Belimah: a Sefer Yetzirah source word
Belimah is a qualifier attached to the ten sefirot in Sefer Yetzirah. Here the Gra version’s selected Hebrew record supplies the word forms and surrounding instructions. Keeping the term with its passage helps distinguish a source reading from a proposed translation or later diagram.
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Term and spelling
בלימה / בלי מה · Belimah; Beli mah or beli-mah renders the separated Hebrew form בלי מה. This entry keeps the source word visible rather than assigning one universal English translation.
Keep the spelling with the count
In the selected Gra record, 1:2 writes בלי מה as two words after the ten sefirot. A word-by-word study cue is beli — “without”; mah — “what.” That cue helps you recognize the separated expression; it is not a settled translation or etymology of the technical term. Units 1:3 and 1:4 write בלימה as one word.
Beli mah and Belimah let an English reader recognize these displayed forms. The spacing difference belongs to this digital witness. Unit 1:4 insists on ten, rather than nine or eleven. Record that count beside the word, then read the instruction before choosing a fuller gloss.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version · 1:2–4, word forms and tenfold count · Warsaw 1884 Hebrew
Read the instruction that follows
Gra 1:8 repeats the expression and then addresses the mouth and the heart: it calls for restraining speech and thought, and returning when they rush forward. This is an original concise account of the instruction, not a complete translation of the unit.
The nearby verb and the qualifier invite a reading question. Their presence alone does not prove a single etymology or require every translator to use the same English word. If an edition gives a gloss, preserve its translator and explanation separately from the Hebrew form you found.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version · 1:8, speech and thought instruction · Warsaw 1884 Hebrew
Make a note that preserves what you found
Try a two-row note: “Gra 1:2 — בלי מה — ten sefirot” and “Gra 1:4 — בלימה — ten, not nine or eleven.” Add the selected title, Sefer Yetzirah, Warsaw 1884, as recorded by Sefaria. Keep both spellings when searching rather than silently replacing one in a quotation.
Now add a separate row for 1:8’s instruction. Mark your paraphrase as a paraphrase. A question about the word’s meaning can remain unanswered in the note; the exact form, reference and surrounding statement still give another reader something reproducible.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version · 1:2–4, word forms and tenfold count · Warsaw 1884 Hebrew · Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version · 1:8, speech and thought instruction · Warsaw 1884 Hebrew
Keep later names and diagrams in their own sources
These selected units do not present the later common ten-name sequence as a list. Finding the count does not license inserting a familiar tree into the passage. Use the wider sefirot guide for names and relationships in their identified explanatory setting.
The links here request one named Hebrew digital version and leave missing-segment filling off. Sefaria labels that record Public Domain; no modern English translation or scanned page is reproduced. Source checking and this original reading exercise do not imply review by the edition’s author or a qualified scholar.
Sources: Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version · 1:2–4, word forms and tenfold count · Warsaw 1884 Hebrew
Related terms and learning
Sources and editorial approach
Prepared by Mazalogy with AI assistance and the named sources. Definitions summarize a source in its context; reading exercises are contemporary editorial work. Source attribution does not imply that its author or institution reviewed or endorsed this page.