Sefer ha-Bahir § 117 -- the LORD is a man of war

Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance · Anonymous (attributed to Rabbi Neḥunya ben ha-Kanah)

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About Sefer ha-Bahir § 117 -- the LORD is a man of war

Sefer ha-Bahir § 117 (Rabbi Yochanan) reads a martial verse into the highest grade. "The LORD is a man of war, the LORD is His name" (Exodus 15:3): "man (ish)" is "a sign," not literal, for the Targum (Onkelos) renders it "the LORD, master of the victory of battles (mari nitzchan kravaya)." And "master (mari)" leads to "the first alef," which is "the palace of holiness (heikhal ha-kodesh)" -- the Aramaic "holy palace" refined to the precise Hebrew term.

The alef, the primal letter of thought (machashavah), is the palace of holiness in which the divine Name dwells (as in §§ 68-70); the "man of war" is the Name housed in that supernal palace. This is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction; the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) remains under copyright.

Sefer ha-Bahir 117 -- the LORD is a man of war

Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance

ספר הבהיר · קיז

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)

A martial verse read into the highest grade. “The LORD is a man of war” rendered by the Targum as “master of the victory of battles” — so “man” is a sign, not literal; and “master” leads to the alef, the palace of holiness (heikhal ha-kodesh), the primal letter of thought in which the divine Name dwells (cf. §§ 68-70).

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.

אמר רבי יוחנן מאי דכתיב (שמות ט”ו ג) ה’ איש מלחמה ה’ שמו, אלא איש הוי סימן כדמתרגמינן ה’ איש מלחמה ה’ מארי נצחן קרבייא, ומאי ניהו מארי, אל”ף ראשונה היכלא קדישא, היכלא קדישא סלקא דעתך, אלא אימא היכל הקדש:
Rabbi Yochanan said: what is written (Exodus 15:3), ‘the LORD is a man of war, the LORD is His name’? Rather, ‘man (ish)’ is a sign, as we render [in the Targum], ‘the LORD is a man of war’ — ‘the LORD, master of the victory of battles (mari nitzchan kravaya).’ And what is ‘master (mari)’? The first alef is the holy palace (heikhala kadisha). ‘The holy palace’ — does that enter your mind? Rather say: the palace of holiness (heikhal ha-kodesh).
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
An orientation

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.

Apparatus
Tradition
jewish-mysticism
Language
Hebrew
Period
late 12th c., Provence (ascribed to the 1st c. tanna)
Attribution
Anonymous (attributed to Rabbi Neḥunya ben ha-Kanah)
Translator
Hekhal Targum Project (machine-assisted draft; pending scholarly review)
License
Underlying Bahir text public domain by age; digital Hebrew transcription from Hebrew Wikisource (CC-BY-SA) via Sefaria, credited; English rendering and apparatus CC-BY-SA-4.0
Provenance
The Sefer ha-Bahir is a late-12th-century work, in the public domain by age. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim from the Hebrew Wikisource transcription (CC-BY-SA), retrieved via Sefaria and credited accordingly. This English rendering and its apparatus are a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) remains under copyright.

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Anonymous (attributed to Rabbi Neḥunya ben ha-Kanah). "Sefer ha-Bahir § 117 -- the LORD is a man of war." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. Last modified May 2, 2026. https://hekhal.org/texts/sefer-ha-bahir-117-targum.
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