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Gematria

Gematria is a form of numerology based on the Hebrew language and alphabet. Proponents use it to defined meanings or relative relationships. There are several forms, including the "revealed" form and the "mystical" form.

The word Gematria comes from the ancient Greek word for geometry. Although Hebrew gematria code is now the most common, the Greek version predates it by many centuries. There have also been versions based on Latin which may date back to Roman times. New forms are being developed in recent years, including English gematria.

The most common form is the "revealed" form. In this form, sentences and words are read as numbers. Instead of a phonetic representation, each letter is assigned a numerical value. By "reading" each word as numbers, one can compare them to others.

Often, gematria is used while reading biblical texts to seek deeper understanding. This has been used, for example, to indicate that King Solomon understood the value of pi. In the Bible, 1 Kings 7:23, a molten sea was described. Based on the physical description, the value of pi was seen to be three, rather than 3.14159 (without modern measurement).

However, gematria suggests that this verse is an error. In portions of the Books of the Profits, according to Jewish tradition, certain words are read differently than they are written. By tracing this dichotomy back to the early Books, then applying the numerical value to both the written and spoken versions, the resulting number is 3.14151–remarkably similar to modern measurements of pi.

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