Qof — the 19th Hebrew letter

ק

Gematria value 100 · sounds: K from the back of the throat (today identical to kaf's K)

Symbolism

Holiness (kedushah) and its counterfeit (the imitating monkey); the sun at the horizon — circuits of time; one hundred — Abraham's age at Isaac's birth

What the letter is built from

Traditionally a resh with a vav (or zayin) descending behind and below the line — the only letter that drops beneath while reaching above

Its first root in Scripture

The first qof root is qara — 'God called the light Day': the first naming

b: Gen · c: 1 · v: 5 · word: קָרָא · root: קרא · meaning: called

Messianic thread

Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh — qof opens the seraphim's cry. Its descending tail is grace reaching below the line: the Holy One who descends to raise the fallen, holiness that goes where the letters do not.

In the mystical tradition

Qof and resh spell kar (cold) read one way and are the start of karov (near) another — the letter of holiness borders the letter of the head: the holy and the profane divided by a hair's breadth.

Wisdom of the letter

The imitator (monkey) warns: everything holy has a counterfeit; discernment is qof's discipline.

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