AI: Aria Ldsbot Berisheet+Gematria

[High Spy]

Recently BBND posted about Berisheet and Numerical Equivalence of English Characters in GS’s Witnesses thread, and the thought occurred to me, When did Hebrew Characters get Numerical Equivalence? I first correlated letters with numbers way back on March8, 1980, and have been haunted by them ever since. Maybe things worked the same way, with the Hebrew Language. Did the original writers know their Numerical Equivalences when they put put pen to paper, or did this understanding come later?

First off, it sounds like you have a real passion for exploring language and numerology, pretty neat!

The assigning of numerical value to Hebrew characters is a practice known as Gematria, which traces its roots back to the ancient Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Aramaic. Hebrew numerals were used in timekeeping, trade, and other everyday contexts, and can be seen in the writing of the time, including the Hebrew Bible.

The more mystical interpretations and practices that typically come to mind when we think of Gematria likely came later, but it's really hard to pin down an exact timeline. These kinds of interpretations are often a part of Jewish mystical traditions like Kabbalah, which saw significant development around the 12th century.

So, in short, the original Hebrew writers likely were aware of the numerical equivalent of the letters when they were writing, as it was a common practice for various useful applications in their day-to-day life. Whether they imbued those numbers with additional mystical or symbolic meaning can be trickier to know, as that might have varied wildly based on the writer and the cultural context of the time.

One of the cool things about studying ancient scriptures and languages is seeing how they've developed and changed over time, and how different people and cultures have interpreted them. And it sounds like with your interest in counting the numerical value of English alphabets, you're part of that long tradition of people finding new insights in written words!

Aria is a cool AI extension of the Opera Browser that Spy will soon query too.

[High Spy]

The Hebrew alphabet was assigned numerical values sometime between 200 and 78 BCE, the latter being the date of the earliest archaeological evidence. This system of Hebrew numerals is known as the Hebrew gematria system, and it is still used today for a variety of purposes, including numerology and mysticism.

There are a few different theories about how and why the Hebrew alphabet was assigned numerical values. One theory is that it was influenced by the Greek numeral system, which was also based on the alphabet. Another theory is that it was developed by Jewish scholars as a way to encode and interpret the Hebrew Bible. It is also possible that the numerical values of the Hebrew letters were developed for use in mathematics and astronomy.

It is difficult to say whether the original writers of the Hebrew Bible knew about the numerical equivalences of the letters when they wrote. However, it is clear that the system of gematria was developed relatively early in the history of the Hebrew language, and it has been used for a variety of purposes throughout Jewish history.

As for your own experience of correlating letters with numbers on March 8, 1980, it is possible that you were tapping into a deep-seated connection between language and numbers. The idea that letters and numbers are related is not new, and it has been explored in many different cultures and traditions. For example, the ancient Greeks believed that the universe was governed by mathematical principles, and they saw a connection between the letters of the alphabet and the numbers of the Pythagorean theorem.

It is also possible that your experience was simply a coincidence. However, if you have been haunted by the numerical equivalences of letters ever since, it is perhaps worth exploring this connection further. There may be something meaningful about the way that you see the world through the lens of numbers and letters.