Once upon a time, when people wrote in pre-modern Hebrew,
they did not have an independent numeral system. In Israel
today, they write with arabic numerals, but before that--
how did they write numbers? Simply, they used letters.
Each letter in the alphabet is assigned a number value.
A natural one-to-one correspondence ostensibly [0]
would allow one to use only the numbers from 1 to 22,
since Hebrew has 22 letters (like 1 to 26 in English)
with A for 1 and B for 2 - or in this case א for 1 and ב for 2...
But the progenitors or inheritors of the gematriya system were
cleverer than that, and they managed to set up a graduated
decimal system, progressing from 1 to 400 along the alphabet.
To write numbers that were not represented, they added,
much in the way we do when using the decimal system.
For example,
the first letter, beginning the ones, א (aleph) is 1,
the last letter, completing the hundreds, ת (tav) is 400,
and a letter from the middle, or tens, מ (mem) is 40,
so 441 = תמא, or tav-mem-aleph. [1]
Here is a chart of the 22 letter - number correspondences:
Many Jewish sages over the generations believed that this tradition of
alpha-numeric harmony was no accident, and they continued using it
long after meeting other cultures` systems of mathematical figuring.
Some still use it today, even if they do higher mathematics with numbers.[2]
Why did they find it so attractive? Mostly for the same reason you or I would;
they loved codes! [3]
Once all the numbers are represented by letters, some numbers will inevitably
spell out words. Also, it becomes a very attractive game-- or for experts,
possibly even a reflexive unconscious process-- to notice what the number
value of any given word is.
In the example of 441, there is no Hebrew word תמא spelled tav-mem-alef.
However, all Hebrew
so אמת, spelled alef-mem-tav will also = 441, and that is
a Hebrew word, אמת (emet) meaning Truth.
Since the number system in Hebrew is technically based on adding,
and not placing digits in a specific position in the number,
any number can be expressed with the letters written in any order.
Therefore, even if the most obvious way to construct a number is by
adding letters together in size order e.g. first 400, then 40, then 1,
those anagram- friendly mathematicians can write some numbers in a
different order-- in order to come out with a word, like אמת.
Alternatively, this process may give rise to an opposite reaction.
If a number constructed in size order is already a word,
but it has a negative meaning or connotation,
one may switch the order to create a number which has a more
pleasant or neutral connotation when decoded as a word.
e.g. מת (meit) meaning dead, reversed is also a word תמ (tam[4]), meaning perfect.
Because of this unique crossover between words and numbers
(which may be almost unavoidably salient to the initiated)
to demonstrate that only the numeric quality is indicated,
often numbers will be written with some apostrophesque mark:
thus instead of אמת or even תמא, in the case of the number
441, it can be written as תמ"א or אמ"ת.
By now you may have considered trying this with the English alphabet,
and if you do, you will probably find that it does not work very well.
If you are just looking for a new way to make a code, this system could
be used, but there are many much more impressive and convenient options.
The anagram factor makes this a somewhat unsophisticated, confusing option
for a Hebrew code in this form, but the propensity for anagrams[5] may be the
greatest strength of the gematriya system, as it is viewed by traditional adherents.
There is another contributing factor which led some generations` wise
and devoted Jewish scholars to focus on gematriya. All the world agrees
that the words of the Bible can be understood on many levels, but according
to this alpha-numeric tradition, thousands of years old, the words of the Torah
can also be interpreted through a mathematical method which links words or phrases
that have equivalent numerical values in the gematriya system. With this perspective
many scholars find hints to interpretations, explanations, and homilies that would be all
but impossible, without the corresponding number values to confirm a connection's presence.
One famous exemplar of a traditional gematriya genius is The [Baal HaTurim].
He lived in the 14th century, and wrote an entire book of commentary on the Torah [6]
by employing this methodology to demonstrate meaningful connections and cross- references
through the Bible. According to legend, he wrote down the entire book in one night
to prove that he was in fact, the very same genius who had written the book of Turim[7]
~~~
notes
[0]
of course
purely for cryptographic purposes
you would not feel so confined
since there would be many more details
to take advantage of, including:
final letters, double letters, vowels, etc.
cf. [building a code] ^
[1]
remember: Hebrew is written from right to left --
in the opposite direction from English. ^
[2]
Hebrew Characters, such as Aleph (א) have taken on a separate
new meaning in modern advanced mathematics and physics.
cf [?] ^
[3]
many of them, in fact, were not satisfied
with this simple system alone, and relied on
further developments or variations on this system
which involve turning the alphabet backwards, splitting
it up in different sections, adding in other letters, or even
performing further mathematical functions on them-- all also
helpful ways to create a more useful, secret, or flexible code,
as above [0] ^
[4]
usually written תם, with a final-mem. ^
[5]
The probability of numbers being words will be much greater in Hebrew.
This is due to the fact that the Hebrew alphabet is composed only of consonants,
and the vowels are implied, or added on to words separately.
This is one of several factors that makes [Hebrew unique], and makes
playing
[6]
(qua pentateuch) ^
[7]
You may have noticed that the title of his book matches his name.
This is because it is an epithet, or nickname in the traditional
loving style of reference to Jewish commentary authors, which is often
yet another example of the cryptic cryptographic and acrostic love of the
sages. cf. [Jewish Author Nicknames] or [Diminutives] for further explication. ^
~~~
