Sefer ha-Bahir 135-136 -- the patriarchs as the middot
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קלה-קלו
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)
One of the foundational passages of the whole Kabbalah: the patriarchs as the measures (middot). Abraham given the measure of loving-kindness for his hospitality; Isaac the measure of dread — the chaos and the consuming fire; Jacob the measure of truth. The world endures by the lifting of Moses’ hands, drawing on the powers of the fathers; and loving-kindness itself “is the Torah,” fed freely without money (§§ 135-136).
A provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim (both halves of the raised/lowered-hand verse are Exodus 17:11; the source cites the second as 13:11, flagged); the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
אמר ר’ יוחנן מאי דכתיב (שמות י”ז יא) והיה כאשר ירים משה ידו וגבר ישראל (שמות י”ג יא) וכאשר יניח ידו וגבר עמלק, מלמד שהעולם מתקיים בשביל נשיאת כפים, מאי טעמא, משום דאותו כח שניתן ליעקב אבינו שמו ישראל, לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב ניתני כוחות, אחד לכל אחד ואחד, ובמדה שהלך כל אחד ואחד דוגמתה ניתן לו, אברהם גמל חסד לעולם שהיה מזמין לכל באי עולם ועוברי דרכים מזון וגומל חסד ויוצא לקראתם דכתיב (בראשית י”ח ב) וירץ לקראתם, ועוד וישתחו ארצה (שם) זאת היתה גמילת חסד שלימה, והקב”ה מדד לו במדתו ונתן לו מדת החסד דכתיב (מיכה ז’ כ) תתן אמת ליעקב חסד לאברהם, אשר נשבעת לאבותינו מימי קדם, מאי מימי קדם, מלמד שאם לא היה אברהם גומל חסד וזוכה למדת חסד לא היה יעקב זוכה למדת אמת, שבזכות שזכה אברהם למדת חסד זכה יצחק למדת פחד דכתיב (בראשית ל”א נג) וישבע יעקב בפחד אביו יצחק, אטו יש איש שישבע כך באמונת פחד אביו, אלא עד כאן לא ניתן ליעקב כח, ונשבע בכח שניתן לאביו שנאמר וישבע יעקב בפחד אביו יצחק, ומאי ניהו, תהו שממנו יוצא הרע המתהא את בני אדם, ומאי ניהו, הוא דכתיב (מ”א י”ח לח) ותפול אש ותאכל את העולה ואת העצים ואת האבנים ואת העפר ואת המים אשר בתעלה לחכה, וכתיב (דברים ד כד) כי ה’ אלהיך אש אוכלה הוא אל קנא:
Rabbi Yochanan said: what is written (Exodus 17:11), ‘and it came to pass, when Moses raised his hand, that Israel prevailed,’ and ‘when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed’? This teaches that the world endures by the lifting of the hands. What is the reason? Because of that power which was given to Jacob our father, whose name is Israel. To Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob powers were given — one to each and every one; and by the measure (middah) that each one walked, its like was given to him. Abraham did loving-kindness (gemilut chesed) in the world, for he would prepare food for all who come into the world and for wayfarers, and do loving-kindness, and go out to meet them, as it is written (Genesis 18:2), ‘and he ran to meet them’; and moreover, ‘and he bowed to the earth’ (ibid.) — this was complete loving-kindness. And the Holy One measured him by his measure, and gave him the measure of loving-kindness (chesed), as it is written (Micah 7:20), ‘you give truth to Jacob, loving-kindness to Abraham, which you swore to our fathers from days of old.’ What is ‘from days of old’? This teaches that if Abraham had not done loving-kindness and merited the measure of loving-kindness, Jacob would not have merited the measure of truth (emet); for by the merit that Abraham merited the measure of loving-kindness, Isaac merited the measure of dread (pachad), as it is written (Genesis 31:53), ‘and Jacob swore by the Dread of his father Isaac.’ Now, is there a man who would swear thus, by the faith of the dread of his father? Rather, until here no power had yet been given to Jacob; and he swore by the power that had been given to his father, as it is said, ‘and Jacob swore by the Dread of his father Isaac.’ And what is it? Chaos (tohu), from which goes forth the evil that confounds the sons of man. And what is it? It is that which is written (1 Kings 18:38), ‘and fire fell and consumed the burnt-offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench’; and it is written (Deuteronomy 4:24), ‘for the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.‘
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומאי ניהו חסד, היינו תורה דכתיב (ישעי’ נ”ה א) הוי כל צמא לכו למים ואשר אין לו כסף, הוא כסף דכתיב לכו שברו ואכלו ולכו שברו בלא כסף ובלא מחיר יין וחלב, יאכילכם תורה וילמדכם כי כבר זכיתם לכך בזכות אברהם אשר היה גומל חסד, בלא כסף היה מאכיל, ומשקה בלא מחיר יין וחלב:
And what is loving-kindness (chesed)? It is the Torah, as it is written (Isaiah 55:1), ‘ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money’ — it is money (kesef), as it is written, ‘come, buy and eat; come, buy without money and without price, wine and milk.’ He will feed you Torah and teach you, for you have already merited this by the merit of Abraham, who did loving-kindness: without money he would feed, and give drink without price, wine and milk.
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: chesed (rendered as loving-kindness), gevurah (rendered as judgment). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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the patriarchs as the measures
The world endures by the lifting of Moses’ hands because of the powers given to the patriarchs, each measured (middah) by how he walked. Abraham, for his hospitality, was given the measure of loving-kindness (chesed) — ‘loving-kindness to Abraham’ (Micah 7:20); Isaac the measure of dread (pachad); Jacob the measure of truth (emet) — ‘truth to Jacob.’ Sod: the patriarchs are the middot, the sefirot of the divine ‘body’: Abraham = Chesed (the right arm), Isaac = Gevurah / Pachad (the left arm, dread and judgment), Jacob = Tiferet / Emet (the harmonizing center, truth and peace). This is among the Bahir’s foundational mappings of the patriarchs to the grades, the scheme the whole later Kabbalah inherits.
the dread, the chaos, and the consuming fire
Isaac’s measure of dread (pachad) is glossed as ‘chaos (tohu), from which goes forth the evil that confounds the sons of man,’ and as the consuming fire — ‘fire fell and consumed the burnt-offering… and licked up the water’ (1 Kings 18:38), ‘for the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God’ (Deuteronomy 4:24). Sod: the grade of severity (Gevurah / Din), when it breaks from the whole, is the root of the chaos and the destructive fire — the daring Kabbalistic location of the origin of evil in an unbalanced divine severity (see the discussion under Gevurah).
loving-kindness is the Torah
The measure of loving-kindness is identified with the Torah: ‘everyone who thirsts, come to the waters… buy without money and without price, wine and milk’ (Isaiah 55:1) — He feeds Torah ‘without money,’ as Abraham fed the wayfarers without price. Sod: Chesed, the giving grade, is the Torah freely given; the merit of Abraham’s free giving is what lets Israel ‘buy without money’ the Torah of truth (cf. the Torah as milk and honey, and Chesed as the flow of grace, § 51).
Editorial decisions
- Exodus 17:11 citation. Both halves of the verse (‘when Moses raised his hand, Israel prevailed’ and ‘when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed’) are Exodus 17:11. The source cites the second half as Exodus 13:11 (a zayin/gimel slip, 13 for 17); rendered with the correct single locus and the slip noted. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-03)
chesed
Selected sense: loving-kindness
Active senses: loving-kindness, the-sefirah-chesed
Rationale: The measure given to Abraham for his hospitality: gemilut chasadim, unbounded giving. Rendered ‘loving-kindness’; the frame hears Chesed, the fourth sefirah, the right arm — here identified with the Torah (Isaiah 55:1).
Lexicon: lexicon/chesed
gevurah
Selected sense: judgment
Active senses: judgment, the-sefirah-gevurah
Rationale: Isaac’s measure, named here Pachad (dread) — the fear/judgment grade, linked to tohu and the evil that confounds, and to the consuming fire (1 Kings 18:38; Deuteronomy 4:24). Rendered ‘dread’; the frame hears Gevurah/Din, the fifth sefirah, the left arm, the root of severity.
Lexicon: lexicon/gevurah
No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.