On the Supreme Good, etc.

...namely, and the son of Isaac lived there, receiving from that well of sevenfold influence whatever was necessary and whatever was desirable. For that well is called by the wise Col original: "כל col" — a Hebrew word meaning "All" or "The Whole." In Cabalistic thought, it refers to the Sephirot Yesod, which gathers the influences of the higher emanations., that is, "the whole," etc. Indeed, if Mersenne had rightly understood the discourse of the Venetian Likely Francesco Zorzi (1466–1540), a Venetian friar and influential Christian Cabalist whom Mersenne frequently attacked., he would not have regarded him as a peddler of trifles, but conversely as a truly wise man. For he explained, in very few words, a great sea flowing with all delights: I speak of that most profound well, Col, which encompasses everything that can be imagined in this entire world. I speak of Christ, the savior of the world, all in all, without whom there is no truth in the world; the fountain of life, the spiritual rock in which there is all abundance and fullness. He says: From that well of sevenfold influence, etc.

But as to what the sevenfold influence of the well actually means, this "faithful corrector" of the Venetian [Mersenne] does not say a single word, nor can he even speak to the purpose. From this, it is clear how great is his knowledge in the true Cabala—he who is ignorant of the reason for the perfection of the number seven among the wise. For the wise are not accustomed to count in the same way as common mathematicians, but in a more subtle manner. For example: on the first, second, and third day, the perfection of the universal world was completed; and yet the perfection of each of these three unities proceeds from the influence of the Word, or the various emanations of divine wisdom or splendor (differing from one another in property and effect, though one and the same in essence). Now, 1, 2, and 3 constitute 6. If another unity is added to these, it produces the fourth day, in which the sun was created. When 1 is added to 6, or 4 to 3, the number seven is finally drawn forth—a number, I say, which after the number three is the most perfect of all. I speak of the solar day, the day of the Sabbath and of rest, which is the sign of the completion of the entire work in creation.

And these four operations are completed by as many emanations or influences: of which the 3 is a sign of the triple property in the divine essence that gives form and life to all things; and the number 4, being the square of the root 2 The number 2 represents duality or division; its square, 4, represents the material world and the four elements., is a material number indicating the informed watery spirit of the world. Thus, 4 joined with 3 constitutes the integral composition of the whole world, in which the holy emanation is mixed with the worldly spirit, according to that saying of the royal Psalmist: clothed in Light, as with a garment. Does she [Wisdom] not also seem to affirm this elsewhere, saying, that by the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and all their powers by the spirit from his mouth? From this, therefore, the wise man confessed that Wisdom herself built her house upon seven columns, as if he had said that she built her proper dwelling place or church by seven outpourings or emanations; and thus the said divine spirit placed his tabernacle in the sun.

But Marinus [Mersenne] will reply: "What does this have to do with the well of sevenfold influence? For you speak of the world, and I of a well." To whom I say: But the "little world" The microcosm (man) or the hidden internal structure of nature. is everywhere, since that incorruptible spirit is "all" and "in all," though it may be in one place more than in another. Hence Moses is said to have received the depicted fabric of the world by the demonstration of the finger of God. Did not Esdras Ezra, the biblical scribe associated in this period with the preservation of hidden or apocryphal wisdom. also acknowledge this same thing, revealed to him divinely and described through types? And the scriptures indicate that Solomon was instructed in all the mysteries of the creation of the world by the instruction of Wisdom—she whose role it is to build new heavens and new earths. Must not the living waters be drawn from the well of stone, and consequently of earth, by the operation of the triple wisdom upon the fourfold matter? Through these means, with the same Wisdom assisting, new heavens and a new earth can be created, bringing with them everything necessary and desirable to man. If that material Mosaic rock which he struck had produced the universal spiritual rock A reference to 1 Corinthians 10:4: "and that rock was Christ." abounding in all fullness and necessities, why should living waters not also be extracted from the stone of the land of Jacob? For according to the Patriarch, that was the house of God and the dwelling place of wisdom, which is the fountain of life, from which alone, and from no other, the living waters are accustomed to gush forth. Jehovah commanded Moses to strike the dry cliff with his rod so that waters might gush out from there; and Christ says, seek, knock, and you shall find.