the hiding of His might

’The hiding of His might (chevyon uzo)’ (Habakkuk 3:4) is ‘that light which He hid and concealed’ (Psalm 31:20, continuing § 147’s hidden light). What ‘remained for us’ is ‘wrought for those who take refuge in You’ — those who keep the Torah, fulfill the commandments, sanctify the Name, and ‘unify [it] in secret and in the open, before the sons of man.’ Sod: the or ha-ganuz is the hidden ‘might’; a portion is granted in this world to those who serve and unify the Name openly and in secret.

the lamp, the Oral Torah, and the Written Torah

’For the commandment is a lamp (ner) and the Torah is light (or)’ (Proverbs 6:23): the lamp is the commandment; the ‘light (orah)’ is the Oral Torah; the ‘light (or)’ is the Written Torah. A parable: a hidden chamber at the end of the house cannot be seen, even in full day, without bringing a lamp in — so the Oral Torah, though itself light, ‘needs the Written Torah to resolve its difficulties and explain its secrets.’ Sod: the Written and Oral Torah are two lights that require each other; the Oral illumines the hidden places the Written cannot reach alone (cf. the two lights, § 147).

the account of creation and the chariot: the reproofs of instruction

’The way of life is the reproofs of instruction (tochachot musar)’ (Proverbs 6:23): whoever studies ‘the account of creation (ma’aseh bereshit)’ and ‘the account of the chariot (ma’aseh merkavah)’ — the two great esoteric disciplines — ‘cannot but stumble’ (Isaiah 3:6, ‘let this ruin be under your hand’), for these are ‘things a person cannot stand upon unless he has stumbled in them.’ The stumbling is the ‘reproof,’ but ‘in truth he merits the way of life.’ Sod: the deepest study is inseparable from error and correction; one attains ‘the way of life’ only by enduring the reproofs the esoteric path exacts.

Editorial decisions

• Psalm 31:20 citation. The verse ‘which You have hidden for those who fear You’ is Psalm 31:20; the source cites it as Psalm 31:2 (a dropped digit). Rendered at the correct locus with the slip noted. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-03)
• Proverbs 6:23 citation. ‘For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light’ is Proverbs 6:23; the source cites it as Proverbs 6:3 (a dropped digit). The correct locus is confirmed by section 150, which cites the same verse (6:23) correctly for the next clause. Rendered at 6:23 with the slip noted. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-03)

merkavah

Selected sense: the-divine-throne-vision

Active senses: the-divine-throne-vision, chariot

Rationale: § 150: ‘the account of the chariot (ma’aseh merkavah)’ — the esoteric discipline of the throne-chariot, paired with ‘the account of creation (ma’aseh bereshit).’ Rendered ‘the account of the chariot’; the frame hears the Merkavah as the mystical discipline of Ezekiel’s vision.

Lexicon: lexicon/merkavah

No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.