Sefer Yetzira (cont.)
5. Through these media, Yah, Eternal of Hosts, God of Israel, Living Elohim, Almighty Master,
Lofty and Extolled, Dwelling in Eternity, Holy Be His Name traced [carved] (His universe). Yah
[Yod-He] is composed of two letters; YHVH [Yod-He-Vav-He] is composed of four letters; Hosts
[Tsvaot]: it is like a signal [sign, ot] in his army [tsava]; God of Israel: Israel is a prince [Sar]
before God [El]; Living Elohim: three things are called living, Living Elohim, the water of life and
the Tree of Life; El [Alef-Lamed]: strength, Shaddai [Shin-Dalet-Yod]: He is sufficient to this point;
Lofty [Ram]: because He dwells in the heights of the universe and is above all elevated being;
Extolled [Nisah]: because He carries and maintains the height and depth whilst the bearers are
below and their burden is above. He carries and maintains the entire creation; Dwelling in Eternity
[Shochen ahd]: because His reign is eternal and uninterrupted; Holy Be His Name[Qadosh Shmo]:
because He and His servants are sacred and they declare unto Him every day: Holy, Holy, Holy.
6. The proof of this is revealed in the universe, the year and the soul. The twelve are below, the
seven are above them, and the three are above the seven. Of the three, He has formed His
sanctuary and all are attached to the One: a sign of the One who has no second, a solitary King in
His Universe is One, and His Name is One.
IV. Chapter Four.
1. Ten Sefirot out of nothing. One: Spirit-wind of the Living Elohim, Life of the Universe, whose
throne strengthens all eternity, Blessed and Beneficent Be His Name, constant and eternal: this is
the Holy Spirit.
2. Spirit from Spirit engraved and hewed: He cut the four dimensions of Heaven: the east, the
west, the north and the south, and there is a wind for each direction.
3. Twenty-two foundation letters: three mothers, seven doubles, and twelve simples. He hewed
them in spirit, carved them in voice, fixed them in the mouth in five place: Alef, He, Het, Ayin
[ahacha]; Bet, Vav, Mem, Feh [bumaf]; Gimel, Yod, Khaf, Qof [gikhaq]; Dalet, Tet, Lamed, Nun,
Tav [datlanat]; Zayin, Samech, Tsadeh, Resh, Shin [zsats'ras]. Alef, He, Het, Ayin are pronounced
at the end of the tongue at the place of swallowing; Bet, Vav, Mem, Feh between the teeth with the
tip of the tongue; Gimel, Yod, Khaf, Qof on the palate; Dalet, Tet, Lamed, Nun, Tav on the middle
of the tongue and pronounced with the voice; Zayin, Samech, Tsadeh, Resh, Shin between the
teeth with the tongue at rest.
4. Twenty-two letters: He carved them, hewed them, refined them, weighed them, and combined
them, and He made of them the entire creation and everything to be created in the future. How did
He test them? Alef with all and all with Alef, Bet with all and all with Bet, Gimel with all and all with
Gimel, and they all return again and again, and they emanate through two hundred and thirty-one
gates. All the words and all the creatures emanate from One Name.
5. He created reality from Tohu [Tav-He-Vav] and made His existence out of His nothingness, and
He hewed great pillars from the intangible air.
6. Three: water of spirit carved and hewed of it Tohu [Tav-He-Vav] and Bohu [Bet-He-Vav], mud
and clay. He made them like a garden bed, put them into position like a wall and covered them like
a fortification. he poured water upon them and made dust, for He saith to the snow: be earth.
(Tohu: this is the green line which encircles the entire world; Bohu: this refers to the rocks split
and submerged in the abyss where the water has its source.) As it is said: He spread out the line of
Tohu and the rocks of Bohu upon it [the water].