biblical

Yesterday I called the biblical art of gematria ‘sophisticated’, and today I’d like to elaborate a little upon that theme.

You’ll all be familiar with the concept of written grammar, but have you ever paid mind to numerical grammar? It is by convention to numerical grammar that we structure our mathematical calculations the way that we do. For instance, understanding the sum [ 220 / 7 = 31.428571r ] requires us to know which elements of the sum are arranged where and for what reason. And before we do any calculation we also need to be familiar with the signs for math functions (like +, -, *, /, $, %, !) . Therefore, because we require knowledge of the conventions, we need some degree of formal education in order to do math, and the same is true for biblical gematria. There are numerical conventions for biblical gematria; it has a type of numerical grammar.

Most indicators have a logical relationship ‎with their mathematical function, for instance:‎“et” = add, “not” = disregard, “on the head” = ‎the first syllable of a word, “bruise” = put two ‎words together, “the heel” = the end syllable of ‎a word. So we’re going to be taking you on a bit of a whirlwind tour around the Torah, to alight on some of the common conventions of biblical gematria. As promised, today we’re going to look at an unusual bit of gematria in the story of Ephraim and Manasseh; Genesis 48:14.

This calculation has something of the feel of a cryptic crossword clue about it. When we read it we should be looking for logical relationships ‎between the words in the sentence:

וישלח ישראל את־ימינו וישת על־ראש אפרים והוא הצעיר ואת־שמאלו ‏על־ראש מנשה שכל את־ידיו כי מנשה הבכור

“But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid ‎it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, ‎and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing ‎his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.”‎

The value of the names are exactly the same, until just ‘the head’ of the names are considered;

מְנַשֶּׁ֖ה הַבְּכֽוֹר ‘Manasseh the firstborn’ = 331
אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙ ‘Ephraim’ = 331

Israel is touching both Ephraim and Manasseh which indicates the sum of the three names are to be added, but the text specifies that he is only touching them עַל רֹ֤אש “on the head” which by convention means we should add ‎‎‘the head’ or first parts from each name, therefore we take the Peh and Aleph from Ephraim and the Mem from Manasseh:

יִשְׂרָאֵ֨ל‎ ‘Israel’ (244) + (‎‏(81) אֶפְ‎ of ‎‏(אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙‎ + (‎‏ (40) מְof ‎מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה‎) = 365 (days).

And now we may ask ourselves “Why is the number of days in a year relevant to the story of Manasseh and Ephraim?” Much of the gematria in Genesis concerns the Solar and Lunar cycles, and we see the number 365 appearing many times in Genesis as the text discusses the cycles of the solar year. It’s first seen in Genesis 1:2-3;

365 = פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם – וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ + אֽוֹר
“The Face of the Deep” – “and darkness” + “light” = 365

We see 365 again in Genesis 3:3;

ומפרי העץ אשר בתוך ־ הגן
“And the fruit of the tree which in the middle of the garden.

[In my experience of the calculating art, typically the use of the words such as בְּתוֹךְ ‘middle’ or ‘’between’ denotes the function of division by 2 of the following noun, which in this case is הגן ‘garden’ 58. Therefore: 58 / 2 = 29 and when we add this to ומפרי ‘and the fruit’ 336 results in 365 (days in a year).]

365 is central to the story of Jacob and Esau [Genesis 25:27];

עֵשָׂ֗ו + צַ֖יִד + יַעֲקֹב֙

Esau 79 + hunter 104 + Jacob 182 = 365

This story in particular has strong typological similarities to the 3rd millennium BCE Sumerian text The Debate between Winter and Summer.

365 is a significant number to the Seven Palaces. When the sum of the middle column is calculated (282 if we do not ‎use gates) and then removed from the total number (1012 ‎for the entire wheel) this leaves 730 and also splits the ‎wheel into two sections.

730 = 365 days + 365 nights.

When the letters Yod and Ayin are doubled on their paths we find the total sum from the Palace of the Aleph to the Palace of the Daleth is 365;

Aleph (1) + (Yod x 2 (20)) + Resh (200) + (Ayin x 2 (140) + Daleth (4) = 365.

And we also find the same calculation with the opposite diagonal;

Aleph (1) + (Lamed x 2 (60)) + Resh (200) + (Nun x 2 (100) + Daleth (4) = 365.

Lastly, the Talmud Yerushalmi Tractate Rosh Hashanah ‎‎2:5 says:

”The Holy One blessed be He ‎created 365 windows that the world might ‎use them: 182 in the east, and 182 in the ‎west and one in the center of the firmament ‎from which it came forth at the beginning of ‎the Creation.”‎

That’s it for today. Continuing on tomorrow I’ll be discussing how the ancients thought about light, as well looking into the story of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. So stay tuned for more numerical honey.

One of the consequences of studying the gematria of the bible is that I look at this and instantly count the proper value of 14 for the hebrew word for ‘man’. AISh ~ Aleph = 1, Yod = 10 and Shin = 3.

One of the other consequences of studying the gematria of the bible is that the number of a word is of very little consequence to me, unless it is used in a deliberate biblical calculation somewhere in the Torah, or in subsequent Jewish writings.

On its own, the word (any word) stands in a void of isolation; bearing no relationship to other actors. It is simply a word and a number. Most of the time there is no intrinsic relationship between words that share a common number. When chance coincidences occur, the whimsy of these things can delight me when I see the role that chance and randomness play in our imaginations. But I don’t take it as a serious method of biblical analysis. It’s not “the Sod”. For instance this;

יאש Meaning: to desist, i. e. (figuratively) to despond. Usage: (cause to) despair, one that is desperate, be no hope.

…this word ‘IASh’ also has a gematria value of 14, but are we to take the rather gloomy prophecy from this that man is a hopeless case because the number of the word man shares its digits with that of IASh? Come on… it really is utter nonsense, isn’t it? At best it’s a form of imaginative numerical doodling that can randomly stimulate creative ideas. You can do the same thing watching clouds though.

So if you want to study the hebrew language, why not take a look at their words in context? The first incidence of AiSh in the Torah, that is without other prefix and suffix letters, occurs in Genesis 2:24:

על כן יעזב איש את אביו ואת אמו ודבק באשתו והיו לבשר אחד׃

It says “There-after will leave a man (+) his father and (+) his mother and join in his wife, and become to flesh one.”

Go and study the interlinear text for a while and come back to this.

https://biblehub.com/text/genesis/2-24.htm

All done? Right.

If we consider the logic of the relationships of the actors to one another; clearly the sum of the man must be subtracted from the sum of his mother and his father, but his sum is joined to that of his wife.

My working hypothesis is that the text is disclosing the calculation of an intercalary 13th month. To keep a 12-month lunar year in pace with the solar year, an intercalary 13th month would have to be added on seven occasions during the nineteen-year period (235 = 19 × 12 + 7). When Meton introduced the cycle around 432 BC, it was already known by Babylonian astronomers.

Gematria Numbers:

AiSh : Man = 14

BaShThv : In his wife = 16

AiSh BaShThv : Man in his wife = 30

Abiv : His Father = 19 (years)

Amv : His Mother = 47 (47 x 5 = 235)

LbShr : to flesh = 235 (a period of 19 years is almost exactly equal to 235 synodic months and, rounded to full days, counts 6,940 days. The difference between the two periods (of 19 years and 235 synodic months) is only a few hours, depending on the definition of the year. 19 × 12 + 7 = 235. )

Achd : One = 13 (an intercalary 13th month)

LbShr Achd : One Flesh = 248 (8 x 31).

The Calculations:

Abiv – AiSh = 3 : His Father – Man = 3

Amv – AiSh = 33 : His Mother – Man = 33

3 + 33 + BaShThv 16 = 52 (weeks in a year)

3 + 33 + BaShThv 16 + Aish 14 = 66

One Flesh 248 – His mother 47 – His Father 19 = 182 (half a year/ winter/summer).

In verse 25 it says the man and his wife were naked עֲרוּמִּ֔ים (366) and not ashamed (18). There are 366 days in an intercalary year. 366 is the sum of the ‘man’ and ‘in his wife’ in 2:24, when added to the remaining from the man being subtracted separately for his mother and his father + the letters Resh (200) and Qoph (100). However, the bible uses the word HaAdam instead of AiSh ‘man’ in verse 25, which gives וְאִשְׁתּ֑וֹ + הָֽאָדָ֖ם = 70 : The Adam and his woman = 70.

In the tarot, the letter Resh is attributed to ‘The Sun’ and the Qoph is attributed to ‘The Moon’. The letters of Qoph and Resh are also attributed to these particular verses (2:24-25) of Genesis:

http://bethshebaashe.com/genesis-chapters-1-2-tarot

If Adam and Eve were personifications of the Sun and Moon, it would go a long way to explain the genealogy of Jacob and Esau (who personify the Summer and the Winter) later on in the Book of Genesis. Were it not for tradition that insists upon treating these biblical characters first and foremost as human beings, the idea that seasons are descended from an impressive lineage like the Sun and the Moon, is far easier to swallow than the idea that the seasons came from human beings.

In case you haven’t heard yet; you can now use the Shematria biblical calculator to help you explore the bible with gematria! Shematria is coded using the original paleo-hebrew sourced gematria that the bible was originally written in. So make sure that you bookmark that for future reference.

Please consider donating to the app, so that I can continue to update it with features like a Greek database, or opening up a users only area. Thank you.

The conventions of biblical gematria.

The Gematria of Man

Gematria Numbers:

The Calculations: