Counting in Hebrew is similar to counting by Roman numerals. Each letter symbolizes a number. The chart below provides an example. If you haven't already seen it, you may want to take a look at our article on The Hebrew Alphabet . It will help you get started.
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Numeric
Value
ט
ח
ז
ו
ה
ד
ג
ב
א
x1
צ
פ
ע
ס
נ
מ
ל
כ
י
x10
ץ
ף
ן
ם
ך
ת
ש
ר
ק
x100
For example: 14 would be יד. The letters for "ten" and "four" written right to left.
In older writings the final (or sofit) forms kaf ך, mem ם, nun ן, pe ף, and tzadi ץ were not used for 500, 600, 700, 800, & 900. Instead smaller numbers were summed: 400 and 100 for 500.
There are some exceptions
Numbers ending in 15 or 16 would be written as yud-he (10+5) and yud-vav (10+6), but the letters "yud he vav he" spell out the name of G-d and for religious reasons are not used. Instead, by convention, tet-vav (9+6 טו) and tet-zayin (9+7 טז) are always used.
Well ok, there is another exception- Some numbers spell out a word with strongly negative or positive connotations. In these cases, the order of the letters might be changed. The number 18 for example, yud-het, uses the same letters as the word for life het-yud. So instead of יח, you may see חי.{footnote}Hebrew Numbers from thei18nguy.com taken 7/23/2010 from http://www.i18nguy.com/unicode/hebrew-numbers.html {/footnote}
DecimalHebrewGlyphCardinal
(ex. one, two, three)Ordinal
(ex. first, second, third)
MasculineFeminineMasculineFeminine
0
N/A
efes (אֶפֶס)
N/A
1
Aleph
א
echad
(אֶחַד)
achat
(אַחַת)
rishon
(רִאשׁוֹן)
rishonah
(רִאשׁוֹנָה)
2
Bet
ב
shnayim
(שְׁנַיִם)
shtayim
(שְׁתַּיִם)
sheni
(שֵׁנִי)
shniyah
(שֵׁנִיָה)
3
Gimel
ג
shlosha
(שְׁלוֹשָׁה)
shalosh
(שָׁלוֹשׁ)
shlishi
(שְׁלִישִׁי)
shlishit
(שְׁלִישִׁית)
or
shlishiyah
(שְׁלִישִׁיָה)
4
Dalet
ד
arba'a
(אַרְבָּעָה)
arbah
(אַרְבַּע)
revi'i
(רְבִיעִי)
revi'it
(רְבִיעִית)
5
Hei
ה
chamisha
(חֲמִשָׁה)
chamesh
(חָמֵשׁ)
chamishi
(חֲמִישִׁי)
chamishit
(חֲמִישִׁית)
6
Vav
ו
shisha
(שִׁשָּׁה)
shesh
(שֵׁשׁ)
shishi
(שִׁשִּׁי)
shishit
(שִׁשִּׁית)
7
Zayin
ז
shiv'a
(שִׁבְעַה)
sheva
(שֶׁבַע)
shvi'i
(שְׁבִיעִי)
shvi'it
(שְׁבִיעִית)
8
Het
ח
shmonah
(שְׁמוֹנָה)
shmoneh
(שְׁמוֹנֶה)
shmini
(שְׁמִינִי)
shminit
(שְׁמִינִית)
9
Tet
ט
tish'a
(תִּשְׁעָה)
tayshah
(תֵּשַׁע)
tshi'i
(תְּשִׁיעִי)
tshi'it
(תְּשִׁיעִית)
10
Yud
י
assara
(עֲשָׂרָה)
eser
(עֶשֶׂר)
asiri
(עֲשִׂירִי)
asirit
(עֲשִׂירִית)
20
Kaf
כ
esrim
(עֶשְׂרִים)
30
Lamed
ל
shloshim
(שְׁלוֹשִׁים)
40
Mem
מ
arba'im
(אַרְבָּעִים)
50
Nun
נ
chamishim
(חֲמִשִּׁים)
60
Samech
ס
shishim
(שִׁשִּׁים)
70
Ayin
ע
shiv'im
(שִׁבְעִים)
80
Pei
פ
shmonim
(שְׁמוֹנִים)
90
Tsadi
צ
tish'im
(תִּשְׁעִים)
100
Kuf
ק
me'a
(מֵאָה)
200
Resh
ר
matayim
(מָאתַיִם)
300
Shin
ש
shlosh meot
(שְׁלוֹשׁ מֵאוֹת)
400
Tav
ת
arba meot
(אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת)
500
Tav Kuf or Chaf Sofit
ת"ק or ך
chamesh meot
(חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת)
600
Tav Resh or Mem Sofit
ת"ר or ם
shesh meot
(שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת)
700
Tav Shin or Nun Sofit
ת"ש or ן
shva meot
(שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת)
800
Tav Tav or Pei Sofit
ת"ת or ף
shmone meot
(שְׁמוֹנֶה מֵאוֹת)
900
Tav Tav Kuf or Tsadi Sofit
תת"ק or ץ
tsha meot
(תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת)
11: achad asar/achat esre,
12: shneim asar/shteim esre,
13: shlosha asar/shlosh esre,
14: arba'a asar/arba esre,
15: chamisha asar/chamesh esre,
16: shisha asar/shesh esre,
17: shiv'a asar/shva esre,
18: shmona asar/shmone esre,
19: tish'a asar/tsha esre
1000: elef,
2000: alpaim,
10 000: aseret alafim/revava,
100 000: mea elef,
1 000 000: miliyon,
1 000 000 000: miliyard
Source: Wikipedia, Hebrew Numbers, 7/23/2010, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_numbers
Note: For ordinal numbers greater than 10, cardinal numbers are used instead.
For more details please see Hebrew Letters as Numbers on Hebrew for Christians.com.
If you would like to calculate the values of Hebrew letters (or words) you can use this calculator at the University of Tennessee
or this Flash-based calculator at NumberMan.net.
Enjoy counting in Hebrew!
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