Kabbalistic Secrets of Gibbor

Delving into the Mysteries of Torah

Genesis 10:8-9 contains an interesting quirk related to the term “mighty”, in Hebrew the word is גִּבֹּ֖ר pronounced ‘gibbor’. There are actually three occurrences of this word within these two lines - a phenomenon that begs more than a question, but an entire rabbit hole filled with questions. Typically, any repetition found in the Torah is more than simple coincidence, implying deep ideas, often mystical, that connect various hidden threads. The triple repetition of a term would imply an increasing relevance, and the usage of such a term so early in the Torah within the opening few lines of Genesis - despite all of the Torah being perfect, and full of mystery - truly forces us to inquire into the specific Hebrew structure of these words.

The first usage of the term is the simple ‘gibbor’ גִּבֹּ֖ר in the line “And Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be mighty in the land.” The second and third usages both follow in the line “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord." While both usages are modified with the term ‘hunter’(גִּבֹּֽר־צַ֖יִד) the third implementation of gibbor actually inserts an entire letter into the word making it גִּבּ֥וֹר with the addition of a Vav. This third usage is actually the standard form of the term ‘mighty’ used principally in this variety across the Torah and Hebrew literature. Not only are we given a triple repetition of nearly identical words and sentences, but one of these is spelled entirely different! Let’s get to the bottom of this important mystery.