJDlpD. \\ ion 1887 p XVIII The philosopher and Grammarian Profiat Daran "Ma'ase Efod" p. 34) aho says that the ancients divided the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet into ten and twelve, according to the ten spheres
*')
Epstein, Z'~'~'-
*')
(D'^-'i^^)
th(
zodiac (r'"'!?).
48
m
and
are
my
j,,
:,
; X rriE^
.^..j
^j^g ^^^-^^
my
contention
that
by
the
thirty-two
of the
mysterious
ways
Hebrew
alpliabet, con-
sisting of ten
letters.
CHAP. VI
.^UTHOHSHIP.
Thus
far.
it
tiic
ago and
authorship of
origin for
it:
tlic
it
was intrusted by
Lord
to
Adam and
after-
wards
to
Abraham***).
iiis
Abraham and
relation
in
is
quoted
by
Judah Barseloni,
^p.
his
commentary
on
the
Sefer
Yctziraii
'"v
r."2~
~"2r. ':e^ r-BT ^:x^?> ,-r.:s ir;N c--rs tH:!:':'; IDS TO z:~: oD ins r,czr: chy: -r r^ z'-s abv; crnzH" -k't:: "s" t^ r.b los"; mr^ -^a;! c~-!2.so ':n ,-d:d-:
;;(3i
-rj
:h'' 'je'"
-^^iS-p
/ains
,Tn
sh
t^p2D
.;
i^yoi
-an; -ts-
rriwnb
.-ns
ci'r:
-lan:
Hp ri
V2-r bz'r N- nrsi -,2 T.ipn; 'I'-i- iec tk'z; --a 'jk '^x -osv Dn-3S -^r, tj: iz -"in dd':b' iz -czr:, tz- -n-ivb z^,p -r,' -.z lay sb"! la- atpr yn rB':v > ahyr ns -is^ vt* "^i^zr:. I'ju-^ -r2'r:: :-;r '; -y -r^rz- s'-- czrr -r x^s --n' -.z ]'Z'z- z-h
';.
*'')
Poter
Hecr,
p.
(iiiscliichtc
religiusor
Sektcn
dcr Judi^n,
Zweiter
10,
12. 21.
44
.-^13
min-
73 -'h
:
mT'
-o;n
We
find
in
an ancient
our
roadintj;
a?
foliows
tlie
"When Abraham,
said to the
fatlier
was born,
'o
augels of lainistrv
Thou
from him
I
Directly, the
Holy On blessed be He
'Shall
He
said to
her,
ivill
many
thee to
Abraham
My
es
She said
to
which
sat
over to able
Abraham, who
to
by himself studying
until a
without being
understand
said,
anytliinj,',
and
I
'Dost
Me?
am One
created the
alone.
together,
to
you
will
then understand."
They looked
to
From
it
that
time
to
there
is
no
man who
alone, there
it
must
three
before
it,
When
.\braham understood
his
wisdom
The world
his
teacher
Shem
were
study of the
Sefer Yetzirah
may
lie
letters.
Indeed^ the
tllK
45
creation
of
The names
of Moses, Ezra*'),
The
attri-
The
'tB'
Sefer Yetzirah
was
called
by ancient
ni'ms,
drash
Ni^v
'21
bw
nvnis*,
which
called by
some
authors
Sefer Yetzirah.
in his
Slialshelet
ha-Kabbalah, says
~i2~-z- rn'-i-
lEC
r'l rb-2'pr\
H"
"Tr
-isci
^r^'DO i2c
-i:n
xim
"He composed
Kabbalah.
to
There
a Sefer
Yetzirah
a
composed
and
by
Abraham,
which
Nachmanides
made
great
wonderful com-
mentary."
This passage was apparently misunderstood
writers,
by some
later
who imagined
Abraham.
nn\-e' nJB'D
i.i'xnp-.
r,-,-r
iec 2-r:^
S27V
to
"21''
ith
"J
tvi
7\'arr.
write
tiie
Sefer
to
Yetzirah
liioin
They
I'nil
Mishnali, and
Alualiaiii."
it
ns hinided down
by
tradition
from
"^
Peter Beer,
p.
(ic'chidilc
21.
leligiiiji^r
Si'kti'n
lA
46
Moses
I'HE
Goidovcro'^''i flatly
In
the Panles
Kimmonim
he says
D>:2D T'- Ci^rn vbv u'za q-^zs'" r".:t:- m^'i' ied lirx
rum
"We
ascribe
it
to
is
Abraham.
Some
Kabbi
Akiba,
but
there
no general agree-
ment."
Modern
concerit
Some
of
them believe
century
R. 0.
be a production of the
it
first
or
the
second
others place
to
in the
the ninth
is
centuries
to
Christian Era.
clination
the
but
was
explained above
is
pre-Talmudic, and
:
is
mud
in
rr r-,\-"x p-ns TiObT r.TT ~Ec 'T 1--D Xp -- xh '--2 'yPB'U up <'DP' Tin n''VB'iN ill
';
'"^-i)
S-'i
(Cr
n^'^
N^jn
;-i
.-^isv^
i"
nx xn^n
]t2
^'n
nri m^s'
"isc2
riTT
r''^hr.2
'pcy r-
srzr
'-ya b2 N^ytf-x
.(":;'' ''Tixi
sr'"T
n^'Di
5')
Quoted from
1905.
CJ iD"l CIIE
by
L.
s c
t,
Sefer Velzirah
Frankf.,
5')
' )
SanhedriD, 65b.
Ibid, 67 b.
I'Hli
uKllilN
01'
47.
Eaba
created a
to
man
(Raslii says,
through
to
tlie
Sefer Yetzirah),
Rabbi Zera
who spoke
him,
but received
of the
He
a creature
and ate
it'
Yetzirah every
Friday,
and
was created
for
The
these
Sefer Yetzirah
mentioned
in
passages
are
undoubtedly
original
Sefer Yetzirah,
words from which was borrowed the Baraitha beginning with the
of the Sefer
Yetzirah:
V()i(l
is
original Sefer This passage must have been a part of the with the tallies it for Yetzirah and not a later interpolation, a gap leaves omission its that it, paragraphs before and after that
no other can
lill
so
satisfactorily
From
tiie
a passage of a
of
thirteenth century,
which
still
e.xtant
in
manuscript.
commenben
.losepli
r^CT'
"B"~ ~T!
'^,
Hagigah, 12 a.
48
of
who
received
'Voice, air.
tliis is
....
to
abode."
the Sefer Yetzirah
As the commentator
declares words in
that he wrote
commentator
says.
't'^
''ra-.;-;
.... ^222
The
^cv -2
was revealed
is
in
Babylonia.''
^*j,
By
"'2
which
Joseph
of this
to
From
the ending
which had
''Here ends
at the
end pre
of
-x\v;
^pv
n:'D'i
cmzs
ryi"^
the
Mishnah
Abraham and
the
Mishnah
of Joseph ben
Uziel.""
Recanati and
mean
was
the author
tiie
of
the
commentary.
This
it
misunderstanding
title
caused
bibliopraphers to catalogue
di-
under the
s'r"~2
bn'v:; ]2 ^iDVT
-n^'S'
-2c.
XXX,
fol.
1-2)
there
is
another
^s'"y
f\cv~ Nr""i2,
siders a
work by the
was given
same author
to the treatise
commentary.
The
quoted
title
'*)
("omp. Rashi
on Jer. 23,
18
where ""D
is
i-xplained
by Sefer
Yetzirah.
II,
p. 41.
49
it.
It
Jeremiah
except the
tlie
piopliet,
and
it
anyone
author
pious" (the
modest?;.
passage
to
L. Barges''*) quotes,
from the
also
in
Paris
the
(Jod.
15299
e]DT'i'i
ua
"ps'iiy^
ayo
r^bw
d-'IID
'm onsD
'n
on 'hn
nsD
pie
irj ^211
omo
b2
nVjB'
h
'n
'-'
n^jtfD'i
p pyotf 'i pns o'pis 'n u tr^ '?32m im pis iditd -tryD pis xa^v 'n nvnis niD'rn mo iiav "no nivB' mo nnips no abiv
"no
sin 'D niDx tf-pn mi nxs^i ona n3S ^d itryi n^xn n^nn iDX '13 p '112 'jx -10X1 [XTD p] ^''ts-iv lo'j mx 'Ja^ nno prsi onann i^x [xtd p] ^''tssy 'sd anDi f|DV db-' to i"t .... '131 m'S' IBD px2 onsD
five
five
Sedarim
his
his
son
Uziel, and
di
di
Se-
darim are
Seder
When
lie
'Who
is
it
that revealed
my
secrets to
mankind
Buzi'.
tr"D^jy
[Ben
Sira] arose
and said:
'I
Buzi son
of
The
holy
*)
VJn nSD,
Paris 18G6, p. X.
50
spirit said to
Immediately
the
Joseph
sat
down
dictation
of ty"Bsy [Ben
earth
:
in
books on
the
Sefer
Yetzirah, etc."
is
obviously spu-
does, to Joseph
authors,
it
may
It
is
careless
them
all to
him.
The
original passage
may
have
read as follows:
nt'^B'Si
noj
Pior'?';
iJ3 ^s^r.y^
htd
':x
n'^:B'
n*
TD .^n
"ib
"lax
,^^^2
'lu
nno
to
.rn^s'
nsD r"aiV
'ej:
"This
is
and
his
grandson Joseph.
When
he had revealed
this
said:
Who
is
my
secret, to
ti'"BSy arose
and said:
Then
down and
B'"usy."
wrote
down the
sefer
Yetzirah
dictation of
This
passage also
According
this
passage,
not
Jeremiah
revealed
the
philosophy
In
the Sefer
Yetzirah to
of
grandson Joseph
is
ben Uziel.
also
the Alphabet
as a
mentioned
grandson
51
Ben
Sira and
Ben
Sira's
^')
of Jere-
miah.
his
grandson
Ben
The
cabalistic
"'JSix-i
Bip^"'
20a,
Lemberg 1860,
quotes
from
work
nx^'re, as
follows:
.-IT'S'
mp masi hp
f\-iD2b'
ra
nxs''
iedd
pioy^
iJ2
^'nnn
n-'o-f
,-i2n -(?
....
D'ja'3
--m TDs insDa 3inD n'm nns ons crb siaj -losom V^dh wye'
'sn
'xa --'D-i'
^"x r,DN b^
pmo
-t;! n"13J-
inx
'';''2
{'so
nina hdd
d\-; nas nrj rrna- ^^x^ -"na^ ^tra i^ ha'as V'x imn'str -iv ^^3 ,rDx'?D2 xy, injaix^ c^j-.a -'n xh n-^-^a nas ':2 'a 'ija'ixr: ivtb'si naxr; -"y '?;n ly-'B' ly inja'.s mo D-a'^i
mx
mx
iB'isjts'
D^'tt'iy
ny Dn3i3
i-ia:pt'
riB'iy
i^'nnn injiDni
moi
'j3
on
-iri3
-m
xihb'
na imas
'J3 0,-3
d^dVi-i
"ia-xn
m^B'
""j:::
m33
in''jn
mx
.''2^-,s
?-B'
cmx
"Jeremiah began
to
:
came
went
forth
(0 his
and said
He
accordingly
Yetzira
to-
the Sefer
getiier.
Finally
...
man was
=
to
truth).
The person
the
letter
created
of
?'.
Aleph
that
Jeremiah said
will tell
him,
'Why do you
This case
is
He answered, T
to that of a
you a parable'.
similar
man who
built
his
many
two
men
them the
so that they
art,
knew
it
all
thoroughly.
When
and the
Berlin 1858. ICb. ") See -Alphabet of Ben Sira", ed. Steiuschneider
52
man's
secret
liim,
t;iking
them and
they
became builders
did
fi'r
like
him.
What
three
left
peshutivi.
When
they
all
went
to
them, honoring
"
in their
building enterprises
which
may
Ben
also
be considered as having
the Sefer Yetzira (or the invention of the alphabet), gives a reason
but
also
why
be kept secret.
In
says''**)
:
his
Rabbi .ludah
he-Hnsid
^Din
D^JB'
vh
'j
mexi ^f na
nspo^i
'3
nxs"'
.
. .
T:i-\
std
p
in'.tfy
ipoyi
-'t;-''
'rss
'b
-V- --2^
-iDX
\wv.-\7\
mx
nsD3
h^d-':
-a;
nos
. .
-n-iDa zirDi
.
-nx
.
mx
"B'snr;
d-x rx
r'iir:
'jxtf
-"3p-
-.Nnztf
isiar N^i
zi- x-i3J-
pdsd nx -no
x^^:'
.e'ijx i'-d
oHyr; 12 lyc
r.Dxa
'x
enly
voice
came
it
aloin-'.
it.
and they
studied
Emet (nDX
truth),
as on the
forehead
Adam.
the wind
p]met and
became Met
"*)
Qiintp.I
hy Epstein
in
D'Ti.-'T;
rVJlDHpO, Winn
18S7, p
i-22.
53
to
dead).
So
much
the
more reason
is
there
why
should
want
the
may
him
man and
of
world
'
.
.
go
astray
through
the
generation
created said
Enosh
Then
the
man who
tiic
had
letters,
been
to
them
my
torehead.
work
been the
Its
who
been
actually put
into
writing.
must
it
have
known,
down.
to
It
at
is,
least a
few
persons,
at all
long before
was written
therefore,
his
not
Jeremiah
and
grandson Ben
philosophy.
it
From
historic
the foregoing
is
evident
that
so
far
we have no
document by which
to
authorship or
to
According
the
the
above
quoted
written
this
legendary
passages,
however,
Sefer Yetzirah
of
was
If
by a Joseph
ben Uziel,
a grandson
Ben
Sira.
Ben
was written
ben Uziel could have written the Sefer Yetzirah in the second
century B. C. E.
If,
however,
this
Ben
Sira
was
his
identical
with
of Jehozadak,
grandson
have
fifth
written
the
Sefer Yetzirah
century B. C. E.
The authors
and
of
Ben
Sira doubtless
believed
Ben
whom
the
wisdom
taugh
in
54
the son
and
in
the Latin
a son oi
Mss. of Ecclesiasticus,
Jehozadak^').
is
stated that
Hence
its
title
in the
Hebrew-German
number philosophy
the Sefer Yetzirah.
is
of
is
The
relation they
bear
to
each
the
other
variously
explained.
A. F. Thimus'^"),
is
shares
view
that
the Pythagorean
Yetzirah.
philosophy
an adaptation
from
the Sefer
But
wish to
call attention to a
may
suggest
person
of
Pythagoras*')
is
as
much
an
unknown
") See Nestle in Hasting's Bi/i/e Diclionnry, vol IV, p 542. Die Harmonikak Symbolik, Koln 1876, II, pp. VJ, 2, 133, 241. >) Dr. A. Hirsh (JQR., vol. XX, p. 61) doubts whether there ever was a Pythagoras, althongh he has no doubt there existed a Pythagorean
")
school of philosophers.
It is
admitted
(J.
page 99) that "all that has come down to us under the names of various The disciples of Pythagoras is pure forgery, of the most worthless kind.
is therefore conjectural, and all what wc are told by Aristotle". According to some writers Pythagoras was a Greek, according to others, he was either a Phctnician or a Syrian. There have been also some writers
we
really
know
of the school
is
55
Joseph
it
the Pythagorean
philosophy,
corresponds
curiously
to
wrote
Would
be
genuine
fragments of Philolaus"?
SEFEE YETZIKAH
(K p-lS)
Chap.
rix"'Vs
1
na"!!:
D^nB'i
D'tf'rB'
Thirty-two mysterious
has the Lord,
ways
-EC! lE'ic:
mx3S
~^-^'
r:
:
ppn
-EC-
Lord
of hosts,
and
's njB'B
Scroll.
2
"(n
mrTJ
rvnx
QTK'i
D''B'Va'
I'rs'.
These
are
the
thirty
two
n-iB'V c^nti'i
mViE:
icy mx^'TE
mysterious
ways,
ten
double
the Torah.
'J
3
The ten double
letters
,i
are ten
yttT
nb^i
~vv
'^
1^'
''
-s '-
'"
,n
,v
,1
,B
p
The
,i
,'
,1
,3
/S
mtry
,D }?
D'ntr
,"'
.mtry rns
,1
^i itpy
and
not
nine,
ten
and
not
,a /n
" muitPB
nvmx
,:
eleven.
twelve
, ,h
,'
simple
,
rnx
,p ,s ,y ,c
letters are
,p ,S ,y
,B ,n
,n
:
mtpy
who
n-B'y
DTitt'
mtpy
Grossyriechtnlaud und Pylhabelieve that he was a Jew. (Rathgeber, even been ident.hed with Gotha 1866, pp. 325, 461, 466). He has should If Pythagoras was a Hebrew he the prophet Ezekiel. (M,rf, 534). high-priest Joshua son of Jehozadak. rather be identified with the
noras,
56
hv 13-
n^vm pa
:"J12D
-npni
pa
iina
thirteen.
In-
^v
"isv atyni
ima
the
matter
clearly,
to
His
rutrD
o^ntPi
mpipn
nB3
niTis
ontPV
Twenty-two
letters
are en-
mynp nna
ni2isn
hpa
:mDipD
nti-ens
and
five
fixed
in
the
moutli in
'n njtra
places.
DTtfl onK'y
Twenty-two
graved,
letters
He
en-
ns
pD
n^Ji
|E-is
p''Dm
b'2
ppr
"iis^n
hewed
out,
weighed,
'.-iVib
Tny-
nxi
them
all existing
forms,
in the
and
all
forms that
may
"i
DV
f]bH
'<
p-'Dm
How
s with
of
did
He combine them,
them
;
1^2 Dy r^3
,^W ay
pisi
i"?!:
nmin
i'?-!:
oy pi3 pi
.n^a
oy ]h3i
ol
and
all
them with N
all
2,
with
all of
i
them and
and so
all
of
them with 3
all
of
them with
of
in order;
words and
all
existing
them.
57
'1
njipo
myiDp
nvmx
D'JB
dtb'i
ontry
Twenty
fixed
in
two
letters
are
circle,
with
484
iinsi
bibir\
inni
laV'?
onytf
io'di
divisions,
circle turns
VVi
Jjy
n'7yD'?
vy
forward
backward;
the
thus
is
:yjj ntso'?
in JJy [delight],
at
is
at the end.
'n nitrr:;
8
t)ut of
y21X
,D"in2
HB'B'
mJ13
D'J3X
d''J3n
arc built,
six
nuia
d''J3S
tfty
houses
out
of
nxo
ruia
tron
,D'n3
msD nuu
:r!Bn
out
of
five
stones
D'jas
yatp
,D'n3
ontpyi
out
of
six
stones
no aiB-m ss
i?''Ht
"pis'
seven
hundred
and
twenty
jyiDtt'"? ri'?i3i
iTixn^si lan"?
Go and count
the
what
mouth
is
unable to pronounce,
ear
is
and the
unable to hear.
(3 piB)
'B njtfD
Ohap.
9
II
He
and
:nnj< Dtfo
all
combines
and
changes
makes
speech
all
forms
the
and
one
ss? ^u^^;
^21
iwr.
with
58
Name; thus
speech
are
all
forms and
all
derived
from
the
one Name.
10
ty'?B*
and
forth
hidden.
From them go
fire.
noan d"d
laV'?
|D''d;
.dt^^
air,
water, and
Fire above
them
thus
is
mute,
^'
is
hissing,
and
X holds
them.
the
balance between
11
mas mas
ts'Vtt'
D^D
mi
yais
niss
hidden.
air,
From them go
and
earth.
forth
-n^u
'inaty
water,
Four
five
:m.i'?in
vowels n"2'BX,
vowels,
which are
gave
birth
that
to
twenty-seven consonants.
3"i njtro
12
ntt'an
laiy
naV nns
b'z
max
ist:";
The
one by
seven
five
vowels
stand each
itself,
piyi
nna
-^n^
i'bs
'ins-,
^mnsa
j^aa
consonants
on
tlie
de-
-ya ?
ly
.nan'ja
pendent
vowels.
He
of a
like
wip
"pyaa
j'^ids
'rB'-a "lax;
made them
state,
in the
form
:ny
ny
59
The
the
One
Master,
God,
faithful
from His
abode
forever
and
ever.
13
nyatfi
ciB-yi
DTttn
mas
nc-Dn
The
seven
live
rvms
onE'v iVx
nnhn
^D''B'
consonants,
in
are
n-.n'' ,t'
contained
letters
the
twenty-two
which
the Lord,
Lord
of hosts,
(a
-I"''
pIB)
-Jtt'D
Chap.
"itpy
Ill
H
and zero
-'E
u;hz -a-<b2]'-\
titec
The
ten digits
-p^
rn::
CXI -imn^o
"i3i
-ph nm^D
oipa"?
3ib'
close tliy
^y
'3
:m3
heart
should leap,
for
come back
to its place;
15
The
ten
digits
and
zero,
their
Dsm -DDna
-pn r^nja
miB'p
the
tlame
:-iBiD
nns no nnx
is
Underin
stand wisdom
and be wise
60
understanding,
but one Master,
that
there there
is
and
is
,r"ss
rtQ''b2'
10
nTED
itt'v
The
ten
digits
is
and
zero,
their appearance
like lightis
no
at
iXDD
"js^-.
:5-~'
-BiC:
limit.
They go and
come
command
njK'o
-12";^
1"
-t3'^31
niTSD
"'^x
Living
God,
blessed
be
His
18
nn
^ip
n2
One
out of
He
it
nn
nii -112m
voice, air
and speech,
Spirit.
and
this is the
Holy
ly
,1-3"
ppn
"ip
nT,t^'
Two He
out of
^3
piT
irr
them
and chaos.
me'^iEa c';3X
:d''d
'"x 'in:%'i^'3
ohv"
Void
is
61
in
the
abyss,
whence
njB'D
20
]i<^'V
out
of
mud and
like a
chiy.
D-'S'
ps'-.
He arranged them
bed.
wall.
garden
like a
He
set
them up
He
pavement,
and
poured
upon
S"3 -3K'0
-iUDH sc; -na
21
Four
out
of
He
them
throne
of
ministering angels.
a"a njB'a
22
existence
UB"
iJ's ntryi
He formed
void,
out of
ijiKB-
I'lso
D'ltfy
ni^n:.
"lait'
asm
tt'snj
D'nB"i
:-nx
nm
"J'^a
two
:,"a
in
number one
23
in
spirit.
-jtro
(D'H^xn
,avLi
nti'V
nx
d;
a-.a
one
over
nmy'7
/Vi
nuiy''?
pnaD aian
,a-iun
,y-iD
ym piao am
,y-in
and
out
evil
against
good;
evil
ns vnaa yini
ns
good
of
good,
and
62
out of evil:
good testing
:
evil,
is
and
evil
testing good
good
stored
away
and
evil is stored
away
-24
l"3 nJB'D
When Abraham
^l-is'i
our
father
3sni
ppm
vzni
rrhv'
ipm
:'ni
rtxii
is-.
arose,
he looked
-snan :t3
1^ n'-i3 r.-i3i
-pa
Vd- v~*<
,D^iy
''^V ^"^^
nna
i^
m3
Nini
"j-'a
^y lynh
and
calcu-
vt myasx iB-y nna i^ mDi mysss nry Dntfy itppi n'p'Dn nna xim v^.'"i nbi uitf^a -iin- nvmx cntr*
iiB''?n
nns
and
his
creation
was
successful.
Then
the
Master
rx
'h
He
mhsa
itfyi?
"pnji
m-12
"tfyi
made
a covenant with of
his
him on
hands,
and
tongue;
of
his
and on
feet,
and
the
covenant of circumcision;
tied the
and
of
twenty-two
his
letters
the Torah to
tongue
their
and
revealed to
him
secret.
water;
air,
kind-
them
in
fire,
and melted
and twelve
them
simple
COREECTIONS.
p.
my
view^s
1.
my
/v
P. 12
P. P.
1.
IG
I.
For
o'
read
o,
25
31
1.
IG P-Jr
~], _1
read
~\
_^
~"
H_-^
P.
1.
8 For
11
<
read
f <
P. 37 P. 40
P. P.
1.
1.
17
For
40 43
1.
21
14
1.
P. 44
P.
4 4
1.
The
texts
this
1,
Mantua
and Mantua
will
will
be found
Hebrew
edition of
work which
I
appear shortly.
have
to
acknowledge
;
my
to
indebtedness to Dr. H.
i)r.
Ma Iter
for reading
fitihe
proof-sbeetj
and also
Israel
improvements.
\T
Printed by
II.
Kloiscbraann
Bieslau Reusche.str.
Vtl
"
A SOLUTION OF THE PYTHAGOREAN NUMBER PHILOSOPHY SUPPLEMENT TO ^THE ORIGIN OF LETTERS AND NUMERALS
BY PHINEAS MORDELL.
Copyright igai by Phineas Mordell.
The
real reason
why
to be the elements
and
origin of everything
all
what they
first
1,
really
"Numbers by
Metaalphabet
and prior to
S).
things."
(Aristotle's
Book
Chapter
The
all
things
and composition
in
numbers.
Now
the
first
transl.
by Th. Taylor,
is
London, 1815,
simple ^bodies,
p.
332) says:
"The fourth
tetractys
of the
fire, air,
according to numbers.
tetractys, that
in
the
first
is
fire is in this.
is
air,
the triad
'"The invention
than any form
ol
"Numeral
to
of Signs to represent numbers is doubtless much older writing" (Chambers Encyclopaedia, 1893, Vol. VII, p. 548). characters, were first invented because they were first necessary
mankind."
(Th. A&t\e
The
London
65
1784).
66
earth.""
number
number
number
three and
with
the
number
The
real four
1,
series of strokes
originally
numbers and
The key
thesis
is
above
HO v^ means
Was
known
to
the Pythagoreans.?
The "one"
in
is
the Symbol,
I.
the infinite,
0.
This
all
is in
per-
harmony with
numbers
0).
Therefore,
all
and the
'"Die Pythagoreer fuehrten daheralles auf die Zahl und nicht auf die mathematischen Figuren zurueck" (S. A. Byk. Die Vorsokratische Philosophie
1.
It
is
is
associated
number
the principle of place value makes a harmonious one (see below about har-
mony). The harmonious one (zusammengefuegtes Eins) was confounded with the plain one and thus fire came to be regarded as the Pythagorean first material element..
THE ORIGIN OF
Zero, 0. Since One,
1 is
L ETTERS
the
finite,
1
AND NUMERALS
is
67
the Zero,
of the Pythagoreans.
it
The One,
called the
the so
The Pythagoreans could not have meant by infinite duality as many writers believe, for as the one is finite, the number two and every other number must also be finite.
number two,
in a
Moreover,
1 itself
symbol
itself,
becomes
Boeckh
Pythagorean
made
it
which
is
not a number at
some Pythagoreans
second element the
world.
Ill, p.
al.^o
God and
the
infinite
W. W. Goodwin,
vol.
Boston 1870).
it is
"The Deity,
{A
and the
line
originated. (Thimus Harmonikale Symbolik Koeln 1876, vol. 1, pp. 79-83). By the "hounded line" and "unbounded line" trom which according der Forto the Pythagoreans everything originated (Diels H. Die Fragmente symbols for sokraliker p. 250) they surely meant the line and the circle the
one and zero. 'Alter having written this supplement I lound that Mr. S. Klyce (f/niinfinity are logically verse 1921 para. 43 f) advances the view that zero and
identical.
68
F.
vol.
1.
p. 398.)
in
understanding,
to
that there
is
no second
him."
art
So
in "iniT -:'ip\n
is
said
]2rin2
iib\
"in
is
one which
different
in
counted.
So Solomon
x*?!
ibn Gebiroi
m^Vs inr
nnx3
inx -nx
Thou
art one
of Thought,
London
1854, p. 48,
"The
and
two s)'mbols
"non-being."
and
0, as the
"Plenum"
existence
religion of
and
zero, 0.
Some
1.
Per-
The author
of the Sefer Yetzira and the Pythagoreans believed that the one
The view
held bj'
Sefiroth or
VX
implies
to the
But according
a period
when Nothing
Grad-
ually
itself
by
erature,
New
York, 1901,
p.
3).
69
1.
when
the
fifth
element.
The
symbols or elements
were supposed to
Jena 1908,
p. 162).
air, water, earth and fire were also symbolized by ten dots arranged in a triangular form and the sphere of void encompassing them was symbolized by a circle. Hence the void and the universe were symbolized by
The
four elements,
in a
X \
which according
symbol
for zero.
the universe
may
also be
symbol-
by
numeral figures
The
nine
numerals
may
and the zero circle embracing them may be designated by =liD fN or niaV:! "in3.
f
noi^o
Kabbalistic origin of onr numerals see A. J. H. Vincent in Jouraal Je Mathematiques Par Joseph Liouville Paris 1839 Archaolot'ique 18J5-184f) pp. 601-621.) Kevue and in 261-280 pp.
According to the Sefer Yetzira the Hebrew alphabet conoften double letters and twelve simple leters, representing the vigesimal and duodecimal systems of notation, still more fully symbolizes the universe.
sisting
70
If
the
From
also
is
fifth
element "aether"
name
for
(Com. above
asserts that
all
it
p.
.
30).
.
.
Now
since
our attempts
did not exist,
and
all
phenomena occur
as if
p. 12).
"Since
we we
word
vacuum
it
to picture
as
matter"
It
is
makes
it
1
0.
The
principle of position
makes
p.
one,
one.
indicated
b}'
the words
"The
is
Deswegen ganz formlos ist. weil das vier Elementen, bios noch und daher im Kosmos Urgrund keine Zahl Juenfte Element als reiner nicht voshanden ist." (S. A. Byk, Die I'orsokratische Philosophic 1. Leipzig
als
Urgrund
1876, p. 94).
"Infinity
is
its
disappearance" (H.
Perhaps it is more correct to read (above p. 60 para. 15) 5)10 "N ID'^Dm "and their termination is infinity" instead of ejlD \!^? pS jrivDni "to their aim there is no limit."
71
Now
if
the Pythagorean
num-
ber philosophy
as that
known
Did
Pytha-
osophy.
it?
their
"harmony"
all
mean
systems of antiquity.
have been
advanced
Pythagorean philosophy.
Many
me
identical with the philosophy of the Sefer Yetzira and both are
of Hebrew origin.
The philosophy
That which
form that
in spite
The
entire
philosophy
is
unreliable and
I
most
likely
is
a forgery.
However,
that
may
be, I
hope
have at
least succeeded in
removing some
'"Das
Monas,
absolute Princip dieser Harmonic sahen die Pythagoraeer in der nur im Gedanken vorhandene mit sich scibst noch
ium
unentzweite Einheit, die das viele zu ihrem Gegensatze hat. In diesem Stadist sie nur Monas. Zur Harmonic wird sie erst, wenn sie aus sich selbsi (S. A. Byk, ibid, p. lOS). ztim Vielen wird."
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