Hebrew tradition gives great weight to the meaning of the individual Hebrew letters. The diagram below shows the 17^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet (‘Pey’) and the inner space of the letter ‘Pey’ reveals the letter ‘Bet’. The Hebrew letter ‘Bet’ has the simple meaning of ‘house’ and because of its position as the first letter of the Bible (in the creation verse of Genesis 1:1), it is also known as the ‘house of creation’.

Now because the letter ‘Pey’ pictorially surrounds this ‘house of creation’, the letter ‘Pey’ is considered as the ‘Word’ through which creation was spoken into being and which holds creation or all things together (Colossians 1:17). This association of the ‘Word’ with the ‘house of creation’ also speaks of when the Word became flesh and ‘tabernacled’ on the earth (John 1:14).

The Hebrew letter ‘Pey’ is the 17^th letter in the Hebrew alphabet and therefore this association links the ‘flesh of Jesus’ with the number ‘17’.

Note also the shape of the normal and final form of the Hebrew letter ‘Pey’. The normal form is bent over underneath which depicts the humility of Messiah in His flesh at His first coming. The final form of the letter ‘Pey’ which is straight, speaks of Messiah’s second coming to the earth as King and Judge.