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Can someone please explain to me what The Sephiroth really is? I read about it somewhere but didn't really understand it.
By "The Sephiroth", I don't mean the person, but the name. It's a Hebrew word that's supposed to mean something in Jewish mysticism or something like that.
I don't know if there's a Sephiroth in Hebrew, but I always thought that it was a play on the word "Seraphim" which is a class of angel with three wings.
Check this out:Quote:
Originally posted by Flying Mullet
I don't know if there's a Sephiroth in Hebrew, but I always thought that it was a play on the word "Seraphim" which is a class of angel with three wings.
I get the general gist of it, but I would like a clearer and more detailed explanation.Quote:
Originally posted by some guy who made this FAQ.
This must be intentional. Sephiroth is a Hebrew word, which derives from the Cabbala, a branch of religious lore that has its roots in Jewish mysticism. It states that at the creation, God sent a pulse of energy out into the void; this branched into ten aspects or spheres, numbered 1-10. The Sephiroth. To return to God, a Cabbalist must conquer each of the Sephiroth. (I realise this is a massive over-simplification, I advise you enter Sephiroth as a search term in Google. You'll get one set of results relating to FF7 and another related to Cabbalism).
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe "Sepher Sephiroth" is supposed to mean "The Book of Numbers," or something about how one ascends towards Godlikeness, in Hebrew. (Incidentally, "Safer Sephiroth," the name of the final boss, is a mistranslation of "Sepher Sephiroth").
I know very little about this myself, however; I'm basically remembering rather poorly something Kishi posted a long time ago. At any rate, I'd recommend searching for "Sepher Sephriroth" on Google, not just Sephiroth :P
Thanks! Yeah, I was hoping 'kish would read this sometime and help me out. See, I've been getting back into the game lately and I read some Plot Analysis at GameFAQs and found it very interesting. There's something about "The Sephiroth" having like 10 spheres of energy or something... and remember those cloaked people in Nibelheim with tattoos?
The tattoos are supposed to represent the 10 spheres or something like that.
Yeah, no problem :P
And I honestly don't remember much of anything about FF7 considering my computer's too bloody slow to emulate it. *really, really needs to get a PlayStation* Yes, I know, I'm an insult to society. *dies*
@_@ No PlayStation?!Quote:
Originally posted by The Man
Yeah, no problem :P
And I honestly don't remember much of anything about FF7 considering my computer's too bloody slow to emulate it. *really, really needs to get a PlayStation* Yes, I know, I'm an insult to society. *dies*
XDD I suppose I could donate mine to you... but I have a mod chip in it... so I still need it. =P
How fast is your computer? Because I think you need less power to run the actual FF7 PC game (instead of the emulator). XD
Yup, no PlayStation. *deprived*
Modchip = essential, for sure. Keep yours. ;) I'm probably actually getting a PS2 for my birthday (tomorrow) anyway, so it hopefully shouldn't matter much =P
As for my computer -- I dunno exactly how fast it is anymore. It's five years old, tho', if that gives you any idea how slow it is. =P I'd probably actually get the PC version of the game if I hadn't already gone out and bought the PS version of it hoping it'd run quickly enough, but I don't see much sense in owning two copies of the same game. At the very worst (assuming no PlayStation for birthday), as it is, I'll have to wait until my girlfriend moves over here to play FF7, and I don't imagine that taking TOO long as it is :P
But yes, I know I'm deprived. xD
This site has an excellent explaination of the sefirot:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Sefirot.html
Essentially the ten sefirot are ten aspects of God, some knowable, some not. They include Keter (Divine Crown), Binah (Understanding), Hokhmah (Wisdom), Din (Justice), Tiferet (Beauty), Hesed (Mercy), Hod (Glory), Nezah (Eternity), Yesod (Foundation), and Shekinah (The Kingdom).
The sefirot are traditionally represented as ten circles connected by straight lines that illustrate the relationships between them. You can see examples of these diagrams in the opening credits of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.
Ooooh, thanks a lot! I had no idea it was called "The Sefirot". >_< I guess I made a spelling error.Quote:
Originally posted by BG-57
This site has an excellent explaination of the sefirot:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Sefirot/Sefirot.html
all i know is the name is either a foarm of religiond or god in a religond.Along with another name in the final fantasy 7 game i beleve.im not totaly sure.i used to have a site on the religond,but its longe lost
Nibelheim,
It's not a spelling error.
'Sephiroth' is Hebrew, translated into Japanese, translated into English.
'Sefirot' is Hebrew translated into English.
It's clear that the English translators often don't realize what the Japanese makers meant to say. They just transliterate the sounds and hope for the best. :)
Ah, makes sense. Another thing I noticed was that "Nibelheim" means nothing, whereas "Nifelheim" means "Frozen Hell" or something in Norse. Or maybe they did it on purpose.
This essay I read quite a while back mentions the sephiroth...
Sephiroth sounds wwaaayyy better than serifot, dontcha think?
I prefer the Hebrew - it's a heck of a lot more obvious what it's referring to :P
yes, as demonstrated by the HORRID MANGLING of the names from Dante's Inferno in FFIV (Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia, Rubicante, Calcabrina as MilonZ, Kainazzo, Valvalis, Rubicant, and Calbrena respectively) :PQuote:
Originally posted by BG-57
It's clear that the English translators often don't realize what the Japanese makers meant to say. They just transliterate the sounds and hope for the best. :)
With all credit to the translators, though, it's very hard to recognise every reference the original games had in them, although you'd expect the people who came up with the names would make notes or something for the translators. ;) I'm sure that the Hebrew, the Norse, and the Inferno references aren't the only time Square has done that, either (heck, if I knew more of them, I'd start up a list or something) :P
yeah im back...whats up?
Your first post in a very long time... and it's spam.
In the middle of a Final Fanatsy VII thread. Hmm...
1) Welcome back.
2) Don't do it again.
My personal favorite bad translation is of the Elements in Xenogears: Seraphim, Cherubim, Throne and Dominion into Seraphita, Kelvina, Tolone and Dominia. I didn't even realize that they're all supposed to be named after angels.
I suspect the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Clearly the game designers have left little or no instruction to the translators. I feel bad for them. :(
I never knew the source of the Fiends' names. Those demons or rivers? I always thought Rubicant was from the river Rubicon.
Ah well, the die have been cast. ;)
I've noticed more than one reference to Franz Kafka (and yes, outside of FFVI) though I forget what they all are. *sighs, realizing he should really re-play all his FFs*
Holy fork, that's bad. *needs to get Xenogears*Quote:
Originally posted by BG-57
My personal favorite bad translation is of the Elements in Xenogears: Seraphim, Cherubim, Throne and Dominion into Seraphita, Kelvina, Tolone and Dominia. I didn't even realize that they're all supposed to be named after angels.
They're demons, I'm pretty sure :PQuote:
I suspect the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Clearly the game designers have left little or no instruction to the translators. I feel bad for them. :(
I never knew the source of the Fiends' names. Those demons or rivers?
And yes, I feel bad for the translators too. ;) And you're probably exactly right. ;)
I don't think there's supposed to be a Kefka/Kafka similarity either, although there is a track called "Metamorphosis" on the soundtrack so who knows.
The Four Emperors' names in FFIV come from Dante's The Divine Comedy.
Sephiroth, Sephirot, and Sefirot are all prettymuch equally valid. Sources simply differ.
yea, and if u havent noticed (to any one in general) most things in the FF games have some historic reference
Yeah, I think pretty much everyone has noticed that.
Anyway, it's my understanding that most references to The Sephiroth are from the Dead Sea scrolls, and most of that information isnt available to the general public, only the higher up religious scholars. I could be wrong though.
The Japanese seem to love referencing the Sephiroth... I've seen it in a lot of different anime, including Evangelion and Digimon. I dont know much about it... once I get around to going to college, I plan on taking a lot of religious studies.
Bah, I thought I'd already mentioned that, but turns out I hadn't. :eep:Quote:
Originally posted by Kawaii Ryűkishi
The Four Emperors' names in FFIV come from Dante's The Divine Comedy.
Yup. The Inferno, Canto XXI, to be exact.
Edit: wait, actually, I had ;)
Fair enough, I wasn't sure on that one so thanks for clearing it up. ;)Quote:
Sephiroth, Sephirot, and Sefirot are all prettymuch equally valid. Sources simply differ.
The tricky thing about translating from Hebrew is that vowels aren't written. So if you transliterated the original word, you'd get something like 'SFRT'. My guess is the vowels are known in this case, since sefirot is still a commonly used word. But it must be awful to try to figure out vowels for words that aren't in use today.
now click here for an even farther in depth topic about sephiroth. really makes u think