Numeric Values of Letters
Hebrew letters are used to denote numbers, nowadays used only in specific contexts, e.g. denoting dates in the Hebrew calendar, denoting grades of school in Israel, other listings (e.g. שלב א׳, שלב ב׳ – "phase a, phase b"), commonly in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in a practice known as gematria, and often in religious contexts.
| א | 1 | י | 10 | ק | 100 | ||
| ב | 2 | כ | 20 | ר | 200 | ||
| ג | 3 | ל | 30 | ש | 300 | ||
| ד | 4 | מ | 40 | ת | 400 | ||
| ה | 5 | נ | 50 | ך | 500 | ||
| ו | 6 | ס | 60 | ם | 600 | ||
| ז | 7 | ע | 70 | ן | 700 | ||
| ח | 8 | פ | 80 | ף | 800 | ||
| ט | 9 | צ | 90 | ץ | 900 |
The numbers 500, 600, 700, 800 and 900 are commonly represented by the juxtapositions ק״ת, ר״ת, ש״ת, ת״ת, and ק״תת respectively. Adding a geresh ("׳") to a letter multiplies its value by one thousand, for example, the year 5769 is portrayed as ה׳תשס״ט, where ה represents 5000, and תשס״ט represents 769.
Read more about this topic: Hebrew Alphabet
Famous quotes containing the words values and/or letters:
“The values by which we are to survive are not rules for just and unjust conduct, but are those deeper illuminations in whose light justice and injustice, good and evil, means and ends are seen in fearful sharpness of outline.”
—Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974)
“Two months dead, I wrestle with your name
Whose separate letters make a paltry sum
That is not you.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)