What is gematria?

gematria is an ancient cipher system used by Jews to add special meaning to words, phrases, and passages from the Torah. Based on numerical values attributed to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, gematria can be used to interpret hidden messages in the Bible or other religious texts.

First utilized by ancient Greeks and Babylonians, gematria was later adopted by Jews during the early middle ages. It was during this time that Jewish religious scholars developed their own numerical interpretations of Hebrew letters, which remain in use today.

When analyzing text with gematria, each letter of the alphabet is given a numerical value. For example, in Jewish numerology the letter aleph (א) has a value of 1 while tzadi (צ) has a value of 90. By tallying up the numerical values attributed to each letter in a word or phrase, one can calculate its numerological importance. The resultant total then provides insight into what certain words could mean.

For example, according to some interpretations of gematria, if one adds together all of the numerical values for words such as "Look" (לְהֹקֵם) would equal 136 – pointing out that God will use this moment for something great (136 being 18x8). Other significant combinations are an abbreviation for God's name ("YHVH") which equals 26 and is referred to as "The Holy Name" in Jewish tradition.

Generally speaking though there isn't much consensus amongst Jewish scholars on what is meant by each combination of numbers; instead they point more towards symbolism and possible meanings that likely can't be proven one way or another.