Sefer Jetzira

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sefer Jetzira ( Hebrew ספר יצירה, "Book of Formation" or "Book of Creation") is an ancient cosmological treatise that has become known in the Jewish context , which shows the essential elements of creation in its origin ( cosmogony ) and its structure. These elements are the 10 original digits ( Sephiroth ) and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet . The Sefer Jetzira is an important work of Kabbalah .

The Sefer Jetzira has been widely commented on in the Jewish tradition since the 10th century . In accordance with the rational presentation of the book, the focus was initially on philosophical approaches. Later (from the 12th century) it was interpreted in a mystical and speculative way, thus establishing the importance of the book for Kabbalah. It is often referred to as the oldest independently transmitted work of Kabbalah , although its character is actually more of a purely cosmological treatise and does not make any Jewish religious-theological statements. Its conception of creation differs radically from that of the Book of Genesis , as well as its interpretation in the Talmud and Midrash , it does not mention the people of Israel, nor any of their religious ideas, customs or authorities in any line. However, its influence on the contents of Kabbalah is considerable, so that it must definitely be classified as "pre-Kabbalistic".

Origin and history

According to Jewish oral tradition , the biblical Abraham is considered to be the author of the work, in the sense of the “writer” who received it at his “initiation” by Melchizedek . The text itself does not name an author, but mentions Abraham as the first to walk the described ways of wisdom , on which the assumption of his authorship is based.

Scientific research into the genesis of the book has led to very different results. Some researchers have classified the work in the Hellenistic- Roman antiquity . Heinrich Graetz initially saw it as an answer to Gnosis and dated it to the 2nd or 3rd century, as did Gershom Scholem . More recent research, however, see a dependency on Islamic traditions and consequently only begin to emerge after the 7th century. But even these theories have been contradicted with reference to parallels to the philosophy of Philos of Alexandria , which leads to an early dating even to the 1st century. Final answers to the question of the historical classification do not seem possible so far, but it is certain that it originated before the 10th century.

The text transmission of the work is also confusing. There are handwritten short and long versions, but their relationship to one another is controversial. The long version includes the earliest manuscript Ms. Vatican 299 from the late 11th or early 12th century, the short version the manuscript Ms. London 6577 from the 14th century. There is also an early text version known as the Sa'adjan Review . It goes back to the Jewish scholar Saadia Gaon († 942).

The first print - in Latin translation - was made in Paris in 1552 . The first printed Hebrew edition was in Mantua in 1562 . There are various editions available today, some of which also contain implicit commentary texts.

content

The Sefer Jetzira has hardly more than 2000 words, even in the most extensive versions. It represents 32 paths of wisdom, which are composed of 10 digits, the Sephiroth , and the 22 Hebrew letters.

Sephiroth

The 10 Sephiroth in the Tree of Life

The term Sephiroth ( Hebrew ספרות, Singular: Sephira -ספרה) is a new creation of the book Jetzira. He goes to the Hebrew verbal stem sfr (ספר, see. Sefer Jezirah § 1), which can mean “count”, “write”, “tell” and as a noun also “book” ( sefer ). Mostly Sephira is translated as "number". It is etymologically related to the Greek word σφαιρα and is therefore also referred to as “sphere” or “element”.

The ten Sephiroth are symbols of the dialogical structure of the world:

  • Before, afterwards
  • Good - bad
  • Male - female
  • High - low;

next to it are the four cardinal points

  • East - West - North - South.

The Sefer Jetzira does not yet know the names of the Sephiroth as they later became structure- forming in the Sephiroth or Tree of Life . The names are assigned to the ten digits only from the 13th century in the Zohar and subsequent Kabbalistic works.

Letters

The vast majority of the book is devoted to the meanings and relationships of the Hebrew letters. The 22 letters are grouped together and assigned to the basic dimensions of time, world and man:

group Letters symbol
3 mothers ש מ א

Aleph, Mem, Schin

Air - water - fire
7 doubles ת ר פ כ ד ג ב

Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph, Peh, Resch, Thaw

7 planets, 7 days of the week, 7 gates of the senses on the human head: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth
12 simple ק צ ע ס נ ל י ט ח ז ו ה

Heh, Vaw, Sajin, Cheth, Tet, Jod, Lamed, Nun, Samech, Ajin, Zade, Qoph

12 constellations, 12 months, 12 organs of the human body

meaning

The Sefer Yetzirah has taken with the teaching about the 10 Sephiroth significant impact on the kabbalistic tradition in Judaism. The Sephiroth form the elements of the tree of life and thus represent the most effective symbol of the Kabbalah at all. The later explanations of their shape and their relationships to one another in the Zohar and the subsequent teaching and life traditions also testify to this.

The speculations about the Hebrew letters and their tripartite structure have also had the greatest impact in Judaism and beyond in other mystical traditions. The most famous example of this is the modern tarot . The assignment of the 22 cards of the "Major Arcana" was reproduced by well-known tarot interpreters, right down to the details of the structure of the letters in the Book of Jetzira.

Benjamin Stein's novel “ The Alphabet of Juda Liva ” , published in 1995, relates structurally to the letter categories of Sefer Jetzira and plays through their meanings and possible effects.

Commented text output

Hebrew and German :

German :

  • Klaus Herrmann (Ed.): Sefer Jezira - Book of Creation. World Religions Publishing House, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-458-70007-4 .

Hebrew and English :

  • A. Peter Hayman, Sefer yeṣira. Edition, translation, and text-critical commentary. In: Texts and studies on ancient Judaism 104. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2004, ISBN 3-16-148381-2 .

Text output online

See also

literature

  • Joseph Dan: The Kabbalah. A little introduction . Reclam, Stuttgart 2007.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joseph Dan: Die Kabbalah , p. 29ff.
  2. ↑ Heinrich E. Benedikt: The Kabbalah as a Judeo-Christian instruction path . 3. Edition. tape 1 .. Hermann Bauer, 1991, ISBN 3-7626-0279-4 , p. 24 .
  3. ↑ On the dating cf. K. Herrmann: Sefer Jezira . Pp. 184-204
  4. ↑ Manuscript Vat. 299 (in the directory: Vat. Ebr. 299). Retrieved January 16, 2020 .
  5. ^ K. Herrmann: Sefer Jezira . P. 226