Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Notes on the Sepher Yezirah
The Book of Formation, (Sepher Yetzirah) by Akiba ben Joseph; Knut Stenring
Review by: Phineas Mordell
The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jul., 1928), pp. 79-80
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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NOTES ON THE SEPHER YEZIRAH'
DR. KNUTSTENRING'SEnglish version of the Sepher Yetzirahis to
use his own language (p. 17)-"a word-for-wordtranslation from the
Hebrew,"and a list of the texts used for this purposeis given on the last
page.
Text A-The "Mantua" edition of "SepherYetzira," 1562.
Text B-The text of Isaac Loria accordingto L. Goldschmidt, 1895.
Text C-The text accordingto R. Saadia Gaon.
Text D-The text from an Arabic Commentaryon "SepherYetzirah"
accordingto L. Goldschmidt, 1895.
Now, L. Goldschmidtdid not reprint any separate existing version of
"Sepher Yetzirah." He constructed a poor text from four existing
versions. A. Epstein (MonatsschriftG. W. J. 1889, pp. 46-48, 134-136),
criticised Goldschmidt's text as very confusing and regarded him as
utterly incompetent to undertakethe task he did. Stenring really used
Goldschmidt's Hebrew and German versions of the Sepher Yetzirah.
Stenring's translation shows that he did not use any Hebrew version
independentof Goldschmidt's.
Stenring makes some mistakes in Hebrew. On page 45 he uses the
word nmynoinstead of nmyai. The transcriptionof D by the letter "m"
proves that he chose the wrong initial letter of the word; his transcrip-
tion of this wrong letter by the correct Latin representative showing
there is no typographicalerror here.
Stenring claims credit for a contribution he has made, in that he has
arrangedthe two hundredand thirty-one two-letter combinationscalled
Gates, into a ring. In the Jewish QuarterlyReviewof 1913, page 523, I
pointed out that all versions of the Sepher Yetzirahbefore Saadia had
two hundred and twenty-one two-letter combinations or gates. Saadia
changed the numberto two hundredand thirty-one to fit his own inter-
pretation. Various other commentators have given different numbers
of gates to fit their own interpretations. If the number two hundred
and thirty-one is incorrect, then Stenring's task of arrangementinto a
'The Book of Formation, (Sepher Yetzirah). By RABBI AKIBA BEN
JOSEPH. Translated from the Hebrew with annotations, by KNUT STEN-
RING. With an Introduction by A. E. WAITE. London: WILLIAM RIDER
& SON, LTD., 1923, pp. 67.
79
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80 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
ring is futile. Besides, there is no secret hidden as Stenring and others
imagine, in the passages of the Sepher Yetzirah,which refer to the
combinationof letters. Accordingto the Sepher Yetzirahitself, the great
secret is really hidden in the three letters vn termed as mothers.
In the Jewish Encyclopaedia,Vol. XII, page 603, in the article Yezirah
signed K, it is stated that the date of the Sepher Yetzirahis placed by
Reizenstein, on page 291, of his book-Poimandres, in the second Cen-
tury B. C. This no doubt is a typographical error, for a referenceto
page 291 of the original volume Poimandres, shows that Reizenstein
gave the date as the second century of the Christianera. Now as a result
of this error in the Jewish Encyclopaediaseveral authorities who did
not apparently consult the original quotation in Reizenstein, quote him
to have assigned the date of the Sepher Yetzirah to the second Century
B. C. Among those who have unwarily fallen into the trap have been
Abelson in his Jewish Mysticism, London, 1913, Page 189; the Hebrew
Encyclopaedia, w,nx'm1. Vol. 5, Page 189: and the Jewish-Russian
Encyclopaedia. Of course all these works post-date the Jewish Ency-
clopaediawhose errorthey copied.
PHINEASMORDELL
'Philadelphia
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