Can Gematria tell us when the Heavens and the Earth were created according to Genesis 1:1? Actually – yes it can!
The Gematria of the Merkabah[1] has long been hidden and secret yet it is the only gematria that actually works with the Tanakh.
בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ
In the beginning (220) created (203) Elohim (86) ath (+) The Heavens (98) vath (and +) The Earth (296).
220 + 86 + 98 + 296 = 700.
יָמִ֖ים is the word for ‘days’ (100).
700 = 100 x 7 = The Seven Days of Creation.
We can cross reference this sum in other books of the Torah:
Abraham (248) + Isaac (208) + Israel (244) = 700.
When a biblical scribe refers to the God of ‘Abraham, Isaac and Israel’ he is specifically revering the God of Creation by his numerical art. Scribal descriptions of the Ark of the Covenant are also carefully crafted to sum to 700. The exegesis of the Merkabah in respect of Exodus 25:10-11 is as follows:
אֲר֖וֹן = Ark = from ‘אָרָה’ meaning ‘to pick’ [fruit] or ‘to gather’ [myrrh].
עֲצֵ֣י = wood 170
שִׁטִּ֑ים = acacia 62
זָהָ֣ב = Gold 14
טָה֔וֹר = Pure 220.
According to the text, the ‘pure gold’ is overlaid both inside and outside the Ark, therefore we use the sum for ‘pure gold’ twice:
Wood 170 + Acacia 62 + (Pure 220 x 2) + (Gold 14 x 2) = 700.
Returning to Genesis 1:1 however; to find out when the heavens and the earth were created we must simply add ‘Elohim’, ‘the Heavens’ and ‘The Earth’ together to discover when[2] the creation happened.
As Dr. Michael Heiser notes, the first word of Genesis ‘Bereshith’ בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית can be translated as ‘when‘ as well as ‘in the Beginning’. When we read the first word as ‘when‘ then the gematria of the text answers the question: When was the heavens and the earth created?
Elohim 86 + the Heavens 98 + the Earth 296 = 480.
Professor David Miano[3] suggests that 480 years represents an ‘Era’ and he notes that biblical writers appear to have written or adjusted their open chronology to fit an idealized period of time:
45 years for the Exodus and Conquest (Josh 14:10)
70 years for the periods of oppression (Judges 3:8, 14; 4:3; 6:1; 10:8)
200 years for the periods of rest (Judges 3:3, 11; 5:31; 8:28)
76 years for the minor judges (Judges 10:1-4; 12:7-15)
3 years for the reign of Abimelech (Judges 9:22)
40 years for the Philistine oppression (Judges 13:1)
2 years for Saul (1 Sam 13:1)
40 years for David (1 Kgs 2:11)
3 years for Solomon (1 Kgs 6:1)
45 + 70 + 200 + 76 + 3 + 40 + 2 + 40 + 3 = 480 years by ordinal measurement.
What does this mean? It means the scribe was saying something that translates as “a very long time ago”.
So much for creatio ex nihilo! And so much for the thousands of books that have been written on this subject alone. And there’s the rub.
I went browsing in a beautiful secondhand bookstore in Stroudsburg today and there were whole shelves of books about the bible that the gematria of the Merkabah instantly invalidates. It made me a little sad that so much human industry and time has been devoted to a literal reading of the bible that treats characters, objects and events as if they were real. The Rambam warned against reading the Torah literally. Isn’t it time that we finally listened to his advice?
– B.A. 2017.
[1] This gematria is from the Seven Palaces of the Merkabah. Gematria key:
א 1 ב 2 ג 3 ש 3 ד 4 ת 4 ה 5 ו 6 ז 7 ח 8 ט 9 י 10 כ 20 ל 30 מ 40 נ 50 ס 60 ע 70 פ 80 צ 90 ק 100 ר 200
[2]
[3] Shadow on the Steps: Time measurement in ancient Israel, by David Miano, pg 57.