Mazalogy · Hebrew letter reference in English
Bet: Hebrew letter forms and values
Identify Bet ב, compare standard, ordinal and reduced-letter values, and check בית in its cited Hebrew source.
Published · Our editorial approach
Bet and Vet share a base letter
| Form | Character | Unicode code point | Unicode 17.0 name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary Bet | ב | U+05D1 | HEBREW LETTER BET |
Bet / Beit; Beis in an Ashkenazi naming tradition. Reading cue: b with dagesh; v without it in the introductory chart.
Compare בּ with ב. The inside dot is dagesh, encoded separately as U+05BC. The alphabet reference distinguishes b and v readings, while both retain the same value. An unpointed text leaves that mark unwritten; it does not acquire a twenty-third alphabet letter.
Bet has no special final form. Compare its printed shape with Kaf, כ, in the same typeface before copying a difficult word. Selecting the wrong base letter changes the input even when the two outlines look similar at first.
One letter, three explicit values
| Standard | Ordinal | Reduced letters |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 2 |
In בית, Bet contributes 2 in all three methods. Tav contributes 400, 22 or 4, so Bet’s small value does not determine the size of the word total. The dagesh inside the pointed example changes reading information, not any of these sums.
בית: house (of)
Pointed source form: בֵּית · reading cue: beit. Genesis 28:17 · Mechon Mamre.
The source uses this form in “house of God.” Preserve the construct form beit when reading this phrase; the familiar standalone pronunciation bayit is not a reason to rewrite the supplied letters.
| Reading position | Written letter | Base letter | Standard | Ordinal | Reduced letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ב | ב | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | י | י | 10 | 10 | 1 |
| 3 | ת | ת | 400 | 22 | 4 |
| Word total | 412 | 34 | 7 | ||
Standard: 2 + 10 + 400 = 412 · Ordinal: 2 + 10 + 22 = 34 · Reduced letters: 2 + 1 + 4 = 7
Its group in the Gra version of Sefer Yetzirah
Bet ב is among the seven doubles listed in Gra 4:1: בגדכפרת. Keep this textual classification distinct from the alphabet position and the arithmetic columns above.
Study the source in a guided introduction · Read about textual versions
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Sources, dates and conventions
Prepared by Mazalogy with AI assistance. Characters, source-word spellings and calculation rules were checked against the sources and the calculator on . Reading cues introduce the cited chart; pronunciation varies by community. Source attribution does not imply outside review or endorsement.
- Unicode 17.0 · Hebrew, section 9.1: direction, points and final forms
- Unicode 17.0 · NamesList: Hebrew character names and code points
- Chabad · The Hebrew Alphabet: letter chart, sounds and values
- GalEinai · Four Methods for Doing Gematria: distinguish counting conventions
- Sefer Yetzirah · Gra version 4:1, the seven doubles
- Mechon Mamre · Genesis 28:17, Hebrew text with JPS 1917 English
English reference edition. Numerical examples retain final forms and actual vowel letters while ignoring pronunciation marks. Final forms keep base-letter values in all three methods. Reduced letters are added without reducing the completed word total again.