‘Where in Scripture is Notarikon Found?’: Talmudic Interpretation of Biblical Words as Acronyms (Shabbat 105a)

This sugya explores how individual Hebrew words in the Torah can function as acronyms—known as notarikon¹—encoding deeper or concealed meanings.²

The discussion opens with a legal question, quoting from the Mishnah: if someone writes a single letter that stands for a whole word, are they liable for the melakha of writing on Shabbat? R' Yehoshua ben Beteira says yes; the Rabbis disagree.

This halakhic debate triggers a broader exegetical exploration: is there evidence in the Bible itself that single letters or abbreviated forms carry full semantic weight?

R' Yoḥanan, citing R' Yosei ben Zimra, presents Genesis 17:5 ("Av hamon") as such a case. The six letters in the etymological source of Abraham’s name are analyzed as an acronym encoding six honorific titles—father, chosen, beloved, king, elder, and trusted.

Other sages build on this method. The word anokhi (Exodus 20:2), the very first word of the Ten Commandments, is read as an Aramaic acrostic: ana nafshi ketivat yehavit—'I [=God] Myself Wrote and Gave [the Ten Commandments/Torah]'. Competing views offer alternate expansions, even reading the word backward.

Additional examples range from narrative to polemic. R' Natan’s school interprets yarat (Numbers 22:32)³ to describe Balaam’s donkey's sequential reaction—fear, sight, and avoidance.

Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov sees the notarikon technique used in another very negative context: David refers to Shimei ben Gera’s curse against him as nimretzet (1 Kings 2:8) — a term the Talmud interprets as an acronym through which Shimei directly accuses David of a series of major moral and genealogical failings: noef (adulterer), Moabite (questioning his lineage), rotzeaḥ (murderer), tzorer (oppressor), to’eva (abomination).

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak re-reads nitztadak (Genesis 44:16) as Judah’s assertion to Joseph of purity and righteousness.

This sugya blends legal debate, midrashic creativity, and proto-cryptographic thinking. Words in the Torah may hide layered meanings, unlocked through abbreviation. The method elevates even isolated words into interpretive springboards, revealing how rabbinic reading can transform plain text into multilayered commentary.

Outline

‘Where in Scripture is Notarikon Found?’: Talmudic Interpretation of Biblical Words as Acronyms (Shabbat 105a)

1. Mishnah: Liability for Abbreviated Writing

2. R' Yoḥanan (per R' Yosei ben Zimra) - Genesis 17:5 - "Av hamon" - Abraham’s name encodes multiple honorifics

3. Exodus 20:2 - "Anokhi"

   1. R' Yoḥanan - "Anokhi" - “I [=God] Myself Wrote and Gave [the Ten Commandments/Torah at Sinai]”

   2. Rabbis - "Anokhi" - “A pleasant statement [=the Ten Commandments/Torah] was written and given [at Sinai]”

   3. Alternative view - "Anokhi" (read backwards) - “It was given, written; its sayings are trustworthy”

4. R' Natan's School - Numbers 22:32 - "Yarat" - “It [=Balaam’s donkey] feared, saw, and turned aside”

5. R' Yishmael's School - Leviticus 23:14 - "Karmel" - “A full kernel”

6. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov - I Kings 2:8 - "Nimretzet" - “He [=David] is an adulterer, Moabite, murderer, oppressor, abomination” — Shimi’s indictment

7. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak - Genesis 44:16 - "Nitztadak" - “We [=Jacob’s sons] are honest, righteous, pure, innocent, holy” — Judah's statement to Joseph

Appendix - Table summarizing the statements regarding notarikon (abbreviation as interpretation)

The Passage

Shabbat.105a.2-5

Mishnah: Liability for Abbreviated Writing

The Mishnah rules that one who writes a single letter as an abbreviation (notarikon) is exempt, but R' Yehoshua ben Beteira deems him liable.

This suggests a dispute over whether abbreviated letters are meaning-bearing in the context of Sabbath labor prohibitions.

כתב אות אחת נוטריקון --

רבי יהושע בן בתירה -- מחייב

וחכמים -- פוטרין.

We learned in the Mishnah If one wrote one letter as an abbreviation [notarikon] representing an entire word --

R' Yehoshua ben Beteira -- deems him liable to bring a sin-offering,

and the Rabbis -- deem him exempt.

R' Yoḥanan (per R' Yosei ben Zimra) - Genesis 17:5 - "Av hamon" - Abraham’s name encodes multiple honorifics

R' Yoḥanan, citing R' Yosei ben Zimra, asserts that notarikon is found already in the Torah (=Pentateuch).

He interprets the 6 letters in the phrase "av hamon"⁴ as an acronym for six titles given to Abraham:⁵

1. Av (father),

2. Baḥur (chosen),

3. Haviv (beloved),

4. Melekh (king),

5. Vatik (distinguished),

6. Ne’eman (trusted)

These are all back-formed from the phrase “av hamon goyim” (Genesis 17:5).

אמר רבי יוחנן, משום רבי יוסי בן זימרא:

מנין ללשון נוטריקון מן התורה?

שנאמר: ״כי אב המון גוים נתתיך״ —

1. אב נתתיך לאומות,

2. בחור נתתיך באומות,

3. המון חביב נתתיך באומות,

4. מלך נתתיך לאומות,

5. ותיק נתתיך באומות,

6. נאמן נתתיך לאומות.

R' Yoḥanan said in the name of R' Yosei ben Zimra:

From where is it derived that the language of abbreviation is employed in the Torah?

As it is stated: “Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations [av hamon goyim] have I made you” (Genesis 17:5).

The verse itself contracts av hamon into Abraham [Avraham].

The words av hamon themselves are interpreted as an abbreviation:

1. I have made you a father [av] for the nations,

2. I have made you chosen [baḥur] among the nations,

3. I have made you beloved [ḥaviv] among the nations,

4. I have made you king [melekh] for the nations,

5. I have made you distinguished [vatik] for the nations,

6. I have made you trusted [ne’eman] for the nations.

Exodus 20:2 - "Anokhi"

R' Yoḥanan - "Anokhi" - “I [=God] Myself Wrote and Gave [the Ten Commandments at Sinai]”

R' Yoḥanan states that the four letters of "anokhi"⁶ is an acronym for “ana nafshi ketivat yehavit”.⁷

רבי יוחנן דידיה אמר:

״אנכי״ נוטריקון:

1. אנא

2. נפשי

3. כתבית

4. יהבית.

R' Yoḥanan himself said that

the word anokhi that begins the Ten Commandments is an abbreviation for:

1. I

2. myself

3. wrote and

4. gave

[ana nafshi ketivat yehavit].

Rabbis - "Anokhi" - “A pleasant statement [=the Ten Commandments/Torah] was written and given [at Sinai]”

A variant view from the Rabbis parses it as “amira ne’ima ketiva yehiva”.⁸

רבנן אמרי:

1. אמירה

2. נעימה

3. כתיבה

4. יהיבה.

The Rabbis said it is an abbreviation for:

1. A pleasant

2. statement

3. was written

4. and given

[amira ne’ima ketiva yehiva].

Alternative view - "Anokhi" (read backwards) - “It was given, written; its sayings are trustworthy”

A third approach reads the letters backwards: “yehiva ketiva ne’emanim amareha” .⁹

איכא דאמרי:

״אנכי״ למפרע:

1. יהיבה

2. כתיבה

3. נאמנין

4. אמריה.

Some say:

the word anokhi can be interpreted backwards:

1. It was written,

2. it was given,

3. its statements

4. are faithful

[yehiva ketiva ne’emanim amareha].

R' Natan's School - Numbers 22:32 - "Yarat" - “It [=Balaam’s donkey] feared, saw, and turned aside”

The school of R' Natan reads the three letters of the word "yarat" (ירט - “contrary” - Numbers 22:32) as standing for “yare’a, ra’ata, nateta” — “It feared, it saw, it turned aside” (describing Balaam’s donkey’s actions in narrative sequence).

דבי רבי נתן אמרי:

״כי ירט הדרך לנגדי״ —

1. יראה,

2. ראתה,

3. נטתה.

The school of R' Natan said that there is another abbreviation in the Torah.

In the verse: “And the angel of YHWH said to him: Why did you hit your donkey these three times? Behold I have come out as an adversary because your way is contrary [yarat] against me” (Numbers 22:32).

Yarat is an abbreviation for: The donkey

1. feared [yare’a],

2. it saw [ra’ata],

3. and it turned aside [nateta].

R' Yishmael's School - Leviticus 23:14 - "Karmel" - “A full kernel”

The school of R' Yishmael explains "karmel" (כרמל - “toasted grain” - Leviticus 23:14) as “kar maleh” — a full kernel.

דבי רבי ישמעאל תנא:

״כרמל״ —

כר מלא.

The school of R' Yishmael taught:

The word karmel in the verse: “And bread, and toasted grain flour, and toasted grain [karmel]” (Leviticus 23:14) means:

A full kernel [kar maleh], i.e., the seed fills the stalk.

Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov - I Kings 2:8 - "Nimretzet" - “He [=David] is an adulterer, Moabite, murderer, oppressor, abomination” — Shimi’s indictment

Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov interprets “nimretzet” (נמרצת - “grievous, harsh” - I Kings 2:8) as an acronym encoding five accusations of Shimi ben Gera against David:

1. ‘Noef’ (נואף - “adulterer”)¹⁰

2. Moabite¹¹

3. ‘Rotzeaḥ’ (רוצח - “murderer”)¹²

4. ‘Tzorer’ (צורר - “oppressor”)¹³

5. ‘To’eva’ (תועבה - “abomination”).

רב אחא בר יעקב אמר:

״והוא קללני קללה נמרצת״,

נוטריקון:

1. נואף הוא,

2. מואבי הוא,

3. רוצח הוא,

4. צורר הוא,

5. תועבה הוא.

Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said

in King David’s words: “And behold, with you is Shimi ben Gera from Benjamin, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous [nimretzet] curse on the day that I went to Mahanaim” (I Kings 2:8).

The word nimretzet is an abbreviation for:

1. He is an adulterer [noef],

2. he is a Moabite [Moavi],

3. he is a murderer [rotze’aḥ],

4. he is an oppressor [tzorer],

5. he is an abomination [to’eva].

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak - Genesis 44:16 - "Nitztadak" - “We [=Jacob’s sons] are honest, righteous, pure, innocent, holy” — Judah's statement to Joseph

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak analyzes the five letters of "nitztadak" (נצטדק - “[how] shall we [=Jacob’s sons] justify ourselves?”) as encoding Judah’s assertion of innocence to Joseph:¹⁴

1. nekhonim (honest)

2. tzaddikim (righteous)

3. tehorim (pure)

4. dakkim (innocent)

5. kedoshim (holy)

רב נחמן בר יצחק אמר:

״מה נדבר

ומה נצטדק״ —

1. נכונים אנחנו,

2. צדיקים אנחנו,

3. טהורים אנחנו,

4. דכים אנחנו,

5. קדושים אנחנו.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said that

there is another abbreviation in the Bible: “And Judah said: What can we say to my master, what can we speak,

and how can we justify [nitztadak]” (Genesis 44:16), which stands for:

1. We are honest [nekhonim],

2. we are righteous [tzaddikim],

3. we are pure [tehorim],

4. we are innocent [dakkim],

5. we are holy [kedoshim].

Appendix - Table summarizing the statements regarding notarikon (abbreviation as interpretation)

1. A Greek loanword--from Latin notarius (“a clerk, secretary, notary“)--meaning “shorthand, acronymic writing”.

2. Compare my piece on the sugya of Talmudic folk etymologies of Aramaic words as acronyms: ““Asking Anything in the Entire World”: A Talmudic Sugya of Zoological Questions and Intuitive Etymologies of Aramaic Words (Shabbat 77b)“, section “Folk Etymologies of Aramaic words - Twenty-Two etymologies“.

In modern terms, these are in fact “backronyms”. See Wikipedia, “Backronym“:

A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase.

Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology.

The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym.

A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letter(s) of the words of a phrase, such as radar from "radio detection and ranging".

By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin".

Compare the Talmud’s analysis in tractate Sanhedrin of the “riddle” in the Book of Daniel, here, in my piece “The Evolution of Hebrew Script and Ezra’s Role in Torah Transmission (Sanhedrin 21b-22a)” section “Appendix 1 - The Mysterious Writing on the Wall In Daniel 5: different cryptographic possibilities of how it was written (Sanhedrin 22a, # 8-10)”.

There, the “riddle” is similarly viewed as an acronym. And see my analyses there, from the perspective of classic cryptography.

And see my 2-part series on the sugya two pages earlier in the same chapter, for general homiletics on the Hebrew alphabet: “Talmudic Homiletics on the Hebrew Alphabet (Shabbat 104a)”, final part here.

And see my piece on letter transformations in medieval hermeneutics: “Letter Permutations (Tzerufim) in Medieval Hebrew Literature: Origins and Development“.

3. This is an unusual word; the next words discussed are also rare, which is presumably why they’re interpreted as being acronyms.

4. אב המון - Genesis 17:5.

It’s worth noting that in the standard printed edition (the 19th-century Vilna-Romm edition) all words that the Talmud interprets as acronyms are marked with a gershayim before the final letter, following the conventional practice for signaling acronyms in Hebrew.

See Wikipedia, “Gershayim“, section “Punctuation mark“:

Gershayim most commonly refers to the punctuation mark ⟨״⟩.

It is always written before the last letter of the non-inflected form of a word or numeral.

It is used in the following ways:

To indicate a Hebrew acronym.

For example [in modern Hebrew]: דּוּ״חַ‎ (singular), דּוּ״חוֹת‎ (plural), "report" represents דין וחשבון‎; and מ״כ‎ (masculine), מַ״כִּית‎ (feminine), "squad commander" represents מפקד כיתה‎.

So, for example, this is how “av hamon” appears in the standard printed edition:

א”ב המו”ן

The Sefaria / ed. Steinsaltz instead uses quotation marks around the phrase, as is typical in modern typography, when highlighting a phrase

“אב המון”

5. Each of the items in the list follow this formula:

“[X] I have made you for the nations”

נתתיך לאומות

6. אנכי - “I” - the first word of the Ten Commandmentsץ

7. An Aramaic phrase, meaning:

I [=God] Myself Wrote and Gave [these Ten Commandments/Torah]

8. This phrase is mostly in Hebrew aside from the last word, and means:

A pleasant statement [=the Ten Commandments/Torah] was written and given

9. Essentially the same as previous, just flipped, and “trustworthy” (נאמנין) instead of “pleasant” (נעימה):

It [=the Ten Commandments/Torah] was given, written, and its sayings are trustworthy

10. Referring to David’s affairs with the married women Bathsheba and/or Abigail.

Notably, this item (#1), and one of the next (#3) may allude to the Ten Commandments:

• ‘Noef’ (נואף - “adulterer”) - “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (לא תנאף)

• ‘Rotzeaḥ’ (רוצח - “murderer”) - “Thou shalt not murder” (לא תרצח)

11. Since David was a descendant of Ruth, who was a Moabite; see my recent piece on this: “Book of Ruth 2-3 Through Talmudic Eyes: Intelligence, Modesty, and Davidic Descendants (Shabbat 113b-114a)“, and see especially ibid. section “Appendix - the Davidic Line in the Book of Ruth“.

12. Since David caused Abigail’s husband Nabal’s murder.

13. Likely refers to the plain meaning of Shimei’s curse, see Wikipedia, “Shimei ben Gera”:

Shimei's curse has been interpreted as referring to the killing of Abner ben Ner and the death of Ish-bosheth, King Saul's general and son.

Alternatively, other interpretation[s] attribute Shimei's animosity to David from the fact that he saw David as the one who removed Saul's family from the throne.

It’s notable that the adjective tzorer appears in the Bible solely in reference to Haman. A search for the term tzorer (צֹרֵר) yields four relevant hits, all of which appear in the Book of Esther, each time qualifying Haman as tzorer haYehudim – 'oppressor of the Jews'. It functions as a kind of fixed epithet or formulaic label for him in the text.

14. The formula: each item concludes with “we [are]” - אנחנו.