Sefer ha-Bahir 103-105 -- the tenth, the mother, and the seven days
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קג-קה
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 offering, the firstborn, and the festivals, read into the highest grades. The offering as the yod, the tenth (Malkhut), joined to the beginning (§ 103); the firstborn Israel, and “the mother of the world” — Binah, read from Proverbs 2:3 (§ 104); and the seven days the mother raised, Atzeret and its Torah, and Sukkot as the house built by wisdom (§ 105).
A provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim (§ 104 carries two flagged citation slips — Exodus 7:22 for the verse at 4:22, and 4:27 for 4:23); the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
ד”א ויקחו לי תרומה, ויקחו לקדש תרומה שהיא יו”ד והוא עשירי ומנלן דעשירי קדש דכתיב (ויקרא כ”ז לב) העשירי יהיה קדש לה’, ומאי ניהו קדש, דכתיב (יחזקאל מ”ד ל) וראשית כל בכורי כל וכל תרומת כל וגו’, וכתיב (תהלים קי”א י) ראשית חכמה יראת ה’ אל תקרי יראת ה’ אלא ויראת ה’:
Another interpretation: ‘and let them take for Me an offering (terumah)’ — take, to sanctify, an offering, which is the yod (י), and it is the tenth (asiri). And whence [do we know] that the tenth is holy? As it is written (Leviticus 27:32), ‘the tenth shall be holy to the LORD.’ And what is ‘holy (kodesh)’? As it is written (Ezekiel 44:30), ‘and the first of all the firstfruits of everything, and every offering of everything,’ and so on. And it is written (Psalm 111:10), ‘the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD’ — do not read ‘the fear of the LORD (yirat H’)’ but ‘and the fear of the LORD (ve-yirat H’).’
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
שאלו תלמידיו את ר’ אליעזר רבינו מאי דכתיב (שמות י”ג ב) קדש לי כל בכור, וכי הוי הקב”ה בכור, א”ל אין קדש לי כל בכור אלא שני בקודש, ונקרא על שם ישראל דכתיב (שם ז’ כב) בני בכורי ישראל, כביכול עמהם היה בשעת שעבוד, והיינו דכתיב (שמות ד’ כז) שלח את בני ויעבדני, ולא בכורי, אמר ר’ רחומאי מאי דכתיב (דברים כ”ב ז) שלח תשלח את האם ואת הבנים תקח לך, ולא אמר שלח תשלח את האב, אלא שלח תשלח את האם בכבוד אותה שנקראת אם העולם שנאמר (משלי ב’ ג) כי אם לבינה תקרא:
The students of Rabbi Eliezer our teacher asked him: what is written (Exodus 13:2), ‘sanctify to Me every firstborn’? Is the Holy One [then] a firstborn? He said to them: ‘sanctify to Me every firstborn’ means only [that there are] two in holiness; and it is called by the name of Israel, as it is written (Exodus 7:22 in the source; the verse is at 4:22), ‘Israel is My firstborn son.’ As it were, He was with them at the time of the enslavement; and this is what is written (Exodus 4:27 in the source; the verse is at 4:23), ‘send My son that he may serve Me,’ and not ‘My firstborn.’ Rabbi Rechumai said: what is written (Deuteronomy 22:7), ‘you shall surely send away the mother, and take the young for yourself’? And it did not say ‘you shall surely send away the father,’ but ‘you shall surely send away the mother,’ in honor of that one who is called ‘the mother of the world (em ha-olam),’ as it is said (Proverbs 2:3), ‘for you shall call understanding “mother” (ki im la-binah tikra).’
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומאי ואת הבנים תקח לך (דברים שם), ר’ רחומאי אומר אותם בנים שגדלה, ומאי ניהו שבעת ימי בראשית ושבעת ימי הסוכות, והיינו שבעת ימי השבוע שהם שבעה, איכא בנייהו שהם יותר קודש דכתיב בהם (ויקרא כ”ג לז) מקראי קודש, והיינו א”כ עצרת דהוא מקרא קודש (שם ל”ו), א”ל אין, אבל זה אחד וזה שנים דכתיב (שם לה) ביום הראשון מקרא קודש וביום השביעי מקרא קודש, אמר ליה מאי טעמא הוי עצרת אחד, מפני שבו ניתנה תורה לישראל וכשנבראת התורה ראשית היה הקב”ה שליט בעולמו עמה יחידי דכתיב (תהלים קי”א י) ראשית חכמה יראת ה’, אמר הואיל וכן קדושתך תהיה לך לבדך, ומאי ניהו סוכות, א”ל בי”ת, דכתיב (משלי כ”ד ג) בחכמה יבנה בית, ומנלן דסוכות הוי בית דכתיב (בראשית ל”ג יז) ויעקב נסע סכותה ויבן לו בית ולמקנהו עשה סוכות על כן קרא שם המקום סוכות:
And what is ‘and take the young for yourself’ (Deuteronomy, ibid.)? Rabbi Rechumai says: those children whom she raised. And what are they? The seven days of creation and the seven days of Sukkot — and that is the seven days of the week, which are seven. Is there [a distinction] among them, that some are more holy? As it is written of them (Leviticus 23:37), ‘holy convocations (mikra’ei kodesh).’ And so, then, is Atzeret, which is a ‘holy convocation’ (ibid. 36)? He said to him: yes; but this is one and that is two, as it is written (ibid. 35), ‘on the first day a holy convocation’ and ‘on the seventh day a holy convocation.’ He said to him: why is Atzeret one? Because on it the Torah was given to Israel; and when the Torah was created — ‘the beginning’ — the Holy One ruled in His world with it alone, as it is written (Psalm 111:10), ‘the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD.’ He said: since it is so, your holiness shall be yours alone. And what is Sukkot? He said to him: the bet (the house), as it is written (Proverbs 24:3), ‘with wisdom a house is built.’ And whence [do we know] that Sukkot is a house? As it is written (Genesis 33:17), ‘and Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built himself a house… therefore he called the name of the place Sukkot.’
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: binah (rendered as understanding), chokhmah (rendered as wisdom). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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the offering, the yod, and the tenth
The offering (terumah) is ‘the yod (י),’ ‘the tenth (asiri)’ — and ‘the tenth shall be holy’ (Leviticus 27:32). The ‘holy’ is the firstfruits and every offering (Ezekiel 44:30); and ‘the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD’ (Psalm 111:10) is read ‘AND the fear of the LORD (ve-yirat).’ Sod: the yod, the tenth grade — Malkhut, the tenth sefirah — is the sanctified ‘tenth,’ the holy offering; and ‘the fear of the LORD,’ Malkhut, is joined (‘and’) to ‘the beginning,’ Ḥokhmah.
the firstborn and the mother of the world
’Sanctify to Me every firstborn’ (Exodus 13:2) does not make God a firstborn but marks ‘two in holiness,’ Israel being ‘My firstborn son’ (Exodus 4:22), God as it were sharing their bondage (‘send My son,’ Exodus 4:23, not ‘My firstborn’). And Deuteronomy 22:7 — ‘send away the mother,’ not the father — honors ‘the mother of the world (em ha-olam)’: Proverbs 2:3, ‘ki im la-binah tikra,’ is read with ‘im’ (‘if’) heard as ‘em’ (‘mother’) — ‘you call Binah ‘mother.” Sod: Binah, the supernal mother (the throne and ‘sea’ of § 96), is the mother of the world; and the reciprocity of God and Israel as ‘firstborn.‘
the seven days, Atzeret, and Sukkot
’Take the young’ (Deuteronomy 22:7) is the children the mother raised — the seven days of creation and of Sukkot, the seven of the week, ‘holy convocations’ (Leviticus 23:37). Among them Atzeret is ‘one’ while the festival is ‘two’ (the first and seventh days, Leviticus 23:35), for on Atzeret the Torah was given, and the Torah — ‘the beginning’ — was God’s sole companion in ruling (‘the beginning of wisdom,’ Psalm 111:10): ‘your holiness shall be yours alone.’ And Sukkot is the ‘house’ — ‘with wisdom a house is built’ (Proverbs 24:3; cf. § 55) — for ‘Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built himself a house’ (Genesis 33:17). Sod: the seven days as the seven lower grades, the children of Binah; the Torah as the singular grade; Sukkot as the ‘house,’ the Shekhinah or the world, built by Ḥokhmah.
Editorial decisions
- §104 citations. Two scribal slips in the verbatim Hebrew: ‘Israel is My firstborn son’ cited as Exodus 7:22 (verse at 4:22, a dalet/zayin slip), and ‘send My son’ cited as Exodus 4:27 (verse at 4:23, a gimel/zayin slip). Both rendered as the source gives them with the correct locus flagged inline. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-03)
binah
Selected sense: understanding
Active senses: understanding, imma, the-upper-heh
Rationale: § 104’s ‘ki im la-binah tikra,’ rendered ‘you call understanding.’ The passage reads it as the frame does: Binah is ‘the mother of the world (em ha-olam),’ the supernal mother (imma), reading ‘im’ (‘if’) as ‘em’ (‘mother’) — the throne and ‘sea’ of § 96.
Lexicon: lexicon/binah
chokhmah
Selected sense: wisdom
Active senses: wisdom, the-supernal-point
Rationale: ‘The beginning of wisdom (reshit chokhmah)’ (Psalm 111:10, §§ 103, 105) and ‘with wisdom a house is built’ (Proverbs 24:3, § 105), rendered plainly ‘wisdom’; the frame hears the grade Ḥokhmah, the ‘beginning’ and the builder of the house.
Lexicon: lexicon/chokhmah
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