reply to post by Eschat
Hi Eschat
The issue is that there were a total of 72 different Gematrial 'systems' (as we know the term Gematria comes from the Greek: 'Gamma = Tria' or the
3rd letter (Greek 'gamma') is a numerical value of '3' etc. )
Apparently gemmtria was used in religious and political art and architecture as well as literature as early as c. 2240 BCE with King Sargon of Akkad
who had his own monuments inscribed 'with the Number of his Name' - so it has an apparently very old Sumero-Babylonian pedigree...no wonder there
evolved so many 'systems' !
We note some of this Tendenz in the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 350 BCE to 68 CE) but they became very complex as cipher systems in the Middle ages, and the
Rebbes made use of both complex as well as simpler ones e.g. the first system of 72 called 'Mishphar ha-Phanim' ('absolute' numbering of letters
Aleph to Tav)
Aleph = 1
Beth =2
Gimmel =3
Daled = 4
He = 5
Vav = 6
Tzayin = 7
Chet = 8
Tet = 9
Yod =10
Kaph = 20
Lamed = 30
Mem = 40
Nun = 50
Samek = 60
'Qayin = 70
Phe = 80
Tsadeh = 90
Quph =100
Resh = 200
Shin-Sin = 300
Tav = 400
without any recourse to Sofit endings (the five Heb. letters with different ending forms e.g. Kaph, Mem, Nun, Phe and Tsadeh)
Then there is #2 which is the Mishpar haPhanim Gadol with the 5 sofit ending-letters having additional numbering, continuing the sequence all the way
to 900
'Aleph = 1
Beth =2
Gimmel =3
Daled = 4
He = 5
Vav = 6
Tzayin = 7
Chet = 8
Tet = 9
Yod =10
Kaph = 20
Lamed = 30
Mem = 40
Nun = 50
Samek = 60
'Qayin = 70
Phe = 80
Tsadeh = 90
Quph =100
Resh = 200
Shin-Sin = 300
Tav = 400
final form sofit Kaph = 500
final form sofit Mem = 600
final form sofit Nun = 700
final form sofit Phe - 800
final form sofit Tsadeh = 900
Then there is Mishphar Siduri which is merely Aleph to Tav listed as plain and simple numbers 1 to 22
'Aleph = 1
Beth =2
Gimmel =3
Daled = 4
He = 5
Vav = 6
Tzayin = 7
Chet = 8
Tet = 9
Yod =10
Kaph = 11
Lamed = 12
Mem = 13
Nun = 14
Samek = 15
'Qayin = 16
Phe = 17
Tsadeh = 18
Quph = 19
Resh = 20
Shin-Sin = 21
Tav = 22
without any recourse to Sofit endings (the five Heb. letters with different ending forms e.g. Kaph, Mem, Nun, Phe and Tsadeh)
Then there is Mishphar Mishulash-Kidmi, which is a sort of an cumulative numbering system where Beth's value is calculated as 'Aleph's value of
(1) added to the position value of Beth (2) taken together to get = 3, and e.g. Gimmel has the cumulative value of Aleph & Beth and Gimmel in their
respective numerical positions (1 + 2 + 3 = 6) etc.
'Aleph = 1
Beth = 3 (1+2)
Gimmel =6 (1+2+3)
Daled = 10 (1+2+3+4)
He = 15 (1+2+3+4+5) etc.
Vav = 21
Tzayin = 28
Chet = 36
Tet = 45
Yod = 55
Kaph = 66
Lamed = 78
Mem = 91
Nun = 105
Samek = 120
'Qayin = 136
Phe = 153
Tsadeh = 171
Quph = 190
Resh = 210
Shin-Sin = 231
Tav = 253
There is alsso the Mishphar ha Merubbah haPrati system which makes use of squared numbers
'Aleph = 1
Beth = 4 (or 2 x 2)
Gimmel = 9 (or 3 x 3)
Daled = 16 (or 4 x 4) .
He = 25 (or 5 x 5) etc.
Vav = 36
Tzayin = 49
Chet = 64
Tet = 81
Yod = 100
Kaph = 121
Lamed = 144
Mem = 169
Nun = 196
Samek = 225
'Qayin = 256
Phe = 289
Tsadeh = 324
Quph = 361
Resh = 400
Shin-Sin = 441
Tav = 484
Then of course there is Mishphar Atbash - with the letters reversed from Aleph to Tav making them 'Tav to Aleph' and also reversing their values
'Aleph = Tav = 400
Beth = Shin = 300
Gimmel = Resh = 200
Daled = Quph = 100
He = Tsadeh = 90
Vav = Phe = 80
Tzayin = 'Qayin = 70
Chet = Samek = 60
Tet = Nun = 50
Yod = Mem = 40
Kaph = Lamed = 30
Lamed = Kaph = 20
Mem = Yod = 10
Nun = Mem = 9
Samek = Chet = 8
'Qayin = Zayin = 7
Phe = Vav = 6
Tsadeh = He = 5
Quph = Daled = 4
Resh = Gimmel = 3
Shin-Sin = Beth = 2
Tav = 'Aleph = 1
[Atbash was famous for making SOPHYA = BAPHOMET i.e. the coded name for Wisdom used by the Mystics in the Middle Ages...]
So (basically) the question of the Day is...
WHAT exact form of Hebrew or Aramaic 'Gematria' is to be employed in understanding its apparent use in the so-called Book of Revelation chapter 13
(Apocalypse of Yohanon the levite) c. 69 CE which speaks of the Number of the Beast being the Number of a Name...
Clearly by using Mishphar haPhanim we can see NRV QSR = 616 (the number of the Beast in Rev 13 found in Papyrus # P. Oxy LVI 4499 (from the year c.
260 CE) and Codex Ephraemi Palimsest (from the year c. 360 CE)
and NRVN QSR (alternative spelling for Nero) = 666 (which is the number of the Beast in Rev 13 foundd in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus)
But should other forms of Gematria be looked at as well perhaps to get another name altogther from c. 69 CE (i.e. Otho, Galba, Vitellius or
Vespasian)?