[4] The idea of 36 righteous became fully fleshed out in later generations: As a mystical concept, the number 36 is even more intriguing.
Jewish tradition holds that their identities are unknown to each other and that, if one of them comes to a realization of their true purpose, they would never admit it: The Lamed-Vav Tzaddikim are also called the Nistarim ("concealed ones").
In our folk tales, they emerge from their self-imposed concealment and, by the mystic powers, which they possess, they succeed in averting the threatened disasters of a people persecuted by the enemies that surround them.
For the sake of these 36 hidden saints, God preserves the world even if the rest of humanity has degenerated to the level of total barbarism.
The term lamedvovnik is derived from the Hebrew letters Lamed (L) and Vav (V), whose numerical value (see Gematria) adds up to 36.
The "nik" at the end is a Russian or Yiddish suffix indicating "a person who..." (As in "Beatnik"; in English, this would be something like calling them "The Thirty-Sixers".)
In gematria (a form of numerology used in Judaism), the number 18 stands for "life", because the Hebrew letters that spell chai, meaning "living", add up to 18.
These beliefs are articulated in the works of Max Brod[citation needed], and some (like Jorge Luis Borges)[citation needed] believe the concept to have originated in the Book of Genesis 18:26: And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.