מראות הצובאותThe Mirrors of Prophecy

mar'ot ha-tzove'otIn Gamatria ↗

One mirror polished, the rest misted, but one light in both.

The third and fourth gates cover YHVH Tzevaot and Elohim Tzevaot (Netzach and Hod). Gikatilla calls them the place the prophets 'nurse' from, which is why they keep saying 'Thus says YHVH Tzevaot'. He plays on the Tabernacle's 'mirrors of the women who gathered (tzove'ot)'. Moses looked into a clear, polished mirror and spoke with YHVH face to face. The other prophets saw through the lower sefirot, a mirror that is not polished, so their visions came in images. He compares this to water: Moses held the spring itself, the prophets the stream mixed with earth, and the Writings a gathered pool.

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