Bahir
Bahir or Sefer HaBahir (Hebrew: סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר, Hebrew pronunciation: [ˈsefeʁ ˌ(h)abaˈ(h)iʁ]; "Book of Clarity" or "Book of Illumination") is an anonymous mystical work, attributed to a 1st-century rabbinic sage Nehunya ben HaKanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zakai) because it begins with the words, "R. Nehunya ben HaKanah said".[1] It is also known as Midrash of Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKanah מִדְרָשׁ רַבִּי נְחוּנְיָא בֶּן הַקָּנָה.
First mentioned in late 12th century Provencal works,[2] the Bahir is an early work of the esoteric Jewish mystical tradition that eventually became known as Kabbalah.
Title[edit]
Nahmanides, in his commentary on the Torah, (Genesis 1) is one of the first to quote the work under the title Midrash R. Nehunya ben HaKanah. ("R. Nehunya ben HaKanah said," the opening sentence)
Among medieval Kabbalists it became known as Sefer HaBahir, taken from its opening comment, "One verse says: 'And now men see not the light which is bright (bahir) in the skies'" (Job 37:21).
The 13th-century kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac HaKohen, reports that the Sefer HaBahir "came from the Land of Israel to the early pietists, the sages of Ashkenaz, the kabbalists of Germany and from there to the early wise men in Provence who chase after all sorts of written (records of) wisdom, those who know the divine, supernal knowledge. But they saw only part of the book and not all of it because they did not see it in its entirety, in its complete form."
Several distinct literary layers can be distinguished in Bahir – some written in the East at the end of the 9th century or in the early 10th century, and some in 12th century Provence. The Book Bahir's use of the Babylonian grammar and vocalization system (which also reflects a different pronunciation and was widely utilized throughout the East) decisively proves the existence of an Oriental layer. The Babylonian vocalization, as opposed to the Tiberian one used in Hebrew to this day, is mainly upper (that is, marked above the letters) and is characterized, among other properties, by the segol being pronounced like a patah. Only if Bahir was written in a region in which the Babylonian system was in use can the claim "the Lord placed a patah above (a letter) and a segol beneath" be meaningful. The patah is upper according to the Babylonian vocalization system, whereas the segol is lower according to the Tiberian system. Only according to the Babylonian system is it possible to pronounce this combination of vowels at the same time, as they both have the same pronunciation (the short u).
The use of the Babylonian vocalization system to symbolize the Holy is evidence of the passage's date of composition: At the beginning of the 10th century, a debate arose between Jewish communities over which grammatical system most faithfully represented the Torah; in other words, how was it pronounced when it was given to Moses on Mount Sinai? This debate ended with the victory of the Tiberian system and with the understanding that the Babylonian system reflected a foreign influence on the Hebrew language. Thereafter, one could no longer employ it as a proper symbolic instrument for the Holy. Hence, the Babylonian layer must have been written before this debate was concluded.[8]
Editions and commentaries[edit]
One of the most accurate manuscripts of the final form of Sefer Bahir was written in 1331 by Meir ben Solomon Abi-Sahula; his commentary on the Bahir was anonymously published as Or HaGanuz, "The Hidden Light".
It has been translated into German by Gershom Scholem (1923) and into English by Aryeh Kaplan.
Recently it has been critically edited by Saverio Campanini. See The Book of Bahir. Flavius Mithridates' Latin Translation, the Hebrew Text, and an English Version, edited by Saverio Campanini with a Foreword by Giulio Busi, Torino, Nino Aragno Editore 2005.