This is a faithful transcription of a litany of angelic names recorded in Sefer HaQanah, whose inital letters form the 42 letter divine name provided in introduction to it. The sequence is also found in a similar litany of angelic names in Sefer haPeliah (by the same unknown author). These two formulations present the earliest witness to the 42 letter name featured in a handful of acrostic piyyutim, including Ana B’Khoaḥ. The mistaken and popular attribution of Ana B’Khoaḥ to the tannaitic sage Neḥunyah ben haQanah derives from an attribution of this 42 letter sequence found in Sefer HaQanah. The author of the sefer, a Byzantine Kabbalist of the late 14th or early 15th century included earlier material in the work, including heichalot writings, so it does not seem to us entirely implausible that texts deriving from the esoteric school of Neḥunyah ben haQanah (or someone or group seeking that venerable association) might have been included in this work.

For more on the 42 letter divine name and the piyyutim, including Ana B’Khoaḥ, which provide it as an acrostic, please enjoy Ben Newman’s article, here. Concerning this text, Rabbi Newman writes:

The general genre of piyyutim or texts containing the 42 letter name as an acrostic is first seen, albeit in a magical and philosophical manner, in Sefer HaKanah (attributed to Nehunia b. Hakanah)….in Sefer Peliah, the author claims that the letters of the name of 42 actually correspond to the names of angels: “Now listen to these things for these letters of the name of 42, out of each letter comes an active angel from the power of the name…”^[3] ספר הקנה- ד”ה סוד של מ”ב אותיות:  Though the list of these names cited in Sefer HaKanah is not a piyyut, it could be thought of as a sort of text….In this, the first reference to the name of 42 from Sefer HaKanah, the name becomes a series of rashi teivot for the names of angels. The order of the names is also not exactly the same as in the conventional name of 42. It is the same in the beginning bit ends up being quite different, with many yods, vavs and hehs thrown in. Also, it seems to go way beyond 42 words.

Just an important note that other unvocalized transcriptions of this sequence are published elsewhere on the Internet (1, 2), unfortunately containing what seem to us as transcription errors. We have prepared our vocalized transcription from Cod. Hebr. 42 at the Bavarian State Library, Munich, Germany (ca. 16th c.) and the 1894 edition published in Krakow. Text in brackets appears out of place in the Codex Hebrew 42, and is transcribed above to conform with the sequence of the 42 letter name. Letters in parentheses are letters that appear in Codex Hebrew 42 but which don’t conform to the 42 letter name exactly.

Sources

adiryaron bahiryaron (MUN 42) f.167r

adiryaron bahiryaron (MUN 42) f.167v

“אַדִירְיַרוֹן בַהִירְיַרוֹן | Adiryaron Ḅahiryaron, a litany of angelic names associated with the 42 letter name, recorded in Sefer haQanah” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Unknown Author(s)

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Works of related interest:

 

אַדִירְיַרוֹן בַהִירְיַרוֹן | Adiryaron Ḅahiryaron, a litany of angelic names associated with the 42 letter name, recorded in Sefer haPeliah

אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל | Elohim b’Yisrael :: A piyyut containing the 42 Letter Name, recorded in Sefer haPeliah

אֵל בָּרוּךְ | El Barukh :: A piyyut containing the 42 Letter Name, recorded by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz

אֶהְיֶה בְּעֵדֶן | Ehyeh b’Aden :: A piyyut containing the 42 Letter Name, in Sefer Ma’avar Yaḇoq (1626)

אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ | Ana b’Khoaḥ, a 42 letter name piyyut with a singing translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

מימיני מיכאל | “Mikhael is on my right,” an apotropaic invocation of angelic protection in the Bedtime Shema from the Maḥzor Vitry (ca. 11th c.)

מִימִינִי מִיכָאֵל | “Mikhael is on my right,” the angelic invocation for divine protection from the Ḳriyat Shema al haMitah

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