Chokmah
/ˈχɔχ.mɑː/noun
A Hebrew word meaning wisdom, especially referring in Kabbalah to the second of the ten sefirot.
Did you know?In Kabbalah, Chokmah is traditionally associated with the primordial point of intuitive wisdom and is symbolized as the “father” of the sefirotic system.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ḥ-k-m
“Reconstructed root associated with wisdom, judgment, skill, and sound discernment”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
חָכְמָה (ḥokhmāh)
“Wisdom, skill, or practical understanding”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
חָכָם (ḥākām)
“Wise or skilled; the related masculine form underlying terms for a wise person”
Late Antiquity
Aramaic
חָכְמְתָא (ḥokhmətā)
“Wisdom; a cognate form used in Jewish Aramaic writings”
Medieval Hebrew
Hebrew
חָכְמָה (ḥokhmah)
“Wisdom, including the esoteric wisdom discussed in Jewish mystical texts”
20th Century
English
Chokmah
“English transliteration used especially in writings on Kabbalah for the second sefirah, or divine emanation”