Sefer ha-Bahir §§ 129-130 -- the uniting holy and the glory

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

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About Sefer ha-Bahir §§ 129-130 -- the uniting holy and the glory

Sefer ha-Bahir §§ 129-130 closes the Kedushah passage. § 129 unfolds the third "holy" -- the one "cleaving and unified" (§ 128) -- as a king with sons and grandsons: when the grandsons do his will, he "enters among them" and satisfies all, fathers and sons together; when they do not, he satisfies only the fathers "according to their need." The uniting grade pours the flow to all the grades by merit (cf. the twelve channels, § 113). § 130: "the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3) -- the supernal "earth," created on the first day and corresponding to the land of Israel, is "full of the glory of the Name," which is Wisdom (chokhmah): "the wise shall inherit glory" (Proverbs 3:35), "blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place" (Ezekiel 3:12).

The glory that fills the supernal earth is Ḥokhmah, the wisdom by which the world was made. (Notably, § 130 cites Ezekiel 3:12 correctly, where § 90 gave the same verse as an impossible "3:42" -- confirming that reading as a local scribal slip.) This is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction; the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) remains under copyright.

Sefer ha-Bahir 129-130 -- the uniting holy and the glory

Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance

ספר הבהיר · קכט-קל

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)

Closing the Kedushah. The uniting “holy” as a king who pours his goodness to sons and grandsons when they are worthy, and to the fathers alone when they are not (§ 129); and “the whole earth is full of His glory” — the supernal earth full of the glory of the Name, which is Wisdom, the wisdom by which the world was made (§ 130).

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.

ומאי ניהו קדוש שהוא דבוק ומיוחד, אלא למה”ד למלך שהיו לו בנים ולבנים בנים, בזמן שבניהם עושים רצונו נכנס ביניהם ומעמיד הכל ומשביע הכל ומשפיע להם טובה כדי שישבעו האבות והבנים, וכשאין הבנים עושים רצונו משביע להם לאבות כדי צרכם:
And what is ‘holy’ that is cleaving and unified? A parable: to what is it comparable? To a king who had sons, and the sons had sons; at the time that their sons do his will, he enters among them and sustains all and satisfies all and pours goodness upon them, so that the fathers and the sons are satisfied; and when the sons do not do his will, he satisfies the fathers according to their need.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומאי ניהו מלא כל הארץ כבודו (שם), אלא כל אותה ארץ שנבראת ביום הראשון שהיא למעלה כנגד ארץ ישראל מליאה מכבוד השם, ומאי ניהו, חכמה דכתיב (משלי ג’ לה) כבוד חכמים ינחלו, ואומר (יחזקאל ג’ יב) ברוך כבוד ה’ ממקומו:
And what is ‘the whole earth is full of His glory’ (Isaiah 6:3)? Rather, all that earth which was created on the first day, which is above, corresponding to the land of Israel, is full of the glory of the Name. And what is it? Wisdom (chokhmah), as it is written (Proverbs 3:35), ‘the wise shall inherit glory’; and it says (Ezekiel 3:12), ‘blessed be the glory of the LORD from His place.’
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.

Controlled terms noted in this passage: chokhmah (rendered as wisdom). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.

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 §§ 129-130 -- the uniting holy and the glory." Hekhal: An Open Reference for Esoteric Tradition. Last modified May 2, 2026. https://hekhal.org/texts/sefer-ha-bahir-129-130-targum.