How does the Hebrew numeral system work?

Each of the 22 letters has a value: aleph to tet are 1 to 9, yod to tsadi are 10 to 90, and qof to tav are 100 to 400. Numbers are written by combining letters whose values add up to the target, largest first.

Why are 15 and 16 written differently?

Fifteen would normally be yod-he (10 plus 5) and sixteen yod-vav (10 plus 6), but those combinations spell part of the divine name. By tradition they are instead written tet-vav and tet-zayin (9 plus 6 and 9 plus 7).

How are hundreds above 400 written?

The alphabet only reaches 400 with tav, so 500 to 900 are built by combination: 500 is tav plus qof (400 plus 100), 600 is tav plus resh, and so on up to 900 as tav plus tav plus qof.

What is a geresh or gershayim?

When letters are used as numbers, a geresh (single stroke) marks a one-letter numeral and gershayim (double stroke) is placed before the last letter of a multi-letter numeral. This tool adds gershayim so the output reads as a number.

Can it write Hebrew calendar years?

Yes. Years such as 5786 are usually written without the thousands digit, so 5786 appears as the 786 part, תשפו, which is the common way Hebrew dates are printed.

Hebrew Numeral (Gematria) Converter

Hebrew uses its 22 letters as numerals, a system identical to the basis of gematria. This converter turns an integer into the standard letter combination, correctly handling the hundreds above 400 and the special spellings of 15 and 16.

How it works

The number is split into hundreds, tens and units, each mapped to letters:

units    א1 ב2 ג3 ד4 ה5 ו6 ז7 ח8 ט9
tens     י10 כ20 ל30 מ40 נ50 ס60 ע70 פ80 צ90
hundreds ק100 ר200 ש300 ת400 (500–900 combine with ת)

Letters are concatenated from the largest value down, reading right to left in Hebrew. Two rules are applied: hundreds from 500 to 900 are formed by adding tav (400) blocks, and the values 15 and 16 are written טו and טז (9 + 6 and 9 + 7) rather than spelling part of the divine name. A gershayim mark is inserted before the final letter to signal that the string is a number.

Example and tips

The Hebrew year 5786 is conventionally printed as its last three digits, 786, which is תשפ״ו — tav (400) + shin (300) + pe (80) + vav (6). Watch for the 15/16 exception: a verse 15 is טו, not יה. Output here is unpointed; in printed texts the letters may also carry vowel points, which do not change the numeric value.