Gematria Calculator › Atbash
Atbash Cipher Calculator
Atbash is the best-known Hebrew letter-substitution cipher. It works like a mirror: the first letter of the alphabet is exchanged with the last, the second with the second-to-last, and so on.
The Atbash table
| א ↔ ת | ב ↔ ש | ג ↔ ר | ד ↔ ק |
| ה ↔ צ | ו ↔ פ | ז ↔ ע | ח ↔ ס |
| ט ↔ נ | י ↔ מ | כ ↔ ל |
How it works
- Aleph becomes Tav, Bet becomes Shin, Gimel becomes Resh – hence the name A-T B-SH.
- Each letter has exactly one partner, so every word has exactly one Atbash reading.
- The exchange is symmetric: applying Atbash twice returns the original word.
Sources
- In the Bible itself: Jeremiah writes "the king of Sheshach shall drink after them" (Jeremiah 25:26). Rashi explains: Sheshach is Bavel (Babylon) in Atbash. Likewise "Lev Kamai" (Jeremiah 51:1) is Kasdim (the Chaldeans).
- In the Talmud: Shabbat 104a expounds the alphabet in Atbash. In Sanhedrin 22a, Rav says the writing on Belshazzar's wall was written "in gematria" – meaning in Atbash.
- In Rashi: on Sukkah 28a, Rashi gives Sheshach = Babel in Atbash as an example of "gematriot".
- The Chida (Petach Einayim) quotes an ancient manuscript attributing Atbash to Abraham.
Examples from the sources
ששך ← בבל
Jeremiah 25:26; 51:41
לב קמי ← כשדים
Jeremiah 51:1
Questions
Is Atbash a form of gematria?
Yes. In the Baraita of the 32 Rules, Rule 29 "Gematria" is defined as "sometimes by calculating letters and sometimes by exchanging letters", and the first example of exchange is Atbash.
How do I convert a word to Atbash?
Replace each letter by its partner in the table above. The calculator does it for you and lets you search the result across the Tanakh.
I don't have a Hebrew keyboard.
Use the on-screen Hebrew keyboard button next to the input box.