Book of the [Divine] Name

Chapter 1: The Meaning of Every Name

You must know that the name of a man, when it is a proper noun, as opposed to a common noun, is an accident that inheres in the soul of the man, given to be a sign and symbol for anyone who sees it or hears it, and it is composed of letters. Since pronunciation begins with movement and ends with rest, it is impossible for a name to be shorter than two letters. And since a word has no independent existence, assembling its letters does not constitute an action, nor do the sounds that the letters make constitute an action other than by exiting the mouth of the person who pronounces them. After all, the spittle of a fasting person can kill a scorpion. [ . . . ]

That is why the sphere of the heavens is called shamayim [“two theres”; the word sham (there) with the dual ending -ayim]—this hints at the two places that do not move, on which the motion of the sphere rests, which are like the two points at either end of the axis, one at this end and one at that end. And since they “stand” and do not move, they are thus called [“two theres”], for every motion is change; hence anything that dwells and rests, “stands.” And what teaches us about the word shamayim is that its root is the word sham, “there.” The heavens [shamayim] are the heavens [shamayim] of the Lord (Psalms 115:16). The meaning of the second shamayim in the verse is like “place,” as in O you who are enthroned in the heavens [shamayim]! (Psalms 123:1). And the dual shamayim may also be an allusion to the two points that connect the two upper spheres, which are called the head and the tail of the dragon. The proof: By his breath the heavens [shamayim] are serene; his hand pierced the slant serpent (Job 26:13).¹ [ . . . ]

Chapter 3: The Letters of the Ineffable Name²

Since one is the cause of every number yet is not a number itself—and ten resembles it, being the beginning of the tens and the end of the ones—you cannot begin with number and say “one” unless another number follows it, as is explained in Sefer yetsirah [Book of Creation]: “Ten sefirot of nothingness.” And when we start to count from the lowest, the great spheres are nine,³ and the tenth is the Holy One. Scripture alludes to this when it mentions tithing—every tenth one is holy. And the semicircular form of the yod implies a complete circle—because it encircles all. They made the analogy of a sphere because it has no corners and encircles everything within one single shape. As for my saying that ten is like one—they made the alef the mark of the first-person singular in the future tense, just as yod marks the first-person singular in the past tense. And the reason for the yod is that it is related to the two groups offering thanksgiving of Nehemiah 12:31, for ten is the sum of the numbers from one to four,⁴ or that it is [as if] encircling. And when yod is spelled out as yod [10] vav [6]‌ dalet [4], its numerical value doubles from 10 to 20, pointing back to itself. Just so with the ten [Aristotelian] categories—nine are accidents, and one alone is substance.⁵ Again, at the upper side it is one, and at the lower side it is ten. Therefore, in the Ten Commandments that are written in the Torah, the beginning of them is anokhi,⁶ the “I” of Exodus 20:2, to teach about the Name; it is neither a commandment nor a prohibition as the other commandments are, but only a matter of intellectual belief. [ . . . ]

Chapter 4: On the Value of the Letters of the Name

Now they have made the Lofty Name two letters long [yod heh]—since no noun can be shorter—symbolizing the higher beings, who have no physical bodies and are themselves twofold, being both subject and object, except for the One alone who is subject but not object. And because in ordinary language the subject can become the object, and fewer than two letters cannot be pronounced, that is why it was so.⁷ And because material objects are three-dimensional, having length, breadth, and depth (each of the three dimensions having two extremities, making a total of six), the Glorious Name has three letters [yod heh vav]. Adding a vav to the two-letter name teaches us about the dimensions, as written in Sefer yetsirah: “It is sealed with six rings.” Because the three letters build six houses and the fourth turns them into 24,⁸ that is why they made three of the letters different and the fourth a repetition, so that the number of arrangements would only be 12, which is twice six, the value of vav, and half of 24. Further, four [being a perfect square] resembles one, which is itself a square, as I have explained in The Book of One [Sefer ha-eḥad]. That is why the Name was arranged to have four letters. The reason the Name has three different letters is that three is the basis of all subsequent computation. For 1 + 1 > 1², and the opposite [is true] of 3, where 3² > 3 + 3. That is why 2 comes in between 1 and 3, for 2 + 2 = 2². But all subsequent numbers work the same way as 3.