Alphabet of Akiba ben Joseph
Encyclopedia
Alphabet of Akiba ben Joseph, or Otiot (Midrash, Aggadah) de-Rabbi Akiba (Hebrew: אותיות דרבי עקיבא), is the title of a Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

 on the names of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...

. Two versions or portions of the same exist

Version A of Alphabet

Version A, considered by Adolf Jellinek
Adolf Jellinek
----Adolf Jellinek |Drslavice]], nearby Uherské Hradiště, Moravia - December 28, 1893, Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar...

 to be the older form, and by Bloch
Bloch
Bloch is a surname.#Jewish : regional name for someone in Eastern Europe originating from Italy or France, from Polish "Włoch" meaning "Italian" .#German and Swedish: Variant of Block...

 to be of a much more recent origin, introduces the various letters as contending with each other for the honor of forming the beginning of creation (bereshit). It is based upon Gen. R. i. and Cant. R. on v. 11, according to which Aleph (א) complained before God that Bet (ב) was preferred to it, but was assured that the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

 of Sinai, the object of creation, would begin with Aleph (אנכי = Anoki = I am); it, however, varies from the Midrash Rabbot. The letters, beginning with the last, Tav, and ending with Bet, all assert their claim to priority:
  • First Taw (ת), as being the initial letter of Torah: it is told that it will be the mark on the forehead of the wicked (Ezek. ix. 4, Shab. 55a).
  • Then Shin (ש), as the initial letter of Shem (שם = "the Name") and Shaddai (שדי = "Almighty"), puts in its claim: it is told that it is also the first letter of sheḳer (שקר = "falsehood").
  • Resh (ר) as the initial letter of rosh (ראש, as in "the beginning of thy word is truth," Ps.
    Psalms
    The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

     cxix. 160) and of Raḥum (רחום = "the Merciful One") next makes its demands, but it is told that rosh or Resh also occurs in evil things (Num. xiv. 4, Dan.
    Dan.
    Dan. can mean#a form of address, specifically:##a form of address for members of religious orders "Pray thank Dan Pope who told it me."--Matthew Prior, Alma,...

     ii. 32, Heb.) and is the initial also of resh'a (רשעה = "wickedness").
  • Next comes Ḳoph (ק), as the beginning of Ḳadosh (קדוש = "holy"), but it is also the first letter of Ḳelalah (קללה = "curse").


So all the rest complain, each having some claim, which is, however, at once refuted, until Beth (ב), the initial letter of berakah (ברכה = "blessing" and "praise"), is chosen. Whereupon Aleph (א) is asked by the Most High why it alone showed modesty in not complaining, and it is assured that it is the chief of all letters, denoting the oneness of God, and that it shall have its place at the beginning of the Sinaitic revelation. This competition is followed by a haggadic explanation of the form of the various letters and by interpretations of the different compositions of the alphabet: AT BSH, AḤS BṬ'A, and AL BM.

Version B of Alphabet

Version B is a compilation of allegoric and mystic Aggadahs suggested by the names of the various letters, the component consonants being used as acrostics (notarikon
Notarikon
Notarikon is a method of deriving a word, akin to the creation of an acronym, by using each of its initial or final letters to stand for another word, forming a sentence or idea out of the words. Another variation entails using the first and last letters, or the two middle letters of a word,...

).
  • Aleph (אלף = אמת למד פיך, "Thy mouth learned truth") suggests truth, praise of God, faithfulness (אמונה = emunah), or the creative Word of God (אמרה = imrah) or God Himself as Aleph, Prince and Prime of all existence; at this point chapters from mystic lore on Meṭaṭron-Enoch, etc., are inserted.
  • Beth (here named after the Arabic
    Arabic language
    Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

     form Ba) suggests house (בית = bayit), blessing (ברכה = berakah), contemplation (בינה = binah), which is prized as superior to the study of the Law.
  • Gimel suggests gemilut ḥasadim (גמילות חסדים = benevolence), especially God's benevolence, and the rain (גשם = geshem) of God's mercy and His majesty (געווה = gaawah) in the heavens.
  • Daled (Arabic, instead of the Hebrew
    Hebrew language
    Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

     form Daleth) suggests care for the poor (דל = dal).
  • He (ה) recalls God's name, as does Waw (ו, see Shab. 104a)
  • Zayin represents the key of sustenance (זן = zan) in God's hand (also Shab. 104a), and a chapter follows on Zerubbabel
    Zerubbabel
    Zerubbabel was a governor of the Persian Province of Judah and the grandson of Jehoiachin, penultimate king of Judah. Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews, numbering 42,360, who returned from the Babylonian Captivity in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia . The date is generally thought to...

     at the unlocking of the graves for the resurrection
    Jewish eschatology
    Jewish eschatology is concerned with the Jewish Messiah, afterlife, and the revival of the dead. Eschatology, generically, is the area of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world, the ultimate destiny of humanity, and related concepts.-The Messiah:The...

    . Here follows a chapter on Hell and Paradise continued in Ḥeth (ח) = ḥeṭ = sin.
  • Ṭeth suggests ṭiṭ (טיט), the clay of earth, and hence, resurrection
  • Yod (יד = "the hand") suggests the reward of the righteous
  • Kaph (כף = "hollow of the hand"—"palm"), the clapping of hands, and the congregation of Israel (keneset) led by Meṭaṭron
    Metatron
    Metatron or Mattatron is the name of an angel in Judaism and some branches of Christian mythology. There are no references to him in the Jewish Tanakh or Christian Scriptures...

     to Eden.
  • Lamed recalls leb (לב = "the heart")
  • Mem recalls the mysteries of the merkabah
    Merkabah
    Merkabah is the throne-chariot of God, the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four "chayot" , each of which has four wings and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle...

     (מרכבה = "the heavenly chariot") and God's kingdom (מלכות = malkut)
  • Nun, ner, "the light (נר = ner) of God is the soul of man" (Prov. xx. 27, Heb.)
  • Samekh, "God sustaineth (סומך = somekh) the falling" (Ps.
    Psalms
    The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

     cxlv. 14, Heb.), or Israel, the Sanctuary or the Torah, inasmuch as the word samek has several different meanings.
  • Ayin (עין = "the eye") suggests the Torah
    Torah
    Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

     as light for the eye
  • Pe recalls peh (פה), the mouth, as man's holy organ of speech and praise
  • Ẓade suggests Moses
    Moses
    Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

     as Ẓaddiḳ (צדיק), the righteous
  • Ḳoph, also represents Moses as the one who circumvented the stratagems of Pharaoh (???)
  • Resh suggests God as the rosh (ראש), the head of all
  • Shin recollects the breaking of the teeth (שן = shen) of the wicked (Ps.
    Psalms
    The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

     iii. 8, Heb.)
  • Taw recollects the insatiable desire of man (תאווה = taawah) unless he devotes himself to the Torah, the Law.

Critical estimate of versions

Both versions are given as a unit in the Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 edition of 1708, as they probably originally belonged together. Version A shows more unity of plan, and, as Jellinek (B. H. vi. 40) has shown, is older. It is directly based upon, if not coeval with, Shab. 104a, according to which the school-children in the time of Joshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi or Yehoshua ben Levi was an amora who lived in the land of Israel of the first half of the third century. He headed the school of Lydda in the southern Land of Israel. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and Resh Lakish, who presided over the school in Tiberias...

 (the beginning of the 3rd century) were taught in such mnemonic forms which at the same time suggested moral lessons. Jellinek even thinks that the Midrash was composed with the view of acquainting the children with the alphabet, while the Shabuot festival (Pentecost) furnished as themes God, Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

.

On the other hand, version B (which H. Grätz, Monatsschrift, viii. 70 et seq., considered as being the original, and the Hebrew "Enoch," and the "Shi'ur Komah" as sections of it) shows no inner unity of plan, but is simply a compilation of haggadic passages taken at random from these and other kabalistic and midrashic works without any other connection than the external order of the letters of the alphabet, but also based on Shab. 104a. Jellinek has shown the time of its composition to be comparatively modern, as is evidenced by the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 form of the letters and other indications of Arabic life. It has, however, become especially valuable as the depository of these very cabalistic works, which had come near falling into oblivion on account of the gross anthropomorphic views of the Godhead
Godhead (Judaism)
Godhead is used to refer to "God as He is in Himself." This is the aspect or substratum of God that lies behind His actions or properties, i.e., the essence of God, and its nature has been the subject of long debate in every major religion.-Terminology:...

 expressed therein, which gave offense to the more enlightened minds of a later age. It was on this account that the Alphabet of R. Akiba was made an object of severe attack and ridicule by Solomon ben Jeroham
Solomon ben Jeroham
Solomon ben Jeroham, in Arabic Sulaym ibn Ruhaym, was a Karaite exegete and controversialist who flourished at Jerusalem between 940 and 960. He was considered one of the greatest authorities among the Karaites, by whom he is called "the Wise" , and who mention him after Benjamin Nahawendi in their...

, the Karaite, in the first half of the 10th century. Version A was likewise known to Judah Hadassi
Judah Hadassi
Judah ben Elijah Hadassi was a Karaite Jewish scholar, controversialist, and liturgist who flourished at Constantinople in the middle of the twelfth century...

, the Karaite, in the 13th century (see Jellinek, B. H. iii., xvii. 5).

As to Akiba
Akiba
Akiba may refer to:*Akiba-kei, a Japanese slang term*Tadatoshi Akiba , mayor of Hiroshima* Akiba, a subgenus of protozoa in the genus LeucocytozoonIn entertainment:* Akiba , a 2006 Japanese film...

's authorship, this is claimed by the writers of both versions, who begin their compositions with the words, "R. Akiba hath said." The justification for this pseudonymous title was found in the fact that, according to the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 (Men. 29b), Moses was told on Sinai that the ornamental crown of each letter of the Torah would be made the object of halakic interpretation by Akiba ben Joseph, and that according to Gen. R. i., he and Rabbi Eliezer as youths already knew how to derive higher meaning from the double form of the letters .

In fact, there exists a third version, called Midrash de-R. Akiba 'al ha-Taggin we-Ẓiyunim, a Midrash of R. Akiba treating on the ornamentations of the letters of the alphabet with a view to finding in each of them some symbolic expression of God, Creation, the Torah, Israel, and the Jewish rites and ceremonies. This version is published in Jellinek's B. H. v. 31-33.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

  • Bloch, in Winter and Wünsche's Jüd. Lit. iii. 225-232, where specimens in German are given.
  • On the various editions see Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 519;
  • S. Wiener, Bibliotheca Friedlandiana, p. 71;
  • Imber, Letters of Rabbi Akiba; or, the Jewish Primer as it Was Used in the Public Schools Two Thousand Years Ago, in Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1895-96, pp. 701-719, Washington, 1897.

External links

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