the-beard

idra-theosophy frame, configurative-anatomy mode (dominant), with the anti-corporealist-figurative relation as the default frame. The dikna (beard) is a tikkun — an ordered configuration, not a literal beard on a literal face; the Idra’s warning ‘woe to one who reaches out his hand to the beard’ marks it as the most concealed and dangerous of the configurations to handle. The hair, the parting, the path beneath the nostrils are rendered concretely in the body, but they are configurations of the divine mercy, not corporeal features; the Maimonidean denial of divine corporeality is not violated because no body is asserted (Cordovero’s systematic reading). On the wolfson-imaginal reading the imaginal beard is real as the medium of the theophany, not a disposable metaphor; either way the un-literalizing is done here, not by erasing the image in the body. Wolfson, Elliot R. 1994; Tishby, Isaiah 1989

thirteen-conformations

idra-theosophy frame, scriptural-anchoring; pardes co-applies. The beard is ordered in thirteen conformations, through which flow ‘thirteen springs, fountains of the oil of good anointing.’ The thirteen are read by the Idra as the thirteen attributes of mercy enumerated in Exodus 34:6-7 (‘the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious…’) and echoed in Micah 7:18-20 (‘who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity…’): the beard is the channel by which mercy flows from the concealed Ancient One to the worlds, each conformation a measure of that mercy. The from-Aramaic ‘conformations’ uses the Idra-register configuration/arrangement sense of tikkun (the ordered parts of the beard), deliberately NOT the later Lurianic ‘rectification’ (the cosmic shevirah-repair, a homonym). The detailed enumeration of the conformations beginning here continues through the following chapters of the Idra Rabba. Matt, Daniel C. 2014; Liebes, Yehuda 1993

macroprosopus-comparand

PD-comparison. Mathers (1887, from Knorr’s Latin) titles the section ‘Concerning the Beard of Macroprosopus’ and renders the thirteen tikkunim as ‘thirteen dispositions’ / ‘thirteen forms,’ the springs as ‘thirteen fountains… scattering the most precious balm of splendour,’ and be-shikkula as ‘in the equilibrium (of balanced power)’ (this rendering: ‘in balance,’ preserving the weighing-image of the matkela register). Convergence on the awe-warning (‘Woe unto him who extendeth his hand’), the whiteness (‘white as snow’), and the thirteen springs; divergence on Macroprosopus vs the Holy Elder/Atika and on dispositions/forms vs conformations. Mathers adds bracketed glosses absent from the Aramaic. Mathers, S. L. MacGregor 1887, p. 134-135

Editorial decisions

• conformations. The thirteen tikkunim of the beard rendered ‘conformations’ (the ordered parts/arrangements of the beard, each a channel of an attribute of mercy), using the Idra-register configuration sense; the Lurianic ‘rectification’ (cosmic shevirah-repair) is deliberately avoided as a homonym, consistent with the cluster’s treatment of tikkun. The thirteen attributes of mercy (Exod 34 / Micah 7) identification is placed in apparatus, not asserted in the body (the source enumerates the conformations anatomically; the Micah-7 mapping is made explicit later in the Idra). (editor-vincent, 2026-05-29)
• the-holy-elder. ‘Sava kadisha’ rendered ‘the Holy Elder’ (sava = elder/old one), a standard epithet of Atika Kadisha; the Atika identification noted in apparatus rather than substituted in the body, preserving the source’s own appellation. (editor-vincent, 2026-05-29)

Manuscript variants

• Variant-reading gloss (נ”א) in the source: טמיר וסתים (‘hidden and concealed’, masculine) for טמירא וסתימא (the determinate/emphatic forms) describing the beard — A grammatical variant in the run of epithets for the concealed beard; does not affect the sense.

dikna

Selected sense: the-holy-beard

Active senses: beard, the-holy-beard

Rationale: The governing image: the precious supernal beard (dikna yakira) of the Holy Elder, configured in thirteen parts. Rendered concretely as ‘beard’ (and ‘the precious beard’ for dikna yakira); the configurative-not-corporeal frame (it is a configuration of mercy, not a literal beard) is carried in apparatus. ‘Influx’/‘channels of grace’ refused as body-text abstractions.

Lexicon: lexicon/dikna

atika-kadisha

Selected sense: the-holy-ancient-one

Active senses: the-holy-ancient-one, the-most-concealed

Rationale: Named here by the epithet ‘sava kadisha’ (the Holy Elder/Old One), a standard appellation of Atika Kadisha — the beard is the beard of the most concealed configuration. Rendered ‘the Holy Elder’ (preserving sava = elder) with the Atika identification in apparatus; never collapsed to ‘God,’ ‘the father’ refused.

Lexicon: lexicon/atika-kadisha

chivra

Selected sense: white

Active senses: white, whiteness

Rationale: The beard is ‘white as snow’ (chivvara ke-talga), the unmixed mercy of Atika. Rendered ‘white’; ‘pale’/‘gray’ refused.

Lexicon: lexicon/chivra

tikkun

Selected sense: configuration

Active senses: configuration, reconfiguration, rectification

Rationale: The thirteen tikkunim of the beard — the ordered conformations into which its hair is arranged, each (per the Idra) a channel of one of the thirteen attributes of mercy. Rendered ‘conformations’ in the body (and ‘ordered’ for the verbal mittakna), using the Idra-register ‘configuration/arrangement’ sense; the Lurianic ‘rectification’ (cosmic shevirah-repair) is a homonym and is deliberately avoided. Mathers renders ‘dispositions’/‘forms.‘

Lexicon: lexicon/tikkun

Mathers, 1887

Rendering: Rabbi Schimeon began, and said: Woe unto him who extendeth his hand unto that most glorious supernal beard of the Holy Ancient One, the concealed of all. This is the praise of that beard; the beard which is concealed and most precious in all its dispositions; the beard which neither the superiors nor the inferiors have known; the beard which is the praise of all praise; the beard to which neither man, nor prophet, nor saint hath approached so as to behold it. The beard, whose hairs hang down even unto the breast, white as snow; the adornment of adornments, the concealment of concealments, the truth of all truths. It is said in the “Book of Concealed Mystery”: That beard, the truth of all, proceedeth from the place of the ears, and descendeth around the mouth of the Holy One; and descendeth and ascendeth, covering the places of copious fragrance; white with ornament; and it descendeth in the equilibrium, and furnisheth a covering even unto the midst of the breast. That is the beard of adornment, true and perfect, from the which flow down thirteen fountains, scattering the most precious balm of splendour. This is disposed in thirteen forms. In the first disposition are classed the hairs from above, and it commenceth from that portion of the hair of His head which is above His ears; and descendeth in one thread, in the equilibrium, unto the top of the mouth.

Agreement: divergent — [auto-token-jaccard v1 score=0.29] The only pre-1929 PD English; from Knorr’s Latin. Divergences that are the contribution: - “the beard of Macroprosopus” / “of the Holy Ancient One” — this rendering keeps “the precious beard of the Holy Ancient One (Atika)” and refuses Macroprosopus in the body. - “dispositions” / “thirteen forms” for the thirteen tikkunim (this rendering: “thirteen rectifications,” the conformations of the beard, read as the thirteen attributes of mercy). - “in the equilibrium (of balanced power)” for be-shikkula (this: “in balance,” preserving the weighing-image of the matkela register). - Mathers adds bracketed editorial glosses (“the cheeks which it calleth”; “of balanced power”) absent from the Aramaic. Verbatim excerpt verified against sacred-texts.com tku19 (2026-05-29). Agreement auto-scored by token-Jaccard.