If we turn to Genesis 17, we find that Abraham was originally called Abram and his wife Sarah was originally called Sarai. Sarai, barren all these years, felt anger towards Hagar, her bondservant, who had given birth to Ishmael. God announced to Abram that a son would be born to him and his wife Sarai. He also instructed that Abram and Sarai change their names and that Abram and his household be circumcised.
And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations: Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made you: As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be: And I will bless her, and give you a son also of her; and I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her (Gen. 3:3-16).
The change of name from Abram, spelled aleph-beth-resh-mem אברם to Abraham, spelled aleph-beth-resh-heh-mem אברהם is effected by inserting a heh ה. Similarly, in the case of Sarah, her original name was Sarai spelled shin-resh-yod שרי ; God instructed it be changed to Sarah spelled shin-resh-heh שרה. If we look at this change carefully, we can see that a yod י has been taken out of Sarai’s name and replaced by a heh.
It is this insertion of the heh or the ‘5’ into the names of Abraham and Sarah that provides the seed and Crystal of Creation that allows Abraham and Sarah to give birth to Isaac, the second patriarch, the father of Jacob and grandfather to the 12 tribes of Israel. Hence God’s promise to Abraham And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you (Gen. 17:6).
The splitting of the yod into 2 hehs in the renaming of Abram and Sarai, the first patriarch and matriarch, is a direct reflection of the splitting of the lower yod in the letter aleph א to create the unspoken word for God YHVH יהוה .
Thus, the aleph א with its composite of yod-vav-yod י-ו-י evolves into yod-heh-vav-heh י-ה-ו-ה which allows the act of Creation to take place (see yin yang symbols in Chapter 1). On the physical plane, Isaac is therefore the product of this evolution.
The importance of the number 5 and the letter heh in gematrical understanding cannot be underestimated. Its composite 1:4 ratio is the representation of God, the 1, and His relationship with the phenomenal plane, the 4. It is the Crystal of Creation, the Crystal of Life.
It should also be noted that once Abram’s name is changed to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah, there is no further reference to their former names throughout the Bible. This is unlike the case of Jacob whose original name is frequently used even after it is changed to Israel.