divine essencefeatured in 40 works

The Ten Divine Names

eh-ser-AH shem-OHT ha-kah-doh-SHEEM (ten divine/holy names)

Ten biblical names for God, each expressing a different quality of divine action, studied deeply by medieval Jewish philosophers and kabbalists alike.

Jewish tradition recognizes a set of ten names used for God in the Hebrew Bible, each conveying something distinct about how God relates to the world and to humanity. Names like *Eheyeh* ("I Am") suggest pure, self-existent being; *Adonai* ("Lord") points to God's sovereign presence in the world; others emphasize qualities like might, compassion, or eternity. Scholars and commentators from the rabbinic period onward paid close attention to which name appears where in scripture, since the choice of name was understood to carry meaning about the mode of divine activity in a given passage.

Over time, these names became a major focus of Jewish philosophical and mystical thought. Medieval philosophers like Maimonides examined them carefully, arguing that all such names describe God's actions rather than God's essence. Kabbalists, especially in the circle that produced the Zohar and later in the school of Joseph Gikatilla, mapped the ten names onto a diagram of ten divine emanations (sefirot), creating an elaborate system in which each name marked a different level of God's relationship to creation. That kabbalistic mapping became enormously influential, but it built on a much older tradition of careful, reverent attention to the words the Bible uses when speaking about God.

How it traveled

Sha'arei Orah
Guadalajara · 1260
explains
Sha'arei Tzedek
Castile · 1265
redefines
Zohar
Guadalajara · 1280
explains
Tikkunei Zohar
Guadalajara · 1280
explains
Ohr HaSekhel
Zaragoza (Saragossa) · 1285
explains
Zohar Chadash
Guadalajara · 1290
explains
Ma'arekhet HaElokut
Guadalajara · 1295
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Recanati on the Torah
Recanati · 1300
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Sefer HaKanah
Castile · 1380
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Avodat HaKodesh (Ibn Gabbai)
Cairo · 1523
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Ketem Paz on Zohar
Tzfat · 1561
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Sha'ar HaPesukim
Tzfat · 1570
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Sha'ar HaKavanot
Tzfat · 1570
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Sha'ar Ma'amarei Rashbi
Tzfat · 1570
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Pri Etz Chaim
Tzfat · 1572
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Sefer Etz Chaim
Tzfat · 1573
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Reshit Chokhmah
Tzfat · 1575
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Megalleh Amukkot on Parashat VaEtchanan
Krakow (Cracow) · 1607
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Sha'ar Ruach HaKodesh
Damascus · 1610
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Sha'ar HaHakdamot
Tzfat · 1610
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Ohr HaChammah on Zohar
Tzfat · 1620
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Mikdash Melekh, RaMaZ Commentary on Zohar
Tzfat · 1680
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Maaseh Rokeach on Mishnah
Amsterdam · 1735
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Mikdash Melekh on Zohar
Tzfat · 1750
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Be'er Mayim Chaim
Czernowitz (Chernivtsi) · 1775
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Arvei Nachal
Krakow (Cracow) · 1780
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Toldot Yaakov Yosef
Polonne (Polnoye, Volhynia) · 1780
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Yahel Ohr on Zohar
Vilna (Vilnius) · 1790
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Agra DeKala
Dinov (Dynów) · 1801
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Likkutei Torah
Liadi · 1810
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Zera Kodesh
Ropshitz (Ropczyce) · 1810
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Bnei Yissaschar
Dinov (Dynów) · 1820
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Bat Ayin
Tzfat · 1820
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Likutei Halakhot
Breslov (Ukraine) · 1840
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Sefat Emet
Ger (Gora Kalwaria) · 1900
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BePardes HaChasidut VeHakabbalah
Warsaw · 1910
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Shem MiShmuel
Sochaczew · 1925
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Talmud Eser HaSefirot
Jerusalem · 1939
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Sulam on Zohar
Jerusalem · 1945
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Sources and References on Likkutei Torah
Liadi
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Key passages(20)

Introduction to Sulam Commentary 2:1↗explains

Introduction to Sulam Commentary · Yehuda Ashlag · 1943 CE