Gematria is a system assigning numerical values to letters. It is both a spiritual practice and hermeneutic method used to uncover additional meaning in texts, revealing correspondences between seemingly unrelated concepts.

It is primarily a method of interpreting scripture associated with Jewish mysticism, particularly Kabbalah, also influencing Christian mystics and Western occult traditions. The kind of multilayered understanding of texts accessible via numerological correspondences is best exemplified in the Kabbalistic exegetical practice of Pardes, which describes four levels of interpretation: Peshat (literal meaning), Remez (hint or allegorical meaning), Derash (homiletical or midrashic meaning) and Sod (mystical or secret meaning). Gematria, along with other Kabbalistic techniques such as Notarikon and Temurah, primarily operates within the realm of Sod, providing tools to uncover bridges between the exoteric and esoteric: the seen/literal and the unseen/symbolic. Through an appropriate framework such as Kabbalah, these obscured connections offer insight into the divine structures that give form to reality.