Footnotes

*1 Gematria is a method of placing a numerical value on Hebrew letters and words. The Elizabethan alphabet consisted of 24 letters. Simply put, the letters i and j were the same, as were the letters u and v. Our modern English alphabet contains 26 letters.

*2 The transliterations of the names of the Hebrew letters vary widely in their spelling: heh can also be rendered as hei or he, for example, while the letter yod (Y) can be transliterated as yud.

*3 Sefirah (plural sefiroth) is a Hebrew word for which there is no exact equivalent in English. It probably comes from the root sefer, meaning to count or number, although some have linked it to the Greek sphaira or sphere. It refers to the ten emanations of God on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, plus the one “nonsefirah,” Da’ath or Knowledge (which will be discussed later).