Sefer ha-Bahir 176-177 -- the palm-branch and the willows
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קעו-קעז
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 lulav, myrtle, and willows as the divine “body.” The lulav as the spine and the myrtle’s three leaves — branch to the left, leafy to the right, the tree in the middle, the root of the tree (§ 176); and the two willows as the two thighs, the greater to the west and the northern smaller by five hundred years (§ 177) — the central column, and the two legs of the tree.
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.
לולב כנגד מאי, כנגד חוט השדרה. וכן הוא אומר (ויקרא כ”ג מ) וענף עץ עבות, צריך הוא להיות ענפיו חופין את רובו, ואם אין ענפיו חופין את רובו אינו כלום, מפני מה, משל למה”ד לאדם שיש לו זרועותיו ובהם יגין על ראשו, הרי זרועותיו שנים וראשו שלשה, והיינו ענף לשמאל, עבות לימין, נמצא עץ באמצע, ולמה נאמר בו עץ, מפני שהוא שורש האילן:
The lulav corresponds to what? To the spinal cord (chut ha-shidrah). And so it says (Leviticus 23:40), ‘and a branch of a leafy tree (anaf etz avot)’; its branches (anafav) must cover most of it, and if its branches do not cover most of it, it is nothing. Why? A parable: to a man who has his arms, and with them he shields his head; behold, his arms are two, and his head is [the] third; and this is ‘branch (anaf)’ to the left, ‘leafy (avot)’ to the right, and the tree (etz) is found in the middle. And why is ‘tree (etz)’ said of it? Because it is the root of the tree (shoresh ha-ilan).
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומאי וערבי נחל (שם) אלו כנגד שוקי אדם שהם שנים, ומאי ניהו לישנא דערבי נחל, משום דגדול שבהם הוי למערב ומשם יונק כחו, ושל צפון קטן ממנו מהלך ת”ק שנה, והוא ברוח צפונית מערבית, ובו פועל, ונקרא על שמו, והם שניהם ערבים:
And what is ‘and willows of the brook (arvei nachal)’ (ibid.)? These correspond to the two thighs of man, which are two. And what is [the meaning of] the term ‘willows of the brook (arvei nachal)’? Because the greater of them is to the west, and from there it draws its power; and the one of the north is smaller than it by a journey of five hundred years, and it is in the north-west, and works in it, and is called by its name; and both of them are ‘willows (aravim).’
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.
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the palm-branch and the myrtle: the spine and the three
The lulav (palm-branch) is ‘the spinal cord (chut ha-shidrah)’ — the central column. ‘A branch of a leafy tree (anaf etz avot)’ (the myrtle, Leviticus 23:40) must have its ‘branches cover most of it,’ as a man’s two arms shield his head (‘his arms two, his head the third’): ‘branch (anaf)’ to the left, ‘leafy (avot)’ to the right, and ‘the tree (etz)’ in the middle — ‘because it is the root of the tree (shoresh ha-ilan).’ Sod: the lulav / spine and the myrtle’s middle ‘tree’ are the central grade, Tiferet, the trunk between the left and right arms (Gevurah and Chesed); the ‘root of the tree’ from which the branches spread (cf. Tiferet as the etz, § 178, and the middle that makes peace, § 153).
the willows: the two thighs
’And willows of the brook (arvei nachal)’ (Leviticus 23:40) are ‘the two thighs of man.’ The greater willow is ‘to the west, and from there it draws its power’; the northern one is ‘smaller by a journey of five hundred years,’ set ‘in the north-west’ and ‘called by its name’; ‘both of them are willows.’ Sod: the two willows are the two thighs / legs of the divine ‘body’ — Netzach and Hod (the ninth and tenth grades of §§ 169-170, the two ‘wheels’ one higher by five hundred years), the enduring powers on the west and north through which the flow descends to the world.
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