Hebrew numerals
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The system of Hebrew numerals is a quasi-decimal alphabetic numeral system using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
In this system, there is no notation for zero, and the numeric values for individual letters are added together. Each unit (1, 2, ..., 9) is assigned a separate letter, each tens (10, 20, ..., 90) a separate letter, and each hundreds (100, 200, ..., 900) a separate letter. Gematria (Jewish numerology) uses these transformations extensively.
Contents |
[edit] Main Table
| Decimal | Hebrew | Glyph |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleph | א |
| 2 | Bet | ב |
| 3 | Gimel | ג |
| 4 | Dalet | ד |
| 5 | He | ה |
| 6 | Vav | ו |
| 7 | Zayin | ז |
| 8 | Het | ח |
| 9 | Teth | ט |
| 10 | Yod | י |
| 20 | Kaph | כ |
| 30 | Lamed | ל |
| 40 | Mem | מ |
| 50 | Nun | נ |
| 60 | Samekh | ס |
| 70 | Ayin | ע |
| 80 | Pe | פ |
| 90 | Tsadi | צ |
| 100 | Qoph | ק |
| 200 | Resh | ר |
| 300 | Shin | ש |
| 400 | Tav | ת |
| 500 | Tav Kof or Kaf Sofit | ת"ק or ך |
| 600 | Tav Resh or Mem Sofit | ת"ר or ם |
| 700 | Tav Shin or Nun Sofit | ת"ש or ן |
| 800 | Tav Tav or Pe Sofit | ת"ת or ף |
| 900 | Tav Tav Kof or Tsadi Sofit | תת"ק or ץ |
[edit] Calculations
The Hebrew numeric system operates on the additive principle in which the numeric values of the letters are added together to form the total. For example, 177 is represented as קעז which corresponds to 100 + 70 + 7 = 177.
Mathematically, this system requires 27 letters. The last letter, tav (which has the value 400) is used in combination with itself and/or other letters from kof (100) onwards, to generate numbers from 500 and above. Alternatively, the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet is sometimes extended to 27 by using 5 sofeet (final) forms of the Hebrew letters.
[edit] Key exceptions
By convention, the numbers 15 and 16 are represented as ט״ו (9+6) and ט״ז (9+7), respectively. This is done in order to refrain from using the two-letter combinations י–ה (10+5) and י–ו (10+6) (which are alternate written forms for the Name of God) in everyday writing.
Combinations which would spell out words with negative connotations are sometimes avoided by switching the order of the letters. For instance, תשמ״ד (meaning "you/it will be destroyed") might instead be written as תשד״מ.
[edit] Gershayim
Gereshayim (U+05F4 in Unicode, and resembling a double quote mark) [sometimes referred to as mercha'ot] are inserted before (to the right of) the last (leftmost) letter to indicate that the sequence of letters represents a number rather than a word. This is used in the case where a number is represented by two or more Hebrew numerals (e.g., 18 → י״ח).
Similarly, a single geresh (U+05F3 in Unicode, and resembling a single quote mark) is appended after (to the left of) a single letter to indicate that the letter represents a number rather than a (one-letter) word. This is used in the case where a number is represented by a single Hebrew numeral (e.g., 100 → ק׳).
[edit] Decimals
In print, Arabic numerals are employed in Modern Hebrew for most purposes. Hebrew numerals are used nowadays primarily for writing the days and years of the Hebrew calendar; for references to traditional Jewish texts (particularly for Biblical chapter and verse and for Talmudic folios); for bulleted or numbered lists (similar to A, B, C, etc., in English); and in numerology (gematria).
[edit] Thousands and date formats
Thousands are counted separately, and the thousands count precedes the rest of the number (to the right, since Hebrew is read from right to left). There are no special marks to signify that the “count” is starting over with thousands, which can theoretically lead to ambiguity. When specifying years of the Hebrew calendar in the present millennium, writers usually omit the thousands (which is presently 5 [ה]). The current Israeli coinage includes the thousands.
[edit] Date examples
“Monday, 15 Adar 5764” (where 5764 = 5(×1000) + 400 + 300 + 60 + 4, and 15 = 9 + 6):
- In full (with thousands): “Monday, 15(th) of Adar, 5764”
- יום שני ט״ו באדר ה׳תשס״ד
- Common usage (omitting thousands): “Monday, 15(th) of Adar, (5)764”
- יום שני ט״ו באדר תשס״ד
- Alternative “American style” (writing “15” in Arabic numerals): “Adar 15, (5)764”
- אדר 15 תשס״ד
“Thursday, 3 Nisan 5767” (where 5767 = 5(×1000) + 400 + 300 + 60 + 7):
- In full (with thousands): “Thursday, 3(rd) of Nisan, 5767”
- יום חמישי ג׳ בניסן ה׳תשס״ז
- Common usage (omitting thousands): “Thursday, 3(rd) of Nisan, (5)767”
- יום חמישי ג׳ בניסן תשס״ז
- Alternative “American style” (writing “3” in Arabic numerals): “Nisan 3, (5)767”
- ניסן 3 תשס״ז
To see how today's date in the Hebrew calendar is written, see, for example, the dateline at the top of the Haaretz Online home page.
[edit] Recent years
5768 (2007–08) = תשס״ח
5767 (2006–07) = תשס״ז
5766 (2005–06) = תשס״ו
5765 (2004–05) = תשס״ה
[edit] Similar systems
The Abjad numerals are equivalent to the Hebrew numerals up to 400. The Greek numerals differ from the Hebrew ones from 90 upwards because in the Greek alphabet there is no equivalent for Tsadi (צ).
