You’ve probably heard the quintessential magical spell, abracadabra. But have you ever wondered what it actually means and where it comes from?

Although the actual origins and meaning of the word are shrouded in mystery, the first recorded appearance of the word abracadabra is in the 2nd century CE in the Liber Medicinalis by the Roman physician Serenus Sammonicus. He prescribed an amulet involving the word as a cure for fever. In the 1800s, it came to be used as a magical spell, and has since become the classic magical words beloved by children’s entertainers everywhere.

It is not referenced in any Jewish texts before modern times.1

In the past several decades, theories have arisen that associate abracadabra with its obvious Aramaic parallel, “אברא כדברא,” meaning “I will create like the word” or “I will create as I speak.”

In Aryeh Kaplan’s translation of Sefer Yetzirah, he draws a parallel between the Talmudic story of the sage Rava (c. 280 – 352 CE) creating a golem and abracadabra:

… the expression, “Rava created a man,” has mystical connotations. In the original, it is “Rava bara gavra … ” In many ways, this expression is reminiscent of the word abracadabra (אברא כאדברא), which literally means, “I will create as I speak.”2

In a footnote, Rabbi Kaplan adds a deeper layer of significance:

It is significant that, when written this way–(אברא כאדברא)–abracadabra contains the word BaRA (bara), meaning to create, while the remaining letters add up to 26, the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton.3

So is this a legitimate etymology for the term abracadabra or just a creative theory?

Whatever the true etymology is, the idea of creation with words is definitely a Jewish concept. According to Kabbalah, the world was created with G‑d’s power of speech. For more information on this topic see: The Kabbalah of Speech.