Sephirah

Gevurah

Gevurah means Might or Restraint and is also associated with Din, Judgement. It sets boundaries on Chesed's generosity, making care discerning and proportionate rather than unlimited.

2 correspondences · 0 with an ancient or scriptural source · 0 with no source located

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The oldest attribution here is Divine name Elohim, first attested 1200 BCE.

Divine name

  • Elohim

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1200 BCE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    אלהי"ם — the Sixth Gate of Sha'arei Orah. Gikatilla organises by NAME rather than by sefirah and counts upward from Malchut, so the gate ordinal and the sefirah number run in opposite directions. PSALMS 54:4, NOT 39:13. The Markel English footnotes this gate's opening verse as Psalms 39:13; the Hebrew reads Psalms 54:4, and 39:13 is Tiferet's verse at Gate Five. The Hebrew was checked against Psalms 54:4 directly and matches exactly.

    Evidence

    1. Moses for the Torah; the prophets and the men of the Great Assembly for the rest, Tanakh, c. 1200–165 BCE (composition); canon fixed by c. 100 CE — Psalms 54:4

      · The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation

      Where the name itself stands in scripture: אֱלֹהִים שְׁמַע תְּפִלָּתִי. Cited by locator; the kabbalistic claim is about the name, not about this verse's plain sense.

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    2. Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla, Sha'arei Orah, c. 1290 — Sha'arei Orah, Sixth Gate, Fifth Sefirah

      · Gates of Light

      The gate's own opening formula names the sefirah and the name together.

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Body attribution

  • Left arm

    Traditional
    Who says so
    Not yet attributed to a school
    Earliest verified attestation
    1280 CE
    Ancient or scriptural source
    Not yet investigated

    גבורה דרועא שמאלא. Patach Eliyahu, a passage of Tikkunei Zohar printed in ordinary siddurim, gives the body's right and left: Chesed is the right arm and Gevurah the left. Both diagrams place Chesed on the right side of the page; the Golden Dawn reverses the bodily attribution without moving the sphere. The passage names seven body parts and says nothing of Keter, Chochmah or Binah.

    Evidence

    1. Shimon bar Yochai (traditional attribution), Tikkunei Zohar, Late 13th–early 14th century — Tikkunei Zohar 17a

      · Constantinople printing

      חסד דרועא ימינא. גבורה דרועא שמאלא. תפארת גופא. נצח והוד תרין שוקין. ויסוד סיומא דגופא אות ברית קדש. מלכות פה.

      The Aramaic, public domain. Rendered plainly: Chesed is the right arm, Gevurah the left arm, Tiferet the body, Netzach and Hod the two thighs, Yesod the end of the body and the sign of the holy covenant, Malchut the mouth. The English on Sefaria is CC-BY-NC and is not reproduced here.

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