The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names.

The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names.

Hebrew Bible source - And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and diverse kinds [zan] of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him (Chronicles 16: 14).

The Hebrew Letters featured in this painting are Zayin Nun sophit. Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell ZAN. This name has been transliterated into the Hebrew phonetically.

Each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a special meaning and a story to tell. Here a few brief ones about the letters on this painting.

ZAYIN is the 7th letter of the alphabet and has a numerical value of 7. The Zayin looks like a sword or a scepter and makes a sound like the Z in Zebra. Zayin means SWORD, TO ORNAMENT, TO SUSTAIN.
I represent the observance of the Shabbath, I represent the observance of the Shabbath, as it is written, Remember (Zakhor) the day of the Sabbath to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3a). (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:3a).
Zayin is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A TAG is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing Taggin to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b).
[The writing of the letters] must be kethibah tammah [perfect writing]; thus one must not write the Zayin as a Nun or the Nun as a Zayin, (Shabbat 103b).
Zayin Heth Teth Yod Kaf Lamed: [This sequence of letters teaches us that], if thou doest thus, the Holy One, blessed be He [haKadosh], will sustain [Zan] thee, be gracious [Hen] unto thee, show goodness [Metiv] to thee, give thee a heritage [Yerushah], and bind a crown [Keter] on thee in the world to come (Shabbat 104a ).
He , Waw, that is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He [ haKadosh barochu]; [These letters form part of the Tetragrammaton] (Shabbat 104a).
Zayin is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A TAG is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing TAGGIN to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b)
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. Zayin is one of the Elementals. Twelve Elementals, their foundation is [that] He engraved them, and transformed them, and with them He formed 12 constellations in the Universe, 12 months in the Year and 12 directions in the soul, male and female. And God made the letter Zayin King over motion. And indeed, two Zayins together spell zaz - to move (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 209, 215).
Zayin is the first letter in the word Zohar - that consummate kabbalistic work attributed to Simeon Bar Yochai, a first century rabbi. It is the first letter in the word Zacher - TO REMEMBER - which we are frequently exhorted to do in our Biblical and Talmudic literature. It the first letter of the word Zmirot - SONGS. By singing we use the sword to cut through the barrier… between our soul and God (Haralick, Robert M. 1995. The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters. Northvale: Jason Aronson. 112)

NUN is the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 50, makes a sound like the N in Now, and means SHINE, SPOUT, SPREAD in Hebrew and FISH in Aramaic. The Nun has the head of a Zayin. The body is an elongated Zayin. The Nun is one of 5 letters [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms - the regular [bent] form used in the beginning and middle of a word and the FINAL FORM - SOFIT - used as the last letter of a word (Shabbat 104a).
According to the ancient kabbalistic text The Bahir, the bent Nun represents the spinal cord through which the body is fed by the brain (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1979. Tr. The Bahir York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 31).
The final Nun represents, by its shape, man who walks erect, and who mystically combines male and female (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino 1:18b-19a. 80).
Nun is one of 7 letters which may be adorned with Tagin, or little crowns, in the Torah, Tefillin or Mezzuzah scroll. These are called the SHAYNAYZ GAYTZ letters [Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] Each one of these letters contains a Zayin. A tag is composed of 3 strokes which themselves look like little Zayins. There is a wonderful story in Talmud, which describes Moses ascending to Heaven to find God occupied in affixing Tagin to the letters of Torah (Menachot 29b).
Ashre - [This is (Psalms 145:1-21), which is arranged alphabetically, save that the verse beginning with the letter Nun (N) is missing]. R. Johanan says: Why is there no Nun in (Ashre)? [Because the fall of the enemies of Israel begins with it [Nephilim]. For it is written: Fallen is [nefal - Nun Pey Lamed Hey] the virgin of Israel, she shall no more rise (Amos 5:2). R. Nachman b. Isaac says: Even so, David refers to it by inspiration [Literally the Holy Spirit. The meaning is, David knew by inspiration that Amos was going to prophesy the downfall of Israel, and he refers to that verse and prophesies their being raised up again, though their downfall is not mentioned by < David] and promises them an uplifting. For it is written: The Lord upholdeth all that fall (Psalm 145:14). (Berachot 4b).
Abaye said: he should eat fish, for Samuel said, Nun, Samek, Ayin [read] Nuna [fish] sama [are a healing] la-enayim [to the eyes]! - That is at the end of the illness [Three letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order] (Nedarim 54b).
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers - Aleph Mem Shin, 7 doubles - Beit Gimel Dalet Caf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals - Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf.
Nun is one of the Elementals. Twelve Elementals, their foundation is [that] He engraved them, and transformed them, and with them He formed 12 constellations in the Universe, 12 months in the Year and 12 directions in the soul, male and female. And God made the letter Nun King over smell. And He bound a crown to it and He combined one with another and with them He formed Scorpio in the Universe, Cheshvan in the Year, and the intentine in the Soul male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 197, 209, 217).

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This work is accompanied by the kabbalistic explanation printed above.

The original 5x7 watercolor painting of this image is available.

This is great Bar Mitzvah gift.

mat color:: brown, black

stock number:: nm23-169