perhaps I am late in the conversation... perhaps I missed something.
But speaking about the skip 49 for torh, skip 7 for YHWH, skip 49 for hrot.... has anybody seen a site or a source that can quote the valid statistical possibility of this? and this code in particular? To say nothing of finding sentences and phrases randomly- which seems bogus with the research I was able to find..... BUT I cant find any refutation AT ALL of the TORH skip occurence? Any help? I mean, this seems like a big deal to me! no?
And did you ever get to count those numbers on your own?
thanks
Kevin- student of the bible
A few posters on the thread have given helpful links, incluidng one to the original paper in Statistical Science.
Although the first formal reporting of the code took place around 1958 by a Jewish Rabbi, that the Scriptures carried far more than a mere litereary significance has always been presumed by the Jewish people and the Scribes in particular.
The Holy Scriptures would be handled with great reverence, and no ancient document was reproduced with greater fastidiousness.
One error on a page resulted in the entire page being redone.
Two errors meant the entire work was scrapped and restarted.
Each time the name of God was encouuntered, the Scribe would burn his pen and change his clothes.
By comparison, I get the impression that even some so-called Christians hold the Word of God in little more than thinly disguised contempt.
So far as I know, there is nothing in the internal witness of the Scriptures that militate against the possibility of the code's existence. In fact the Scripture is replete with suggestions the the Word of God has far greater depth and mystery than unaided human ability can fully plumb. The Psalmist beseeches God that He would open up his eyes, that he might "behold wondrous things out of Thy law"
The letter predicting Rabin's assassinaton is a documented fact.
I have read the original publication on the study in Genesis and the paper was peer reviewed. It is solid statistics.
You will have to read the paper and Drosnin's book and draw your own conclusions.
Some other interesting studies on ELS have been done purporting to refute the findings of the original paper.
Most of the criticism I have read amount to little more than a knee-jerk reaction of the scientific community and which is entirely understandable. Most of these folk are hoplessly mired in a strictly mechanistic world-view of reality.
Verne
p.s Doron Witztum has published a new book in Hebrew in which he responds to his critics. You can get a copy of the Hebrew text he actually used here:
http://www.torahcodes.co.il/