This entry originally appeared on our online encyclopedia, InnerPedia.org here: http://www.innerpedia.org/index.php?title=Ekyeh
Ekyeh (אֶהְיֶה) is one of the Names of God.
In Hebrew, this word literally means "I shall be." But, it appears as a Divine Name three times in a single verse of the Pentateuch.
The Name Ekyeh, like the two Names Kah and Havayah, is considered an essential Name of God, because they are all composed exclusively of the letters alef (א), hei (ה), vav (ו), and yud (י), the four letters considered the essential origins of the holy language.
Source in Bible
In the dialogue between God and Moses, in which God appoints Moses as His chosen messenger to redeem the Jewish people from Egypt, Moses asks God which of His Names he should state in response to the people's question regarding the Name of He who has sent him. God replies,
- I shall be [Ekyeh] what I shall be [Ekyeh]; so shall you say to the children of Israel: "Ekyeh sent me to you." [Exodus 3:14]
Meaning
The literal meaning of "Ekyeh"-"I shall be"-implies new birth or revelation of self. In context of the verse in which it appears, Ekyeh suggests that the essence of God's own Self will be born, as it were, into reality with the spiritual birth of the Jewish people through their redemption from exile. This of course leads to the understanding of the land of Egypt as the spiritual womb of the Jewish people. God's becoming in reality is thus linked intrinsically with the becoming of the Children of Israel into a nation.
Correspondence to the sefirot
God's own becoming as it were reflects the power of the sefirah of crown, for which reason the Name Ekyeh is generally associated with crown.
The birth of the souls of Israel from the supernal womb also associates Ekyeh with the sefirah of understanding, the sefirah that when consummately developed is represented by partzuf Imma, the mother principle.
In the words "I shall be what I shall be" the two instances of Ekyeh represent its correspondence to both crown and understanding. Its implied meaning is therefore that Ekyeh that is in crown is also in understanding.
Gematria of Ekyeh
The gematria of Ekyeh is 21.
The two instances of the Name in the phrase "I shall be [Ekyeh] what I shall be [Ekyeh]" suggest the product of 21 and 21, or 212 = 441. 441 is the value of "truth" (אֶמֶת).
The value of the phrase "I shall be [Ekyeh] what I shall be [Ekyeh]" (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה) is 543, implying an intrinsic connection with Moses, whose name (מֹשֶׁה) equals 345, the exact inverse of 543. 543 is also the value of Moses's first born son, Gershom (גֵרְשֹׁם).
In Atbash, the letters of Ekyeh transforms to תצמצ whose value is 620, the gematria of crown (כֶּתֶר). Crown is the sefirah associated in general with the Name Ekyeh.
Ekyeh appears exactly 3 times in the entire Bible (all in one verse, as above). These three instances correspond to the three possible fillings of the Name
- אלף הא יוד הא = 143
- אלף הה יוד הה = 151
- אלף הי יוד הי = 161
The sum of all three fillings is 455.
455 = 5 • 91 (91 is the sum of the values of Havayah and Adni, 26 
65) = 7 • 65 (the value of Adni)
455 is the value of the verse, "The whole earth is full of His glory"<ref name="Isaiah">Isaiah 6:3</ref> (מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ)
References
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