Difference between revisions of "Shem HaMephorash"

A 22-letter variant is first written down in ''[[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]]'', without interpretation, as אנקתם פסתם פספסים דיונסים (Anaktam Pastam Paspasim Dionsim). Its origins are unknown, with no connection to Hebrew or Aramaic being found, and no agreement on any particular Greek or Zoroastrian origin. There are Geonic precedents for the name, indicating that the name is older than ''[[Sefer Raziel]]''.

A 42-letter variant was described by Hai Gaon as אבגיתץ קרעשטן נגדיכש בטרצתג חקבטנע יגלפזק שקוצית. He wrote "Although the consonants of this name are well known, its proper vocalization is not rendered by tradition. Some pronounce its first part Abgitaẓ, and others Abigtaẓ, and the last part is sometimes read Shakvaẓit, and sometimes Shekuẓit, but there is no definite proof." This variation in pronunciation was understood by Joshua Trachtenberg to indicate that this version is quite ancient, the vowels in Hebrew being easily lost over time. It is, by some means, derived from the first 42 letters of the Hebrew Bible. Like the 22-letter name, it is found in [[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]].

The "72-fold name" is highly important to ''[[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]]''. It is derived from Exodus 14:19–21, read boustrophedonically to produce 72 names of three letters. This method was explained by Rashi, as well as in Sefer HaBahir (c. 1150~1200). Kabbalist legends state that the 72-fold name was used by Moses to cross the Red Sea, and that it could grant later holy men the power to cast out demons, heal the sick, prevent natural disasters, and even kill enemies.

To overcome the problems posed by the doctrine of God's transcendence, the early Jewish mystics developed an emanation theory in which the alphabet played an important part. They taught that the universe was divided into ten angelic spheres each one governed by an intermediary or emanation of the divine. There were seventy-two inferior angels through whom the intermediaries could be approached. Contact with this celestial world was achieved by manipulating the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. [...] This invocatory technique may be traced through the works of Joseph Gikatilla to the famous thirteenth-century Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia.

According to Valentina Izmirlieva, "The earliest extant text that documents a reconstruction of ''shem ha-mephorash'' on the basis of this passage (Exodus 14:19-21) is the classic Kabbalistic work ''Sepher ha-Bahir'' [Book of Bahir], first made known in manuscript form in Provence between 1150 and 1200. The complete reconstruction of the name is available in a number of sources in English; see, for example, the critical bilingual edition of Johannes Reuchlin's famous treatise ''On the Art of the Kabbalah'' (1517) in Reuchlin, ''Art of the Kabbalah'', page 263."