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The Bahir is one of the oldest and most important of all classical
Kabbalah texts. Until the publication of the Zohar, the Bahir was
the most influential and widely quoted primary source of
Kabbalistic teachings. The Bahir is quoted in every major book on
Kabbalah, the earliest being the Raavad's commentary on Sefer
Yetzirah, and it is cited numerous times by Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman
(Ramban) in his commentary on the Torah. It is also quoted many
times in the Zohar. It was first published around 1176 by the
Provence school of Kabbalists; the first printed edition appeared
in Amsterdam in 1651. The name Bahir is derived from the first
verse quoted in the text (Job 37:21), "And now they do not see
light, it is brilliant (Bahir) in the skies." It is also called the
"Midrash of Rabbi Nehuniah ben HaKana," particularly by the Ramban.
The reason might be that Rabbi Nehuniah's name is at the very
beginning of the book, but most Kabbalists actually attribute the
Bahir to him and his school. Some consider it the oldest
kabbalistic text ever written. Although the Bahir is a fairly small
book, some 12,000 words in all, it was very highly esteemed among
those who probed its mysteries. Rabbi Judah Chayit, a prominent
fifteenth-century Kabbalist, writes, "Make this book a crown for
your head." Much of the text is very difficult to understand, and
Rabbi Moshe Cordevero (1522-1570), head of the Safed school of
Kabbalah, says, "The words of this text are bright (Bahir) and
sparkling, but their brilliance can blind the eye." One of the most
important concepts revealed in the Bahir is that of the Ten
Sefirot, and careful analysis of these discussions yields much of
what will be found in later kabbalistic works, as well as their
relation to anthropomorphism and the reason for the commandments.
Also included is a discussion of reincarnation, or Gilgul, an
interpretation of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the
Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom, and the concept of Tzimtzum, the s
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