Chapter 4. Sounds of Silence: Sefer Yeṣirah Before the Tenth Century

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. A Note on Transliteration of the Hebrew Alphabet ix
4. Introduction 1
5. Chapter 1. Discussions About Alphabetical Letters in Non-Jewish Sources of Late Antiquity 17
6. Chapter 2. The Creation of the World from the Letters of the Ineffable Name 32
7. Chapter 3. The Creation of the World from Twenty-Two Letters and the Syriac Context of Sefer Yeṣirah 55
8. Chapter 4. Sounds of Silence: Sefer Yeṣirah Before the Tenth Century 76
9. Chapter 5. Reevaluating the Scientific Phase of Sefer Yeṣirah 88
10. Epilogue 106
11. Appendix 1. Sefer Yeṣirah and the Early Islamic Science of Letters 111
12. Appendix 2. Sefer Yeṣirah’s Long Version, According to Ms. Vatican 299/4, 66a–71b, with the English Translations of Peter A. Hayman 117
13. Appendix 3. The Midrash About Sefer Yeṣirah and Ben Sira, According to Ms. Vatican 299/4, 65a–66a 135
14. Notes 137
15. Bibliography 171
16. Index 189
17. Acknowledgments 195