mystery

Everyday

1. A mystery is something strange that is not known or explained yet. tree →
2. A mystery is a story or film about solving a crime or a puzzle, often by a detective. tree →
3. «A mystery number» or «mystery prize» is one you do not know yet. tree →

In the lessons

In school maths: a «mystery number» to find (the unknown), often found by doing the opposite operation; number riddles. In literacy: mystery stories, clues, detectives, suspects. In science: mysteries scientists still try to solve, like what is at the bottom of the ocean. Phrases: «solve the mystery», «a mystery to me», «mystery story», «murder mystery».

Examples

• The mystery number plus 6 is 15. tree →
• Find the mystery number. tree →
• She reads a mystery book of 200 pages. tree →
• Solve the mystery: who has more? tree →
• How the dog got onto the roof is a mystery. tree →
• The detective followed the clues to solve the mystery. tree →
• It's a mystery to me why he left. tree →
• I am thinking of a mystery number: double it and you get 14. tree →
• Everything was said in whispers, every word was a mystery. tree →

Note

Plural «mysteries» (y changes to ies). «Mysterious» is the adjective. Maths: «mystery number» is the unknown, often found by doing the opposite operation (15 − 6 = 9). Trap: check the answer by putting it back into the riddle.

In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah it means a hidden, secret teaching about creation, held to be too deep to explain plainly.

Interpretation. Tradition thinks of such teaching as a secret handed down to only a few, and the book speaks of depth as a sign of divine mystery.

Examples

• The Siphra Dtzeniouta, or Book of Concealed Mystery, translated by Mac Gregor Mathers, in his " Kabalah Denudata," opens with a reference to this Equilibrium as a fundamental neces- sity of stable existence. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
• Depth [note 15: עוֹמֶק ʽomeq ‘depth’ here is based on the metaphor of עֲמֻקָּה ʽamuqqah ‘deepness’ as a symbol of divine mystery, as found in Biblical poetry, ex. [Job 11:8], [Psalms 64:7], [Ecclesiastes 7:24]. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
• These three mothers enclose a mighty mystery, most occult and most marvelous, sealed as with six rings, and from them proceed primeval Fire, Water, and Air; these are subsequently differentiated into male and female. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) tree →

Note

Plural «mysteries» (y changes to ies). «Mysterious» is the adjective. Maths: «mystery number» is the unknown, often found by doing the opposite operation (15 − 6 = 9). Trap: check the answer by putting it back into the riddle.