Qoph — The Paleo-Hebrew Letter of “Behind / Cycle / Time”

What Qoph means

Qoph (ק) is the nineteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and carries the numeric value 100. In Paleo-Hebrew — the most ancient form of the script, used in the days of Moses and David — it was not an abstract character but a picture: the sun sinking to the horizon, or the back of the head. From that image comes its core meaning of Behind / Cycle / Time.

Because every Paleo-Hebrew letter began as a drawing, Qoph speaks before it is ever pronounced. It is the last light on the horizon, that which is behind us, and the turning of time that comes around again — sunset and sunrise, the appointed seasons, the promise that what sets will also rise.

Qoph and the story of the Cross

The whole premise of The House of the Highest One God is that the redemptive plan of God is written into the very shapes of these letters — from the first word of Genesis to the final page of Revelation. Qoph, with its meaning of “Behind / Cycle / Time,” holds the ache of every sunset and the hope that God appoints the times and brings the dawn again. Follow all twenty-two letters and the picture that emerges is the Cross itself.