Sefer ha-Bahir 76-78 -- mercy, the attribute, and Abraham's daughter
Sefer ha-Bahir · The Book of Brilliance
ספר הבהיר · עו-עח
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)
Mercy, and a famous crux. “Make it known” heard as “have mercy,” with the mother — the Shekhinah — returning to draw her estranged sons back to their father (§ 76); “remember mercy” as the attribute that is “the Shekhinah of Israel,” given to David, borne by Solomon, traced to Abraham (§ 77); and the old question of whether Abraham had a daughter, answered yes: the blessing “with all (ba-kol)” is the daughter, the divine feminine given to him as a vessel of pearls (§ 78).
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.
ומאי (חבקוק ג’ ב) בקרב שנים תודיע, כך אמר ידעתי שאתה האל הקדוש דכתיב (שמות ט”ו יא) מי כמוכה נאדר בקדש, וקדש בך ואתה בקדש, ואעפ”כ בקרב שנים תודיע, ומאי תודיע, תרחם, כד”א (שם ב’ כה) וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים, מאי וידע, משל למה”ד למלך שהיתה לו אשה נאה והעמיד ממנה בנים, וחיבבם וגדלם. ויצאו לתרבות רעה שנאם ושנא אמם. חזרה אמם אליהם ואמרה בני למה אתם עושים כך שאביכם שונא אותי ואתכם, עד שנחמו וחזרו לעשות רצון אביהם, ראה אביהם כך, אהבם כבתחילה וזכר אמם הה”ד (שם) וירא אלהים וגו’ וידע וגו’, וכתיב (חבקוק שם) ובקרב שנים תודיע:
And what is (Habakkuk 3:2), ‘in the midst of the years make it known (todia)’? Thus he said: I knew that You are the holy God, as it is written (Exodus 15:11), ‘who is like You, glorious in holiness’; and holiness is in You, and You are in holiness. And even so, ‘in the midst of the years make it known.’ And what is ‘make it known (todia)’? Have mercy (terachem). As it is said (Exodus 2:25), ‘and God saw the children of Israel, and God knew.’ What is ‘and knew’? A parable: to what is it comparable? To a king who had a fair wife, and he raised up sons from her, and cherished them and reared them; and they went out to evil ways. He hated them and hated their mother. Their mother came back to them and said: my sons, why do you act thus, so that your father hates me and you? — until they took comfort and returned to do the will of their father. Their father saw this, [and] loved them as at first, and remembered their mother. This is what is written (ibid.), ‘and God saw,’ and so on, ‘and knew,’ and so on. And it is written (Habakkuk, ibid.), ‘and in the midst of the years make it known.‘
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
ומאי (שם) ברוגז רחם תזכור, אמר בעת שיחטאו לך בני, ותכעוס עליהם, רחם תזכור, ומאי רחם תזכור, אותו שאמר (תהלים י”ח ב) ארחמך ה’ חזקי, ונתת לו המדה הזאת שהיא שכינתו של ישראל, וזכר בנו שירשה ונתת לו דכתיב (מ”א ה’ כו) וה’ נתן חכמה לשלמה, וזכור אביהם אברהם, דכתיב (ישעי’ מ”א ח), זרע אברהם אוהבי בקרב שנים תודיע:
And what is (ibid.), ‘in wrath remember mercy (rachem)’? He said: at the time when Your sons sin against You, and You are angry with them, remember mercy (rachem tizkor). And what is ‘remember mercy’? That one who said (Psalm 18:2), ‘I love You (erchamkha), O LORD, my strength’; and You gave him this attribute (midah), which is the Shekhinah of Israel. And remember our son who inherited it, and You gave [it] to him, as it is written (1 Kings 5:26), ‘and the LORD gave wisdom to Solomon.’ And remember their father Abraham, as it is written (Isaiah 41:8), ‘the seed of Abraham My lover’ — ‘in the midst of the years make it known.‘
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
מהיכן היתה לאברהם בת, דכתיב (בראשית כ”ד א) וה’ בירך את אברהם בכל וכתיב, (ישעי’ מ”ג ז) כל הנקרא בשמי ולכבודי בראתיו יצרתיו אף עשיתיו, האי ברכה היתה בתו או לא היתה, הן בתו היתה, משל למה”ד למלך שהיה לו עבד תמים ושלם לפניו נסהו בכמה נסיונות ועמד בכלן, אמר המלך מה אתן לעבד זה או מה אעשה לו, אמר אין לי אלא אצונו לאחי הגדול ליעצו ולשמרו ולכבדו, חזר העבד עם אחיו הגדול ולמד מדותיו אהבו האח מאד וקראו אוהבו דכתיב (שם מ”א ח) זרע אברהם אוהבי, אמר מה אתן לו או מה אעשה לו הנה כלי נאה עשיתי ובו מרגליות נאות אין כמותם סגולות מלכים אתננה לו ויזכה במקומו הה”ד וה’ בירך את אברהם בכל:
From where did Abraham have a daughter (bat)? As it is written (Genesis 24:1), ‘and the LORD blessed Abraham with all (ba-kol),’ and it is written (Isaiah 43:7), ‘all that is called by My name, and for My glory I created it, I formed it, indeed I made it.’ Was this blessing (ba-kol) his daughter, or was it not? Yes, it was his daughter. A parable: to what is it comparable? To a king who had a perfect and complete servant before him. He tested him with several trials, and he stood firm in all of them. The king said: what shall I give to this servant, or what shall I do for him? He said: I have nothing [for it] but to command my elder brother to advise him, and to guard him, and to honor him. The servant went with his elder brother and learned his ways; the brother loved him greatly and called him ‘his lover,’ as it is written (Isaiah 41:8), ‘the seed of Abraham My lover.’ He said: what shall I give to him, or what shall I do for him? Behold, I have made a fair vessel (keli), and in it are fair pearls (margaliyot), the like of which there are none, treasures of kings; I will give it to him, and he will merit in his place. This is what is written, ‘and the LORD blessed Abraham with all (ba-kol).’
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: shekhinah (rendered as the-feminine-aspect), chokhmah (rendered as wisdom). For each, the apparatus carries the sense set and the reason for the rendering chosen.
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mercy as knowing; the mother reconciles
Habakkuk 3:2’s ‘in the midst of the years make it known (todia)’ is glossed ‘have mercy (terachem),’ and ‘God knew’ (Exodus 2:25) is read through the parable of the estranged sons: a king’s fair wife bore sons who went to evil ways, so the king hated them and their mother; the mother returned to them and drew them back to their father’s will, and he ‘loved them as at first, and remembered their mother.’ Sod: the Shekhinah is the mother, the king’s wife, who reconciles Israel (the sons) to the transcendent Father; ‘knowing’ is mercy and reunion.
the attribute given down: David, Solomon, Abraham
’Remember mercy (rachem)’ is the ‘attribute (midah) which is the Shekhinah of Israel’: given to David, who said ‘I love You (erchamkha)’ (Psalm 18:2, playing on rachamim, mercy); inherited by Solomon, ‘to whom the LORD gave wisdom’ (1 Kings 5:26); and traced to Abraham, ‘My lover’ (Isaiah 41:8). Sod: Malkhut, the divine bride, as the inherited grade borne by the patriarch and the kings — the attribute of mercy possessed and transmitted through the righteous.
Abraham’s daughter, ‘Bakol’
Whether Abraham had a ‘daughter (bat)’ was an old dispute (b. Bava Batra 16b, on ‘the LORD blessed Abraham ba-kol,’ Genesis 24:1): some read ‘Bakol’ as her name. The Bahir affirms it and reads the blessing ‘with all (ba-kol)’ as the daughter — the Shekhinah / Malkhut given to Abraham. The parable: the tested and perfect servant (Abraham) is entrusted to the ‘elder brother’ (a higher grade) who calls him ‘lover’ (Isaiah 41:8), and is given ‘a fair vessel with pearls, treasures of kings’ — the daughter. Sod: Malkhut is ‘all (kol),’ the grade that gathers the others, given to Abraham (Ḥesed) as his daughter and portion; the vessel of pearls is the Shekhinah adorned with the sefirot.
shekhinah
Selected sense: the-feminine-aspect
Active senses: the-feminine-aspect, the-indwelling, malkhut
Rationale: § 77 names ‘the attribute (midah) which is the Shekhinah of Israel,’ rendered ‘the Shekhinah of Israel.’ The pardes frame hears the divine feminine, Malkhut — the inherited grade of the divine bride, given to David, borne by Solomon, and traced to Abraham.
Lexicon: lexicon/shekhinah
chokhmah
Selected sense: wisdom
Active senses: wisdom, the-supernal-point
Rationale: § 77’s citation of 1 Kings 5:26 (‘the LORD gave wisdom to Solomon’), rendered plainly ‘wisdom’; the frame hears the grade Ḥokhmah, the inheritance Solomon receives (cf. §§ 64-65).
Lexicon: lexicon/chokhmah
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