Sepher Yetzirah

Comprehensive Theosophical Dictionary

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Sepher Yetzirah

(Heb.)

"The Book of Formation". A very ancient Kabbalistic work ascribed to the patriarch Abraham. It illustrates the creation of the universe by analogy with the twenty‐two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, distributed into a triad, a heptad, and a dodecad, corresponding with the three mother letters, A, M, S, the seven planets, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac. It is written in the Neo‐Hebraic of the Mishnah. [w.w.w.] (TG).

• See Vol. VIII, p. 415, for particulars. (BCW 1:523).

An early Kabbalistic work concerning combinations of letters and numbers, emanation and the Sephiroth, traditionally attributed to Rabbi Akiba. De Zirkoff lists the first printed edition, Mantua, 1562, and later editions or translations by M. Grossberg, W. Wynn Westcott and Knut Stenring. (BCW 3:530).

The bibliography lists the Mantua edition of 1562, a Latin translation by William Postel (1552), M. Grossberg’s text and commentary (1902), and a partial translation by W. W. Westcott (1893). (BCW 7:393).

This work whose title means the “ Book of Formation,” is reputed to be the oldest known Kabalistic work, attributed by tradition to Abraham himself, as also to Akiba (BCW 8:415).

The bibliography refers the reader to Vol. VIII, p. 415, for particulars (BCW 9:453).

A translation by P. Davidson was published in 1896 at Loudsville, Georgia, and Glasgow, Scotland. (B. de Zirkoff, BCW 7:271)

Quotes:

• H. P. Blavatsky
• Zirkoff, Boris

CTD entry in Russian: Сефер Йецира

Mentions

Mentioned in: The Kabalah and the Kabalists at the Close of the Nineteenth Century (BCW 7:271)

DATA

Title for references: Sepher Yetzirah
Short description: "The Book of Formation". A very ancient Kabbalistic work ascribed to the patriarch Abraham. It illus...