Sefer ha-Bahir 64-67 -- wisdom and judgment, and the return
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · סד-סז
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)
Wisdom, judgment, and the way back. There is no judgment without wisdom — Solomon was given wisdom, then judged justly (§ 64); Solomon bears the divine name, so God gives him the daughter as a gift, the wisdom that does justice and, failing that, chastises (§ 65); and “I too” — Knesset Yisrael, the Shekhinah, also chastises, not only the advocate of mercy but the master of judgment (§ 66); yet the seven who chastise can be brought back through return: “return, and I will return with you” (§ 67).
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.
ועוד כי אין דין אם אין חכמה, שהרי נאמר (מ”א ה’ כו) וה’ נתן חכמה לשלמה, ואחרי כך דן את הדין על מתכונתו שנאמר (שם ג’ כח) וישמעו כל ישראל את המשפט אשר שפט המלך ויראו מפני המלך כי ראו כי חכמת אלהים בקרבו לעשות משפט. לא:
And further: there is no judgment (din) without wisdom (chokhmah), for it is said (1 Kings 5:26), ‘and the LORD gave wisdom to Solomon,’ and afterward he judged the judgment according to its measure, as it is said (ibid. 3:28), ‘and all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared before the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to do justice.’ No.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומה חכמה נתן הקב”ה לשלמה, שלמה נושא שמו של הקב”ה כדאמרינן כל שלמה האמור בשה”ש קודש לבד מאחד, אמר הקב”ה הואיל ושמך כשם כבודי אשיא לך בתי, והא נשואה היא, אימא במתנה נתונה לו, דכתיב (מ”א ה’ כו) וה’ נתן חכמה לשלמה, ולא פירש, והיכן פירש, להלן שנאמר (שם ג’ כח) כי ראו חכמת אלהים בקרבו. לעשות משפט, הוי אומר אותה חכמה שנתנה לו אלהים ושהיא עמו בחדרו היא בקרבו לעשות משפט, מאי לעשות משפט, אלא כל זמן שאדם עושה משפט חכמת אלהים בקרבו, זאת עוזרתו ומקרבתו, ואם לאו מרחקתו, ולא עוד אלא מייסרתו דכתיב (ויקרא כ”ו כח) ויסרתי אתכם אף אני:
And what wisdom did the Holy One give to Solomon? Solomon bears the name of the Holy One, as we said: every ‘Solomon (Shlomo)’ said in the Song of Songs is holy, except for one. The Holy One said: since your name is like the name of My glory, I will marry you My daughter. But behold, she is [already] married! Say: she was given to him as a gift, as it is written (1 Kings 5:26), ‘and the LORD gave wisdom to Solomon’ — and it did not explain [what]. And where did it explain? Further on, as it is said (ibid. 3:28), ‘for they saw the wisdom of God within him to do justice.’ That wisdom which God gave him, and which is with him in his chamber, is within him to do justice. What is ‘to do justice’? Rather, whenever a person does justice, the wisdom of God is within him; this [wisdom] helps him and draws him near; and if not, it distances him, and moreover it chastises him, as it is written (Leviticus 26:28), ‘and I will chastise you, I too (af ani).’
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ואמר ר’ רחומאי מאי דכתיב (שם) אף אני, אלא הקב”ה אמר ויסרתי אתכם, וכנסת ישראל אומרת אל תדמו שאני מבקשת רחמים עליכם אלא אף אני איסר אתכם, לא די שאני אדון הדין אלא אף אני איסר אתכם:
And Rabbi Rechumai said: what is written (ibid.), ‘I too (af ani)’? Rather, the Holy One said, ‘and I will chastise you’; and the Assembly of Israel (Knesset Yisrael) says: do not imagine that I seek mercy for you; rather, I too will chastise you. Not [only] that I am the master of judgment (din), but I too will chastise you.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
מאי שבע על חטאתיכם, אלא אמרה כנסת ישראל ויסרתי אתכם אף אני ואותם שנאמר בהם (תהלים קי”ט קסד) שבע ביום הללתיך, נתלוו אליה וענו ואמרו אף אנו שבע, אע”פ שבנו מי שמתהפך, מי שממונה על הזכות ועל הטובה, אף אנו נתהפך ונייסר, למה, מפני חטאתיכם, ואם תשובו אלי ואשובה אליכם דכתיב (מלאכי ג’ ז) שובו אלי ואשובה אליכם. ואשיב לא נאמר אלא ואשיבה אליכם, עמכם ונבקש כלנו רחמים מן המלך, ומה אומר המלך (ירמי’ ג’ כב) שובו בנים שובבים ארפא משובותיכם, (יחזקאל י”ח ל) שובו והשיבו, מאי שובו והשיבו, אלא שובו ובקשו לאותן שבע שישובו עמכם הה”ד והשיבו, אותם שאמרו שבע על חטאתיכם:
What is ‘seven for your sins (sheva al chatoteichem)’? Rather, the Assembly of Israel said: ‘and I will chastise you, I too’; and those of whom it is said (Psalm 119:164), ‘seven times a day I praise You,’ joined themselves to her and answered and said: we too [will be] seven. Even though among us is one who reverses — one appointed over merit and over good — we too will reverse and chastise. Why? Because of your sins. ‘And if you return to Me, I will return to you,’ as it is written (Malachi 3:7), ‘return to Me, and I will return to you.’ ‘And I will return (ve-ashiv)’ is not said, but ‘and I will return to you (ve-ashivah aleikhem)’ — [I will return] with you; and let us all seek mercy from the King. And what does the King say (Jeremiah 3:22), ‘return, O backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings’; (Ezekiel 18:30), ‘return and turn back (shuvu ve-hashivu).’ What is ‘return and turn back’? Rather: return, and ask those seven that they return with you. This is what is written, ‘and turn back’ — those who said ‘seven for your sins.’
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: chokhmah (rendered as wisdom). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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no judgment without wisdom
Judgment (din) requires wisdom (chokhmah): Solomon was given ‘wisdom’ (1 Kings 5:26) and only then ‘did justice’ (1 Kings 3:28). Sod: the grade of judgment — Gevurah, din — depends on and is guided by the grade of wisdom, Ḥokhmah; severity uninformed by wisdom is blind, so the two grades must work together.
Solomon, the daughter, and the wisdom that judges
Solomon ‘bears the name of the Holy One’ — the Song of Songs’ ‘Shlomo’ is read as a name of God, save one — so God gives him ‘My daughter’: already married (to a king, §§ 54, 63), she is ‘given as a gift.’ The wisdom in his chamber is ‘within him to do justice.’ Sod: Ḥokhmah is given to the king who bears the divine name; the Shekhinah, the daughter, is the wisdom-that-judges, drawing near the just and, when a person does not do justice, distancing and chastising him (Leviticus 26:28).
Knesset Yisrael also chastises
’af ani’ (‘I too,’ Leviticus 26:28) is read so that not only does the Holy One chastise, but the Assembly of Israel (Knesset Yisrael) — a standard name of the Shekhinah / Malkhut — also chastises: ‘do not imagine I seek [only] mercy for you; I too will chastise you.’ Sod: the Shekhinah’s severe face, the daughter as din — the same stern aspect as the ‘tzedek that terrifies the righteous’ (§ 75); she is not only the intercessor for mercy but herself ‘the master of judgment.‘
the seven, and the way back through return
The ‘seven’ of Psalm 119:164 (the seven lower grades, the seven praises) join Knesset Yisrael and ‘also’ chastise — even the grade ‘appointed over merit and good’ (the usual advocate, Ḥesed/Yesod) reverses. But the way back is teshuvah: ‘return to Me, and I will return to you’ (Malachi 3:7), read as ‘I will return WITH you’; and ‘return and turn back’ (Ezekiel 18:30) means return, and bring the seven back with you. Sod: repentance restores the grades to mercy, drawing the severe seven back into balance — the return below that reunites the grades above.
chokhmah
Selected sense: wisdom
Active senses: wisdom, the-supernal-point
Rationale: Chokhmah runs through §§ 64-65 (Solomon given ‘the wisdom of God,’ 1 Kings 5:26 and 3:28), rendered plainly ‘wisdom.’ The pardes frame hears the sefirah Chokhmah, the grade on which judgment (din) depends — ‘no judgment without wisdom’ — and which the Holy One gives to the king who bears His name; kept to the apparatus.
Lexicon: lexicon/chokhmah
No public-domain translations indexed for this chunk.