Gematria methods
The calculator shows ten methods at once. Here is what each does, with שלום (shalom) worked through every one.
| Method | What it does | שלום |
|---|---|---|
| Mispar Hechrachi | Standard value | 376 |
| Mispar Gadol | Final letters 500–900 | 936 |
| Mispar Katan | Small value | 16 |
| Mispar Siduri | Ordinal value | 52 |
| Im HaKolel | Standard + 1 per word | 377 |
| Mispar Katan Mispari | Digit sum | 7 |
| Atbash | א↔ת, ב↔ש | 112 |
| Albam | א↔ל, ב↔מ | 93 |
| Kidmi and Perati | Triangular and square | 1,366 / 92,536 |
Which method should I use?
Use the standard method, Mispar Hechrachi, unless you are following a specific text that uses another one. It is the method of every Talmudic example. Atbash also appears in the Talmud and in Rashi; the other methods come from later literature. They are shown so that you can follow a source that uses them, not so that you can pick whichever method produces a match.
Other alphabets
The same idea exists in Greek (isopsephy) and Arabic (abjad). The English ciphers are modern and work differently.