Arabic: rāʾ, Greek Rho and Resh

Resh (Arabic: rāʾ) is the twentieth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew ר and Arabic alphabet rāʾ ر. Its sound value is one of a number of rhotic consonants: usually [r] or [ɾ], but also [ʁ] or [ʀ] in Hebrew.

In most Semitic alphabets, the letter resh (and its equivalents) is quite similar to the letter dalet (and its equivalents). In the Syriac alphabet, the letters became so similar that now they are only distinguished by a dot: resh has a dot above the letter, and the otherwise identical dalet has a dot below the letter. In the Arabic alphabet, rāʼ has a longer tail than dāl. In the Aramaic and Hebrew square alphabet, resh is a rounded single stroke while dalet is a right-angle of two strokes. The similarity led to the variant spellings of the nameNebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadrezzar.

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Rho (Ρ), Etruscan r

, Latin R, and Cyrillic Р.

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Origins[edit]

The word resh is usually assumed to have come from a pictogram of a head, ultimately reflecting Proto-Semitic *raʾ(i)š-. The word's East Semitic cognate, rēš-, was one possible phonetic reading of the Sumerian cuneiform sign for "head" (SAG 𒊕,

) in Akkadian.

In Hebrew[edit]

Orthographic variants
Various print fonts			Cursive Hebrew	Rashi script
Serif	Sans-serif	Monospaced	Cursive Hebrew	Rashi script
ר	ר	ר

Hebrew spelling: רֵישׁ

In Hebrew, Resh represents a rhotic consonant that has different realizations for different dialects:

In modern Hebrew: A voiced uvular fricative [ʁ], which is also the most common Resh pronunciation in Hebrew.
In Ashkenazi pronunciations: Sometimes a uvular trill [ʀ] or alveolar trill [r]. Among English speakers, sometimes an alveolar approximant [ɹ] as in English.
In Sephardic and Mizrahi pronunciations: Either an alveolar trill [r] or tap [ɾ].

Resh, along with Ayin, Aleph, Hei, and Het, is one of the letters that does not receive a dagesh by convention. In the Yemenite tradition, Resh is treated as most other consonants in that it can receive a dagesh hazak under certain circumstances. And in the most widely accepted version of the Hebrew Bible, there exist 17 cases where Resh is marked with a dagesh.^{[citation needed]}

Resh in gematria represents the number 200.

As an abbreviation[edit]

Resh as an abbreviation can stand for Rabbi (or Rav, Rebbe, Rabban, Rabbenu, and other similar constructions).

Resh may be found after a person's name on a gravestone to indicate that they were a Rabbi or to indicate the other use of Rav, as a generic term for a teacher or a personal spiritual guide.

Spelling out[edit]

Resh is used in an Israeli phrase; after a child will say something false, one might say "B'Shin Quf, Resh" (With Shin, Quf, Resh). These letters spell Sheqer, which is the Hebrew word for a lie. It would be akin to an English speaker saying "That's a L-I-E."

Arabic rāʾ[edit]

The letter is named rāʾ/"rāy"/"rays" راء in Arabic. It is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:

Position in word:	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form:	ر‎	ـر‎	ـر‎	ر‎

It ranges between an alveolar trill [r] or a tap [ɾ].

The Unicode standard for Arabic scripts also lists a variant with a full stroke (Unicode character 0x075b: ݛ), suggesting that this form is used in certain Northern and Western African languages and some dialects in Pakistan.^[1]

Rho (disambiguation).

Look up Ρ or ρ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Greek alphabet

Αα	Alpha	Νν	Nu
Ββ	Beta	Ξξ	Xi
Γγ	Gamma	Οο	Omicron
Δδ	Delta	Ππ	Pi
Εε	Epsilon	Ρρ	Rho
Ζζ	Zeta	Σσς	Sigma
Ηη	Eta	Ττ	Tau
Θθ	Theta	Υυ	Upsilon
Ιι	Iota	Φφ	Phi
Κκ	Kappa	Χχ	Chi
Λλ	Lambda	Ψψ	Psi
Μμ	Mu	Ωω	Omega

History

Archaic local variants

Numerals

Use in other languages

Uses[edit]

The Greek alphabet on a black figure vessel, with an R-shaped rho.

Greek[edit]

Rho is classed as a liquid consonant (together with lambda and sometimes the nasals mu and nu), which has important implications for morphology. In both Ancient and Modern Greek, it represents a trilled or tapped r.

In polytonic orthography a rho at the beginning of a word is written with a rough breathing (equivalent to h) — ῥ rh — and a double rho within a word is written with a smooth breathing over the first rho and a rough breathing over the second — ῤῥ rrh — apparently reflecting an aspirated or voiceless pronunciation in Ancient Greek, hence the various Greek-derived English words that start withrh or contain rrh.

The name of the letter is written in Greek as ῥῶ (polytonic) or ρω/ρο (monotonic).

Other alphabets[edit]

Letters that arose from rho include Roman R and Cyrillic Er (Р).

Mathematics and science[edit]

The characters Ρ, ρ and ϱ are also used outside its Greek alphabetical context in science and mathematics.

In the physical sciences to represent:
- Densities: mass density, or charge density (ρ)
- Resistivity (ρ)
- Rho meson (ρ⁺, ρ⁻, ρ⁰)
- General quantum states
- Hammett Equation, ρ is used to represent the reaction constant, this is independent of the position and nature of the substituents of the benzene ring.

In mathematics to represent:
- The radius in the cylindrical or spherical coordinate systems
- The correlation coefficient of a population parameter
- The spectral radius of a matrix $A$ denoted as $\rho(A)$
- The plastic number
- The sensitivity to interest rates of a pricing function
- The expected return of a given policy ( $\pi$ ) in reinforcement learning, denoted $\rho^\pi$

In economics to represent the discount rate of future pence cash flows

In molecular biology to represent the Rho protein responsible for termination of RNA synthesis. In such occasions, it is often represented as ϱ ("rho symbol" U+03F1), to avoid confusion with the Latin letter p

In ecology to represent the population damping ratio where ρ = λ1 / |λ2|.

In computer programming
- For LaTeX, the symbols are \rho ( $\rho$ ), and \varrho ( $\varrho$ ) (note: \Rho is not defined by default)
- The lower-case rho "ρ" has a special meaning in the APL programming language

In statistics to represent Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, commonly known as Spearman's rho

In options theory to represent the rate of change of a portfolio with respect to interest rates

Chi Rho[edit]

The letter rho overlaid with chi forms the Chi Rho symbol, used to represent Jesus Christ.

Rhodes Scholars[edit]

Former Rhodes Scholars are entitled to use the Greek letter rho as a designation of their status. When used, the symbol should precede the name.^[1]

History[edit]

Egyptian hieroglyph
t

Phoenician
Resh

Etruscan
R

Greek
Rho

Later Etruscan R

The original Semitic letter may have been inspired by an Egyptian hieroglyph for tp, "head". It was used for /r/ by Semites because in their language, the word for "head" was rêš (also the name of the letter). It developed into Greek 'Ρ' ῥῶ (rhô) and Latin R. It is likely that some Etruscan and Western Greek forms of the letter added the extra stroke to distinguish it from a later form of the letter P.^{[citation needed]}

The name of the letter in Latin was er (/ɛr/), following the pattern of other letters representing continuants, such as F, L, M, N, and S. This name is preserved in French and many other languages. In Middle English, the name of the letter changed from /ɛr/ to /ar/, following a pattern exhibited in many other words such as farm (compare French ferme), and star (compare German Stern).

The minuscule (lowercase) form as 'r' developed through several variations on the capital form. In handwriting it was common not to close the bottom of the loop but continue into the leg, saving an extra pen stroke. The loop-leg stroke shortened into the simple arc used today. Another minuscule, r rotunda (ꝛ), kept the loop-leg stroke but dropped the vertical stroke, although it fell out of use around the 18th century.

Resh: Face, structure, orientation, and the number 200.

Greetings!

‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’
Your face, Lord, do I seek. (Psalm 27.8 )

In our infancy, the first face we recognize is that of our mother and father; we may hear them somewhere nearby, perhaps sense them in the room, but the most primal confirmation that we are safe is to feel their touch and more, to see their face. Within and behind the skin, muscle, and bone tissues structuring this completely unique face of our parent is the invisible source of everything, an energy dimension of our very being. To see their face is to know our orientation.

Even as we grow, develop, individuate, and even attempt to rebel against this parental face, there is no evading the place their face holds in our consciousness. Even when their physical face disappears in death, the energy within and behind it endures in our psyche, for or against us as a presence with our every decision and redirection in life for ourselves, or against ourselves. In many ways parallel, Hebrew mystics found in metaphor the face of God a point of orientation favoring or disfavoring, for or against, the choices made in the endless array of free will.

While we rationally understand that the Invisible, Ineffable, and Unknowable has no face, there is undeniably a structure of visibility, communicability, and knowledge. When we recall the primacy of a parent's face in our experience, orienting us even without saying a word, then a greater metaphysical structure orienting us we can relevantly call a Face. The Face of God is wrapping us.

Three hundred and sixty infinite degrees, in every infinite direction of three dimensionality on earth and into outer space is but one aspect of the Face: Hesed is infinity of South; Gevurah is infinity of North; Tiferet is infinity of East; Yesod is infinity of West; Netzach is infinity Above; Hod is infinity Below. Infinite Potentiality, the Depth of Beginning in Hokmah and infinite Actuality, the Depth of End in Binah, is the constant transformation of the Face in movement through time. The infinity of Good, similarity, nearness in Keter, or infinity of Evil, dissimilarity, far-ness in Malkut, is how Kabbalah essentially describes our human experience of the Face turned in favor for or disfavor against our thoughts, speech, and actions.

While three dimensions of space, an essential dimension of Time, and the most subtle dimension of morality are five primary aspects of the Face as contemplated through the sefirot in the Tree of Life, there are even more ways when we regard what the Sefer Yetzirah has to say about the energy-intelligence represented by this General Consciousness, this ר: “It is called this because it is the means through which the ‘generalizers of the heavens’ collect their rules regarding the stars and constellations, forming the theory that comprises their knowledge of the Ofanim [wheels] of the spheres.” The Face, then is also the greater macrocosmic structure surrounding us in the heavens.

The astronomical face nearest us, center of the gravitational ofanim-wheels around which we turn, is the sun. Plants knew long before what animals and humans later learned, that this great, undeniable face rising and setting was life-giving, generating, and sustaining. Our earliest ancestors worshipped this face, an immense power on which all of life on this planet was dependent. Egyptian iconography of Amun insightfully depicted the Sun-god as an orb from which stream rays, the extremity of each ending with a tiny hand, affirming the life-giving touch from every ray of this face.

When monotheism began to challenge such worship of physical and astronomical elements, the even more beautiful question of the Face began to focus all human consciousness: If the sun was in fact dependent upon another source, then where is the source? What is its face? Here, in the Jewish tradition, this is superbly answered as our orientation from within. When aligned with the source of all, deep within yet ever beyond, there is mercy and peace; when unaligned, fragmented on the surface by passing fears and desires, there is severity and suffering.

Within and behind all apparent severity and suffering, what's most remarkable is how our ancestral forerunners held to the Face, affirming that this most subtle and sublime life-giving Face is faith itself. Manifest faith is to love another as one self in all circumstances. "To love another person is to see the face of God."

In this more subtle contemplation of orienting with our source, the outstanding moments from scripture employing the metaphor of Face then become even more exquisite, inviting your inspirations:

"the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters." (Genesis 1.2)

"So Jacob called the place Peniel, [Face of God] saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’" (Genesis 32.30)

"Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, YHVH; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But’, he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.’" (Exodus 33:18-20)

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?" (Psalm 13:1-2)

"As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness." (17:15)

"And [Yeshua] was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white." (Matthew 17:2)

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known." (1 Corinthians 13.12)

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

Amen and amen!

Resh when looking at this letter especially from the perspective of Hebrew letters going right to left, its face is toward Shin. It brings me to the contemplation of something within us looking forward (evolution) Shin or turning our face backward to the letter Koof (back of head) de-evolution or backward pull. The experience of our Lady reminds me of this letter looking forward in consciousness to Shin in her experience.

John 20:11-18
But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping: so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;12 and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Yeshua had lain.13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

14 When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Yeshua standing, and knew not that it was Yeshua.15 Yeshua saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.16 Yeshua saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher.17 Yeshua saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.18 Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and that he had said these things unto her.

Mary of Magdala experienced something within her that revealed this awareness of unity and love that had been hidden within her consciousness. This gardener that she had been associating as someone else finally reveals its self. The Holy Spirit revealing this presence and power within her. This same presence and power that she witnessed with her Tzaddik Yeshua was inside her the whole time. She experienced a full awakening within. Form and formlessness were united. The transcending light shone upon her, illuminating her, and she returned to her place, gazing at heaven face-to-face.

This reminds one of the story in Zohar where the Holy One created Adam androgynous. He created him with two faces. Then He sawed him and gave him two backs, one on this side and one on that. Form and formlessness Day and Night were separated so that they could stare at one another face-to-face.
Genesis Ch1:3-5 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
We could say that Mary Magdalene for the first time in a homo sapien structure experienced this awareness of Ahava and Achad fully aware and embodying this. She experienced this face-to-face fully as the verse says and there was evening and morning, union of the two. Shekinah achieves reunion with Tiferet, but now face-to-face, rather then back-to-back.

In Zohar it states Light radiated on the right side, darkness on the left. He then separated them, so they would merge, as it is written: God separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). Now if say an actual separation-no; rather, Day came from the side of light, which is right, and Night from the side of darkness, which is left, and they emerged as one. He separated them, dividing them along their sides, so they could gaze face-to-face, cleaving to one another, all becoming one. He is called Day----- He names him Day ----- and She is called Night, as it is written: and the darkness He called Night. (Genesis 1:5) for darkness seizes Her; She has no light of her own. Through deriving from the side of fire, which is darkness, still She is dark until illumined from the side of Day. Day illuminates Night, but Night does not shine until the time of which is written: Night will shine as day; darkness and light will be the same (Psalms 139:12)

Praise Mother Spirit that Mary Magdalene achieved this joining together of light and darkness experiencing the joining of One, which is evening and morning! She experiencing this face-to-face with her proclaiming I have seen the Lord! She now is a living temple of the holy Shekinah in the material plane. Her consciousness experiencing the Supernal light above the heavens and the Supernal light at the center of every particle of matter. The two Angels she witnessed in the tomb (her consciousness) being Torahkiel Yahweh and Sandalfon emerging as One presence within (Hua). Day and Night together reminds me of the word for Da’at where for the first time a human being on this planet was able to communicate this knowledge Day and Night (Da’at) with the power Holy Spirit setting this planet on fire with this holy knowledge.

May this same fire that our Lady who was the first Apostle in our linage be spread out among the people and land and all beings. Hallelu Yah!

Numbers, Alphabet, Symbol, Geometry and The Universe