Sefer ha-Bahir 144-146 -- the ten sayings, four to six
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קמד-קמו
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 ten sayings, four to six. The fourth is “the righteousness of the LORD and His kindnesses with all the world,” the right hand (Ḥesed); the fifth is the great fire, the left hand (Gevurah), whose hosts are the living creatures and seraphim of the chariot; and the sixth is the throne of glory, “the house of the world to come,” rooted in wisdom — “let there be light.”
A provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim (§ 145 quotes Deuteronomy 18:16 and Ezekiel 1:18 in the source’s condensed form); the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
שלישי הוי רביעי מאי, רביעי הם צדקת ה’ וזכיותיו וחסדיו עם כל העולם, והיינו ימינו של הקב”ה:
The third [is done]; what is the fourth? The fourth is the righteousness of the LORD (tzidkat H’) and His merits and His kindnesses (chasadav) with all the world; and this is the right [hand] of the Holy One.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
חמישי מאי, חמישי אשו הגדולה של הקב”ה שנאמר (דברים י”ח ט”ז) ואת האש הגדולה הזאת לא אראה עוד ולא אמות, והיא שמאלו של הקב”ה, ומאי ניהו הם חיות הקודש והשרפים הקדושים מימינם ומשמאלם, הם הנעימים הגבוהים עד למעלה דכתיב (קהלת ה’ ז) וגבוהים עליהם, ועוד (יחזקאל א, יח) וגביהן וגובה להם ויראה להם וגבותיו מלאת עינים סביב לארבעתן, וסביביו מלאכים, גם סביבותיהם משתחוים לפניהם וכורעים ואומרים ה’ הוא האלהים ה’ הוא האלהים:
What is the fifth? The fifth is the great fire of the Holy One, as it is said (Deuteronomy 18:16), ‘and this great fire I will see no more, lest I die’; and it is the left [hand] of the Holy One. And what is it? They are the holy living creatures (chayot ha-kodesh) and the holy seraphim, on their right and on their left; they are the pleasant ones, the high ones, up to above, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 5:7), ‘and high ones over them’; and moreover (Ezekiel 1:18), ‘and their rims, they had height and awe, and their rims were full of eyes round about the four of them’; and around Him are angels, and around them too they bow before them and kneel and say, ‘the LORD is God, the LORD is God.‘
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ששי, כסא הכבוד המעוטר המוכלל המהולל המאושר, הוא בית העולם הבא, ומקומו בחכמה דכתיב (בראשית א’ ג) ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי אור:
The sixth: the throne of glory (kise ha-kavod), the crowned, the included, the praised, the blessed; it is the house of the world to come, and its place is in wisdom (chokhmah), as it is written (Genesis 1:3), ‘and God said, let there be light, and there was light.’
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). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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the fourth saying: the right hand (Chesed)
The fourth saying is ‘the righteousness of the LORD (tzidkat H’) and His merits and His kindnesses (chasadav) with all the world’ — ‘the right [hand] of the Holy One.’ Sod: the fourth grade is Chesed, the right arm, the giving grace poured on all the world (cf. Abraham’s measure, § 135); the ‘right’ against the ‘left’ of the fifth.
the fifth saying: the great fire (Gevurah)
The fifth saying is ‘the great fire (esh ha-gedolah) of the Holy One’ — ‘this great fire I will see no more, lest I die’ (Deuteronomy 18:16) — ‘the left [hand] of the Holy One,’ the holy living creatures (chayot) and seraphim of the chariot, ‘the high ones’ (Ecclesiastes 5:7) whose rims are ‘full of eyes round about’ (Ezekiel 1:18), crying ‘the LORD is God.’ Sod: the fifth grade is Gevurah, the left arm, dread and the consuming fire (cf. Isaac’s measure, § 135); its hosts are the merkavah’s living creatures.
the sixth saying: the throne of glory
The sixth saying is ‘the throne of glory (kise ha-kavod)’ — crowned, praised, blessed — ‘the house of the world to come,’ whose ‘place is in wisdom (chokhmah)’: ‘let there be light, and there was light’ (Genesis 1:3). Sod: the throne of glory is the sixth grade (Tiferet, the seat and ‘beauty’ at the center of the tree), rooted in Chokhmah and opening the created light — the throne on which the glory is borne (cf. the sapphire throne, § 96).
chesed
Selected sense: loving-kindness
Active senses: loving-kindness, the-sefirah-chesed
Rationale: § 144’s fourth saying: ‘the righteousness of the LORD and His merits and His kindnesses (chasadav),’ ‘the right [hand] of the Holy One.’ Rendered ‘kindnesses’; the frame hears Chesed, the fourth grade, the right arm.
Lexicon: lexicon/chesed
No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.