3 Binah
Understanding
Binah is Understanding, the form-giving power that receives Chokmah's force and gives it limits. It completes the Supernal Triad with Kether and Chokmah and is symbolised as the Great Mother.
9 sourced claims: 1 canonical , 8 traditional
Names and titles
Divine names and Yetziratic titles from Sefer Yetzirah and Kabbalistic tradition.
The Sanctifying Intelligence
Sources (1)
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Sefer Yetzirah
, Westcott translation, 3rd edition, 1911 (first published 1887)
— Appendix: The 32 Paths of Wisdom, Path 3
“The Third Path is the Sanctifying Intelligence, and is the foundation of Primordial wisdom, which is called the Creator of Faith, and its roots are AMN; and it is the parent of Faith, from which doth Faith emanate.”
The 32 Paths of Wisdom appear as an appendix to Westcott's Sefer Yetzirah.
YHVH Elohim (יהוה אלהים)
The tetragrammaton vocalised as Elohim. In the Zohar, Elohim is particularly associated with the receiving, form-giving pole (Binah), while YHVH proper is associated with Chokmah.
Sources (2)
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Kabbala Denudata
, Mathers English translation, 1887
— The Book of Concealed Mystery, ch. 1
Mathers's translation of the Sifra di-Tzeniuta treats YHVH and Elohim as the two poles of the tetrad.
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. II · systematising, not originating
Angelic hierarchy
Archangels of the sephirah and the angelic choir it leads. Maimonides gives the ten choirs; the sephirothic pairings are later Kabbalistic tradition.
Aralim (Erelim, Thrones)
Third of Maimonides's ranks. From Isaiah 33:7. In Christian angelology often rendered 'Thrones'.
Sources (2)
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Mishneh Torah
, Original Hebrew, Maimonides c. 1180
— Yesodei HaTorah 2:7
“There are ten names given to the angels: Chayot HaKodesh, Ophanim, Erelim, Chashmalim, Seraphim, Malachim, Elohim, B'nei Elohim, Cherubim, and Ishim.”
Maimonides's ten angelic ranks. The pairing of each class with a specific sephirah is a later Kabbalistic development. Available on Sefaria.
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. IX · systematising, not originating
Agrippa prints Zaphchiel in his direct Binah–Saturn table and Zapkiel in a later planetary list. This tree preserves the canonical spelling Tzaphkiel.
Sources (2)
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy , English translation, J.F., London 1651 — Book III, chapter 10
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. VIII · systematising, not originating
Astrological
The classical planet or sphere associated with the sephirah.
Saturn (Shabbathai)
One of the more clearly-traceable planetary attributions. Saturn as the outermost classical planet corresponds to Binah as the outermost sephirah of the supernal triad.
Sources (2)
- 777 , First edition, 1909 (anonymous) — Table VI, col. I / Table IV · systematising, not originating
Agrippa's Renaissance Christian-Cabalist table is explicit. It is not presented as a planetary scheme stated by Sefer Yetzirah or another ancient Jewish source.
Sources (2)
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Three Books of Occult Philosophy
, English translation, J.F., London 1651
— Book II, chapter 13, Scale of the Number Ten
The table aligns the ten Sephiroth with the ten spheres in order.
Golden Dawn attributes
Correspondences established by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn between 1888 and 1912.
The Threes give a definite form to what began in the Two. Intention becomes action, and the first recognisable result appears.
Book T classifies the Threes under Binah and describes them as the realization of action through the production of the Prince.
Sources (1)
- Book T , Mathers, c. 1888 (Golden Dawn internal) — General meanings of the small cards under the Sephiroth, p. 27
Correspondences 9 sourced correspondences
| Relation | To | First attested |
|---|---|---|
| Planetary attribution | Saturn | 1509 CE |
| Sephirah of | Three of Wands | 1888 CE |
| Counts of | 10 | 100 CE |
| Channel of | Chokmah | 1548 CE |
| Channel | Tiphareth | 1548 CE |
| Channel | Geburah | 1548 CE |
| Archangel | Tzaphkiel | 1509 CE |
| Divine name | YHVH Elohim | 1677 CE |