Gematria how to calculate

What is gematria?

Gematria is an ancient Jewish system of assigning numerical value to words, phrases, and even sentences. It became popular in early Biblical times and has continued to be used by some scholars and members of the Jewish community. The sum of these numerical values is believed to reflect the deeper meaning of the text or communication being studied.

How Does Gematria Work?

In Gematria, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a corresponding numerical value ranging from 1-400. The numerical values are assigned as follows: Alef (1), Bet (2), Gimel (3), Dalet (4), Heh (5), Vav (6), Zayin (7), Chet (8), Tet (9). When calculating the number for a word or phrase, you add up the numerical values for each letter in the word or phrase being evaluated. To illustrate this process, let's consider a four letter word: שלום, which means "peace." In Gematria this would be calculated as 300 + 30 + 6 + 40 = 376.

In addition to assigning each Hebrew letter with a numerical value, gematria also uses certain abbreviations within words to speed up calculation time. For example, if you wanted to calculate the numeric equivalent for "Eloheynu" which means "our God," you would use the abbreviation YHVH which stands for 208 instead of using Alef through Chet as normal. This makes it easier and faster as YHVH has a fixed value no matter how many times it appears in a text or phrase.

Gematria Is Used Today

There are many who believe that gematria holds significant spiritual meaning and that understanding its data can help uncover hidden messages in things such as dreams, books, religious texts or any number of other types of communication or expression. As such, various schools have been created dedicated solely to exploring gematria's mystical meanings and teachings from an academic point of view, complete with lectures and educational materials available for those interested in pursuing an understanding of gematric philosophies and disciplines.