Gematria is the analysis of Hebrew biblical texts through assigning the numerical values of Hebrew letters to words and phrases in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the texts. Numbers are immutable and therefore are not subject to interpretation by individuals or to personal bias.

The earliest reference to the use of Gematria for interpretations of the Torah is by the Tannaim of the 2nd century CE in the Galilee region of Israel. However, there is strong evidence that it was understood and used in the apocrypha of the Book of Genesis in the Dead Sea Scrolls. written in the first half of the 1st century BCE, i.e. 300 years before The Tannaim.

By examining the numbers attributed to the Hebrew letters and composite words that make up the Bible, we can find a consistency and rationale that presents a certain set of patterns relating numbers to one another. By identifying these patterns and their relationships in biblical texts, we can identify the underlying meaning of the words, phrases and sentences.

The Bible is subject to numerous interpretations. As soon as a letter or a word of the original text in the Bible leaves the page and enters one’s mind either through the ear or the eye, it is transformed both in meaning and in content into something other than its original form.

Similarly, when a word is translated into another language such that the original structure and sequence of the letters in a word are lost, the original meaning and intention of the word becomes more remote.

The link between gematrical values and biblical text is adequately illuminated in the Hebrew word sepher, ספר meaning book, sipoor סיפור meaning story and sapher, ספר meaning count. All these words are derived from the same root samech-peh-resh, .ספר In Hebrew, these root letters samech-peh-resh make up the words for: book, story, scribe, to tell, literature, recount, count, enumerate and number. It is no accident that the stories and events depicted in the Bible are linked to numbers that are finite and definitive values related to each other. Indeed, it may be said that the gematrical value of a biblical text is possibly as close as we can ever get to the ultimate Truth extended from the breath of God.

Numbers are immutable – there are no half-truths: 2 + 2 is always 4; it can never be 3½. They may be divided, added, subtracted, multiplied or undergo multiple manipulations, but ultimately, they are immutable. Their essence remains the same. Their relationship to each other cannot change, just as the relationship of ‘6’ and ‘3’ can be related either to the multiplier 18, or the divisor 2, but the essence of 6 and 3 remains the same. Numbers are unbiased and objective: they express the essence of the letter. In turn, the combination of letters that form a word, also have a unique combination of gematrical values where both the form of the gematrical sequence and the total are equally important.

The stories in the Bible may be likened to what we visually see on a computer screen. A computer screen can produce a multiple variety of features: texts written in many languages, maps, pictures, spectrums of color, children’s games and so on, but, in essence, it is a unique combination of binary digits ‘0’ and ‘1’ that are programmed to form the image we read and see. Just as these images are subject to our own interpretations, so indeed the words and phrases in the Bible are subject to our interpretations and our understanding, which in turn are subject to inclinations of the day or the period in history.

Gematrical values of Hebrew letters

The Hebrew alphabet comprises 22 letters each of which are assigned numbers. The first letter aleph א is equivalent to the value of 1 and the last letter taf ת is equivalent to the value of 400. In the gematrical system the numbers assigned to letters are arranged in three tiers: single units, 10’s (decanes) and 100’s (centanes) (See Table 1). Hence the first nine letters of the alphabet, aleph א to tet ט, increase in single units 1, 2, 3, etc. to 9. The next nine letters, yod י to tzadek צ, increase in units of ten: 10, 20, 30, etc. to 90. The final four letters, koof ק, resh ר, sin (or shin) ש and taf ת increase in units of 100: 100, 200, 300, 400.

These three levels: units, decanes and centanes, represent three levels of consciousness, whereby:

1-9, represents the physical and phenomenal form,

10-90, the conscious form, and

100-400, the spiritual form.

Four hundred is the highest value of the Hebrew alphabet and represents the highest level of spiritual consciousness that can be attained by man on this earthly plane. Beyond 400 the supra-spiritual plane represented by 500 up to 1000 is beyond our understanding of existence and can only be alluded to by phenomena expressed through miracles or through our sub-consciousness, and at best can be described as ‘the next world’.

In Hebrew writing, when certain letters come at the end of a word they are written differently and are called ‘final forms’ (See Table 1 above). These letters are caph ך, mem, ם, nun ,ןpeh ף and tzadik .ץ Some Kabbalistic scholars ascribe gematrical values 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 respectively in their gematrical interpretations.

Let us consider the three planes of consciousness – the phenomenal plane (1-9), the conscious plane (10-90) and the spiritual plane (100-400). The first letter of the alphabet, aleph,א  has a gematric value of 1. Aleph represents a manifestation of God in unity on the physical and phenomenal plane. At the level of the conscious plane, we come to yod,י  which has a value of 10 and represents God at the level of consciousness – yod is also the symbol of the hand (See Table 1) and therefore the instrument through which we express God’s will. At the third level, the spiritual plane, we come to koof,ק  which has a value of 100 and which represents God in spiritual form. The next stage upwards is the supra-spiritual level, 1000. One thousand, in Hebrew, is pronounced eleph and has the same spelling as aleph!! So, it is from aleph, א, with its value of 1, we return to the 1 through the eleph (1000); from unity through multiplicity back to the unity.

The numerical value of each letter and its symbol is given in Table 1 below: