Sefer ha-Bahir 101-102 -- the three princes and the Tzaddik
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קא-קב
canonical late 12th c., Provence (ascribed to the 1st c. tanna) Hebrew Anonymous (attributed to Rabbi Nehunya ben ha-Kanah) tr. Hekhal Targum Project (machine-assisted draft; pending scholarly review)
The lulav read into the cosmic pillar. Three princes — Teli, Galgal, and Lev — each of twelve, together the thirty-six by which the world is sustained (§ 101); and the pillar from earth to firmament, named “Tzaddik,” that grows strong with the righteous and bears the whole world, so that one righteous person sustains it, and the offering ascends first through him (§ 102).
A provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim (with a flagged citation slip — § 101’s Proverbs 3:25 for the verse at 10:25); the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
ישב ר’ ברכיה ודרש מה לולב דאמרינן אלא ל”ו מסור לל”ב, והאיך, א”ל שלשה שרים הם תלי וגלגל ולב, וכל אחד ואחד י”ב, חזרו בשלשה מנין ל”ו שבהם נתקיים העולם דכתיב (משלי ג’ כה) וצדיק יסוד עולם:
Rabbi Berakhiah sat and expounded: what is the lulav that we spoke of? Rather, thirty-six (lo, לו) are given over to thirty-two (lev, לב). And how? He said to him: there are three princes — Teli, and Galgal (the sphere), and Lev (the heart) — and each and every one is twelve. They come, in three, to the number thirty-six, by which the world is sustained, as it is written (Proverbs 3:25 in the source; the verse is at 10:25), ‘and the righteous is the foundation of the world (tzaddik yesod olam).’
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
תנא עמוד אחד מן הארץ לרקיע וצדיק שמו על שם הצדיקים, וכשיש צדיקים בעולם מתגבר ואם לאו מתחלש, והוא סובל כל העולם דכתיב (שם) צדיק יסוד עולם, ואם חלש לא יוכל להתקיים העולם, הלכך אפי’ אין בעולם אלא צדיק אחד מעמיד העולם שנאמר וצדיק יסוד עולם לפיכך קחו תרומתי ממנו תחילה ואח”כ וזאת התרומה אשר תקחו מאתם, מאת הנשאר, ומהו, זהב וכסף ונחשת:
It was taught: a pillar [reaches] from the earth to the firmament, and ‘Tzaddik’ is its name, on account of the righteous; and when there are righteous in the world, it grows strong, and if not, it grows weak; and it bears the whole world, as it is written (ibid.), ‘the righteous is the foundation of the world.’ And if it grows weak, the world cannot endure. Therefore, even if there is in the world but one righteous person, he sustains the world, as it is said, ‘and the righteous is the foundation of the world.’ Therefore, ‘take My offering (terumah) from him first,’ and afterward, ‘and this is the offering which you shall take from them’ (Exodus 25:3) — from the remnant. And what is it? Gold and silver and bronze.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
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This edition sets the verbatim Hebrew beside a fresh English rendering and a critical apparatus: a running commentary on the passage, notes on the controlled vocabulary and the rendering chosen for each term, and cross-references to the lexicon and to related sections. It is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor.
Controlled terms noted in this passage: tzaddik (rendered as yesod). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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the three princes and the number thirty-six
The lulav yields ‘thirty-six (lo, לו) given over to thirty-two (lev, לב)’: three princes — Teli, Galgal (the sphere), and Lev (the heart) — each of twelve, together thirty-six, ‘by which the world is sustained’ (Proverbs 10:25). Sod: the three axes of the Sefer Yetzirah (6:1-3) — the celestial Teli (the pole or cosmic dragon), the Galgal (the sphere of the year), and the Lev (the heart, the soul) — each ruling twelve, and the whole resting on the tzaddik, Yesod, the foundation.
the Tzaddik who bears the world
A pillar reaching ‘from the earth to the firmament,’ named ‘Tzaddik’ for the righteous: it strengthens when there are righteous below and weakens when there are none, and ‘bears the whole world’ — ‘even one righteous person sustains the world’ (Proverbs 10:25). So the offering (terumah) is taken ‘from him first,’ then ‘from the remnant’ (Exodus 25:3) — gold, silver, and bronze. Sod: Yesod, the tzaddik-grade, the pillar and channel on which the world stands, fed by the merit of the righteous; the offering ascends first through it.
Editorial decisions
- §101 Proverbs citation. The verbatim Hebrew cites ‘tzaddik yesod olam’ as Proverbs 3:25, but it is at Proverbs 10:25 (a gimel/yod scribal slip, 3 for 10). Rendered as the source gives it with the correct locus flagged, at publish; § 102’s ‘ibid.’ points to the same. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-03)
tzaddik
Selected sense: yesod
Active senses: yesod, righteous-one
Rationale: ‘Tzaddik’ is the name of the pillar ‘from earth to firmament’ that ‘bears the whole world’ — ‘the righteous is the foundation of the world (tzaddik yesod olam)’ (Proverbs 10:25). Here the sefirotic sense is explicit: the tzaddik is Yesod, the foundation-grade and cosmic pillar, strengthened by the righteous below. Rendered ‘the righteous / Tzaddik.‘
Lexicon: lexicon/tzaddik
No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.