Christianity & Kabbalah
Hidden Meanings of Scripture
Kabbalah reads the Torah as a text of infinite depth, holding hidden mysteries beneath its surface. Jewish tradition speaks of four levels of meaning (PaRDeS), of which sod, the secret or mystical sense, is the domain of Kabbalah; the Zohar reads Scripture for the mysteries of God and the sefirot. Christianity likewise believes Scripture is deep and inexhaustible, but reads its fuller sense as pointing to Christ, and openly, not as a code for initiates. Here is a respectful comparison.
What Kabbalah teaches
In Jewish tradition the Scriptures can be read on several levels, summarized by the word PaRDeS (an acronym often given as peshat, the plain sense; remez, the hinted or allegorical; derash, the homiletical; and sod, the secret or mystical). Kabbalah is especially concerned with sod: the hidden, mystical depths of the text. The Zohar, the central Kabbalistic work, reads the Torah as a veil over divine mysteries, finding in its words, letters, and even numbers (gematria) references to the sefirot and the inner life of God. On this view the Torah is not merely a record but an inexhaustible fountain of concealed meaning.
What Christians believe
Christianity also honors the depth of Scripture and reads it on more than one level, holding the plain sense together with a fuller meaning. But the key that unlocks that fuller sense, Christians believe, is Christ himself, to whom the Scriptures point.
Where we agree
Both traditions reject a flat, surface-only reading. Both hold that God's word is deep, layered, and inexhaustible, rewarding a lifetime of meditation, and that there is more in the text than first meets the eye (compare Psalm 1:2).
Where we differ
Kabbalah seeks the hidden mystical sense (sod), often through letters, numbers, and the map of the sefirot. Christianity reads the deeper sense of Scripture as converging on Christ, and understands it as open to all rather than a secret reserved for initiates. Both look beneath the surface; they differ over what lies there and who may find it.
Kabbalistic sources: the Zohar (13th century, traditionally ascribed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai; critical scholarship, following Gershom Scholem, attributes its main body to Rabbi Moses de Leon in 13th-century Castile) and later Lurianic Kabbalah (Rabbi Isaac Luria, 16th-century Safed). Concepts are summarized from recognized Jewish and academic sources; compare the texts at sefaria.org. Bible: King James Version.
The word itself
סוֹד (sod) → the secret sense
Sod means 'secret.' It is the deepest of the four traditional levels of reading Scripture (summarized as PaRDeS: peshat, remez, derash, sod), the mystical sense that Kabbalah seeks beneath the plain words of the Torah. Christianity honors Scripture's depth too, but reads its fuller sense as pointing openly to Christ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is 'sod' and PaRDeS?
- PaRDeS is a traditional summary of four levels of reading Scripture: peshat (plain sense), remez (hinted), derash (homiletical), and sod (secret or mystical). Kabbalah is especially concerned with sod, the hidden mystical depths of the Torah, as read in works like the Zohar.
- How does Kabbalah read the Torah?
- As a text of infinite depth veiling divine mysteries. The Zohar finds in the Torah's words, letters, and numbers (gematria) references to the sefirot and the inner life of God, seeking the hidden, mystical sense beneath the plain meaning.
- How do Christians read for deeper meaning?
- Christians also read Scripture on more than one level and hold it to be deep and inexhaustible, but they read its fuller sense as pointing to Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:39), open to everyone, rather than as a secret code for initiates unlocked by letters and numbers.
Come and see
Kabbalah reaches for the hidden depths of God and the repair of a broken world. Jesus, a son of Israel, spoke of the same God, near and personal. The most honest way to know him is to read the accounts of his life. There is no pressure here.
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