וָאֲמַלֵּ֥א אֹת֖וֹ ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֑ים בְּחָכְמָ֛ה וּבִתְבוּנָ֥ה וּבְדַ֖עַת וּבְכָל־מְלָאכָֽה׃
at pinuspos ko siya ng espiritu ng Diyos, ng karunungan, ng pang-unawa, at ng kaalaman, at ng kasanayan sa lahat ng uri ng gawain,
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.
Zohar
But when Moses came, that Name was once more sought after and mentioned. For when he was near the thorn-bush he straightway asked concerning that Name, saying, “and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” (Ex. 3, 13). It was there that that Name was entrusted to the mouth of Moses.
Sha'arei Orah
This has all already been hinted in Sefer Yetzirah,167Sefer Yetzirah 6:8; Also see Ginat Egoz of Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla, translated as HaShem Is One, Vol. 2 (The Letters of Creation, Part I), The Gate of the Motion of the Components, The Five that are Drawn from the Ten. “He formed a covenant with him between the ten fingers of his hands, which is the covenant of the mouth (Brit HaPeh-ברית הפה), and He formed a covenant with him between the ten toes of the feet, which is the covenant of circumcision (Brit Milah-ברית מילה). The whole matter is hinted in short in the words,168Sefer Yetzirah 1:3 “The covenant of the tongue-Milat HaLashon-מילת הלשון, and the covenant of the skin-Milat HaMa’or-מילת המעור.”169That is, the term circumcision-Milah-מילה also means “word” and both the covenant of the tongue and the covenant of the skin are referred to as “Milah-מילה.” In both cases, the issuance of words from the mouth and the issuance of seed, both bring forth progeny and revelation of the brain and mind, which is drawn forth by the Understanding-Binah-בינה. I shall explain with the verses,170Hosea 14:10 “Who is wise-Chacham-חכם and will understand-Yaven-יבן these things; [who is] understanding-Navon-נבון and will know them-Yeda’em-ידעם.” That is, Understanding-Binah-בינה is positioned between wisdom-Chochmah-חכמה and knowledge-Da’at-דעת, and they unify to adhere to each other,171That is, it is the quality of Understanding-Binah that is positioned between the higher intellect of wisdom-Chochmah and the heartfelt emotions which are all included in Splendor-Tiferet, the essence of which is Knowledge-Da’at, as mentioned in the Fifth Gate. That is, Knowledge-Da’at-דעת refers to the matter of adhesion-Dveikut-דביקות, as in the verse (Genesis 4:1), “Adam knew-Yada-ידע his wife Chava and she conceived,” and as it states (Genesis 2:24), “Therefore shall a man… adhere-Davak-דבק to his wife so that they become as one flesh.” according to the secret of the verse,172Exodus 31:3 “With wisdom-Chochmah-חכמה, understanding-Tevunah-תבונה, and knowledge-Da’at-דעת.” This has therefore all been hinted at, and is the secret of the bond between the upper Sefirot and the lower Sefirot.