We saw in the Gematria of the Hebrew Alphabet that each Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent. The process of adding the numeric values together for a Hebrew word or phrase is called Gematria.

Let's go through an example of Gematria to see how it works in practice. Let's work out the Gematria of YHWH, or Yahweh, the Memorial Name for the God of Israel. In Hebrew, Yahweh is written as:

 

YHWH/YHVH -- Tetragrammaton

 

YHWH
5	6	5	10
Gematria: 26
Full: 42

Expansion
Archetypes of Genesis

YHWH: 10.5.6.5, Existence-Life-Copulation-Life, expresses in existence the two lives (that of the container or shell or physical support, and that of the contained germ or inner life) that fertilze each other. This double impregnation can only occur in Man and as long as it does not occur YHWH is immanent but unborn.

The Hebrew letters of Yahweh are Yod, Heh, Vav and Heh. (Remember that Hebrew is read from right to left, the opposite of English). The Gematria of these Hebrew letters is as follows:

The Gematria of Yod is 10.
The Gematria of Heh is 5.
The Gematria of Vav is 6.
The Gematria of Heh is 5.

Therefore, the Gematria of YHWH is 10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26.

A common extension of the above system of Gematria is to add the digits of the resultant number together. In the above case, for 26, we would add 2 plus 6. The result is 8.

Eight is an interesting number in the Holy Scriptures. It is associated with the eternity, with the time after resurrection, and of eternal salvation. Eight people were saved from the flood in the days of Noah. Therefore, 8 is a very important Gematria for Yahweh. Yahweh is the living and eternal God, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending. Eight points forward to the Kingdom Age, when the Messiah will establish YHWH's Kingdom, and Jerusalem will be the future capital of the world, and the Law will go forth from Zion.