Sefer ha-Bahir 157-158 -- the eighth, the righteous one
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קנז-קנח
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 eighth grade as the righteous one — Yesod, the foundation. The one tzaddik who sustains the world, “the foundation of all the souls,” beloved and awesome above and below, counted also as the seventh because it decides between the six (§ 157); and it is the seventh because the Holy One rested on the Sabbath in that measure, the grade that completes the six days’ works and enlarges the soul (§ 158).
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.
שמיני מאי הוי, יש לו להקב”ה צדיק אחד בעולמו והוא חביב לו מפני שמקיים כל העולם כולו והוא יסודו, והוא מכלכלו והוא מצמחו ומגדלו ומשמרו, אהוב וחביב למעלה, אהוב וחביב למטה, נורא ואדיר למעלה, נורא ואדיר למטה, ומתוקן ומקובל למעלה, מתוקן ומקובל למטה, והוא יסוד הנפשות כולן, ואמרת שמיני, ואמרת יסוד הנפשות כולן והכתיב (שמות ל”א יז) וביום השביעי שבת וינפש, אין שביעי הוי, משום דמכריע בינייהו, דשית אינון תלת מלרע ותלת מלעיל והוא דאכרע בינייהו:
What is the eighth? The Holy One has one righteous one (tzaddik) in His world, and He loves him, because he sustains the whole world — and he is its foundation (yesod); he nourishes it, and makes it grow, and rears it, and guards it: beloved and dear above, beloved and dear below; awesome and mighty above, awesome and mighty below; established and accepted above, established and accepted below. And he is the foundation of all the souls. You said ‘the eighth,’ and you said ‘the foundation of all the souls’; but is it not written (Exodus 31:17), ‘and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed’? Is it not the seventh? Because it decides between them, for the six — three are below and three are above — and it is the one that decides between them.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומ”ט אקרי שביעי וכי היה בשביעי, לא, אלא מפני שהקב”ה שבת בשבת, באותה המדה דכתיב (שם) כי ששת ימים עשה ה’ את השמים ואת הארץ וביום השביעי שבת וינפש, מלמד שכל יום ויום יש לו מאמר שהוא אדון לו לא מפני שהוא נברא בו אלא מפני שהוא פועל בו פעולה המסורה בידו פעלו כולם פעולתם וקיימו מעשיהם, לכך בא יום השביעי ופעל פעולתו ושמחו כולם, אף הקב”ה, ולא עוד אלא שגדלה נשמתן דכתיב וביום השביעי שבת וינפש:
And why is it called the seventh? And was it [made] on the seventh? No; rather, because the Holy One rested on the Sabbath in that measure, as it is written (ibid.), ‘for in six days the LORD made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ This teaches that each and every day has a saying (ma’amar) that is its lord — not because it was created on it, but because it performs in it an action given into its hand; they all performed their action and established their works; therefore the seventh day came and performed its action, and they all rejoiced — even the Holy One; and moreover, their soul was enlarged, as it is written, ‘and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed (va-yinafash).’
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
❦
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: tzaddik (rendered as yesod). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
⁂
the eighth: the righteous one, the foundation of all souls
The eighth is ‘one righteous one (tzaddik)’ whom the Holy One loves, ‘because he sustains the whole world and is its foundation (yesod)’ — nourishing, rearing, guarding it; ‘beloved and dear, awesome and mighty, established and accepted’ above and below alike; ‘the foundation of all the souls.’ Sod: this is Yesod, the ninth sefirah, the tzaddik yesod olam (the righteous, foundation of the world, Proverbs 10:25), the channel through which the flow and the souls pass to Malkhut / the Shekhinah (see the Tzaddik / Yesod of the lexicon). Though called ‘the eighth,’ it is also ‘the seventh’ because it ‘decides between’ the six directions — three above and three below — the balancing center-below.
why the seventh: the Sabbath and the enlarged soul
It is called ‘the seventh’ not because it was made then, but because ‘the Holy One rested on the Sabbath in that measure’ — ‘in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed’ (Exodus 31:17). Each day has ‘a saying (ma’amar) that is its lord,’ performing ‘an action given into its hand’; when the works were all established, ‘the seventh day came and performed its action, and all rejoiced, even the Holy One,’ and ‘their soul was enlarged’ — va-yinafash, from nefesh (soul). Sod: the Sabbath grade gathers and completes the six days’ works, and its rest is an increase of soul, not a cessation (cf. va-yinafash and the added soul of the Sabbath, § 58).
tzaddik
Selected sense: yesod
Active senses: yesod, righteous-one
Rationale: § 157: ‘the Holy One has one righteous one (tzaddik)… he is its foundation (yesod)… the foundation of all the souls.’ The tzaddik here is the sefirah Yesod, the foundation-grade that sustains the world and channels the flow. Rendered ‘righteous one / foundation’; the frame hears Yesod, the tzaddik yesod olam.
Lexicon: lexicon/tzaddik
No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.