Sefer ha-Bahir 187-189 -- the palm of merit and the five fingers
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · קפז-קפט
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 hand of God and the hiding of His might. The fear of the LORD as the “palm of merit” that inclines the world to mercy, the source of counsel, healing, and the stone of Israel (§ 187); the “horns from his hand” read as the five fingers of the right hand, with the singular “hand” pointing to the unity of the two (§ 188); and a terse, textually difficult close on the two arms and the fear above (§ 189).
A provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim (§ 188 cites Exodus 18:12 for the verse at 17:12; § 189’s close is flagged as obscure); the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
ויראת ה’ זו היא שהיא למעלה, היא בכפו של הקב”ה, וגם היא עוזו, ואותו הכף שנקרא כף זכות משום דמטה את העולם לכף. זכות והיינו דכתיב (ישעי’ י”א ג) והריחו ביראת ה’ ולא למראה עיניו ישפוט ולא למשמע אזניו יוכיח, אלא מטה את כל העולם לכף זכות ומשם עצה יוצאה, ומשם בריאות יוצאת לעולם. ומשם רועה אבן ישראל (בראשית מ”ט כד), והוא המקום שנקרא שם שנאמר (חבקוק ג’ ד), ושם חביון עוזו:
And ‘the fear of the LORD (yirat H’)’ — that which is above — it is in the palm (kaf) of the Holy One, and it is also His might; and that palm is called ‘the palm of merit (kaf zechut),’ because it inclines the world to the scale of merit. And this is what is written (Isaiah 11:3), ‘and his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears’ — rather, it inclines the whole world to the scale of merit; and from there counsel goes out, and from there healing goes out to the world; and from there [is] ‘the shepherd, the stone of Israel’ (Genesis 49:24); and it is the place that is called ‘there (sham),’ as it is said (Habakkuk 3:4), ‘and there is the hiding of His might.‘
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
וכיון שבאה מלתא זו חדדה, מאי חידודא, אימא לן מאי ניהו וקרנים מידו לו (חבקוק שם), ומאי ניהו דאמר קרניים ואח”כ אמר ידו, ידיו מיבעיא ליה, לא קשיא דהיינו דכתיב (שמות ל”ב יט) ויחר אף משה וישלך מידיו את הלוחות וגו’, מידו כתיב, והיינו דכתיב (שם י”ח יב) ויהי ידיו אמונה עד בא השמש, ולא אמר אמונות, אמרו לו רבינו אנו מקשין לך לתרץ ואתה מכסה את ענינו, למדתני רבינו משיבין על ראשון ראשון ועל אחרון אחרון, ומאי קא בעיתו, קרנים מידו לו, העבודה פרשתיו לכם עתה בתוך דברי, איכסיפו,כיון דחזינהו דאכסיפו התחיל ואמר להם והלא מים הוו ומהם יצא האש, אמרו לו דברי הבל, אם כן המים כוללים האש, רבי ומאי היא קרנים, אמר להם חמשה קרנים ה’ אצבעות שביד ימינו של אדם:
And when this matter came, it was sharpened. What is the sharpening? Say to us, what is ‘and horns from his hand to him (ve-karnayim mi-yado lo)’ (Habakkuk, ibid.)? And why did it say ‘horns (karnayim)’ and afterward say ‘his hand (yado)’ [in the singular] — ‘his hands (yadav)’ it should [have said]! It is not difficult, for this is what is written (Exodus 32:19), ‘and Moses’ anger burned, and he cast from his hand the tablets,’ and so on — ‘from his hand (mi-yado)’ is written; and this is what is written (Exodus 17:12), ‘and his hands were faithful (va-yehi yadav emunah) until the sun set’ — and it did not say ‘faithful ones (emunot).’ They said to him: our teacher, we are raising a difficulty for you to resolve, and you [instead] cover its matter! You taught us, our teacher, that one answers the first [question] first and the last last. And what are you asking? ‘Horns from his hand to him.’ By the [Temple] service, I have already explained it to you, now, within my words. They were ashamed. When he saw that they were ashamed, he began and said to them: was it not water, and from them went forth fire? They said to him: [these are] words of vanity! If so, the water includes the fire. ‘My teacher, and what are the horns?’ He said to them: five horns — the five fingers that are on the right hand of man.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ורבינו, את הוא דאמרת לן משמיה דר’ יוחנן דאינם אלא שתי זרועות עולם, אמר להם אין, ברם הכא קרנים משמש לשתי קונים דשלמטה הימנו, ומאי ניהו, אמר להם בכעס ראשך, ומלמעלה מאי, אמר להם יראת ה’:
‘And, our teacher, you are the one who told us in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that they are only the two arms of the world.’ He said to them: yes; but here ‘horns’ serves two possessors that are below it; and what are they? He said to them: in anger, the head; and from above, what? He said to them: the fear of the LORD.
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 fear of the LORD: the palm of merit
The ‘fear of the LORD (yirat H’)’ that is ‘above’ is ‘in the palm (kaf) of the Holy One’ and is ‘His might’; the palm is called ‘the palm of merit (kaf zechut)’ because it ‘inclines the world to the scale of merit (kaf zechut)’ — ‘his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes’ (Isaiah 11:3), for it inclines all to merit. From there go ‘counsel’ and ‘healing’; from there is ‘the shepherd, the stone of Israel’ (Genesis 49:24, Yesod / the tzaddik); and it is ‘the place called there (sham),’ ‘the hiding of His might’ (Habakkuk 3:4). Sod: the grade of fear (the receiving grade, the Shekhinah / the ‘kaf’) tips the scales toward mercy and is the source of counsel and healing and the ‘stone of Israel’; the wordplay kaf zechut (‘palm of merit’ / ‘scale of merit’) binds the hand of God to the verdict of grace.
the horns and the five fingers
The students press on ‘and horns from his hand to him (ve-karnayim mi-yado lo)’ (Habakkuk 3:4): why ‘horns,’ and why ‘his hand (yado)’ in the singular, not ‘his hands (yadav)’? The answer: Scripture writes the singular ‘from his hand’ even for two hands — ‘he cast from his hand (mi-yado) the tablets’ (Exodus 32:19, written mi-yado for both hands), ‘and his hands were faithful (yadav emunah, a singular verb) until the sun set’ (Exodus 17:12). After a sharp exchange — and a hint that the two are water and fire together — the master resolves: the ‘horns’ are ‘five horns, the five fingers of the right hand of man.’ Sod: the ‘horns’ are the fingers of the divine right hand (the giving side), the rays of power (Habakkuk’s ‘horns / rays from His hand’); the singular ‘hand’ points to the unity of the two hands in the one act (cf. the ten fingers and the ten sefirot, § 124).
the two arms and the fear above
The students recall the teaching in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that the ‘horns / arms’ are ‘only the two arms of the world.’ The master answers: yes, but here ‘horns’ serves two ‘possessors (konim)’ below it — and, tersely and obscurely, ‘in anger, the head; and from above, the fear of the LORD.’ Sod: the reading is compressed and its exact sense uncertain in the manuscript; the drift is that the ‘horns’ (the two arms, Chesed and Gevurah / the right and left) stand between what is below them and ‘the fear of the LORD’ above — the ordering of the grades around the two arms of the divine ‘body.’ (The phrase rendered ‘in anger, the head’ is difficult and given as the source has it.)
Editorial decisions
- Exodus 17:12 citation. ‘And his hands were faithful until the sun set’ is Exodus 17:12; the source cites it as Exodus 18:12 (a het/zayin slip, 18 for 17). Rendered at the correct locus with the slip noted. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-04)
- section 189 obscure phrase. The close of section 189 (‘in anger, the head; and from above, the fear of the LORD’) is compressed and textually difficult; rendered as the source gives it, with the uncertainty flagged in the apparatus rather than smoothed over. (claude-opus-4-8[session-pipe], 2026-07-04)
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