Book of Formation - Sefer Yetzirah

Chapter VI

Mishnah 8, part 1

Mishnah * VI.8.1.  And once our Patriarch Abraham (of blessed memory) came,

he looked, and he saw, and he investigated [further], and he understood, and he memorized, and he delved deeper, and he clarified, and he formed, and he thought, and he was successful,

and [so] the Master of everything (may His name be blessed forever) revealed Himself to [Abraham].

Companion

Mishnah VI.8.1.  [VI.4]  (of blessed memory) - As it reads, we understand the possibility that this mishnah was added after Abraham had died.  The possibility remains, though, that only this expression was added by students * after Abraham had died.

students - Abraham's son Isaac was the foremost student.

our Patriarch Abraham came - If Abraham himself added the essence of this mishnah, it was after G-d revealed Himself to Abraham.  In this case, Abraham's wording, in the third person, was for the sake of Isaac and other students reciting the lesson of this mishnah.  It is as if Abraham taught, “Repeat after me:  ‘. . . because our Patriarch Abraham came . . .’”

We can still return to the first premise – that this mishnah was added later when Abraham's place in history was secure.  It could even be that Rabbi Akiba (died around the year 131 ce) added this mishnah when he redacted the wording of the Book of Formation.  Rabbi Akiba, of the generation who witnessed the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, was one of the Sages who each shared what they had learned in their various academies with other Sages.

came - arrived in the world as a special man ‘Abraham’ instead of Abram, his birth name.  See part 2 of this mishnah.

He looked, and he saw . . . - The following table illustrates the long sequence of verbs and how they relate to each other.

so the Master of everything (may His name be blessed forever) revealed Himself to [Abraham] - Literally –. . . revealed Himself to him.

formed - The Book of Formation.  If so, what did Abraham think about?  I'm not sure.

Perhaps 'thinking' has been related to meditation.  It's not difficult to memorize the entire Book of Formation and then to meditate on its contents.  Perhaps, one lesson from this mishnah is to study the book by way of meditation.  This mishnah implies success, an outcome that prepares us for Divine revelation.

Notice the triad memorize, delve deeper, clarify.

* Definitions and Pronunciation