This rule in called גמטריא = גרמטיא which is a metathesis of the Greek word γράμμα, γραμμεία, or γραμματεία in the sense of numbers as represented by letters.
2. Every letter of a word is taken as an initial or abbreviation of a word. Thus every letter of the word בראשית, the first word in Genesis, is made the initial of a word, and we obtain בראשית ראה אלהים שיקבלו ישראל תורה in the beginning God saw that Israel would accept the Law. This rule is [[132]]denominated נוטריקון = notaricun, from notarius, a shorthand writer, one who among the Romans belonged to that class of writers who abbreviated and used single letters to signify whole words.
3. The initial and final letters of several words are respectively formed into separate words. Thus from the beginnings and ends of the words מי יעלה לנו השמימה who shall go up for us to heaven? ( Deut. xxx, 12 ) are obtained מילה circumcision and יהוה Jehovah, and inferred that God ordained circumcision as the way to heaven.
4. Two words occurring in the same verse are joined together and made into one. Thus מי who and אלה these are made into אלהיﬦ God by transposing the י and מ. Vide supra, p. 94.[28]
5. The words of those verses which are regarded as containing a peculiar recondite meaning are ranged in squares in such a manner as to be read either vertically or boustrophedonally, beginning at the right or left hand. Again the words of several verses are placed over each other, and the letters which stand under each other are formed into new words. This is especially seen in the treatment of three verses in Exod. xiv , (viz., 19–21 ), which are believed to [[133]]contain the three Pillars of the Sephiroth, and the Divine Name of seventy-two words. The following tables will illustrate this principle of interpretation. The first of these three verses ויסע מלאך האלהים ההלך לפני מחנה ישראל וילך מאחריהם ויסע עמוד הענן מפניהם ויעמד מאחריהם, and the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them ( Exod. xiv, 19 ), is read boustrophedonally, as follows:—
I.
| ו | א | ל | ש | א | ע | מ | מ |
| י | ל | פ | ר | ח | ע | פ | ד |
| ס | ח | נ | א | ר | מ | נ | מ |
| ע | י | י | ל | י | ו | י | א |
| מ | ם | מ | י | ח | ד | ח | ח |
| ל | ח | ח | י | ם | ח | ם | ר |
| א | ח | נ | ל | ו | ע | ו | י |
| ך | ל | ח | ך | י | נ | ח | |
| ה | ך | י | מ | ס | י | ע | ם |
The second of these three verses ויבא בין מחנה מצרים נבין מהנה ישראל ויהי העגן והחשך ויאר את הלילה ולא קרב זה אל זה כל הלילה, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but gave light by night to these, so that the one came not near the other all the night ( Exod. xiv, 20 ), is in the first place divided, and read from right to left, beginning at the top, as exhibited in the following diagram. [[134]]
II.
| ו | י | ב | א | ב | י | ן | מ | ח |
| נ | ה | מ | צ | ר | י | ם | ו | ב* |
| י | ן | מ | ח | נ | ה | י | ש | ר |
| א | ל | ו | י | ה | י | ה | ע | נ |
| ן | ו | ה | ח | ש | ך | ו | י | א |
| ר | א | ת | ה | ל | י | ל | ה | ו |
| ל | א | ק | ר | ב | ז | ה | א | ל |
| ז | ה | כ | ל | ה | ל | י | ל | ה |