Variant spelling - YORKOAM – JORKEAM - YORKEAM

Biblical name - Jorkoam was the son of was a son of Raham (1 Chronicles 2: 43-44).

The Hebrew letters featured in this piece are Yud Resh Kuf Ayin Mem. Taken together, and reading from right to left, they spell JORKOAM .

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.

YUD is the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 10, and means HAND. Yud makes a sound like the Y in Year. Yud is a simple point. It is the smallest letter in the alphabet and yet is frequently associated with the very large concept of EMANATION, the highest level in the Four World paradigm of Kabbalah.
Yud has the important job of being the first letter of the Tetragrammaton - Yud Hey Vav Hey. Zohar states that, in this context, the YUD represents the head of all creatures (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:130).
In the Sephrotic tree the Yud symbolizes WISDOM - the stage of concealment which precedes its development into a state of expansion in UNDERSTANDING. It is then contained and represented in the letter Hey (Zalman, Shneur. 1981. "Igeret Hateshuvah." Likkutie Amarim - Tanya. Brooklyn: Kihot. 359).
(Menachot 29b). teaches the WORLD TO COME was created by use of the letter Yud.

RESH is the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 200. RESH makes a sound like the R in Radiant. Resh means BEGINNING or HEAD. When one spells out the letter Resh in Hebrew, it is Resh Yud Shin. Yud and Shin spell YESH - THERE IS. The letter Resh means BEGINNING. So it is possible to say that the Resh literally means THERE IS A BEGINNING.
Sefer Yetzirah divides the Hebrew Letters into 3 categories: 3 mothers – Aleph Mem Shin , 7 doubles – Beit Gimel Dalet Kuf Pey Resh Tav and 12 elementals – Hey Vav Zayin Chet Tet Yud Lamed Nun Samech Ayin Tsade Kuf. BR>According to Sefer Yetzirah, God created the world by means of these letters. The Resh is one of the doubles. “He made the letter Resh king over Peace and He bound a crown to it and combined one with another and with them He formed …the Universe…” (Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. Tr. Aryeh Kaplan. 1990.York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 145, 147, 159, 176).

KUF is the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 100. Kuf makes a sound like the K in Kind. Kuf means TO SURROUND, TO TOUCH, MONKEY. Kuf is constructed of a Caf (20) and a Vav (6) = 26. This is the same GEMATRIA as that of the Yud (10) Hey (5) Vav (6) Hey (5) name of God. Kuf is associated with the word KADOSH – HOLY.
Now with the letter Kuf… the letters began to beget (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 167b-168a).
He made the letter Kuf king over LAUGHTER (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Tr. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 218).

AYIN is the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, has a numerical value of 70 and makes no sound. AYIN means EYE or FOUNTAIN. The AYIN is constructed of an elongated YUD (10) on the right and a ZAYIN (7) on the left.
Wisdom was completed from ayin (nothing) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 1:30a).
The Ancient Holy One is called ayin (nothing) (Zohar. 1984. Tr. Harry Sperling et al. New York: Soncino. 3:158b).
The AYIN is one of 7 letters [ Shin Ayin Tet Nun Zayin Gimel Tsade] - the SHATNAYZ GAYTZ letters - which may be adorned with TAGIN, or little crowns.
Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. 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. The Book of Creation., God created the world by means of these letters. Ayin 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 Ayin king over ANGER. And He bound a crown to it, and He combined one with another and with them He formed Capricorn in the Universe, Tevet in the Year, and the liver in the Sour, male and female (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Tr. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 5, 95, 209,). (Kaplan, Aryeh. 1990. Tr. Sefer Yetzirah. The Book of Creation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser. 197, 209).

MEM is the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and has a numerical value of 40. Mem makes a sound like the M in Middle. But according to the ancient kabbalistic text Sefer Yetzirah, the MEM hummmmmms! Mem is usually associated with the word mayim - WATER or Eemah - MOTHER. Mem is composed of a Caf (20) and a Vav (6) = 26, which have the same GEMATRIA as the Yud (10) Hey (5) Vav (6) Hey (5) = 26 – name of God - the holiest of God's Names.
The MEM is one of the 5 letters [Caf Mem Nun Pey Tsade] that have 2 forms. One form is used in the beginning and the middle of a word – the open Mem. The other form is at the end of the word – the closed Mem. According to Talmud, the open Mem represents revealed teaching and the closed Mem represents concealed teaching AIR ( Shabbat 104a).

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This work is accompanied by the kabbalistic explanation printed above.

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

mat color:: blue

stock number:: nm23-168