How Hebrew gematria works
Hebrew has no separate number symbols in traditional use. Each of the 22 letters doubles as a numeral: the first nine letters are 1 to 9, the next nine are the tens (10 to 90), and the last four are 100, 200, 300 and 400. The gematria value of a word is the sum of its letters. The word שלום (shalom, “peace”) is ש 300 + ל 30 + ו 6 + ם 40 = 376.
Rabbinic literature uses the practice as an interpretive technique: two words with the same total are sometimes read as connected. Familiar examples include אחד (echad, “one”) and אהבה (ahavah, “love”), which both come to 13, and חי (chai, “alive”), which is 18. That is why gifts are often given in multiples of 18 in Jewish communities.
The four methods on this page
Standard (Mispar Hechrachi). The default and by far the most common method. Each letter has its fixed value from 1 to 400, and the five final forms (ך ם ן ף ץ) count the same as their ordinary versions.
Gadol (Mispar Gadol). Also called “large”. The final forms take their own values of 500 to 900 (ך 500, ם 600, ן 700, ף 800, ץ 900), so the total can differ whenever a word ends in one. שלום rises from 376 to 936 because its final ם counts as 600 instead of 40.
Siduri (Mispar Siduri). The ordinal method: each letter is just its position in the alphabet, from א = 1 to ת = 22, with final forms counted as the ordinary letter. שלום becomes 21 + 12 + 6 + 13 = 52.
Katan (Mispar Katan). The “small” method drops the zeros, so 10, 20, 30 and so on count as 1, 2, 3, and 100, 200, 300, 400 count as 1, 2, 3, 4. שלום becomes 3 + 3 + 6 + 4 = 16.
Hebrew letter values
These are the same values the calculator uses.
Worked examples
Every figure below was computed with the same code as the calculator above. Words that share a Standard total are the ones traditionally connected by gematria.
Famous gematria examples
- Eliezer (אליעזר) = 318. Genesis 14:14 says Abraham led 318 men into battle. A rabbinic reading connects the number to his servant Eliezer, whose name adds up to 318.
- 666 and 616. One widely discussed scholarly proposal reads the “number of the beast” in Revelation as Nero Caesar written in Hebrew letters. נרון קסר is 666, and the variant spelling נרו קסר is 616, matching the two numbers found in different early manuscripts. It remains a proposal, not a settled fact.
- Chai (חי) = 18. The origin of the custom of giving money or gifts in multiples of 18.
Why different sites give different totals
Most disagreements come from three choices. Whether final letters count as ordinary letters (Standard) or as 500 to 900 (Gadol); whether the word includes vowels or other marks; and whether the method is ordinal, reduced or standard. If you compare a result with another calculator, check which method it used. A word typed with different spellings (for example with or without an added vav) will also give different totals, because the calculator counts exactly the letters you enter.
If you would rather work with English letters, use the English gematria calculator with its eleven ciphers, or the Jewish gematria calculator, which applies Hebrew-style values to the Latin alphabet. For Greek, see the Greek isopsephy calculator. The background is in our history of gematria.
FAQ
What is Hebrew gematria?
Hebrew gematria assigns each Hebrew letter a number, from 1 for alef to 400 for tav, and adds the letters of a word to get its value. Words with the same total are sometimes read as connected in Jewish interpretive tradition.
What is the standard Hebrew gematria value of shalom?
שלום is 376: shin 300, lamed 30, vav 6 and final mem 40. With the Gadol method the final mem counts as 600, which gives 936.
What is the difference between Standard and Gadol gematria?
In Standard (Mispar Hechrachi) the five final letters count the same as their ordinary forms. In Gadol they take the values 500 to 900, so any word ending in a final letter gets a larger total.
What does Siduri mean in gematria?
Mispar Siduri is the ordinal method. Each letter counts as its position in the alphabet, from 1 for alef to 22 for tav, so the values are small and the same for ordinary and final forms.
What is Mispar Katan?
Mispar Katan, the small count, removes the zeros from each letter value, so 10, 20 and 30 count as 1, 2 and 3, and 100 to 400 count as 1 to 4. The result is often similar to a reduced total.
Can I use English letters in this calculator?
No. This page counts Hebrew letters only and ignores anything else you type. For English words use the English gematria calculator on the home page, or the Jewish gematria calculator, which maps Latin letters to Hebrew-style values.
Is gematria a reliable way to predict anything?
No. Gematria is an interpretive and cultural tradition, not a predictive science. This calculator simply does the arithmetic; what you take from the numbers is up to you.