Sefer ha-Bahir 169-170 -- the ninth and tenth, and the three victories
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קסט-קע
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 ninth and tenth grades. Two wheels, one inclining north and one west, descending to the lowest of the seven earths, where the Shekhinah rests as the divine footstool — “the victory of the world below” (§ 169); and “forever and ever” read as three victories: the west, the north, and the Shekhinah below, the two wheels of the chariot together with the Shekhinah’s own endurance (§ 170).
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.
תשיעי מאי הוי, א”ל תשיעי ועשירי הם יחד זה כנגד זה, והאחד גבוה מחבירו ת”ק שנה, והם כעין שני אופנים, האחד נוטה לצד צפון והאחד נוטה לצד מערב והולכין עד הארץ התחתונה, ומאי תחתונה, אחרונה שבשבע ארצות למטה, וסוף שכינתו של הקב”ה תחת רגליו שנא’ (ישעי’ ס”ו א’) השמים כסאי והארץ הדום רגלי, ושם נצחונו של עולם למטה דכתיב (שם ל”ד י’) לנצח נצחים:
What is the ninth? He said to him: the ninth and the tenth are together, this corresponding to that, and the one is higher than its fellow by five hundred years; and they are like two wheels (ofanim), one inclining to the north side and one inclining to the west side, and they go down as far as the lower earth. And what is ‘lower’? The last of the seven earths below. And the end of the Shekhinah of the Holy One is beneath His feet, as it is said (Isaiah 66:1), ‘the heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool’; and there is the victory (netzach) of the world below, as it is written (ibid. 34:10), ‘forever and ever (la-netzach netzachim).’
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
מאי לנצח נצחים, אלא נצח חד הוי, ומאי ניהו, זה הנוטה למערב, ושני לו מאי הוי, זה הנוטה לצד צפון, ושלישי זה הוי של מטה, שלישי, והא אמרת שני אופני המרכבה, אלא אימא סוף השכינה הוי ג”כ נצח, והיינו לנצח נצחים, נצח חד, נצחים תרי הרי תלתא:
What is ‘forever and ever (la-netzach netzachim)’? Rather: ‘netzach’ is one — and what is it? This that inclines to the west. And its second, what is it? This that inclines to the north side. And the third — this is the one below, the third. But you said [there are only] two wheels of the chariot (ofanei ha-merkavah)? Rather, say: the end of the Shekhinah is also a victory (netzach); and this is ‘la-netzach netzachim’ — ‘netzach’ one, ‘netzachim’ two, behold three.
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: merkavah (rendered as chariot). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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the ninth and tenth: the two wheels and the victory below
The ninth and tenth grades are ‘together, this corresponding to that,’ one higher than the other ‘by five hundred years’ (the traditional measure between the heavens, Chagigah 13a). They are ‘two wheels (ofanim),’ one inclining north and one west, descending to ‘the lower earth’ — the last of the seven earths — where ‘the end of the Shekhinah is beneath His feet’: ‘the heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool’ (Isaiah 66:1). There is ‘the victory (netzach) of the world below’ — ‘forever and ever’ (Isaiah 34:10). Sod: the ninth and tenth are Netzach and Hod (the two ‘legs’ / wheels, the enduring powers), reaching down to the lowest world, where the Shekhinah rests as the divine ‘footstool’ (Malkhut); netzach (victory / endurance) names the enduring presence at the base of the tree.
the three victories
’Forever and ever (la-netzach netzachim)’ is read as three victories: ‘netzach’ — the one inclining to the west; its second — the one inclining to the north; and a third — ‘the one below.’ The objection ‘you said [only] two wheels of the chariot’ is answered: ‘the end of the Shekhinah is also a victory (netzach),’ so ‘la-netzach netzachim’ counts three — ‘netzach’ (one) and ‘netzachim’ (two more). Sod: the two wheels (Netzach and Hod) plus the Shekhinah below make three ‘victories,’ the enduring grades that carry the flow to the last world; the plural ‘netzachim’ is read to include the Shekhinah’s own endurance.
merkavah
Selected sense: chariot
Active senses: chariot, the-divine-throne-vision
Rationale: §§ 169-170 speak of ‘two wheels (ofanim)’ and ‘the two wheels of the chariot (ofanei ha-merkavah)’ — the ninth and tenth grades figured as the ofanim of Ezekiel’s chariot. Rendered ‘wheels of the chariot’; the frame hears the Merkavah and its wheels.
Lexicon: lexicon/merkavah
No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.