Hebrew Alphabet

The Hebrew Alphabet (information compiled by Eric Rosenbloom) Letter

Name

Spelt

Value Transliterated Representing

Square Script Rashi

Alef

Bheth, Beth

Gimel

Daleth

He

ALPh

BYTh

1

2

GYML 3

DLTh

HA

4

5

ox (head)

house

1, magici household, (builder); stanza, Mercury, 2000? & death

camel

3000?

2, high priestess (virgin); Moon, pe & strife

door

3, empres page of (mother); scroll, first Venus, half of wisdom & verse folly

H

window

4, empero lo, behold, (father, this, and Aries

5, hieroph (revelatio hearing); Taurus

6, lovers ( & id); Gemini

A, ’ (silent)

Bh (V), B

G, Gh

D, Dh (hard Th)

Vav

VV

6

V, W

Zayin

ZYN

7

Z

dagger

ChYTh 8

Tarot/ Qabalah

thousand, clan, 0, fool cattle; (youth); to learn, AIR teach, train, tame

peg, hook, yoke?

Cheth

Also Meaning

enclosure, Ch (guttural H) fence

7, chariot (victory, speech);

Cancer Teth

Yod

Khaf, Kaf

Lamed

TYTh

YVD

KPh

9

10

T (palatal)

Y

20, 500 Kh, K (final)

8, strengt (digestion Leo

hand (open)

9, hermit (union, touch); Virgo

fist (grasping), palm of hand

sole of foot, spoon, cave, vault, curve

10, wheel fortune (periodici Jupiter, w & poverty

ox whip

to learn, study, teach, train; study, learning; studied, deduced, defined

11, justice (balance) Libra

LMD

30

Mem

MM

40, 600 M (final)

water

seas

12, hange man (submissi WATER

Nun

NVN

50, 700 N (final)

fish (head), water serpent?

to sprout, grow

13, death (liberation Scorpio

60

tent-post, pillar, foundation

support; to support, lean, ordain

14, tempe (control (anger)); Sagittariu

eye

source, spring, ring, hole, sight

15, devil (senses, mirth); Capricorn

Samekh SMKh

'Ayin

OYN

70

L

snake, basket, bale, sieve?, ear?

S (emphatic)

O, ‘, 'A, Ñ? (silent)

Phe, Pe PA

80, 800 Ph (F), P (final)

Tsadi

90, 900 Ts, Tz, J (final)

Qof

Resh

Shin, Sin

Thav, Tav

TsDY

QVPh

RYSh

ShYN

TV

100

200

300

400

Q

R

Sh, S

Th, T

mouth (for speech)

16, tower (fallacy); Mars, gra (beauty) &

fishhook, scythe?, bow?

17, star (experien thought); Aquarius

back of head

monkey, ape, eye of 18, Moon (sleep); needle, Pisces hole for axe handle

head (face)

19, Sun (reason); to be poor; Sun, poverty fruitfulne sterility

teeth, fang?

20, judge (regenera FIRE

mark

sign, musical note, postage stamp

Notes. All of these 22 characters are consonants. (There are also 16 vowels, indicated by dots and lines dancing around the consonants.) The number of consonants is augmented by 5 alternative forms (Bh/B, Kh/K, Ph/P, S/Sh, Th/T), a dot indicating the less aspirate sound, and by 5 final forms (for Kh, M, N, Ph, Ts). Many of the representations are presumed from those of Old Hebrew, Aramaic, or Phoenician forms, as the Modern Hebrew forms are much more abstract. Many of the original forms themselves derive from Egyptian hieroglyphic alphabets, probably their hieratic forms. Kabbalistic origin: The spirit of the name (ShAM) gave rise to ALPh as air, out of which came MM as

21, world (return); Saturn, dominion slavery

water, out of which came ShYN as fire; these are the 3 mother letters. Then were made the 7 doubles (aspirate/unaspirate) to correspond with the heavenly spheres, and then the 12 simples that correspond to the zodiacal months. [GYML, DLTh, and RYSh were apparently originally doubles. And as ShYN hovers between being a mother and a double, QVPh is both double and simple.] Note that 22 letters divided by 7 doubles is a close approximation of pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, and that 22 plus 7 (plus Q's share of the moon's sphere) is the number of days in a lunar month.