בְּ֭חָכְמָה יִבָּ֣נֶה בָּ֑יִת וּ֝בִתְבוּנָ֗ה יִתְכּוֹנָֽן׃
집은 지혜로 말미암아 건축되고 명철로 말미암아 견고히 되며
Pardes Rimmonim
And see, the Sefirot are called בלימה/Belimah, meaning to say: ‘Sefirot of the hiding’, that they are hidden. And these three explanations ascend to one place of which the intention is to teach about their hiddenness and the shortness of [our] comprehension [of them], that it is not proper to lengthen talking on them because of their hiddenness.
And it says: ‘their measure [is] ten’, and because from this [statement it] could be continued [to the thought that] they do have limit – heaven forbid-, therefore it says that ‘they do not have end’ [Sefer Yetzirah 1:5]. And although that it is [at the same time] a matter and its opposite -that we are giving it limit [by stating that their measure is ten] and after this it is said that they do not have limit, we have already explained this in the previous chapters, as in the order that they have their aspect [directed] towards the Emanator they do not have limit, but in the order of their aspect and their actions extended towards us they do have limit for their actions, according to our tradition that we are limited, and this is the force of the greatness of our Formator, from [being] without limit He limits Himself and contracts Himself for the benefit of the lower ones who possess limit and end. And to this matter one should not frighten the eyes of the wise, who is not far removed, “as the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain Him” [II Chronicles 2:5] yet HaShem be blessed, and nevertheless, for the love of Israel He contracted His presence/Shechinah between two staves of the Ark as our Sages of blessed memory have explained.
‘Depth of commencement and depth of end’, they are Chochma and Bina, as Chochma is called ‘commencement’ as is explained in the previous chapter, and Bina is called ‘end’, as there [in Bina is] the end and finish of the matters in the mystery of Jubilee, and this [= Chochma] is the beginning of the concealment and that [= Bina] is its end in the mystery of the cycle [of things] and the Jubilee, as we will explain in the Gate of the Order of Emanation [Gate VI]. And the reason of its saying ‘depth’ with each one of them, [is] to show that although commencement and end, and east and the rest of the limits teach about the limit, nevertheless they are depths, “depth, depth, who can find it?” [Ecclesiastes 7:25] And attaining them is impossible because they are without limit as we have explained.
And good and evil, they are Gedola[/Chesed] and Gevura who are called good and evil, because Chesed acts action of good and reward, and Gevura acts action of judgement and punishment. And nevertheless, the expression of ‘evil’ is not exact.
And after it [= the mishna from Sefer Yetzirah] explained these four depths, it returns to explain the six depths which are the six directions, which are the depth of above and depth of below, East, West, North, South. And this is the reason of the delay of Keter up to now: [it is now mentioned] to connect the directions. Although it [= Keter] is not related to the subject of the order of the Sefirot -as it is [actually] removed from this matter-, the commentators found themselves in need to explain, according to their [limited] knowledge, that ‘above’ should be Da’at. Because see, Da’at is above Gedola and Gevura, and [it is] below Chochma and Bina, as the [following] verse proves (Exodus 31:3): “And I have filled him a spirit of God with wisdom/Chochma and understanding/Tevuna and with knowledge/Da’at and with all skill etc.”, and further it is written (Proverbs 24:3-4) “With wisdom/Chochma a house is built, and with understanding/Tevuna [it] is established, and with knowledge/Da’at its rooms are filled”. And thus, our Sages of blessed memory explained: with three things out of the ten with which the world was created: with wisdom/Chochma, and with understanding/Tevuna and with knowledge/Da’at [see Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 12a]. See [from these evidences] that Da’at comes before Chesed and Gevura. But if this is so, why did it [= the mishna from Sefer Yetzirah] place it only after ‘depth of evil’ [= Gevura] and ‘depth of good’ [= Chesed]? But what do they say? As the reason [for this was] because of the order of the directions. [then] If this is so, according to our opinion the delay of Keter also [can be] because of the order of the directions.
And it says: ‘their measure [is] ten’, and because from this [statement it] could be continued [to the thought that] they do have limit – heaven forbid-, therefore it says that ‘they do not have end’ [Sefer Yetzirah 1:5]. And although that it is [at the same time] a matter and its opposite -that we are giving it limit [by stating that their measure is ten] and after this it is said that they do not have limit, we have already explained this in the previous chapters, as in the order that they have their aspect [directed] towards the Emanator they do not have limit, but in the order of their aspect and their actions extended towards us they do have limit for their actions, according to our tradition that we are limited, and this is the force of the greatness of our Formator, from [being] without limit He limits Himself and contracts Himself for the benefit of the lower ones who possess limit and end. And to this matter one should not frighten the eyes of the wise, who is not far removed, “as the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain Him” [II Chronicles 2:5] yet HaShem be blessed, and nevertheless, for the love of Israel He contracted His presence/Shechinah between two staves of the Ark as our Sages of blessed memory have explained.
‘Depth of commencement and depth of end’, they are Chochma and Bina, as Chochma is called ‘commencement’ as is explained in the previous chapter, and Bina is called ‘end’, as there [in Bina is] the end and finish of the matters in the mystery of Jubilee, and this [= Chochma] is the beginning of the concealment and that [= Bina] is its end in the mystery of the cycle [of things] and the Jubilee, as we will explain in the Gate of the Order of Emanation [Gate VI]. And the reason of its saying ‘depth’ with each one of them, [is] to show that although commencement and end, and east and the rest of the limits teach about the limit, nevertheless they are depths, “depth, depth, who can find it?” [Ecclesiastes 7:25] And attaining them is impossible because they are without limit as we have explained.
And good and evil, they are Gedola[/Chesed] and Gevura who are called good and evil, because Chesed acts action of good and reward, and Gevura acts action of judgement and punishment. And nevertheless, the expression of ‘evil’ is not exact.
And after it [= the mishna from Sefer Yetzirah] explained these four depths, it returns to explain the six depths which are the six directions, which are the depth of above and depth of below, East, West, North, South. And this is the reason of the delay of Keter up to now: [it is now mentioned] to connect the directions. Although it [= Keter] is not related to the subject of the order of the Sefirot -as it is [actually] removed from this matter-, the commentators found themselves in need to explain, according to their [limited] knowledge, that ‘above’ should be Da’at. Because see, Da’at is above Gedola and Gevura, and [it is] below Chochma and Bina, as the [following] verse proves (Exodus 31:3): “And I have filled him a spirit of God with wisdom/Chochma and understanding/Tevuna and with knowledge/Da’at and with all skill etc.”, and further it is written (Proverbs 24:3-4) “With wisdom/Chochma a house is built, and with understanding/Tevuna [it] is established, and with knowledge/Da’at its rooms are filled”. And thus, our Sages of blessed memory explained: with three things out of the ten with which the world was created: with wisdom/Chochma, and with understanding/Tevuna and with knowledge/Da’at [see Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 12a]. See [from these evidences] that Da’at comes before Chesed and Gevura. But if this is so, why did it [= the mishna from Sefer Yetzirah] place it only after ‘depth of evil’ [= Gevura] and ‘depth of good’ [= Chesed]? But what do they say? As the reason [for this was] because of the order of the directions. [then] If this is so, according to our opinion the delay of Keter also [can be] because of the order of the directions.
Sefer HaBahir
[Rabbi Bun continued,] "Why is [the letter] Bet closed on all sides and open in the front? To teach you that it is the house [bayit] of the world and that the Blessed Holy One, is the place of the world yet the world is not His place. Don’t read 'Bet', rather 'bayit'. This what is written, 'With wisdom [בחכמה], a house is built, and with understanding [בתבונה], it is established' (Proverbs 24:3).”
Sefer HaBahir
[Rabbi Berachiah continued,] "And what is Bet? As is written at the end, 'With wisdom, a house is built [יבנה]' (Provers 24:3) — 'was built' [נבנה] is not said, rather, 'he will build' [יבנה]. In the future, the Blessed Holy One will build her and adorn her two–thousandfold, beyond what she was. As we have said concerning what it was when the Torah began with Bet, it is written, 'I was with Him as an artisan, and I was a source of delight every day [יום יום]' (Proverbs 8:30) — two thousand years, that she was first [ראשית]."
[They asked him,] "Two? But doesn't the text say seven? As is written, 'The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold' (Isaiah 30:26).*
[He replied,] "As we say, 'Just as the sun is to seven, so to, the moon is to seven.' Rather, we say, 'two thousand'."**
*[Ed. - some manuscripts include: 'Like the light of the seven days' of creation [בראשית]]
**[Ed. - some manuscripts show "rather" ’[אלא] as a possibility instead of "I" [אנא] and "we say" [אמרינן] instead of "they said" [אמרו]. While this alternative is not universal, it makes more sense.]
[They asked him,] "Two? But doesn't the text say seven? As is written, 'The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold' (Isaiah 30:26).*
[He replied,] "As we say, 'Just as the sun is to seven, so to, the moon is to seven.' Rather, we say, 'two thousand'."**
*[Ed. - some manuscripts include: 'Like the light of the seven days' of creation [בראשית]]
**[Ed. - some manuscripts show "rather" ’[אלא] as a possibility instead of "I" [אנא] and "we say" [אמרינן] instead of "they said" [אמרו]. While this alternative is not universal, it makes more sense.]