Sefer ha-Bahir 168 -- the eighth and the eight extremities
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קסח
Why the covenant-grade is called “the eighth.” Circumcision on the eighth day, yet in action the seventh; the eight extremities of man — two hands, two feet, head, body, the covenant that decides, and the wife who is his pair; and yet these eight are only seven, for body and covenant are one (§ 168).
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.
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.