Hebrew Gematria

In Hebrew the letters also serve as numerals. There is no separate system. This means that every letter and every word in Hebrew has a numerical value. Studying the numerical value is thought to reveal special characteristics or even hidden meaning of the word. I am generally skeptical of these types of calculations, but I'll admit there are some special patterns that seem to mean something. This is a well documented practice of ancient people including Hebrews and Greeks. So whether you subscribe to the practice it was and is a tool for explaining symbols.

1 aleph א

2 beth ב

3 gimmel ג

4 daleth ד

5 hey ה

6 vav ו

7 zayin ז

8 chet ח

9 tet ט

10 yod י

20 kaf כ or ך

30 lamed ל

40 mem מ or ם

50 nun נ or ן

60 samekh ס

70 ayin ע

80 pey פ or ף

90 tsade צ or ץ

100 qof ק

200 resh ר

300 shin ש

400 tav ת

Paleo Hebrew

Hebrew letter derive from Phoenician which has its origins from pictographs like Egyptian hieroglyphs. 

This means that each letter or number has a picture symbol.

Some of those picture symbols are easy to recognize, some are a bit more lost to time. 

For example the Hebrew letter yod is just a small mark that looks like an apostrophe.  (י) This was originally a symbol of a hand and an extended arm. The symbol has evolved over time to where the hand is no longer recognizable. But the Hebrew word for hand is still "yod."

These are all the picture symbols for each letter: