Sefer ha-Bahir is an anonymous primary Kabbalistic text whose date is genuinely contested rather than settled: it is usually placed in the second half of the twelfth century in southern France, though the tradition itself ascribes it to a much earlier authority, and some of its material may in fact predate its final redaction. This atlas leaves its publication year blank deliberately rather than asserting a false precision. It works with the seventy two fold divine name, among the earliest sources to do so. Use it to establish what this specific text says; a claim resting on a specific dating theory needs a dedicated scholarly source on that debate.
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Reliability Tier1
An anonymous primary Kabbalistic text whose date is genuinely contested, usually placed in twelfth-century southern France though the tradition ascribes it to a much earlier authority; this record leaves publication year blank deliberately rather than asserting false precision. NotesPublicationYear left NULL deliberately: the date is genuinely contested. Usually placed in the second half of the twelfth century in southern France; the tradition ascribes it to a much earlier authority, and some of its material may be older than its redaction. Works with the seventy-two-fold divine name.
Open Questions
Restricted TraditionKabbalah has historically limited study of foundational texts such as the Bahir to students judged ready for it, often under a teacher's guidance. This is a widely published popular translation, and it is not settled whether that limitation extends to this edition or to citing it here.
This would be settled by someone familiar with how this translation is actually used in practice today confirming whether it is treated as open study material or as a text still reserved for prepared students. Citation
AuthorAnonymous
URLhttps://archive.org/details/JudaismSeferHaBahirBahirEnglishTranslationPdfKabbalahTorahIsrael
Source Typeprimary-text
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names France directly: "of the twelfth century in southern France, though the tradition itself ascribes it to a much earlier authority, and some of its material may in fact predate its final redaction."
Claims Backed By This Source (234 claims)
This source backs 234 claims across the atlas. As facts: 156 well-attested, 1 open question. As cited relationships: 1 holds, 1 connected. Plus 75 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Shem Angels, 216 claims: 144 well-attested, 72 general references.
- Sources, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 open question, 1 holds.
- Open Questions, 6 claims: 4 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.
- Esoteric Texts, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Well-attested
156Showing 1 to 50 of 75 entities carrying this claim. Next
General References
75Showing 1 to 50 of 75 entities carrying this claim. Next
Open Questions (1 open question)
Is the Aryeh Kaplan translation of the Bahir open study material or still reserved for prepared students?
Kabbalah has historically limited study of foundational texts such as the Bahir to students judged ready for it, and this widely published translation's own pages do not say whether that limitation reaches this edition or a citation drawn from it.
What would resolve this Someone familiar with how this translation is actually used in practice today confirming whether it is treated as open study material or as a text still reserved for prepared students.
Anonymous, Sefer ha-Bahir (The Book of Illumination)
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The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.