I Chron. 29.11, Interlinear: To the Lord (is) the greatness [Heb. gə·ḏūl·lāh, Vulg. magnificientia], and the power [gə·ḇū·rāh, potentia], and the glory [tip̄·’e·reṯ, gloria], and the victory [nê·ṣaḥ, victoria] and the majesty [hō·wḏ, laus = praise]: for all [ḵōl, enim] in the heaven and in the earth is to the Lord; your the Kingdom [ham·mam·lā·ḵāh, regnum], O Lord, and you exalt over all as head.
I Chron. 29:11, Vulgate, 1582 Douay-Rheims translation: Thine, O Lord, is the magnificence, and power, and glorie, and victorie, and to thee is the praise: for all things that be in heaven, and in earth, are thine: thine O Lord is the kingdom, and thou art over all princes.The word "Tiferet" in this passage is translated as "glory" in most of its English translations; but the word also means "beauty" in other verses, according to the online concordance (http://biblehub.com/hebrew/tiferet_8597.htm). "Nesah" or "netzach" is "victory" here, but also "majesty", "splendor", "eternity", "endurance", "magnificent", and "glory" in other translations of the same verse . In the concordance for "nesah" and cognates, in fact, it is "victory" in only that one verse; the word mostly occurs as "lanesah", meaning "forever". In the translations done for Pico, Mithridates renders it "aeternitas". Finally, Hod, besides "majesty" is also "splendor" and "honor" (http://biblehub.com/hebrew/hod_1935.htm). In the translations for Pico, it is usually "orna" and "ornata", meaning "splendour" or "ornament", or "decor" and "decorem", meaning "beauty" or "honor"".
The 9th sefirot, Yesod=Foundation, is not there explicitly, but Aryeh Kaplan (The Book Bihar, p. 101) says that it is in the word "all", in Hebrew kol. It seems to me that the phrase following might be important, too, "in the heaven and in the earth", in that Yesod is the connection between the two realms. Gates of Light explains the word "all" in relation to Yesod by saying (p. 101, Weinstein translation):
Gikatilla:...this attribute draws all that can be drawn from the upper Spheres and brings them to the attribute Adonay; because all relies on this attribute, it is called Kol (all).Here "Adonay" is a name of the 10th sefira.
The name "Yesod" seems to be from another quotation, cited in Gates of Light as well as other works: "The righteous is the foundation of the world" (Weinstein translation p. 59). This sentence does not exist in the Hebrew Bible. The closest is Proverbs 10:25, which says, first word for word and then in the Vulgate (http://biblehub.com/text/proverbs/10-25.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=22&c=10, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/284:
Prov. 10:25: passes As the whirlwind and no [is] so the wicked [more] But the righteous foundation [yə-sō-wḏ, fundamentum] [is] an everlasting.In the concordance, this "yə-sō-wḏ" almost invariably is translated as "foundation".
quasi tempestas transiens non erit impius iustus autem quasi fundamentum sempiternum
Prov. 10:25, Douay-Rheims 1582: As a tempest passing, so the impious shal not be: but the just as an everlasting fundation [[yə-sō-wḏ, fundamentum].
The name for "kingdom" in this verse is not "malkhut" but "ham·mam·lā·ḵāh". "Malkhut" is another word for "kingdom", which first occurs in 1 Chronicles 12:23-24 and in many contexts thereafter (http://biblehub.com/hebrew/malchut_4438.htm). Gates of Light cites only two verses containing the word: Daniel 10:13 (Weinstein trans. p. 258), referring to the kingdom of Persia, and Esther 2:17 (Weinstein p. 363). Neither is in the section on Malkhut, but here they are (https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/798):
Esther 2:17, Douay-Rheims: ...he set the royal [ mal·ḵūṯ, regni] crown [ke·ṯer-, corona] on her head, and made her queen instead of Vasthi. (1582: he put the crown of the kingdom on her head, and made her reigne in steed of Vasthi.]
Daniel 10:13, Douay-Rheims: But the prince of the kingdom [mal·ḵūṯ] of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days...As for the first three sefirot, Gates of Light, p. 330, quotes Isaiah 11:1-2. These verses would have been well known to Christians, as containing one of the alleged predictions of Christ's birth. I give first the literal translation, with the Hebrew words in brackets (http://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/11-1.htm and the next), and then the Vulgate together with the Douay-Rheims translation (http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=27&c=11, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/466):
And there shall come forth from the stem of Jesse and a Branch from his roots shall grow shall rest on the spirit of the Lord him the spirit of wisdom [hakmah, sapientiae] and understanding [binah, intellectus] the spirit of counsel [sah, consilii] and might [geburah, fortitudinis = fortitude] the spirit of knowledge [da'at, scientiae] and of the fear of the Lord [yir'at, pietatis]
et egredietur virga de radice Iesse et flos de radice eius ascendet et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini spiritus sapientiae et intellectus spiritus consilii et fortitudinis spiritus scientiae et pietatis
The conventional names of the first three sefirot are here. In one case there is a word that means something similar to the next lower sefirot, at least in the Hebrew ("pietatis" is not the best translation for for "yir'at", meaning "fear").Isaiah 11:1-2: And a rod shall come forth of the roote of Jesse, and a flowre shall rise up out of his roote. And the Spirite of our Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom [ḥāḵ·māh, sapientiae], and understanding [ū·ḇî·nāh, intellectus], the spirit of counsel [‘ê·ṣāh, consilii], and strength [ū·ḡə·ḇū·rāh, i.e. might; fortitudinis], the spirit of knowledge [da·‘aṯ, scientiae], and pietie [wə·yir·’aṯ Yah·weh, i.e. fear of the Lord; pietatis].
Another source is Exodus 31:3 (http://biblehub.com/text/exodus/31-3.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=2&c=31 , 1582 Douay-Rheims, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart_0/page/242:
Exodus 31: 3: And I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom [bə-ḥā-ḵə-māh, sapientia] and in understanding [ū·ḇiṯ·ḇū·nāh, intellegentia] and in knowledge [ū·ḇə·ḏa·‘aṯ, scientia] and in all manner of craftsmanship [mə·lā·ḵāh, opere = works].
Exodus 31:3 (Vulg.) et implevi eum spiritu Dei sapientia intellegentia et scientia in omni opere.
Exodus 31:3 (Douay-Rheims): And I have replenished him with the spirit of God, with wisdome [bə-ḥā-ḵə-māh, sapientia], and understanding [ū·ḇiṯ·ḇū·nāh, intellegentia], and knowledge [ū·ḇə·ḏa·‘aṯ, scientia] in al worke.This verse is not cited in Gates of Light, but the same three names are there. Both passages, besides the three sefirot, also mention knowledge, da'at, a term that occurs frequently in the Kabbalist discussions of the tree. In Gates of Light it is a name for the middle line or pillar.
Although Mithridates' translation of Gates of Light has not been published, three others, plus English translations, have been. So I look there for more information about how the names of the sefirot were understood at that time.
The first of these, and the only Kabbalist work that Pico actually mentions by name, is the Bahir, in Mithridates' Latin translation and numerous Hebrew manuscripts in Italy of the time (Torino 2005). It derives from 12th century Provence. In this work, the ten sefirot are designated by the first ten letters of the Hebrew alphabet, from Aleph to Thet. They are said somehow to form a tree, which is watered from the top down. There are some indications of what these sefirot are called. "Aleph is the supreme crown" (Sect. 141, p. 326). "Beth is wisdom" (sect. 142, p. 326). "Gimel is the engraving of the law", i.e. the written law. Daleth is "the justices of the Lord, his graces and mercies" (sect. 144, p. 427). He is "his great overwhelming fire", at God's left (sect. 145, p. 427). Zain is in the middle, between water on its right and fire on its left (sect. 153, p. 332). It brings peace and truth. The seventh (sect. 155, p. 333) I could not find named; it has to do with producing souls and seems to be female. Heth is the righteous one, the sadich, who "sustains the world and he is its foundation" (sect. 357, p. 334). Theth and Yod "are together, like nine and ten", one in the north and one in the west (sect. 169, p. 346). They are both "eternities" (sect. 170, p. 347). The 7th must be Malkhut, as Kaplan asserts (p. 176). (The matter is somewhat obscured by the fact that in Hebrew letters are also numbers. Thus for example Kaplan translates "alef" as "first" in sect. 141; Mithridates leaves it as "alef"; and the same for "bet" in sect. 142. But see Kaplan's discussion of sect. 16, where he explains that "bet" represents Wisdom, and "alef" Crown already there.)
From that perspective, we can see the word "wisdom", sapientia, as the 2nd sefira. For what comes next, the text quotes Proverbs 4:7:
Intelinear: Your getting and in all wisdom [Therefore] get wisdom [is] The principal thing understanding get.So "understanding" is the 3rd. Then, the Bahir says, "mercy" the fourth, and "power" the 5th, After that, the 6th is "peace" and "truth". Other names known later are mentioned,obscurely. For example, Abraham is associated with mercy, Isaac with fear, and Jacob with truth (sect. 137, p. 323). Since kindness is the 4th and truth the 6th, fear must be the 5th. The 8th is "foundation", and "eternity" the 9th and 10th (or perhaps "of eternities" for the 10th). The Bahir does not follow the usual order. The idea seems to be to associate the 8th, normally 9th, with circumcision, which was performed on the 8th day after birth, and the 7th, normally 10th, with the Sabbath.
principium sapientiae posside sapientiam et in omni possessione tua adquire prudentiam
Douay-Rheims: The beginning of wisdom [Hakmah], possess wisdom, and in al thy posession purchase prudence [Binah].
The chronologically next manuscript is the Great Parchment, early 14th century. Here, however, the sefirot are actually listed by name and in order. I will be quoting from the edition of Giulio Buso, Simonetta M. Bondoni and Saverio Campanini, Torino, 2004.
This is the first text with recognizable names. Its first sentence (p. 53) begins: "Prima est corona", i.e. "The first is the crown" (p. 195; however "prima" is not in any Hebrew manuscript, the editor tells us; it might be Mithridates' addition for clarity). It imagines a pool that becomes a river that divides into the four rivers of Paradise, now given the names of the four next sefirot. I put these words in bold.
Prima est corona que dicitur piscina superior in campo agri vel via cambifullonis et hoc exit ex heden ad irrigandum agrum paradisi unus fluvius et exinde separatur et fit in quatuor capita que sunt secunda tertia quarta et quinta numerationes que dicuntur sapientia intelligentia magnitudo et potentia nomen autem primi capitis fluvii pison.These correspond precisely to five of the conventional names for the first five sefirot: Keter means "crown", Hochmah means "wisdom", Binah means "intelligence" or "understanding", Gedullah means "greatness", and Gevurah means "power". There are, to be sure, other names for the fourth and fifth sefirot, but these are clear enough.
The first [numeration] is the crown, called upper pool in the field of the garden or highway of the fuller's field. As a single river, it goes out from Eden to water the garden of paradise. From thence it is parted, and becomes into four heads, which correspond to the second, third, fourth, and fifth numerations, called wisdom, intelligence, greatness, and power. The name of the first riverhead is Pison.
The rest of the sefirot are named in a later section of The Great Parchment, which describes in Kabbalistic terms Noah's sending of the dove to look for dry land (p. 59, p. 205):
...expectavit septem dies regnum fundamentum decorem eternitatem gloriam potentiam magnitudinem...
He waited yet other seven days: kingdom, fundament, ornament, eternity, glory, power, greatness.These of course are listed from the bottom up. Some of these last seven sefirot are not quite what they are called in the Kabbalah translations we are familiar with today.
There are discrepancies here between the names in Mithridates' translation of the Great Parchment and the names given in the 1 Chronicles quote. Namely, Mithridates' calls the 7th sefira "eternity", while it is "victory" in most translations of the 1 Chronicles, and he calls the 8th "ornament", which is "majesty", or the Vulgate's "praise", in 1 Chronicles. (Translations of 1 Chronicles 29:11 can be compared at http://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/29-11.htm.)
Mithridates did not have, at least in the three texts at our disposal, a citation of the two bible verses from Gates of Light. That text was translated by Ricci. Mithridates was going by how the words were understood in the Bible verses quoted in the works he translated. These are not in The Great Parchment, and not in any systematic way in the Bihar, but are in the third work of Mithridates so far published, a late 14th century work called The Gate of Heaven (Torino 2012).
For the 8th sefira, Gate of Heaven (p. 514) quotes Deut. 33:17. Mithridates renders it "The firstborn of a bull is the ornament [decor]", explaining that this is adar, firstborn of power, i.e. Gevurah. On the left pillar of the "tree", Hod is directly below Gevurah. From http://biblehub.com/text/deuteronomy/33-17.htm) and http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=5&c=33, I get:
As the firstborn of his bull his glory [hadar] is to
quasi primogeniti tauri pulchritudo eius
His beautie as of the firstborne of an oxe.Here the Vulgate translates "hadar" as "pulchritude", i.e. beauty. That is similar to the Latin term "ornament" of Mithridates. To be sure, this is "hadar" and not "hod". But Gate of Heaven insists (p. 514):
in fact hod is not different from hadar, just as it is well known in the secret of the verse saying "Hod vehadar paholeo, i.e. the ornament [decor] is his work (Ps. 111.3).Here is that verse, Ps. 110 in the Vulgate (http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/111-3.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=21&c=110; https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/202)
honorable [hod] and majestic [hadar] is his workWe can see here Hod as "honorable", "to be praised", "or "confession" and Hadar as "majestic", "magnificence". or "magnificence".
he gloria et decor opus eius
His work is praise and magnificence: (1582 version: "Confession, and magnificence his worke".)
A verse cited in Gates of Light (p. 124 of Weinstein translation) quotes Psalm 104:1, (http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/104-1.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=21&c=103, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart_0/page/466):
Great [gadalta] you are very with honor [Hod] and majesty [hadar] you are clothed
magnificatus es nimis gloria et decore indutus es
...thou art exceedingly great. Thou hast put on praise and beauty (1582: Lord my god thou art magnified exceedingly; thou art put on a confession and beautie.)Here Douay-Rheims oddly renders "gloria" as "praise" (in the revision) or "confession" rather than "glory"; the other is "decore", now called "beauty". That last would seem inappropriate to the context, as opposed to "majesty".
Also in Gates of Light, there is Psalm 107:8 (http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/107-8.htm, 106:8 in the Vulgate, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=21&c=106; https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/198)
O that would praise [yodu] the Lord his covenant loyalty and his wonderful works to men.
confiteantur Domino misericordiam eius et mirabilia eius in filios hominum
Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men. (1582: Let the mercies of our Lord confesse to him: and his mervelous workes to the children of men.)According to Weinstein, "yodu" is a form of "Hod". The Vulgate's "confiteantur" means "give thanks" or "give praise".
I think this is the explanation for why Hod is translated "decorum", i.e. "beauty" or "elegance", which the 2004 translation renders as "ornament". It has to do with the second name, "hadar". We can also see here why "praise", "glory", and "majesty" are also appropriate.
"Beauty" and "elegance" still seem to me strange. Reading Kristeller on Ficino, I found the Latin words "decor" and "decorum" in a Renaissance context. Speaking of God's acts in this world, to cause what we see around us, Ficino says (quoted in P. A. Kristeller, The Philosophy of Marsilio Ficino, p. 69, with the Latin in a footnote)
God does nor exist and act by chance (ut contingit), otherwise there would be no order anywhere or at any time, but as it is convenient or, better, as it is meet (decet). It is meet because it is decorous [decorum]. Decorum itself [Ipse vero decor] is God Himself, from whom and through whom all decorous things [omnia decentia] come to being.Here "decorous" means "appropriate", specifically, appropriate to God, reflecting God's hand, who gives existence to everything that is. I think the same is meant by "decor" in Mithridates' context. It is like the first-born of the bull, if the bull is God. In this case, the bull is the 5th sefira, God's power, Gate of Heaven tells us, and also that which, as we learn there and elsewhere, stands in judgment, and is the one we should fear. The 8th sefira, then, is what acts appropriately to these judgments.
For Netzach, Gate of Heaven cites Psalm 16:11 (http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/16-11.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=21&c=15, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/36)
will show me the path of life fullness of joy. Your presence [there are] pleasures [nə-‘i-mō-wṯ] in your right forevermore [ne-ṣaḥ]
mihi semitam vitae plenitudinem laetitiarum ante vultum tuum decores in dextera tua aeternos
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end. (1582: Thou hast made the waies of life knowen to me; thou shalt make me ful of joy with thy countenance: delectations on thy right hand, even to the end.)In other words, Netzach=eternity, the same as in Mithridates' translation of the Bahir, section 169.
If so, how did Netzach become victory? Kaplan cites a reference to Isaiah 34:10 in the Bihar, which he says has Netzach and Hod as "victory of victories". But no one else reads it that way (see http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/15-29.htm). The word-by-word literal version has (http://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/34-10.htm and http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=27&c=34; https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/498):
From generation to generation it shall lie waste it forever [lenasah] ever [nasahim] None shall pass through it.Here "Netzach" corresponds to "lenasah" and "nasahim", meaning "forever". This would seem to be further confirmation of Mithridates' translation of "Netzach" as "eternity". Kaplan (p. 200, note 190) argues that the root of "nesah" is "strength", which implies endurance, hence victory. In the above verse, "enduringly" might work. But "victory" or "victoriously" is very much a stretch.
...a generatione in generationem desolabitur in saeculum saeculorum non erit transiens per eam
...from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever. (1582: from generation unto generation it shal be desolate, there shal none pass by it world without end.)
Looking in an online Bible concordance, I find no occurrence of "nesach" as "victory", and only one as "strength". This one is interesting, because the Vulgate actually translates it as "Triumphator". The verse is 1 Samuel 15:29. I give the literal word-by-word followed by the Vulgate (http://biblehub.com/text/1_samuel/15-29.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=9&c=15, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart_0/page/602):
And also the strength [nê-ṣaḥ] of Israel not do lie or repent for not [is] a man that he should repent.The Vulgate, I assume post-Clementine, adds "non parcet", do not spare, and the Douay-Rheims and leaves out "non flectetur", do not lie, probably following the pre-Clementine Vulgate, for which I thank T. Dewey's comment to the next post, where this one used to be). The King James version, more accurately, has "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent". Other versions have Glory instead of Strength.
porro Triumphator in Israhel non parcet et paenitudine non flectetur neque enim homo est ut agat paenitentiam
Douay-Rheims 1582: Moreover the Triumpher in Israel he [sic] wil not spare, and wil not be turned to repentance: for neither is he a man that he may repent.
Gates of Light, p. 142, uses this verse to explain a feature of Netzach, that it hands down positive decrees which will not be rescinded. If the corresponding Vulgate translation has "Triumphator", there is a natural connection to the Chariot card, which was sometimes called "Carre Trionfale", triumphal chariot.
There is another difference between The Gate of Heaven and The Great Parchment: two of the sefirot have an additional name. The fourth sefira now has the main Latin name of "pietas", sometimes "charitas" or "misericordia", translated as mercy, charity, and clemency. These corresponds to the Hebrew word "Hesed", sometimes spelled "Chesed" (p. 372). For the Hebrew "Gedullah" the words "magnitudo" and "magnificientia" also appear (p. 373f).
The fifth sefira, besides "potentia", also has the name "timor", meaning fear (p. 425), which corresponds to the Hebrew "Pachad". That is a term we know from Gates of Light's quotation of Isaiah 11:2.
In books today "Tiferet" is most often translated as "beauty". I could find no biblical citations for Tiferet in Gate of Heaven where it appears to have this meaning. The verse I quoted earlier from 1 Chronicles, cited in Gates of Light, has the most often translates it as "glory" (p. 225), although one, professing to be a "literal" translation, had "beauty", which to me seems less appropriate in the context. Here are two other citations in that work, Proverbs 19:11 (http://biblehub.com/text/proverbs/19-11.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=22&c=19, https://archive.org/details/holiebiblefaithf00mart/page/296 and 20:29 (http://biblehub.com/text/proverbs/20-29.htm, http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=0&b=22&c=20,
His glory [tipartow] to pass over transgressions.
gloria eius est iniqua praetergredi
his glory is to pass over wrongs. (1582: his glory to overpass uniust [?] thngs.)
the glory [tip̄-’e-reṯ] of young their strength and the beauty [hă-ḏar] of old men the gray head. exultatio iuvenum fortitudo eorum et dignitas senum canitiAgain, tiferet=glory. Beauty would work, but "glory" or "joy" is better. These are fine distinctions. Checking the concordance, it seems that "beauty" is a correct translation in some Bible verses, and "glory" in others. But the verses where "beauty" is appropriate are not ones cited by the Kabbalists, at least the Bahir and Gates of Light. (The other two works lack an editor's list of bible verses, so all I can see is that so far I do not se any where "beauty" fits.)
The joy of youngmen their strength: and the dignitie of oldmen a gray head.
From all this, I get the following:
(1) Keter=crown, spirit of GodThis is not all. The Kabbalists reveled in assigning assigning names to sefirot. But these are the basis.
(2) Hochmah=wisdom
(3) Binah=intelligence or understanding
(4) Gedullah=greatness, magnificence; and Chesed=mercy, charity, pity, loving-kindness
(5) Gevurah=power, might; and Pachad=Fear.
(6) Tiferet=glory, less frequently beauty, joy
(7) Netzach=eternity, endurance, once victory, once triumpher
(8) Hod=honor, to be praised, majesty; and Hadar=decorous in sense of "fitting", less often beautiful
(9) Yesod=foundation; also Kol, "all" (in heaven and on earth)
(10) Malkhut=kingdom.
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