The lexicon of the Zohar
The Zohar's vocabulary has four layers: (1) ordinary Aramaic words from Onkelos and the Talmud; (2) technical terms of Kabbalah — names of God and of the ten sefirot, terms of emanation, light and structure — partly Hebrew words in Aramaic dress, partly Aramaic words given new meanings; (3) neologisms, words found nowhere before the Zohar; (4) a few traces of the authors' medieval languages (Castilian, Arabic) and of Greek via the Talmud. This file describes them as vocabulary, without interpreting the doctrine.
Sources: Scholem 1941, lecture 5; Tishby 1989 (glossary and introductions to each section); Liebes 1976, Peraqim be-millon sefer ha-Zohar (Sections of the Zohar lexicon); Matt 2004–2017 (notes); Jastrow 1903 for the classical meanings (public domain, cited s.v.). Counts: public-domain Zohar texts on disk (Tiqqunei ha-Zohar, Zohar Ḥadash; 344 133 words), unpointed, 2026-10-17.
1. Names of God
| term | translit. | literally | count | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא (קב"ה) | qūḏšā bərīḵ hū | the Holy One, blessed be he | 1 251 | the rabbinic name, from the Bavli and the targums; in the Zohar also a name of a specific divine aspect |
| שְׁכִינְתָּא | šəḵīntā | the Presence | 669 | from the targums (Translation technique and syntax of the targums §3.3); in the Zohar the feminine divine aspect |
| מַטְרוֹנִיתָא | maṭrōnīṯā | the matron, the lady | 49 | a Latin loan (matrona) via rabbinic literature; a name of the Shekhinah |
| עַתִּיקָא קַדִּישָׁא, עַתִּיקָא | ʿattīqā qaddīšā | the Holy Ancient One | 15 (עתיקא) | from Dan 7:9 עַתִּיק יוֹמִין (Biblical Aramaic texts, annotated §4.8) |
| עַתִּיק יוֹמִין | ʿattīq yōmīn | Ancient of Days | Daniel | |
| אֲרִיךְ אַנְפִּין | ʾărīḵ ʾanpīn | the Long Face, the Patient One | 13 | the Idrot; from the Hebrew אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם "long-suffering" taken literally as "long face" |
| זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין | zəʿēr ʾanpīn | the Short / Small Face | 12 | |
| אַבָּא וְאִימָּא | ʾabbā wə-ʾimmā | Father and Mother | names of two sefirot (Ḥokhmah and Binah) | |
| אִימָּא עִלָּאָה | ʾimmā ʿillāʾā | the Upper Mother | 120 | Binah |
| עִלַּת הָעִלּוֹת, עִלַּת עַל כָּל הָעִלּוֹת | (Hebrew) | the Cause of causes | 48; 19 | a medieval philosophical term (Arabic-Hebrew) |
| אֵין סוֹף | (Hebrew) | the Infinite | written with quotation marks in the editions (אֵי"ן סוֹ"ף) | |
| טְמִירָא דְּכָל טְמִירִין, סְתִימָא דִסְתִימִין | ṭəmīrā də-ḵol ṭəmīrīn | the hidden of all hidden ones | (טמיר 33, סתים 86) | |
| מָארֵי עָלְמָא, רִבּוֹן עָלְמִין | mārē ʿālmā | the Master of the world(s) | Berikh shemeh; Patah Eliyahu | |
| הוי"ה, יאהדונה"י, ידו"ד | the tetragrammaton (and its combination with Adonai) | 17; 46; 16 | written so as not to write the name |
2. The sefirot
The ten sefirot (Hebrew סְפִירוֹת; Zohar plural סְפִירָן, 192×) have Hebrew names; the Zohar also uses Aramaic and symbolic names:
| Hebrew name | count | meaning | Zohar's other names (examples) |
|---|---|---|---|
| כֶּתֶר | (כתרא 20) | crown | כִּתְרָא עִלָּאָה "the upper crown" |
| חָכְמָה | 242 | wisdom | אַבָּא "father"; רֵאשִׁית "beginning" |
| בִּינָה | 66 | understanding | אִימָּא "mother"; אִימָּא עִלָּאָה |
| חֶסֶד | 160 | kindness | יְמִינָא "the right side" |
| גְּבוּרָה | 80 | strength | דִּינָא "judgment"; שְׂמָאלָא "the left" |
| תִּפְאֶרֶת | 64 | beauty | קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא; רַחֲמֵי "mercy" |
| נֶצַח | 84 | eternity | |
| הוֹד | 36 | splendour | |
| יְסוֹד | 81 | foundation | צַדִּיק "the righteous one" |
| מַלְכוּת | 111 (מלכותא 23) | kingship | שְׁכִינְתָּא; כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל; מַטְרוֹנִיתָא |
(Counts of the bare words, which are also ordinary Hebrew nouns; they measure frequency of the word, not of the technical use.)
3. Cosmological and structural terms
| term | translit. | literally | count | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָזָא | rāzā | secret, mystery | 541 | Persian loan via Daniel (The lexicon of Biblical Aramaic §3.2); in the Zohar the inner meaning of anything |
| סִטְרָא | siṭrā | side | 186 | |
| סִטְרָא אַחֲרָא | siṭrā ʾaḥărā | the other side | 62 | the realm of evil |
| קְלִיפִין, קְלִיפָּה | qəlīp̄īn | shells, husks | the forces that cover the holy | |
| נְהוֹרָא | nəhōrā | light | 94 | |
| בּוּצִינָא | būṣīnā | lamp | 122 | בּוּצִינָא קַדִּישָׁא (title of R. Shimon); בּוּצִינָא דְקַרְדִינוּתָא (§4) |
| נְקוּדָה | (Hebrew) | point | 261 | the first point of emanation (Zohar 1:15a) |
| אֲוִירָא | ʾăwīrā | air, ether | 23 | Greek ἀήρ via the Talmud (Jastrow s.v. אֲוִירָא) |
| עָלְמָא / עָלְמִין | ʿālmā / ʿālmīn | world / worlds | 784 / 247 | עָלְמָא דְאָתֵי "the world to come" (158) |
| עִלָּאָה / תַּתָּאָה | ʿillāʾā / tattāʾā | upper / lower | 610 / 348 | |
| אָדָם קַדְמָאָה | ʾāḏām qaḏmāʾā | the first man | (אדם 792; קדמאה 272) | |
| אִתְפַּשַּׁט | ʾiṯpaššaṭ | spread out | 45 | emanation |
| אִסְתַּלַּק | ʾistallaq | went up, departed | 75 | withdrawal |
| אִתְּעַר, אִתְּעֲרוּתָא | ʾittəʿar | was awakened; awakening | 37; 9 | אִתְּעֲרוּתָא דִלְתַתָּא "arousal from below" |
| בָּטַשׁ | bāṭaš | struck | 27 | the striking of the point (Zohar 1:15a) |
| יִחוּדָא | yiḥūḏā | union | (Hebrew יִחוּד) | |
| זִוּוּגָא | ziwwūḡā | coupling, union | (Hebrew זִוּוּג) | |
| תִּקּוּנָא / תִּקּוּנִין | tiqqūnā | arrangement, rectification | the Tiqqunim; תִּקּוּנֵי דִּיקְנָא "the arrangements of the beard" (Idrot) | |
| פַּרְצוּפָא | parṣūp̄ā | face, countenance | Greek πρόσωπον via rabbinic Hebrew פַּרְצוּף |
4. Neologisms and unusual words
The Zohar contains words not found in earlier Aramaic, whose meaning is uncertain or which were coined for the text. Scholem (1941, lecture 5) and Liebes (1976) collected many. The best-known:
| word | context | discussion |
|---|---|---|
| בּוּצִינָא דְקַרְדִינוּתָא | Zohar 1:15a, the first act of creation | "the lamp of qardinuta": the second word is not known before the Zohar; interpreted as "darkness" or "hardness, intensity" (Tishby 1989; Matt 2004 on 1:15a); the Tiqqunim and later Kabbalah explain it in various ways |
| טְהִירוּ | בִּטְהִירוּ עִלָּאָה "in the upper radiance" (1:15a) | an abstract noun from a rare root, "brightness"; the word זֹהַר of the book's title is its Hebrew counterpart |
| הוּרְמְנוּתָא | בְּרֵישׁ הוּרְמְנוּתָא דְמַלְכָּא (1:15a) | from the Talmudic הַרְמָנָא "authority, licence" (Jastrow s.v.; The lexicon of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic §3), with an abstract ending: "the will / authority of the king" |
| גְּלִיפוּ, גְּלוּפֵי | גָּלִיף גְּלוּפֵי (1:15a) | "engraved engravings": the root גלף "engrave" (Jastrow s.v.) in a cognate-object figure |
| קוּטְרָא בְּגוּלְמָא | (1:15a) | "a cluster (or smoke) in the unformed mass": the editions add a gloss (פירוש עשן) "smoke"; the meaning is debated |
Liebes's lexicon is the scholarly treatment of such words; it is in copyright and wanted (Sources).
5. Hebrew in Aramaic dress, and the medieval background
Much of the Zohar's vocabulary is Hebrew — biblical, rabbinic and medieval — used with Aramaic grammar:
| Hebrew word | Zohar use | example |
|---|---|---|
| סְפִירָה | סְפִירָן (Aramaic plural) | עֲשַׂר סְפִירָן (Tiqqunim, introduction) |
| מַחֲשָׁבָה | לֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בָךְ "no thought grasps you" | Tiqqunim, introduction |
| כְּאִלּוּ | אִתְחַשֵּׁיב לֵיהּ כְּאִלּוּ "it is reckoned to him as if" | Tiqqunim, introduction |
| כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל | the Assembly of Israel (= the Shekhinah) | Zohar 1:1a |
| דִּין וְרַחֲמִים | דִּין וְרַחֲמֵי | Zohar 1:1a |
| יִחֵד (piel) | מְיַחֵד "unites" | Tiqqunim, introduction |
| עִלַּת הָעִלּוֹת | the Cause of causes | from medieval philosophy |
Medieval words and senses: Scholem (1941) points to meanings that can only be explained from the authors' Hebrew and from Castilian and Arabic usage, and to Spanish place-related details; these are among his arguments for a 13th-century Spanish origin. The individual words are discussed by Scholem and Liebes; we do not list them without the sources at hand.
6. What the Zohar takes from each dialect
| from | examples |
|---|---|
| Biblical Aramaic | עַתִּיק יוֹמִין, רָזָא, שָׁלְטָן |
| Onkelos and the targums | שְׁכִינְתָּא, יְקָרָא, קֳדָם, אִינּוּן, אַנְתְּ, יָת (rare) |
| the Bavli | אִיהוּ, קָא, מַאי, אַמַּאי, הַאי, נַמִי, לֵימָא, תָּא (חֲזֵי), קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, abbreviations |
| Palestinian sources | לוֹן, אוּף, בְּגִין, כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר, הֲדָא הוּא דִּכְתִיב |
| Hebrew | the sefirot names, philosophical terms, many verbs and connectives |
A dictionary for arc-x-zohar can therefore be built mostly by linking to the entries of the other varieties, with a separate layer for the technical terms and the neologisms (Zoharic Aramaic in Mova: what it would need §4).
The Elamur team
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/arc-x-zohar/lexicon/