Gematria
Numerical assignment system towards letters
Gematria (גמטריא) is a numerological system which reveals how Hebrew letters correspond to numbers. In religious tradition Gematria is used for calculating numerical values of non-numerical words to reveal hidden relationships between them.
Despite deep spiritual meaning, general purpose of Gematria is conventional numbering. Historically there were no numerals in Hebrew, so letters were used instead. In Modern Hebrew worldwide classical numerals (1, 2, 3...) are more often used, but sometimes you can find Gematria system in documents, for example, to indicate paragraphs.
The Talmud and later Jewish tradition describe several systems for calculating Gematria. In this calculator we show the two basic systems closest to ordinary study: Mispar Hechrechi and Mispar Gadol.
The special final-letter system is called Mispar Gadol: ך=500, ם=600, ן=700, ף=800, ץ=900.
Other systems of Mispar
Besides Mispar Hechrechi and Mispar Gadol, Jewish sources mention other methods. Mispar Katan reduces values to their digital root, Mispar Siduri counts letters by ordinal position, Mispar Boneh or Mispar Kidmi counts cumulative values, and other traditional systems may expand or transform the calculation in different ways.
Here we focus on the most basic forms used for study and orientation. It is important to remember that Gematria is not only arithmetic: in Jewish tradition it can carry deep spiritual and sacred meaning, pointing to hidden relationships between letters, words, ideas, and Torah concepts.