Sefer ha-Bahir 109-110 -- the sacrifice and the seventy-two-letter Name
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קט-קי
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 capstone of the Name-section. The sacrifice as “bringing near” — the forms united, the spirit descending into them (§ 109); and then the full construction of the seventy-two-letter Name from the three verses of Exodus 14 (first forward, second reversed, third forward), three letters per name, deployed to the four directions and sealed with the divine titles (§ 110).
A provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim from the Hebrew Wikisource transcription; the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
ואמאי אקרי קרבן, אלא מפני שמקרב הצורות הכחות הקדושות כדכתיב (יחזקאל ל”ז י”ז) וקרב אותם אחד אל אחד לך לעץ אחד והיו לאחדים בידך, ואמר לריח ניחוח, ואין ריח אלא באף, ואין נשימה שהיא הריח אלא באף, ואין ניחוח אלא ירידה דכתיב (ויקרא ט’ כ”ב) וירד ומתגרמינן ונחית, והרוח יורד ומתייחד בצורות הקדושות ההם ומתקרב ע”י הקרבן, והיינו דאקרי קרבן:
And why is it called a sacrifice (korban)? Rather, because it brings near (mekarev) the holy forms and powers, as it is written (Ezekiel 37:17), ‘and bring them near, one to another, into one tree, and they shall become one in your hand.’ And [it says] ‘for a pleasing aroma (rei’ach nichoach)’ — and there is no smell (rei’ach) except in the nose, and no breath, which is the smell, except in the nose; and ‘nichoach’ is nothing but descent (yeridah), as it is written (Leviticus 9:22), ‘and he descended (va-yered),’ which we render [in Aramaic] ‘u-nachit’; and the spirit (ruach) descends and unites in those holy forms, and is brought near by the sacrifice; and that is why it is called a sacrifice (korban).
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
השם היוצא מן השלשה פסוקים ויסע ויבא ויט (שמות יד יט כא) אותיות הפסוק הראשון של ויסע כסדר הפסוק נסדרות בשם, ואותיות הפסוק השני בהיפך הפסוק נסדרות בשם, ואותיות הפסוק השלישי שהוא ויט כסדר הפסוק נסדרות בשם כמו הראשון שהוא ויסע, ובכל אחד ואחד מהפסוקים ע”ב אותיות, נמצא שבכל שם ושם מע”ב שמות היוצאים מאלו השלשה פסוקים שהם ויסע ויבא ויט שלשה אותיות, אלה הם ע”ב שמות היוצאים ומתחלקים לג’ חלקים כ”ד לכל חלק, ועל כל חלק מג’ חלקים שר גבוה עליהם, ועל כל חלק יש לו ד’ רוחות לשמור מזרח ומערב צפון ודרום ומתחלקים ששה לכל רוח, נמצא לד’ רוחות כ”ד צורות, וכן לשני וכן לשלישי, וכולם חתומים בהוי”ה אלהי ישראל אלהים חיים שדי רם ונשא שוכן עד מרום וקדוש שמו הוי”ה בשכמל”ו:
The Name that comes out from the three verses ‘va-yisa, va-yavo, va-yet’ (Exodus 14:19-21): the letters of the first verse, of ‘va-yisa,’ are arranged in the Name in the order of the verse; and the letters of the second verse are arranged in the Name in the reverse of the verse; and the letters of the third verse, which is ‘va-yet,’ are arranged in the Name in the order of the verse, like the first, which is ‘va-yisa.’ And in each and every one of the verses [there are] seventy-two letters. It is found that in each and every name of the seventy-two names that come out from these three verses — which are ‘va-yisa, va-yavo, va-yet’ — [there are] three letters. These are the seventy-two names, and they are divided into three parts, twenty-four to each part; and over each part of the three parts is a high prince set over them; and each part has four directions to guard — east and west, north and south — and they are divided, six to each direction. It is found that for the four directions [there are] twenty-four forms; and so for the second, and so for the third. And all of them are sealed with ‘YHVH, God of Israel, living God, Shaddai, high and exalted, dwelling forever on high, and holy is His name; YHVH — blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.’
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.
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the sacrifice that brings near
The sacrifice (korban) is so called because it ‘brings near (mekarev)’ the holy forms and powers — ‘bring them near, one to another, into one tree, and they shall become one’ (Ezekiel 37:17, the two sticks joined). ‘A pleasing aroma (rei’ach nichoach)’: the smell (rei’ach) is in the nose; and ‘nichoach’ is heard as ‘descent (yeridah)’ — ‘va-yered’ (Leviticus 9:22), rendered ‘u-nachit’ in the Aramaic — so the spirit (ruach) descends, unites in the holy forms, and is ‘brought near’ by the offering. Sod: the sacrifice below effects the union and the descent of the divine flow (ruach) into the forms and grades — the theurgy of ‘drawing near.‘
the construction of the seventy-two-letter Name
The Shem ha-Meforash, the seventy-two-fold Name, is built from the three verses of Exodus 14:19-21, each of exactly seventy-two letters: the first verse (va-yisa) taken in order, the second (va-yavo) in reverse, the third (va-yet) in order — read as seventy-two three-letter names. The seventy-two are divided into three parts of twenty-four, each under a high prince, and each part deployed to the four directions (east, west, north, south), six to a direction — twenty-four forms to the four winds. All are sealed with the divine titles: ‘YHVH, God of Israel, living God, Shaddai, high and exalted, dwelling forever, holy is His name.’ Sod: the classic derivation of the seventy-two-letter Name (cf. §§ 94, 95, 107); the Name deployed over the whole created order — the four directions and the grades — and sealed by the Godhead.
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