Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
248 limbs of the King
רמ״ח אברים דמלכא
The 248 limbs of the King
The Zohar’s name for the 248 positive mitzvos: as limbs are vessels for the soul’s life, the mitzvos are vessels through which the Or Ein Sof, clothed in Zeir Anpin (“the King”), is drawn below.
The word רמ״ח אברים alone is usually the 248 limbs of the human body, the parable itself; the concept is the phrase with דמלכא (“of the King”), often paired with רמ״ח פקודין (248 commandments) and set beside the 365 prohibitions as the 365 sinews.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4, ¶17The 248 positive mitzvos are the 248 limbs of the King: as a limb is where the life of the soul is clothed, and without that life the body is like an inert stone, so the mitzvos are the King’s limbs, in which the life and light of the Ein Sof is clothed.
כך הנה המצות הם בחי׳ אברין דמלכא שמלובש בהם חיות ואור אין סוף ברוך הוא
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 16, ¶7As the soul’s power of sight is revealed through the eye, so the Or Ein Sof is revealed through the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, “He and His vessels are one”; these are the King’s limbs, Zeir Anpin of Atzilus, and they are also the mitzvos (tefillin draw Chochmah, Binah and Daas; tzedakah, Chesed). The count: nine Sefiros each comprising nine, each with three vessels, makes 243, and the five Chasadim make 248. Doing the mitzvos physically draws this revelation of Atzilus into Asiyah, a dwelling in the lower realms.
וחשבון רמ״ח אברים ורמ״ח מ״ע היינו לפי שז״א הוא בעל ט״ס
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12, ¶11The letters of mitzvah spell Havayah (מ״צ is י״ה in at-bash), and the mitzvos are called the limbs of the King, and the King is Zeir Anpin. They are also called “the commandments of the King,” which are in Malchus and are only His command, not His very limbs. Below, a mitzvah is the King’s command, but its root above is the King’s limbs: as one who touches a man’s toenails is felt in his brain, a physical mitzvah touches the Or Ein Sof clothed in it.
באמת למטה הוא מצות המלך אך שרשה למעלה היא בבחי׳ אברים דמלכא
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1, ¶3The mitzvos draw the Or Ein Sof clothed in Chochmah Ila’ah, so that He be “King of the world”; “limbs of the King” means limbs for Him to be King, and “limbs” means extensions, as a limb is the spreading of the soul’s life from the head. So mitzvos need kavanah: they are the King’s command, and their inner reasons draw the Or Ein Sof.
ואברין פי׳ המשכות כמו עד״מ שהאבר הוא המשכת והתפשטות החיות של הנפש בגוף מגילוי כללות החיות שבראש ומוחין
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1, ¶19Through the mitzvos we “take” Him, as it were: as one who grasps a person by one of his limbs draws all of him, so through the mitzvos, the King’s limbs, influence from the Or Ein Sof itself is drawn; though the mitzvos are in physical, outward things, the life of the Or Ein Sof is held in them like the life of the blood in the limbs.
כמו למשל האוחז באדם באחד מאבריו ומושכו אליו נמשך כולו אליו
Stated differently
What the Torah is in the parable of the King’s limbs: the blood that brings life to the limbs, or the inner limbs
והנה התורה היא בחי׳ הדם היא הנפש שהוא הוא הממשיך רוח חיים באברים מן הנפש עצמהThe mitzvos are the limbs and the Torah is the blood, “the blood is the soul,” which brings the breath of life from the soul into the limbs and gives life to the mitzvos themselves; so Torah study applies at all times, while the mitzvos, as limbs, are bound to time and season.
רמ״ח פיקודין הם רמ״ח אברים דמלכא והם בחי׳ אברים החיצנוים ותורה היא בבחי׳ אברים הפנימיםThe 248 commandments are the King’s outer limbs, and the Torah is the inner organs, on which the soul’s life depends more; hence Torah study equals them all.
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 16, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12, ¶11Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1, ¶19Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1, ¶16
Where it appears
In 117 paragraphs of 80 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 15 ¶6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 1 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1 ¶3 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 3 ¶12 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 16 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 22 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 4 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 1 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 11 ¶2 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 12 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Vayakhel 1 ¶16 ¶17 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶36
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 4 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 19 ¶7 ¶8 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 3 ¶13 ¶14 ¶16 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 1 ¶4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 6 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 3 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 5 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 6 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 10 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 11 ¶4 ¶9 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12 ¶8 ¶11 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 1 ¶31 ¶32
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 5 ¶4 ¶17
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 1 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 1 ¶18 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2 ¶11 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 1 ¶41 ¶44
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 12 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Toldos 2 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 1 ¶15 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 1 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 4 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 4 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 11 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Yom Kippur 1 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 4 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 1 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 2 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 1 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 1 ¶25
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 10 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶7 ¶8 ¶16 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 3 ¶10 ¶19 ¶43
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 1 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 8 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 2 ¶1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 5 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 5 ¶21 ¶36
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 5 ¶18 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Ki Sisa 2 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 1 ¶31
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 2 ¶3 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 5 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 4 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 3 ¶18 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 10 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 1 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 3 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1 ¶7 ¶8 ¶10 ¶11 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4 ¶17
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 9 ¶12
- Torah Ohr, Noach 3 ¶21
- Torah Ohr, Yisro 3 ¶2
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 8 ¶28
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 6 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 1 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 9 ¶1
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 4 ¶19
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.