The Torah Codes
by Jim Long

Website use with permission of the copyright-holding author.

[Prefatory Note by LexiLine: Moshe Katz and Menachem Wiener of the Israel Institute of Technology, Rabbi Avraham Inger in New York and Jim Long in Texas - based on a theory in ancient rabbinic literature that the Torah (the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch of the Bible (the five books of Moses of the Old Testament), contained hidden, significant words - have examined the Torah by computer analysis and claim to have found that certain words are hidden in directly relevant text passages, far beyond what would be expected by normal chance distribution. (E.g. "Torah" is allegedly found in Genesis repeated at 50-character intervals, "Elohim" (God) at 26-letter intervals, etc.). No such intervals can be found in "normal" text, either in Hebrew or in any other language text. Katz and Wiener state that their findings show - at the least - that the Torah was written by ONE hand, and not, as currently assumed, that the five books of Moses have several different authors. As to who that ONE hand was, there are of course either "divine" or "divinely inspired" possibilities, which we do not discuss here, although we do point to the possibility of mnemonic devices, utilized by the ancients to memorize Biblical texts by rote, prior to their being written down. This particular LexiLine page contains some highly relevant, original and interesting ideas of Jim Long, who brought Katz's and Wiener's work to the attention of LexiLine and who has written about the Torah Codes elsewhere as well. Many of his observations about ancient Hebrew culture and astronomy are quite incisive. LexiLine does not agree with everything in this article, but WE are not the judges. YOU are. - Andis Kaulins, Webmaster, LexiLine.]

The Torah Codes
by Jim Long

Ancient Hebrew Arts and Sciences

The Hebrews, who take their name from the patriarch Eber, impacted every culture they came in contact with. Their influence in the arts, medicine and the sciences is seen everywhere. Even in antiquity, they left their mark. The highly prized "Roman glass" was actually the work of Jewish artisans. The same can be said of financial practices of the Persians, they depended on the Jews, in the days of Esther. Samuel Kurinsky's "The 8th Day", documents this very well. The ancient Egyptians probably gained their knowledge of mathematics from Abraham. (See Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter 8:2). And surely, they learned from Joseph, the art of astrology.

Hebrew Chronology and Astrology

Time is sacred to the Jews. They have an unbroken calendar that is so exact that they can trace the very day and date that Adam was born. The Jewish sages of old, took the Torah and calculated every important event listed therein . This chronology is called Seder Ha Olam (the Order of the World). [Lexiline: note the Walum Olum of the Delaware Indians in this context as a possible Old World - New World connection.] It is an unbroken chain of time, from Adam up to the present. Rosh Ha Shinah (literally, the head of the year) is actually Adam's birthday. The Jewish historian, Josephus, attributes the origin of astrology to Seth, the offspring of Adam. (Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter 2:3). The Hebrew word for the constellations is Mazzaroth.

Hebrew Language and Numbers

Keep in mind a few basic things about Hebrew. Originally, there were no vowels. It is read from right to left, and there are no numerical characters. Hebrew letters stand for numerical values. The practice of taking words, or sentences and finding their numerical value is called gematria. This is not numerology.

The Torah Codes

A radical new study of the Hebrew Bible, called the Torah Codes is revealing amazing concepts about these very figures. Using a computer to make equidistant letter counts of the Hebrew verses, we can find answers embedded within the text of the Torah. For instance, the modern Hebrew word for the Holocaust, Ha Shoah is found in Deuteronomy. [LexiLine Note:We agree that there may be mnemonic devices in the Bible, but none into the future.] The word is spelled out, every 50 letters, within the text describing the Holocaust. This is only one example. Using the available software for the Codes, I entered mazzaroth (constellations) and asked the computer to find the word encoded in the Torah. Remember, this is the Hebrew word for the original Zodiac, the scroll in the heavens. Here's what I found....

MAZZAROTH (The Constellations)

The very first place in the Torah that we find the word mazzaroth, it is spelled out every seven letters in Genesis 4:26 through Genesis 5:1. What did Josephus say about Seth and his offspring? [Lexiline Note: the Jewish historian, Josephus, attributes the origin of astrology to Seth, the offspring of Adam - Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter 2:3.] There are hundreds of other examples of these encoded words in the Torah.

Humans, Stars and Pyramids

Enoch , who was the 7th from Adam, wrote that each star represented a living being. (The Book of Enoch, Chapter 81:9-10). Enoch's words echo those of Lexiline pages [ Biblical Patriarchs ] on the setting of star days. This influence can still be seen in the story of Joseph and his brethren. (Sefer Ha Yasher 53:18, also see Genesis 43:33). We see it again in the Book of Job. He was a contemporary of Moses (see his references to "reed boats" and dwelling among monuments with buried kings) and even served as an advisor to Pharaoh. The book of Job mentions the very constellations that may have aided in the building of the Pyramids. Note his language: the chains of the Pleiades.....and the cords of Orion.....the ordinances of heaven. Take note of the constellation Pleiades, it will figure heavily in the story of the Flood.

Hebrew Days and Years

It is important to remember that the Hebrew word for year is shinah.The word for day is yom. The use of these two words never changes throughout the entire Hebrew bible (known to the Jews as the Tanach and to non-Jews as the Old Testament). So, when the Torah states shinah (or year), the text is usually referring to a 360 viz 365 day cycle. When it reads yom (day) it speaks of a roughly 24 hour cycle. And, a day begins with sundown and ends with the next sundown. There are obvious exceptions, for example, when the scripture is speaking in prophetical terms...then a day might stand for a thousand years or even just a year.

Lengths of Life of Biblical Patriarchs

We have to remember that these people (usually the offspring of Seth) lived longer due to many factors: + Diet: They were vegetarians who enjoyed plantlife that was probably far richer in nutrients than anything we can imagine today. They also ate in moderation. + Climate: The earth was covered by a dense cloudy canopy that protected life forms from damaging radiation. These conditions may have led to a tropical greenhouse effect which gave way to tremendous growth and longevity. Since there was no direct sunlight, before this canopy was dispersed, there were no rainbows until after the Flood. A rainbow can only be created when water droplets encounter direct sunlight. + Orbital: Before the Deluge, the earth's course was different, even its spin may have varied. This would effect a change in the length of days. Genesis 6:3 does not refer to man only being allowed to live 120 years, after the flood. A simple check of the lifespans of many of the post-deluvian patriarchs will reveal that man was not restricted to a 120 year span. Abraham lived to the age of 175... Isaac died at the age of 180... Jacob passed away at 147...Joseph was 110 when he died, and Moses lived til he was 150. All of their ages are recorded in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).
[LexiLine Note: Scientific studies of ancient remains show no excessive life spans in Biblical days. There must, in our view, be a different explanation for the numbers in the Bible.]

Deification of Ancestors

The Hebrews did not deify their ancestors (this would have broken a major tenet of faith) but they did believe that the course of their lives was charted in the heavens. Other peoples did deify these figures. For instance, Nimrod, stole the animal skins once worn by his ancestor Adam. Believing the skins possessed magical powers, Nimrod donned them and became a mighty hunter. He was later memorialized as Hercules. Other ancient personalities entered the pantheon. Many of these and more, lived an extraordinary number of years. The 120 years referred to Genesis 6:3 is the amount of time left for man on the earth, before the flood.

No'ach [Noah], Methuselah, The Flood

I wanted to pass along a few relevant things about the Flood. In other LexiLine pages, Generations of the Bible ( Biblical Patriarchs ), the constellation Pleiades figures prominently in Methuselah's [heliacal] setting. The Talmud tells us that the Flood started when Heaven's sluices were opened by "removing two of the Pleiades." This is a phrase loaded with all kinds of implications. Could this be why it was common knowledge, among No'ach and his ancestors, that this event was foretold in the heavens? Could this be an explanation of an actual cosmic event that shook the earth's very foundations? And how did No'ach know exactly when to enter the Ark? His grandfather's name was a prophesy. The Hebrew word for death is met. The word for judgment is selah. Methuselah literally means, "at his death is judgment".

No'ach's Ark [Noah's Ark]

During the disaster that followed, No'ach and his family braved the watery cataclysm in their large reed craft. It was not gopher wood (there is no such thing). It was sealed with gophre, the Hebrew word for pitch or tar. The rabbinical sources reveal that its interior was lit by a marvelous blue sapphire that contained all knowledge. This same idea is expressed in the works of the Babylonian priest Berosus. He says that the story is in the sacred book called Sippar. Note of some very intriguing facts: The Hebrew word for book is Sefer. The Hebrew word for sapphire is Sapir. The Hebrew letter fey is changed to apey by adding a dot in the middle of the letter. It changes an "f" sound to a "p" sound. Say the words (sefer and sapir) and interchange the "p" with the "f" and they are almost indistinguishable. In Hebrew, the word for a scribe is sofer. 19th century sailing vessels used a sapphire shaped prism, flat on one end, built into its deck to light below decks. (I have a replica of this ship's prism on my mantle). And what is even more fascinating...some Jewish scholars have long held that the Torah itself, given to Moses on Mount Sinai, was engraved on two blocks of pure sapphire. So, is the Hebrew word for book, sefer, derived from safir or sapphire? [LexiLine Note: These ancient terms are still with us as cipher, cyber or even German Schiefer "slate".] The story of a universal flood is found in over 300 cultures. It is a popular misconception that the original story of the flood came from the Babylonian myth of Gilgamesh. But why? There is no proof that the Gilgamesh epic came first. Simply because the Gilgamesh tablet is older than any copy of the Torah only proves that we haven't found an older copy of the Torah, yet.
__________ End of the Article, Copyright by Jim Long __________