What Is Hebrew Gematria?
Hebrew gematria (also written gimatria or gematria) is the ancient Jewish practice of assigning numerical values to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and using those values to interpret scripture, uncover hidden connections between words, and understand the mystical significance of names. It is one of the three primary tools of Kabbalistic biblical interpretation — alongside notarikon (acronyms) and temurah (letter permutation).
The practice originates in the Talmudic period (approximately 200 BCE – 500 CE) and is extensively documented in the Midrash, the Talmud, and later in the Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah. It has never been a fringe practice — gematria was used by the greatest rabbinical scholars and Kabbalistic masters in Jewish intellectual history, and it remains in active use in orthodox Jewish scholarship today.
The Hebrew Alphabet and Its Numerical Values
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, each with a fixed gematria value. The system assigns values 1-9 to the first nine letters, 10-90 (in tens) to the next nine, and 100-400 (in hundreds) to the final four:
| Hebrew | Letter Name | Value | English Equiv. |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Aleph | 1 | A/silent |
| ב | Bet | 2 | B |
| ג | Gimel | 3 | G |
| ד | Dalet | 4 | D |
| ה | He | 5 | H |
| ו | Vav | 6 | V/W |
| ז | Zayin | 7 | Z |
| ח | Chet | 8 | Ch |
| ט | Tet | 9 | T |
| י | Yod | 10 | Y/I |
| כ | Kaf | 20 | K |
| ל | Lamed | 30 | L |
| מ | Mem | 40 | M |
| נ | Nun | 50 | N |
| ס | Samech | 60 | S |
| ע | Ayin | 70 | silent |
| פ | Pe | 80 | P/F |
| צ | Tsadi | 90 | Ts |
| ק | Qof | 100 | Q/K |
| ר | Resh | 200 | R |
| ש | Shin | 300 | Sh |
| ת | Tav | 400 | T |
Free Tool
Gematria Calculator — All 4 Systems
Calculate any word or name in English, Hebrew, Greek, and Jewish gematria simultaneously — with letter-by-letter breakdown.
Open Gematria Calculator →Famous Examples of Hebrew Gematria
Chai (חי) = 18 — Life
The most widely known example of Hebrew gematria in everyday life. The word Chai (life) has a value of 18: Chet (ח) = 8, Yod (י) = 10. This is why gifts and donations in Jewish culture are traditionally given in multiples of 18 — the gift literally carries the numerical frequency of life. Multiples of 18 ($18, $36, $54, $180, $1,800) are considered especially auspicious and this practice remains universal in Jewish communities worldwide.
David (דוד) = 14 — The Royal Line
The name David in Hebrew gematria equals 14: Dalet (ד) = 4, Vav (ו) = 6, Dalet (ד) = 4. Matthew's Gospel famously opens by structuring Jesus's genealogy in three groups of fourteen generations — "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations" (Matthew 1:17). This is not coincidental. Matthew, writing for a Jewish audience deeply familiar with gematria, was making a numerological statement: Jesus represents the tripled David, the culmination of the royal messianic line.
Echad (אחד) = 13 — One/Unity
The Hebrew word echad (one, unity) has a gematria value of 13: Aleph (א) = 1, Chet (ח) = 8, Dalet (ד) = 4. The word ahavah (אהבה, love) also equals 13. The Kabbalistic interpretation is profound: one and love are numerically identical, meaning unity and love are the same spiritual reality expressed through different words. This is one of the most cited examples of gematria revealing hidden theological insight.
666 — The Number of the Beast
Revelation 13:18 asks readers to "count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666." The overwhelming scholarly consensus is that this refers to Nero Caesar, whose name in Hebrew transliteration (Nron Qsr) yields exactly 666: Nun (50) + Resh (200) + Vav (6) + Nun (50) + Qoph (100) + Samech (60) + Resh (200) = 666. This was a coded political message — essentially revolutionary graffiti — readable by Jewish Christians who knew gematria but opaque to Roman authorities who did not.
Hebrew Gematria in Kabbalah
In Kabbalistic tradition, gematria is not merely an interesting analytical tool — it is a method for accessing the mathematical structure of creation itself. Kabbalists hold that the Hebrew letters and their numerical values are not arbitrary human inventions but the building blocks through which God created the world (as described in the foundational Kabbalistic text, Sefer Yetzirah). Gematria therefore allows the practitioner to perceive the relationships between concepts at the level of divine architecture rather than mere human language.
The Zohar, compiled in 13th-century Spain and attributed to the 2nd-century Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, contains extensive gematria analysis throughout. The ARI (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 1534–1572), considered the greatest Kabbalist of the medieval period, developed sophisticated multi-layered gematria systems that remain the basis of much contemporary Kabbalistic study.
Hebrew Gematria and Modern Numerology
The influence of Hebrew gematria on Western numerology is direct and documentable. The Pythagorean numerology system — which assigns sequential values to the alphabet (A=1, B=2... Z=8, cycling 1-9) — is a simplified adaptation of the Hebrew gematria principle applied to the Roman alphabet. The reduction of letter values to single digits (1-9) mirrors the root-number analysis used in certain forms of Hebrew gematria called mispar katan (small number gematria).
More directly, the Chaldean numerology system used in Indian name numerology descends from Babylonian gematria traditions that share their origin with the Hebrew system. The two traditions are cousins rather than the same practice, but they share a common ancestor in the ancient Near Eastern understanding that letters and numbers are the same kind of symbol, encoding the same kind of meaning.
Get Your Complete Name Numerology Reading
Your name's gematria value is the entry point. A professional reading interprets your Expression Number, Soul Urge, and Personality Number together — revealing how your name's frequency shapes your natural strengths, inner motivation, and the impression you make on the world.
- Expression Number — your talents and natural gifts from your full birth name
- Soul Urge — your deepest inner motivation from the vowels of your name
- Personality Number — how others perceive you from the consonants
- How your name gematria interacts with your Life Path Number
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hebrew gematria?+
Hebrew gematria is the ancient Jewish practice of assigning numerical values to Hebrew letters and using those values to find hidden connections between words, reveal deeper meanings in scripture, and interpret names. It has been used in biblical and Talmudic scholarship for over 2,500 years and remains central to Kabbalistic mysticism today.
How does Hebrew gematria work?+
In Hebrew gematria, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a fixed numerical value. The first ten letters (Aleph through Yod) have values 1-10. The next eight letters have values 20-90 in increments of ten. The final four letters have values 100-400. A word's gematria value is the sum of its letters. Words with the same value are considered to share a deeper connection.
What is the gematria value of Chai?+
Chai (חי), the Hebrew word for life, has a gematria value of 18. The letter Chet equals 8 and the letter Yod equals 10. This is why multiples of 18 are considered auspicious in Jewish tradition and why gifts in Jewish culture are frequently given in amounts of $18, $36, $54, or $180.
What does 666 mean in Hebrew gematria?+
In Hebrew gematria, 666 is the value of the name Nero Caesar when transliterated into Hebrew (Nron Qsr: Nun=50, Resh=200, Vav=6, Nun=50, Qoph=100, Samech=60, Resh=200). Most biblical scholars now agree that Revelation 13:18 — the Number of the Beast — referred to Nero, making 666 a coded political message intelligible to first-century Jewish Christians.
How is Hebrew gematria used in the Kabbalah?+
In Kabbalistic tradition, gematria is one of the primary tools for interpreting the Torah and understanding the hidden structure of divine creation. Kabbalists use it to find connections between words that share the same numerical value, to understand the spiritual significance of names, and to decode the deeper layers of meaning in sacred texts. The Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, contains extensive gematria analysis.
Is there a free Hebrew gematria calculator?+
Yes — NumroLab's free gematria calculator includes the Hebrew system alongside English (Simple), Greek, and Jewish ordinal systems. It calculates any word or name in all four systems simultaneously and provides a letter-by-letter breakdown for each.