Sefer Yetziyrah - a translation

Jim Eshelman

Chapter 1 - THE SEFIYROTH & CREATION

In 32 mystical Paths of Wisdom inscribed Yah, Y.H.V.H. Tzabaoth, the God of Isræl, the Living God and King of the Universe, El Shaddai, the merciful and gracious, the high and exalted, dwelling in Eternity, whose Name is Holy – exalted and holy is He. He created His uni¬verse by three forms of expression – by Letter, Number, and Sound.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth and 22 Foundation Letters – three Mothers, seven Doubles, and twelve Simples.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth, in the number of the ten fingers, five matched against five, and a single covenant in the midst, by word [or circumcision] of the tongue, and by the circumcision [or word] of the genitals.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth – ten and not nine, ten and not eleven. Understand in Wisdom, and be wise in Understanding. Examine with them, and probe from them. Make each thing stand on its own essence. Restore the Former to His foundation.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth: Theirs is a tenfold measure, without end. An abyss of beginning, an abyss of ending; an abyss of good, an abyss of evil; an abyss above, an abyss below; an abyss to the east, an abyss to the west; an abyss to the north, an abyss to the south. The only Lord, God the Faithful King, rules all these from His holy dwelling throughout Eternity.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth: Their mystical image is like the lightning flash. Their fulfillment is boundless. His Word is in them “running and returning.” They rush to His declaration like the whirlwind. They bow themselves before His Throne.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth, whose end is inherent in their beginning, and their beginning in their end, like a flame within a burning coal. For the Lord is solitary, He has no second; before One, what do you count?
Ten ineffable sefiyroth. Seal your mouth against speech, and your heart against thought; and if your heart escapes from you, come back to the place. It is written, therefore, “The Chayyoth running and returning.” Concerning this, a covenant was made.
Ten ineffable sefiyroth. One: the Breath (or Spirit) of the Living God, blesséd and blessed be His Name, the Living God of the Æons. Voice and Breath and Speech, this is the Holy Spirit.
Two: Air from Spirit. With it He engraved and carved out 22 Foundation Letters – three Mothers, seven Doubles, and twelve Simples. And the One Spirit is of them.
Three: Water from Air. With it He engraved and carved out 22 letters from the formless and void, the mire and clay. He engraved them like a type of garden; He carved them out like a type of wall; He covered them like a type of ceiling.
Four: Fire from Water. With it He engraved and carved out a Throne of Glory, Serafiym, Ofanniym, and Chayyoth ha-Qodesh, and ministering angels. From these three He founded His dwelling, as it is written, “Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers of flaming fire.”
He selected three letters from among the Simples – in the mystery of the three Mothers, Alef, Meym, and Shiyn – and set them into His Great Name, and with them He sealed the six directions.

Five: He looked above, and sealed the Height with Y.H.V.

Six: He looked below, and sealed the Depth with Y.V.H.

Seven: He looked forward, and sealed the East with H.Y.V.

Eight: He looked backward, and sealed the West with H.V.Y.

Nine: He looked to the right, and sealed the South with V.Y.H.

Ten: He looked to the left, and sealed the North with V.H.Y.

These are the ten ineffable sefiyroth: the Spirit of the Living God, Air from Spirit, Water from Air, Fire from Water; and Above, Below, East, West, South, North.

Jim Eshelman

Chapter 2 - THE TWENTY-TWO FOUNDATION LETTERS

Twenty-two Foundation Letters: three Mothers, seven Doubles, and twelve Simples. The three Mothers are Alef, Meym, and Shiyn: Their foundation is a scale pan of merit, a scale pan of liability, and a tongue of decree standing between these. Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, and Shiyn. Meym is silent, Shiyn hisses, and Alef is the breath of air reconciling between them.
Twenty-two Foundation Letters: He engraved them, carved them out, refined them, weighed them, and transformed them. He formed by them all that is formed and all that is ready to be formed.
Twenty-two Foundation Letters: He engraved them by voice and carved them out with breath. He placed them in the mouth in five places: Alef, Cheyth, Heh, A’ayin in the throat; Gimel, Kaf, Yod, Qof in the palate; Daleth, Teyth, Lamed, Noon, Tav in the tongue; Zayin, Samekh, Shiyn, Reysh, Tzaddiy in the teeth; and Vav, Meym, Peh in the lips.
Twenty-two Foundation Letters: He placed them in a circle like a wall with 231 gates. The circle rotates forward and back. A sign for this thing: There is nothing good higher than Delight (ONG), and nothing evil lower than Plague (NGO).
How? He refined, weighed, and transformed them each: Alef with all, and all with Alef; Beyth with all, and all with Beyth. They repeat cyclically and exist in 231 gates. Thus, all that is formed and all that is spoken emanates from the One Name.
He formed substance from the formless. He made Nothing into Something. He hewed vast pillars out of intangible air. This is a sign, Alef with all, and all with Alef. He witnesses, transforms, and makes all that is formed and all that is spoken, One Name. A sign for this is: 22 things in a single body.

Jim Eshelman

Chapter 3 - THE THREE MOTHER LETTERS

Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn: Their foundation is a scale pan of merit, a scale pan of liability, and a tongue of decree standing between these.
Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn: A secret great and mystical, veiled and sealed by six rings. From them emanated Air, Water, and Fire; and from them are born the Fathers; and from the Fathers, descendants.
Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn: He engraved them, carved them out, refined them, weighed them, and transformed them. He formed by them: three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn, in the universe; three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn, in the year; three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn, in the soul, male and female.
Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn, in the Universe are Air, Water, Fire. Heaven was created from Fire, and earth from Water; and the Air, from Breath (or Spirit), reconciles between them.
Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn, are the hot, the cold, and the temperate in the year. From Fire is created the hot; from Water is created the cold; and from Breath is created the temperate state, reconciling between them.
Three Mothers, Alef, Meym, Shiyn, in the soul, male and female, are the head, the belly, and the chest. From Fire was created the head; from Water, the belly; and from the Breath, the chest, reconciling between them.
He made the letter Alef king over Breath, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other. He formed with them Air in the universe, the temperate in the year, and the chest in the soul: the male by Sh M A and the female by M Sh A.
He made the letter Meym king over Water, and He bound unto it a Crown, and He combined one with the other. He formed with them the earth in the universe, cold in the year, and the belly in the soul: the male by Sh A M and the female by A Sh M.
He made the letter Shiyn king over Fire, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other. He formed with them heaven in the universe, heat in the year, and the head in the soul: the male by M A Sh and the female by A M Sh.

Jim Eshelman

Chapter 4 - THE SEVEN DOUBLE LETTERS

Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav. They [each] give two expressions: A form soft and hard, strong and weak.
Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav. Their foundation is Life, Peace, Wisdom, Wealth, Grace, Seed, and Dominion.
Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav, in speech and in permutation. The opposite of Life is Death. The opposite of Peace is War. The opposite of Wisdom is Folly. The opposite of Wealth is Poverty. The opposite of Grace is Ugliness. The opposite of Seed is Sterility. The opposite of Dominion is Slavery.
Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav. Above and below, east and west, north and south, and the Palace of Holiness in the center and supporting all things.
Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav. Seven and not six, seven and not eight. Examine with them, and probe from them. Make each thing stand on its own essence. Restore the Former to His foundation.
Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav, a foundation. He engraved them, carved them out, refined them, weighed them, and transformed them. He formed by them seven planets in the universe, seven days in the week, [and] seven gates into the soul, male and female.
Seven planets in the universe: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. Seven days in the year: the seven days of the week. Seven gates into the soul, male and female: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and the mouth.
He made the letter Beyth king over Life, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Mercury in the universe, Wednesday in the year, and the mouth in the soul, male and female.
He made the letter Gimel king over Peace, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them the Moon in the universe, Monday in the year, and the left eye in the soul, male and female.
He made the letter Daleth king over Wisdom, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Venus in the universe, Friday in the year, and the left nostril in the soul, male and female.
He made the letter Kaf king over Wealth, and He bound to it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Jupiter in the universe, Thursday in the year, and the left ear in the soul, male and female.
He made the letter Peh king over Grace, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Mars in the universe, Tuesday in the year, and the right nostril in the soul, male and female.
He made the letter Reysh king over Seed, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them the Sun in the universe, Sunday in the year, and the right eye in the soul, male and female.
He made the letter Tav king over Dominion, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Saturn in the universe, the Sabbath in the year, and the right ear in the soul, male and female.
Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav. By them were engraved seven universes, seven heavens, seven earths, seven seas, seven rivers, seven desert wildernesses, seven days, seven weeks, seven years, seven sabbaticals, seven jubilees, and the Holy Temple. Therefore, He made sevens beloved under all the heavens.
Two stones build two houses; three stones build six houses; four stones build 24 houses; five stones build 120 houses; six stones build 720 houses; seven stones build 5,040 houses. And beyond this, go on and calculate what the mouth cannot speak and the ear cannot hear.

Jim Eshelman

Chapter 5 - THE TWELVE SIMPLE LETTERS

Twelve Simple Letters: Heh, Vav, Zayin, Cheyth, Teyth, Yod, Lamed, Noon, Samekh, A’ayin, Tzaddiy, Qof. Their foundation is Sight, Hearing, Smell, Speech, Taste, Coitus, Work, Motion, Wrath, Laughter, Thought or Meditation, Sleep.
Twelve Simple Letters: Heh, Vav, Zayin, Cheyth, Teyth, Yod, Lamed, Noon, Samekh, A’ayin, Tzaddiy, Qof. Their foundation is twelve diagonal boundaries: the boundary North-East, the boundary South-East, the boundary East-Above, the boundary East-Below, the boundary North-Above, the boundary North-Below, the boundary North-West, the boundary South-West, the boundary West-Above, the boundary West-Below, the boundary South-Above, the boundary South-Below. These extend infinitely, throughout Eternity. They are the boundaries of the universe.
Twelve Simple Letters: Heh, Vav, Zayin, Cheyth, Teyth, Yod, Lamed, Noon, Samekh, A’ayin, Tzaddiy, Qof. Their foundation is He engraved them, carved them out, refined them, weighed them, and transformed them. He formed by them twelve zodiacal constellations in the universe, twelve months in the year, and twelve drivers in the soul, male and female.
Twelve zodiacal constellations in the universe: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
Twelve months in the year: Nisan, Iyyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Ab, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tebet, Shebat, Adar.
Twelve drivers in the soul, male and female: two hands, two feet, two kidneys, the gall bladder, the intestines, the liver, the gizzard, the stomach, the spleen.
He made the letter Heh king over sight, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Aquarius in the universe, Shebat in the year, and the qebah in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Vav king over hearing, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Taurus in the universe, Iyyar in the year, and the left hand in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Zayin king over smell, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Gemini in the universe, Sivan in the year, and the right foot in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Cheyth king over speech, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Cancer in the universe, Tammuz in the year, and the left foot in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Teyth king over taste, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Leo in the universe, Ab in the year, and the right kidney in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Yod king over coition, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Virgo in the universe, Elul in the year, and the left kidney in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Lamed king over work (karma), and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Libra in the universe, Tishri in the year, and the gall bladder in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Noon king over motion, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Scorpio in the universe, Cheshvan in the year, and the intestines in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Samekh king over wrath, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Sagittarius in the universe, Kislev in the year, and the liver in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter A’ayin king over laughter, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Capricorn in the universe, Tebet in the year, and the qorqeban in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Tzaddiy king over thought or meditation, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Aries in the universe, Nisan in the year, and the right hand in the soul, male and female.

He made the letter Qof king over sleep, and He bound unto it a Crown; and He combined one with the other, and formed with them Pisces in the universe, Adar in the year, and the spleen in the soul, male and female.

He made them like a desert. He arranged them like a wall. He organized them as for war.

Jim Eshelman

Chapter 6 - CONCLUSION

These are three Mothers: Alef, Meym, Shiyn. And from them emanated three Fathers, and they are Air, Water, and Fire; and from the Fathers, generations. Three Fathers and their generations, and seven planets and their hosts, and twelve diagonal boundaries. Evidence of this statement: faithful witnesses in the universe, the year, and the soul; and the Law of the Twelve, the Seven, and the Three governs in the Celestial Dragon, in cyclicity, and in the heart.
Three Mothers: Alef, Meym, Shiyn: Air, Water, Fire. Fire is above, and Water below, and the breath of air reconciles between them. A mark of this is that the Fire is the bearer of the Water. Meym is silent, Shiyn hisses, and Alef is the breath of air reconciling between them.
The Celestial Dragon in the universe is like a king upon his throne. The cyclicity in the year is like a king out in the provinces. The heart in the soul is like a king in warfare.
“Also, Elohiym made the one opposite the other.” Good opposite evil; evil opposite good. Good from good; evil from evil. The good defines the evil, and the evil defines the good. Good is the preserve of those who are good, and evil is the preserve of those who are evil.
The Three: Each stands alone; one defending, one accusing, and one deciding between them. The Seven: Three against three, and one law deciding between them. The Twelve stand in war: Three are friends, three are enemies, three are of life, and three are of death. The three friends are the heart and the ears; the three enemies are the liver, the gall bladder, and the tongue; the three that are of life are the two nostrils and the spleen; the three that are of death are the two [lower] openings and the mouth; and God the Faithful King rules all these from His holy dwelling throughout Eternity. The One atop the Three, the Three atop the Seven, the Seven atop the Twelve, and all united, one in the other.
These are the 22 letters with which inscribed Eheyeh, Yah, Y.H.V.H. Elohiym, Y.H.V.H., Y.H.V.H. Tzabaoth, Elohiym Tzabaoth, El Shaddai, Y.H.V.H. Adonai. He produced from them three forms of expression. He created from them His whole universe. He formed by them all that is formed and all that is ready to be formed.
When Abraham our father had looked, seen, understood, and inquired, and had engraved and carved out, he was successful in his power of creation, as it is written: “and the souls that they created in Haran.” At once was revealed [to him] the Most High Lord of All, blesséd be His Name forever; and He placed him within His bosom and He kissed him upon his head and He called him “Abraham my beloved” and made a covenant with him and his seed forever, as it is written, “And he believed in Y.H.V.H., and He counted it unto him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6), And he made unto him a covenant between the ten fingers of his hands (and this is the covenant of the tongue) and between the ten toes of his feet (and this is the covenant of the genitals). And He bound the 22 letters of the Law unto his tongue and revealed unto him His Mystery. He attracted them in Water, he enflamed them in Fire, he vibrated them in Air, he ignited them within the Seven, he drove them in the twelve zodiacal constellations.

sozos

I spotted a typo in Chapter 4 verse 6:

Seven Double Letters: Beyth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaf, Peh, Reysh, Tav, a foundation. He engraved them, carved them out, refined them, weighed them, and transformed them. He formed by them seven planets in the universe, seven days in the year, [and] seven gates into the soul, male and female.

The posted version reads "seven days in the year" instead of "seven days in the week".

Jim Eshelman

Oops! Thank you. Fixing it now.

Orione

Can someone help to explain this part from chapter two for me?

"4. Twenty-two Foundation Letters: He placed them in a circle like a wall with 231 gates. The circle rotates forward and back. A sign for this thing: There is nothing good higher than Delight (ONG), and nothing evil lower than Plague (NGO).

How? He refined, weighed, and transformed them each: Alef with all, and all with Alef; Beyth with all, and all with Beyth. They repeat cyclically and exist in 231 gates. Thus, all that is formed and all that is spoken emanates from the One Name. "

There's hardly anything of these parts that I understand. I don't get the 231 gates, nor the circle (or its rotating), nor Delight (ONG), or Plague (NGO) or how that leads to the conclusion that all emanates from the One Name. I hope someone can help!

Jim Eshelman

@Orione said

"Can someone help to explain this part from chapter two for me?

"4. Twenty-two Foundation Letters: He placed them in a circle like a wall with 231 gates. The circle rotates forward and back. A sign for this thing: There is nothing good higher than Delight (ONG), and nothing evil lower than Plague (NGO).

How? He refined, weighed, and transformed them each: Alef with all, and all with Alef; Beyth with all, and all with Beyth. They repeat cyclically and exist in 231 gates. Thus, all that is formed and all that is spoken emanates from the One Name. "

There's hardly anything of these parts that I understand. I don't get the 231 gates, nor the circle (or its rotating), nor Delight (ONG), or Plague (NGO) or how that leads to the conclusion that all emanates from the One Name. I hope someone can help!"

It's a tough subject. The published work (available from College of Thelema) has extensive notes in the back nearly as lengthy as the translation itself. The intention here was only to give the translation.

Orione

Ah, OK! I thought we could also discuss the meaning of the translation here, but I see now you meant for us to discuss the translation itself. As I have only read two other versions and have no knowledge of Hebrew, I'll step out of this discussion

Jim Eshelman

@Orione said

"Ah, OK! I thought we could also discuss the meaning of the translation here, but I see now you meant for us to discuss the translation itself. As I have only read two other versions and have no knowledge of Hebrew, I'll step out of this discussion "

Oh, we can take it several ways. I just didn't have time getting out the door this morning to open another document and compose a lengthy response, when the notes alone take multiple pages. The S.Y. is a very extensive study.

If you can focus your questions more specifically, possibly we could tackle them one at a time? Broad global questions like "WTF does all this mean?" tend not to get answers so much as laser-sharp specific questions

Orione

Noted I'm most intrigued by the 231 gates and why they are in a circular wall. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Jim Eshelman

@Orione said

"Noted I'm most intrigued by the 231 gates and why they are in a circular wall. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?"

The 231 Gates, as you may know, are all combinations of the 22 Hebrew letters taken two at a time.

Think of the comparison, first of all, to Tarot - a word that is an anagram of rota, "wheel." Tarot is a wheel.

In S.Y. the word I translated "circle" is GLGL, galgal, most simply meaning, “turning.” Functionally, this word may be translated as “circle,” “sphere,” “wheel,” or “cycle,” all of which have meaning in the present context. However, the phrase that follows, referring to a “wall,” determines the interpretation selected: the 22 letters are written in a circle.

One view is that a further meaning is that the recitation of these letter pairs is to be done in a "round."

You also asked previously about ONG and NGO. The text says, "There is nothing good higher than Delight (ONG), and nothing evil lower than Plague (NGO)" These two statements are called "a sign for this thing," i.e., for the discussion of the 231 gates. Oneg is used in Isaiah 58:14 to refer to an intimate relationship with God. Nega’a derived from oneg by the rotation of its letters: such a “plague” symbolizes alienation from the direct intimate relationship with God indicated by ONG, much in the way that the word “disaster” – literally dis-aster – means that one is “out of synch” with the stars.

The hint here given is more sophisticated than first appears. ONG and NGO both enumerate to 123, which is precisely the same sort of temurah of 231 as ONG is of NGO! The hint is more visible in Arabic numerals than Hebrew, but is sufficiently visible even in the latter.

skytoucher

@Jim Eshelman said

"The published work (available from College of Thelema) ..."

Is there a link on the COT site to purchase this? I looked but couldn't find it anywhere. Thank you in advance.

Jim Eshelman

@skytoucher said

"
@Jim Eshelman said
"The published work (available from College of Thelema) ..."

Is there a link on the COT site to purchase this? I looked but couldn't find it anywhere. Thank you in advance."

At present, that one (a skinny little paper thing) is generally only circulated by local T.'.O.'.T.'. bodies when people show up in person to public events. (Always good to have some things out and available.)

But you can write to <a href="mailto:orders@thelema.org">orders@thelema.org</a> and ask if you can buy one. Someone will get back to you pretty quickly.

Orione

Thank you for answering Jim. That is very interesting! I have been learning a lot from all kinds of information related to what you answered.

What interests me is that the Sepher Yetziyrah seems to imply that language was the creation of the divine through which everything else was created, but it seems that numbers (and certain mathematical laws) are integral to the divine. (I don't know how to express this very well, I hope you understand what I am saying.)
Yet at the same time, the language that has been created is very mathematical in nature and seems more of an entropic falling apart/detailing and restructuring of the numbers (to give them even more potential for expression and multiple layers etc.) than a completely new creation.

And also, looking at it from the other side, it almost seems as if the decimal numeral system was already engrained in the Hebrew language.

Jim Eshelman

@Orione said

"And also, looking at it from the other side, it almost seems as if the decimal numeral system was already engrained in the Hebrew language."

Yes, as far as I can tell it was. A number like 93 would have been written TzG (Tzaddi Gimel), so the structure was decimal. There was also the form of Temurah called the Qabalah of the Nine Chambers (AIQ BKR).

Corvinae

"The 231 Gates, as you may know, are all combinations of the 22 Hebrew letters taken two at a time."

Maybe I don't know that...

I thought it was the sum of all the major arcana. 1+2+3......= 231.

Or is that actually the same thing?

Jim Eshelman

Same thing