The Evolution of Hebrew Script and Ezra’s Role in Torah Transmission (Sanhedrin 21b-22a)

Appendices - The Writing on the Wall In Daniel 5: Various cryptographic possibilities of how it was written; Ezra’s Genealogy, Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, and His Mission (Ezra 7:1-11)

This sugya discusses the evolution of the script used to write Hebrew (and Aramaic) over time.

See Wikipedia, “History of the Hebrew alphabet”:

The Hebrew alphabet is a script that was derived from the Aramaic alphabet during the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods (c. 500 BCE – 50 CE). It replaced the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet which was used in the earliest epigraphic records of the Hebrew language.

The history of the Hebrew alphabet is not to be confused with the history of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, so called not because it is ancestral to the Hebrew alphabet but because it was used to write the earliest form of the Hebrew language [...]

Following the Babylonian exile, the Jews gradually stopped using the Paleo-Hebrew script, and instead adopted a "square" form of the Aramaic alphabet. A similar "square Aramaic script" is still used for contemporary western dialects of Aramaic (Western Neo-Aramaic).

This "square" variant of Aramaic developed into the Hebrew alphabet proper during the Second Temple period, in a process that was not complete before the 1st century CE; for example, the letter samekh developed its closed or circular form only in the middle Hasmonean period, around 100 BCE, and this variant becomes the standard form in early Herodian hands, in the 1st century CE.

The Samaritan alphabet, on the other hand, remains a direct descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew script [...]

In the Talmud (=our sugya), the Paleo-Hebrew script is known as the Libona'a, associated with the Samaritan community who continued to preserve the script, and the Hebrew script is known as the Ashurith, associated with Assyria.

The Talmudic sages did not share a uniform stance on the subject of the development of the Hebrew alphabet. Some claimed that Paleo-Hebrew was the original script used by the Israelites at the time of the Exodus. According to this tradition, the block script seen today in Hebrew Torah Scrolls, called the "Assyrian script" (Kthav Ashurith) in the Talmud, was the original Hebrew script carved into the Ten Commandments.

Others believed that Paleo-Hebrew merely served as a stopgap in a time when the ostensibly original script (the Hebrew alphabet) had been lost.

According to both opinions, Ezra the Scribe (c. 500 BCE) introduced, or reintroduced the Assyrian script to be used as the primary alphabet for the Hebrew language.

The arguments given for both opinions are rooted in Jewish scripture and/or tradition.

A third opinion in the Talmud states that the script never changed altogether. It would seem that the sage who expressed this opinion did not believe that Paleo-Hebrew ever existed, despite the strong arguments supporting it. His stance is rooted in a scriptural verse, which makes reference to the shape of the letter vav.

The sage argues further that, given the commandment to copy a Torah scroll directly from another, the script could not conceivably have been modified at any point. This third opinion was accepted by some early Jewish scholars, and rejected by others, partially because it was permitted to write the Torah in Greek.

In our sugya, “Hebrew alphabet” is referred to as “Ashuri”, and “Paleo-Hebrew” as “Ivri”.

And see Hebrew Wikipedia, הכתב העברי הקדום, my translation:

The ancient Hebrew (עברי) script, also known as the Da’atz (דַעַץ) script (as well as Raatz (רעץ), Dḥatz (דחץ), or the Libona’a (ליבונאה) script),¹ is a script of the Hebrew alphabet that was used by the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel during the first half of the first millennium BCE.

Outline

1. Mar Zutra / Mar Ukva: Initially, the Torah was given in Ivri script and Hebrew language; In Ezra’s time, it was reissued in Ashuri script and Aramaic

2. R' Yosei: Ezra as a Second Moses and the Script Change

3. Ezra's Potential as Lawgiver (Exodus 19:3; Ezra 7:6)

4. Another textual parallel supports Ezra's equivalence to Moses in teaching Torah (Deuteronomy 4:14; Ezra 7:10)

5. Ezra’s Role in Changing the Script (Ezra 4:7; Daniel 5:8; Deuteronomy 17:18)

6. R' Yehuda HaNasi: The Original Script Was Ashuri, the Shift to Ivri, and The Restoration of Ashuri (Zechariah 9:12)

7. R' Elazar HaModa’i: the script of the Torah never changed (Exodus 27:10; Esther 8:9)

Appendix 1 - The Mysterious Writing on the Wall In Daniel 5: different cryptographic possibilities of how it was written (Sanhedrin 22a, # 8-10)

1. Why the Babylonian sages could not decipher the writing on the wall

Appendix 2 – Ezra’s Genealogy, Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, and His Mission (Ezra 7:1-11)

The Passage

Sanhedrin.21b.22-22a.5

Mar Zutra / Mar Ukva: Initially, the Torah was given in Ivri script and Hebrew language; In Ezra’s time, it was reissued in Ashuri script and Aramaic

Initially, the Torah was given in “Ivri”² script and Hebrew language.³

In Ezra’s time, it was reissued in Ashuri⁴ script and Aramaic (לשון ארמי).

The Jewish people chose Ashuri and Hebrew for sacred use, while Ivri and Aramaic remained for commoners,⁵ identified by Rav Ḥisda as the Samaritans.⁶

אמר מר זוטרא, ואיתימא מר עוקבא:

בתחלה ניתנה תורה לישראל בכתב עברי ולשון הקודש.

חזרה וניתנה להם בימי עזרא בכתב אשורי ולשון ארמי.

ביררו להן ישראל כתב אשורי ולשון הקודש,

והניחו להדיוטות כתב עברית ולשון ארמי.

מאן הדיוטות?

אמר רב חסדא: כותאי.

מאי כתב עברית?

אמר רב חסדא: כתב ליבונאה.

Mar Zutra says, and some say that it is Mar Ukva who says:

Initially, the Torah was given to the Jewish people in Ivrit script, the original form of the written language, and the sacred tongue, Hebrew.

It was given to them again in the days of Ezra in Ashurit script and the Aramaic tongue.

The Jewish people selected Ashurit script and the sacred tongue for the Torah scroll

and left Ivrit script and the Aramaic tongue for the commoners.

The Gemara asks: Who are these commoners?

Rav Ḥisda said: The Samaritans [Kutim].

The Gemara asks: What is Ivrit script?

Rav Ḥisda says: Libona’a script.

R' Yosei: Ezra as a Second Moses and the Script Change

Ezra's Potential as Lawgiver (Exodus 19:3; Ezra 7:6)

R' Yosei states that Ezra was so great that had Moses not preceded him, the Torah could have been given through him.

This comparison is based on similar language in verses describing both Moses' ascent to God (Exodus 19:3) and Ezra's journey from Babylon as a scribe skilled in the Torah (Ezra 7:6). Just as Moses ascended to receive the Torah and transmit it, Ezra's ascent was likewise for the sake of Torah.

תניא,

רבי יוסי אומר:

ראוי היה עזרא שתינתן תורה על ידו לישראל,

אילמלא לא קדמו משה.

במשה הוא אומר: ״ומשה עלה אל האלהים״,

בעזרא הוא אומר: ״הוא עזרא עלה מבבל״.

מה עלייה האמורה כאן – תורה,

אף עלייה האמורה להלן – תורה.

It is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 4:5):

R' Yosei says:

Ezra was suitable, given his greatness, for the Torah to be given by him to the Jewish people,

had Moses not come first and received the Torah already.

With regard to Moses the verse states: “And Moses went up to God” (Exodus 19:3),

and with regard to Ezra the verse states: “This Ezra went up from Babylon and he was a ready scribe in the Torah of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given” (Ezra 7:6).

Just as the going up stated here, with regard to Moses, is for the Torah, which he received from God and transmitted to the Jewish people,

so too, the going up stated there, with regard to Ezra, is for the Torah, as he taught Torah to the Jewish people and was suitable to have originally merited to give it.

Another textual parallel supports Ezra's equivalence to Moses in teaching Torah (Deuteronomy 4:14; Ezra 7:10)

Another textual parallel supports Ezra's equivalence to Moses in teaching Torah. Just as Moses was commanded to teach statutes and ordinances (Deuteronomy 4:14), Ezra is described as setting his heart to study, practice, and teach the Torah in Israel (Ezra 7:10).

במשה הוא אומר:

״ואתי צוה ה׳ בעת ההיא

ללמד אתכם חקים ומשפטים״.

בעזרא הוא אומר:

״כי עזרא הכין לבבו

לדרש את תורת ה׳ אלהיו

ולעשת וללמד בישראל חק ומשפט״.

The baraita continues: With regard to Moses the verse states:

“And YHWH commanded me at that time

to teach you statutes and ordinances” (Deuteronomy 4:14),

and with regard to Ezra the verse states:

“For Ezra had set his heart

to seek the Torah of YHWH his God

and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances” (Ezra 7:10).

Ezra’s Role in Changing the Script (Ezra 4:7; Daniel 5:8; Deuteronomy 17:18)

Although Ezra did not give the Torah itself, he played a crucial role in changing its script. The baraita interprets Ezra 4:7, where the Aramaic word “nishtevan” (נשתון - “writing”) is linked to “nishtana” (“changed”),⁷ suggesting that Ezra altered the Hebrew script.

This change is further supported by Daniel 5:8, where Belshazzar’s wise men could not read the writing on the wall, implying it was in the newly introduced script.

ואף על פי שלא ניתנה תורה על ידו,

נשתנה על ידו הכתב,

שנאמר:

״וכתב הנשתון

כתוב ארמית

ומתרגם ארמית״.

וכתיב:

״לא כהלין כתבא למקרא

ופשרה להודעה למלכא״.

[מלמד שבאותו היום ניתן]

וכתיב: ״וכתב את משנה התורה הזאת״ –

כתב הראוי להשתנות.

למה נקרא שמו אשורי?

שעלה עמהם מאשור.

And even though the Torah was not given literally by him,

the script of the Torah was changed by him,

as it is stated:

“And the writing of the letter [hannishtevan]

was written in the Aramaic script,

and set forth in the Aramaic tongue” (Ezra 4:7).

The term “hannishtevan” is similar to the word nishtana, meaning changed, alluding to the fact that the script had been changed.

And it is written with regard to the writing on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace:

“Then came in all the king’s wise men.

But they could not read the writing,

nor make known to the king the interpretation” (Daniel 5:8), and the reason they could not read it is that it was written in the new script that Ezra would transmit.

And it is written: “That he shall write for himself a second [mishne] Torah” (Deuteronomy 17:18),

where “second [mishne]” teaches that it is written in a script that is apt to be changed [lehishtannot].

The baraita continues: Why is this script called Ashurit?

Because it ascended with the Jewish people from Ashur when they returned from their exile in Babylonia.

R' Yehuda HaNasi: The Original Script Was Ashuri, the Shift to Ivri, and The Restoration of Ashuri (Zechariah 9:12)

According to R' Yehuda HaNasi, the Torah was originally given in the Ashuri script (the one in use today).

After the Jewish people sinned, they lost the privilege of using Ashuri⁸ and began writing with Ivri.

Following their repentance, Ashuri script was restored to them. This is derived from Zechariah 9:12, which speaks of a doubled (מִשְׁנֶה) reward, homiletically interpreted as the return of the original script.

תניא,

רבי אומר:

בתחלה בכתב זה ניתנה תורה לישראל.

כיון שחטאו, נהפך להן לרועץ.

כיון שחזרו בהן, החזירו להם,

שנאמר:

״שובו לבצרון, אסירי התקוה

גם היום מגיד משנה אשיב לך״.

למה נקרא שמו אשורי?

שמאושר בכתבו.

It is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 4:5):

R' Yehuda HaNasi says:

Initially, the Torah was given to the Jewish people in this script, Ashurit, which is in use today.

Once the Jewish people sinned, it turned into an impairment for them and they began writing with a different script, Libona’a.

Once they repented, the first script was returned to them, and they resumed writing with Ashurit script,

as it is stated:

“Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope;

even today do I declare that I will render double [mishne] unto you” (Zechariah 9:12), meaning that God restored to the Jewish people this script that had been changed [nishtanna].

The baraita continues: If this script predates the exile to Babylonia, why is it called Ashurit?

Because it is meusheret, beautiful and straight, in script.

R' Elazar HaModa’i: the script of the Torah never changed (Exodus 27:10; Esther 8:9)

A baraita states that R' Shimon ben Elazar, citing R' Eliezer ben Perata, who in turn cited R' Elazar of Modi'im, asserts that the script of the Torah never changed.

The prooftext comes from the description of the hooks of the Tabernacle (ווי העמודים - “vavei ha'amudim”) in Exodus 27:10, which suggests continuity in both the script and terminology. The letter vav in Ashuri script resembles a hook, reinforcing the idea that the term “hook” (וו - “vav”) in the Torah refers to this unaltered letter shape.⁹

Another prooftext is drawn from Esther 8:9, which states that the decree was written “according to their script and according to their language.” Just as the language of the Jews, Hebrew, remained unchanged over generations, so too did their script.

רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר,

משום רבי אליעזר בן פרטא,

שאמר משום רבי אלעזר המודעי:

כתב זה לא נשתנה כל עיקר,

שנאמר: ״ווי העמודים״.

מה עמודים לא נשתנו,

אף ווים לא נשתנו.

ואומר: ״ואל היהודים ככתבם וכלשונם״ –

מה לשונם לא נשתנה,

אף כתבם לא נשתנה.

The baraita continues: R' Shimon ben Elazar says

in the name of R' Eliezer ben Perata,

who said in the name of R' Elazar HaModa’i:

This script did not change at all,

as it is stated with regard to the construction of the Tabernacle: “The hooks of [vavei] the poles” (Exodus 27:10).

This teaches that just as the poles were not changed,

so too, the hooks [vavim] were not changed. The letter vav in Ashurit script has the shape of a hook. Evidently, this is why the term for hook in the Torah is vav.

And the verse states: “And to the Jews according to their script and according to their language” (Esther 8:9).

This teaches that just as their language was not changed over the generations but remained Hebrew,

so too, their script was not changed.

Appendix 1 - The Mysterious Writing on the Wall In Daniel 5: Various cryptographic possibilities of how it was written (Sanhedrin 22a, # 8-10)

Sanhedrin.22a.8-10

The Talmud cites different cryptographic theories to explain why the Babylonian sages could not read the inscription until Daniel intervened.

The fact that they couldn’t read it is stated in Daniel.5.8 (this verse is cited in the Talmud passage, that I cite later):

אדין [עלין] כל חכימי מלכא

ולא־כהלין כתבא למקרא

[ופשרה] להודעה למלכא

Then all the king’s wise (חכימי) men came,

but they could (כהלין) not read the writing

or make known its meaning (פשרה) to the king.

The writing on the wall is quoted in Daniel.5.25:

ודנה כתבא די רשים:

מנא מנא תקל ופרסין

This is the writing that is inscribed:

MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN.

And it’s interpreted by Daniel in the following three verses, Daniel.5.26-28 (cited in the part of the Talmud section that I elide):

דנה פשר־מלתא

And this is its meaning:

מנא —

מנה־אלהא מלכותך

והשלמה

MENE (מנא) —

God has numbered (מנה) [the days of] your kingdom

and brought it to an end;

תקל —

תקילת במאזניא

והשתכחת חסיר

TEKEL (תקל) —

you have been weighed (תקילת) in the balance (מאזניא - literally: “scale”)

and found wanting;

פרס —

פריסת מלכותך

ויהיבת למדי ופרס

PERES (פרס) —

your kingdom has been divided (פריסת)

and given to the Medes (מדי) and the Persians (פרס).”

See Wikipedia, “Belshazzar's feast”:

Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall, chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel, tells how Neo-Babylonian royal Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and writes on the wall. The terrified Belshazzar calls for his wise men, but they cannot read the writing. The queen advises him to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom [...]

From the story, the idiom "to be able to read the writing on the wall" came to mean seeing from the available evidence that doom or failure is inevitable, and "the writing on the wall" itself can mean anything portending such doom or failure [...]

Daniel reads the words "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN" and interprets them for the king: "MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed ... and found wanting;" and "UPHARSIN", your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed in purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made… that he should rank third in the kingdom; [and] that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean (Babylonian) king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom."

None of the Chaldean wise men can even read, let alone interpret, the writing on the wall, but Daniel does so by supplying vowels in two different ways: first, the words are read as nouns, then as verbs.

The nouns are monetary weights: a mənê, equivalent to a Jewish mina or sixty shekels (several ancient versions have only one mənê instead of two); a təqêl, equivalent to a shekel; and p̄arsîn, meaning "half-pieces".

The last involves a word-play on the name of the Persians (pārās in Hebrew),¹⁰ suggesting not only that they are to inherit Belshazzar's kingdom, but that they are two peoples, Medes and Persians.

Daniel then interprets the words as verbs based on their roots: mənê is interpreted as meaning "numbered"; təqêl, from a root meaning to weigh, as meaning "weighed" (and found wanting); and pərês (פְּרַס‎), the singular form of p̄arsîn, from a root meaning "to divide", denoting that the kingdom is to be "divided" and given to the Medes and Persians.

If the "half-pieces" means two half-shekels, then the various weights—a mənê or sixty shekels, another shekel, and two half-shekels—add up to 62, which the tale gives as the age of Darius the Mede, indicating that God's will is being worked out

Why the Babylonian sages could not decipher the writing on the wall

(In the table above: Hebrew font used is Noto Sans Hebrew. I marked up the deciphered and ciphered of Shmuel, boxing the first vertical column, to illustrate. I did the same for Rav Ashi’s deciphered and ciphered, boxing the first two letters of the first words, to illustrate.)

Four explanations are given as to why the Babylonian sages could not decipher the words "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN" that were written on the wall:¹¹

1. Rav: the words were ciphered using the “at-bash” cipher.¹²

2. Shmuel: the words were written vertically.¹³

3. R' Yoḥanan: the words were written backward.¹⁴

4. Rav Ashi: the first two letters of each word were swapped.¹⁵

מאי ״לא כהלין כתבא למקרא״?

1. אמר רב: בגימטריא איכתיב להון ״יטת יטת אדך פוגחמט״ [...]

2. ושמואל אמר: ״ממתוס ננקפי אאלרן״.

3. ורבי יוחנן אמר: ״אנם אנם לקת ניסרפו״.

4. רב אשי אמר: ״נמא נמא קתל פורסין״.

what is the reason “they could not read the writing” (Daniel 5:8)?

1. Rav says: Because it was written for them in the obscure code of gimatriyya. It was written: Yod, tet, tav; yod, tet, tav; alef, yod, dalet, khaf; peh, vav, gimmel, ḥet, mem, tet. These letters correspond with: Mem, nun, alef; mem, nun, alef; tav, kuf, lamed; vav, peh, reish, samekh, yod, nun; this is based on the exchange of letters known as at bash, or the exchanging of a letter with its counterpart in the opposite place in the alphabet, e.g., alef, the first letter, for tav, the last letter [...]

2. And Shmuel says: The writing used the correct letters for those terms, but instead of being written in order, the four words, mene mene tekel ufarsin were written vertically and were therefore meant to be read from the top down. If read in the usual way, from right to left, it says: “Mamtos nankafei a’alran.”

3. And R' Yoḥanan says: Each word was written backward, so that read right to left, they spelled, Anem anem leket nisrapu.

4. Rav Ashi says: They were written with the first two letters of each word reversed: Nema nema ketal pursin

Appendix 2 – Ezra’s Genealogy, Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, and His Mission (Ezra 7:1-11)

Ezra 7:1-11 discuss Ezra's lineage, journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, and his mission. The verses introduce a decree from the Persian King Artaxerxes¹⁶ concerning Ezra’s mission and authority.

Ezra's Lineage: Ezra is introduced as a descendant of Aaron the high priest (הכהן הראש), tracing 16 generations of his priestly genealogy¹⁷ through notable figures such as Phinehas, Eleazar, and Zadok.¹⁸

His Expertise: Ezra is described as a skilled scribe well-versed in the Torah of Moses (תורת משה), which was given by God to Israel. (Verse 6, cited by our sugya)

Royal Favor: King Artaxerxes grants Ezra’s requests due to God’s benevolence toward him.

Journey to Jerusalem: In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra leads a group of Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers (משררים), gatekeepers (שערים), and Nethinim (נתינים), from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Travel Timeline: The journey begins on “the first day of the first month” and concludes on “the first day of the fifth month”.¹⁹

Ezra’s Mission: He is committed to studying, practicing, and teaching the Torah’s laws and regulations to the people of Israel. (Verse 10, cited by our sugya)

Ezra.7.1-11

ואחר הדברים האלה

במלכות ארתחשסתא מלך־פרס

After these events,

during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia,

עזרא

1. בן־שריה

2. בן־עזריה

3. בן־חלקיה

4. בן־שלום

5. בן־צדוק

6. בן־אחיטוב

7. בן־אמריה

8. בן־עזריה

9. בן־מריות

10. בן־זרחיה

11. בן־עזי

12. בן־בקי

13. בן־אבישוע

14. בן־פינחס

15. בן־אלעזר

16. בן־אהרן הכהן הראש

Ezra

1. son of Seraiah (שריה)

2. son of Azariah

3. son of Hilkiah (חלקיהו - c. late 7th century BCE)

4. son of Shallum

5. son of Zadok

6. son of Ahitub

7. son of Amariah

8. son of Azariah

9. son of Meraioth

10. son of Zerahiah

11. son of Uzzi

12. son of Bukki

13. son of Abishua

14. son of Phinehas

15. son of Eleazar

16. son of Aaron the chief priest—

הוא עזרא עלה מבבל

והוא־ספר מהיר בתורת משה

אשר־נתן יהוה אלהי ישראל

ויתן־לו המלך —

כיד־יהוה אלהיו עליו —

כל בקשתו

that Ezra came up from Babylon,

a scribe expert in the Teaching of Moses

which YHWH God of Israel had given,

whose request —

thanks to the benevolence of YHWH toward him —

the king had granted in its entirety

ויעלו

1. מבני־ישראל

2. ומן־הכהנים

3. והלוים

4. והמשררים

5. והשערים

6. והנתינים

אל־ירושל͏ם בשנת־שבע לארתחשסתא המלך

Some of

1. the Israelites,

2. the priests

3. and Levites,

4. the singers,

5. the gatekeepers,

6. and the temple servants

set out for Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes,

ויבא ירושל͏ם בחדש החמישי היא שנת השביעית למלך

arriving in Jerusalem in the fifth month in the seventh year of the king.

כי באחד לחדש הראשון הוא יסד המעלה מבבל

ובאחד לחדש החמישי בא אל־ירושל͏ם

כיד־אלהיו הטובה עליו

On the first day of the first month the journey up from Babylon was started,

and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived in Jerusalem,

thanks to the benevolent care of his God for him.

כי עזרא הכין לבבו לדרש את־תורת יהוה

ולעשת וללמד בישראל חק ומשפט

For Ezra had dedicated himself to study the Teaching of YHWH

so as to observe it, and to teach laws and rules to Israel.

וזה  פרשגן הנשתון

אשר נתן המלך ארתחשסתא לעזרא הכהן הספר

ספר דברי מצות־יהוה וחקיו על־ישראל

The following is the text²⁰ of the letter (נשתון)

which King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest-scribe,

a scholar in matters concerning the commandments of YHWH and His laws to Israel:

1. On these names, see later in my piece.

2. עברי; i.e. Paleo-Hebrew (see my intro) identified by the Talmud later in this section as “Libona’a”.

3. לשון הקודש - Lashon Hakodesh - literally: "the Holy Tongue".

4. אשורי - “Assyrian”, i.e. Aramaic (see my intro).

A baraita cited by the Talmud later explains that the script Ezra introduced is called Ashuri because it ascended with the Jewish people from Ashur (=Assyria) when they returned from the Babylonian exile; another explanation given is that “meusheret (“beautiful and straight”) in script”.

5. הדיוטות - from Greek idiotes.

6. כותאי - literally: Cuthites . See my intro.

7. The Hebrew word nishtana (נשתנה - “changed”) most famously appears in the the “Ma Nishtana”:

(Hebrew: מה נשתנה) is a section at the beginning of the Passover Haggadah known as The Four Kushiyot, The Four Questions or "Why is this night different from all other nights?", traditionally asked via song by the youngest capable child attending Passover Seder.

The questions are included in the haggadah as part of the Maggid (מגיד) section.

8. נהפך להן לרועץ - “it turned into an ‘impairment’ (רועץ) for them”.

Other versions have דעץ (‘da’atz’)—a technical term for Paleo-Hebrew script—instead of רועץ (ro’etz). See the discussion at Hebrew Wiktionary, היה לו לרועץ.

9. The letter “vav / waw” is indeed etymologically related to the word “hook”, see Wikipedia, “History of the alphabet” section “Letter names and order“, row # 6; and entry “Proto-Sinaitic script“, section “Table of Symbols“: “waw = "hook".

10. The Hebrew word for Persia: פָּרָס (“Peras / Pars / Fars”).

11. In all four of these interpretations, the Talmud does not explicitly explain the cipher's method; it only presents the originally ciphered text, before Danie’s deciphering quoted in the biblical verse. The methods themselves are provided by ed. Steinsaltz, these are the interpretations that I list here.

In general, it’s notable that letter permutations became prominent in Hebrew literature the High medieval period, first among Hasidei Ashkenaz (“ a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries“), then among some kabbalists (in second half of the 13th century in Spain, especially among Abraham Abulafia and his school).

The permutations were referred to as tzerufim (צירופים , צירופי אותיות). Letter rearrangements were played with to extract hidden meanings from biblical texts.

The most famous of these writings is probably that of the Ba'al ha-Turim, see Wikipedia, Jacob ben Asher, section “Works“

Rimzei Ba'al ha-Turim or Perush ha-Torah le-R. Ya'akov Ba'al ha-Turim […], a short commentary on the Pentateuch, (actually short “appetizers” that start each section of his actual Torah commentary) which is printed in virtually all Jewish editions of the Pentateuch.

These “appetizers” consist of […] symbolical references in the Torah text […], often using gematria and acronyms as well as other occurrences of particular words elsewhere in the Torah.

And see Hebrew Wikipedia, יעקב בן אשר, section פירוש בעל הטורים על התורה, my translation:

The commentary that appears in printed Chumashim under the name "Ba’al HaTurim" includes only the introductions to the full commentary.

In these introductions, R’ Ya’akov ben HaRosh provides parparot la-ḥokhmah (פרפראות לחכמה)—such as gematriot (numerical values) and numerical allusions—which he describes as "a few parparot (diversions) and gematriot and ta'amei ha-mesorot (traditions regarding textual reading), to inspire the heart."

This method of interpretation was common among early commentators, particularly in the Hasidei Ashkenaz circle.

Other commentators who used this method include his father’s teacher, Maharam of Rothenburg, Rabbeinu Ephraim, Rabbeinu Ephraim b. Shimshon, R. Yehuda HeḤasid, the Rokeach, and Rabbeinu Yoel.

As an aside, the re פרפרת in the term פרפראות לחכמה :

In the Mishnah, the primary meaning of פרפרת is side dishes that accompany a meal (e.g., Mishnah Berakhot 6:5).

The word may be influenced by the Latin aperitivus, which means "prelude, opening" or "something that comes before", compare the descendant French word apéritif (see Hebrew Wiktionary there).

However, in one place, in tractate Avot, the phrase "פרפראות לחכמה" (parparot la-ḥokhmah) the word is used in the general figurative sense of “secondary”: “side/secondary wisdom”, see Avot.3.18, where R’ Eliezer Hisma (רבי אליעזר בן חסמא) contrasts two levels of study in Jewish tradition. He explains that the practical laws—like those governing mixed bird offerings (קנין - kinnim - literally: “nests”) and determining niddah days (פתחי נדה)—form the core of halakhah (Jewish law), while the more abstract and intricate studies, such as calculating equinoxes (תקופות; for the purpose of calculating the Hebrew calendar) and exploring gematria, serve as intellectual embellishments or "desserts" that enhance wisdom. The passage states:

רבי אליעזר בן חסמא אומר:

קנין ופתחי נדה —

הן הן גופי הלכות.

תקופות וגימטריאות —

פרפראות לחכמה:

R’ Eliezer Hisma said:

the laws of mixed bird offerings and the key to the calculations of menstruation days —

these are the body of the halakhah.

The calculation of the equinoxes and gematria —

are the desserts of wisdom.

12. A method where letters are replaced by their counterparts from the opposite end of the alphabet; on this cipher, see my piece “Talmudic Homiletics on the Hebrew Alphabet - Pt.2 - Homiletics on Letter Transformations (Shabbat 104a)“.

From a technical, cryptographic perspective, Atbash cipher is a form of monoalphabetic (simple) substitution cipher.

The Talmud refers to this here using the Greek-derived term “gematria” - גימטריא - which usually refers to the numerical values of letters.

13. From a technical, cryptographic perspective, this is a transposition cipher, specifically a columnar transposition. See Wikipedia, “Transposition cipher“, section “Columnar transposition“:

In the middle of the 17th century, Samuel Morland introduced an early form of columnar transposition. It was further developed much later, becoming very popular in the later 19th century and 20th century, with French military, Japanese diplomats and Soviet spies all using the principle.

In a columnar transposition, the message is written out in rows of a fixed length, and then read out again column by column, and the columns are chosen in some scrambled order. Both the width of the rows and the permutation of the columns are usually defined by a keyword. For example, the keyword ZEBRAS is of length 6 (so the rows are of length 6), and the permutation is defined by the alphabetical order of the letters in the keyword. In this case, the order would be "6 3 2 4 1 5".

In our case, the rows are of length 3, and the final word (ופרסין)—which is length 6—is split into two rows.

Compare also these related ancient cryptographic methods: Scytale ; Polybius square.

14. From a technical, cryptographic perspective, this is a simple cipher (like Rav’s above), specifically reversal, and related to mirror writing. It’s a type of anagram (see also ambigram).

15. From a technical, cryptographic perspective, this is a transposition cipher (like Shmuel’s above), specifically a digraph transposition cipher (swapping letter pairs at the start of each word).

16. See Wikipedia, “Artaxerxes I“:

Artaxerxes I […] was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BCE […]

Josephus, and several ancient traditions identify him as King Ahasuerus, from the Book of Esther.

17. Three generations per verse. This is a common verse division.

18. The biblical genealogy of Ezra, as presented in Ezra 7:1-5, traces his lineage back to Aaron, the brother of Moses, through a sequence of high priests. While this genealogy is significant in establishing Ezra's priestly legitimacy, its historicity is uncertain. The genealogy lists 16 generations between Aaron (c. 13th–12th century BCE) and Ezra (5th century BCE), spanning roughly 800-900 years.This would imply an average of 50-60 years per generation, which is highly implausible.

On this list, see also Wikipedia, “Hilkiah”, section “Patrilineal Ancestry“, citing 1 Chronicles chapters 5-6.

19. The journey began on the first day of the first month, meaning Nisan (beginning of spring, long journeys generally started in spring, when the weather got better).

They arrived on the first day of the fifth month, meaning Av - in the summer).

So, the journey lasted exactly four months, from beginning of spring, to middle of the summer.

Ezra and his entourage reached Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of King Artaxerxes' reign.This places the arrival in Av (July-August), in the year 458 BCE (if Artaxerxes I is the king in question).

20. פרשגן - a Persian loanword, from Persian pačēn, meaning “duplicate‏, copy‏‏‏‏“..