Golden ratio relationships appear in the Name of G-d in the Hebrew Bible.
In Gematria, the most holy name of God, referred to as the Tetragrammaton, embodies some very interesting Golden Ratio relationships.
Gematria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase. It is likely that the term derives from the order of the Greek alphabet, gamma being the third letter of the Greek alphabet (gamma + tria) or from Greek geōmetriā, “geometry.” Although apparently derived from Greek, it is largely used in Jewish texts, most notably in those associated with the Kabbalah, a set of teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation).
The Tetragrammaton, meaning “[a word] having four letters”, refers to the name of the God of Israel as YHWH (Hebrew: י-ה-ו-ה) that appears 6,828 times the Hebrew Bible, the first of which is in Genesis 2:4, which says, “4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens–.” The letters, properly read from right to left, are:
| Hebrew | Letter name | Phonetic Sound |
|---|---|---|
| י | Yud | “Y” |
| ה | Hey | “H” |
| ו | Vov | “V” |
| ה | Hey | “H” |
These four letters are usually transliterated from Hebrew as IHVH in Latin, JHWH in German, French and Dutch, and JHVH/YHWH in English. This has been variously rendered as “Yahweh” or as “Jehovah”, based on the Latin form of the term, while the Hebrew text does not clearly indicate the omitted vowels. In English translations, it is often rendered as “the Lord”, following Jewish tradition which reads the word as “Adonai” (“Lord”) out of respect for the name of God and the interpretation of the commandment not to take the name of God in vain.
The Connection to Phi and the Golden Ratio
The gematria values of the four letters in the Tetragrammaton (Yud – Hey – Vov – Hey) are 10, 5, 6 and 5. This indicates the importance of the number 5 in this Holiest Name of God. Yud has a gematria value of 10. Vov has a gematria value of 6, which creates various ratios within this name of God:
| Hebrew Letters | Ratio | Decimal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yud / Vov | = | 10 / 6 | = | 1.666 |
| Vov / Yud | = | 6 / 10 | = | 0.600 |
| (Yud + Vov) / ( Hey + Hey) | = | 16 / 10 | = | 1.600 |
| ( Hey + Hey) / (Yud + Vov) | = | 10 / 16 | = | 0.625 |
As Phi and it’s reciprocal phi are 1.618 and 0.618, respectively, we see that this Holy Name of God intrinsically represents a set of ratios that reflect the golden ratio, or the Divine proportion, that we see all throughout His creation.
The Hebrew word for “when they were created” is BeHebaram. This word can be divided to also say “With ‘Hey’ were they created”, which suggests the importance of the number five in the creation of mankind.
The Hebrew Bible says that The Holy One created man “in the image” of G-d. The Hebrew word “in the image” is made up of 4 letters – Bet, Tsadi, Lamed, and Mem.
| Hebrew Letters | Value |
|---|---|
| Bet | 2 |
| Tsadi | 90 |
| Lamed | 30 |
| Mem | 40 |
| Total | 162 |
This too creates a close representation of Phi at 1.62 to three decimal places.
Thanks to Yosi Spater for his contribution of the golden ratio relationships in the Tetragrammaton and Jewish scriptures about creation, and to Wikipedia for other information on this page..