Shir HaShirim and the Mystery of Nekudot (Vowel Signs)

Shir HaShirim and the Mystery of Nekudot (Vowel Signs)

“We will make you golden earrings with silver dots”. (Shir HaShirim 1:11)

“Silver dots” — in Hebrew — “Nekudot HaKesef” — are used to adorn golden jewelry.

Another meaning of the word “nekudot” is vowel signs—that is, dots and special marks placed on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet to indicate vowel sounds. Each letter in the holy language is like a lifeless body until it receives a divine spark from the Soul of the Creator.

The sound of the letters depends on the nekudot; once they receive them, the letters come alive and acquire meaning. Letters cannot exist without nekudot.

And G-d said: “Let there be Light” (Bereishit 1:3), from the first of the nekudot, from the Point of Beginning from which the world began.

The Primordial Light is the nekud Holam (וֹ).

It came into this world, Olam HaZeh, and became Shuruk (וּ).

The Almighty defined Light as Good—and this is the nekud Hirik (בִ).

The separation of Light from Darkness is the nekud Segol (בֶ).

And He called the Light Day, and this is Tzere (בֵ).

When Tzere finds no place for itself, it becomes Sheva (בְ).

“And the Almighty said: ‘Let there be a firmament within the waters’” (Bereishit 1:6)—and this is the nekud Patach (בַ).

All the waters of Heaven are the five nekudot, while the water beneath the Heavens is the nekud Kamatz (בָ).

And the Almighty said: “Let there be luminaries in the firmament of the heavens” (Bereishit 1:14)—the nekud Chataf-Kamatz (חֳ).

These and the other nekudot breathed life into the letters; their form and sound were revealed, and they became accessible to man.

(Zohar on “Shir HaShirim,” Rav Adam Davidov)