How to figure out gematria

Gematria is an ancient Hebrew numerological system where numbers are assigned to each letter of the alphabet and their combination then used to infer deeper meanings from words. It has been used for centuries in Jewish culture and is still used today by people looking for deeper insight into language and literature. While understanding gematria can be a complicated endeavor, there are some basics you need to be familiar with to begin your exploration of this fascinating numerical code.

The first step in figuring out gematria is to understand the base of the system, which is comprised of Hebrew letters and numbering systems. In traditional gematria, each letter in the Hebrew alphabet corresponds with a certain numerical value. Alef (אָ) carries the value of 1, Bet (בּ️) carries 2, and so on all the way up to Tav (תּ️), which carries 400. Before you can use gematria for interpretation, you must be familiar with what each letter stands for and what number it corresponds with.

The next step involves breaking down words into their component letters and adding up the numerical values associated with them. For example, if we want to figure out the numerical meaning behind Shabbat (שַׁבָּת‎), we would break it into its four component letters – Shin (שׁ), Bet (בּ), Bet (בּ) and Tav (תּ). We then assign each letter its corresponding gematria value – Shin equals 300, Bet equals 2 twice, Tav equals 400 – bringing our total number to 704. The last step within this process is understanding what this sum represents metaphysically or symbolically through tradition or modern interpretations.

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