Using Arab Math to Uncover Authors of the Torah

It is interesting when the contributions of Afro-Arabians are used to better understand the oldest sources of information about the ancient Afro-Asiatics, sources found in the oldest layers of the Bible, especially in Genesis.  Such is the case with the application of algorithm to the biblical texts.

The Arabs introduced the decimal system to Europe and the Zero, which originally was a solar hieroglyph.  From the Arabs came the works of Al-Khwarizmi who is known in English as Alghorismus, from whom the term "algorism" was derived.  His work laid the foundation for algebra and complex mathematical problems, such as square roots and complex fractions. Many of his books were translated into European languages. Now researchers hope to use his thought to uncover the authors and authorial threads of the Torah.  This may prove helpful in the case of Genesis if the kinship, marriage and ascendency pattern is factored in. However, from reading the article, it appears that the genealogical data is not part of the equation. This means that the results will be flawed.



Algorithm could untangle authors of Torah

October 11, 2011

In both Jewish and Christian traditions, Moses is considered the author of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Scholars have furnished evidence that multiple writers had a hand in composing the text of the Torah. Other books of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament are also thought to be composites. However, delineating these multiple sources has been a laborious task.

Now researchers have developed an algorithm that could help to unravel the different sources that contributed to individual books of the Bible. Prof. Nachum Dershowitz of Tel Aviv University’s Blavatnik School of Computer Science, who worked in collaboration with his son, Bible scholar Idan Dershowitz of Hebrew University, and Prof. Moshe Koppel and Ph.D. student Navot Akiva of Bar-Ilan University, says that their computer algorithm recognizes linguistic cues, such as word preference, to divide texts into probable author groupings.

By focusing exclusively on writing style instead of subject or genre, Prof. Dershowitz and his colleagues sidestepped several methodological hurdles that hamper conventional Bible scholarship. These issues include a potential lack of objectivity in content-based analysis and complications caused by the multiple genres and literary forms found in the Bible — including poetry, narrative, law, and parable. Their research was presented at the 49th Annual Conference of the Association for Computational Linguistics in Portland.

A keen eye for detail

According to Prof. Dershowitz, the software searches for and compares details that human scholars might have difficulty detecting, such as the frequency of the use of “function” words and synonyms. Such details have little bearing on the meaning of the text itself, but each author or source often has his own style. This could be as innocuous as an author’s preference for using the word “said” versus “spoke.”

To test the validity of their method, the researchers randomly mixed passages from the two Hebrew books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and asked the computer to separate them. By searching for and categorizing chapters by synonym preference, and then looking at usage of common words, the computer program was able to separate the passages with 99 percent accuracy. The software was also able to distinguish between “priestly” materials — those dealing with issues such as religious ritual — and “non-priestly” material in the Torah, a categorization that is widely used by Bible scholars.

While the algorithm is not yet advanced enough to give the researchers a precise number of probable authors involved in the writing of the individual books of the Bible, Prof. Dershowitz says that it can help to identify transition points within the text where a source changes, potentially shedding new light on age-old debates.

Categorizing the unknown

Part of a new field called “digital humanities,” computer software like Prof. Dershowitz’s is being developed to give more insight into historical sources than ever before. Programs already exist to help attribute previously anonymous texts to well-known authors by writing style, or uncover the gender of a text’s author. But the Bible presents a new challenge, says Prof. Dershowitz, as there are no independently attributed works to which to compare the Biblical books.

The Torah algorithm may also provide new information about other enigmatic source material, such as the many pamphlets and treatises of unknown composition that are scattered throughout history. And because the software can identify subtle linguistic cues, it is able to uncover differences within mere percentage points, a feat that has never before been possible. “If the computer can find features that Bible scholars haven’t noticed before, it adds new dimensions to their scholarship. That would be gratifying in and of itself,” says Prof. Dershowitz.
 
Source: Scienceblog


Related reading:  Who Wrote Genesis?; The Documentary Hypothesis; The Possibility of Davidic Authorship

The Genesis Record of Horite Rule

Alice C. Linsley


Genesis is the product of a learned priest-scribe (nabu) who had access to sources that recall a time about 1200 years before the material was probably scribed. He used the royal archives to make a connection between the origins stories of Genesis 1-4:16 and Cain and his brother Seth, the earliest known rulers among Abraham's African ancestors. Genesis 1-4 is prehistory. We meet the first historical persons in Genesis 4 which lists the rulers who descended from Cain. Genesis 5 lists the rulers descended from Seth. However, it is important to note that these royal lines intermarried exclusively, as did the lines of Ham and Shem.

The members of the Horite caste practiced endogamy, that is, they married only within their caste. Their marriage and ascendancy pattern is unique and allows anthropologists to trace the royal priest-scribe lines. Moses belonged to this caste which lends credence to the traditional view that he scribed or was responsible for the compilation of the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible called the Pentateuch.
The marriage and ascendancy of these early rulers drove expansion out of Africa and caused new trade centers to be established. The Horite scribes kept both sacred and commercial records for the Horite rulers who controlled the major trade routes in the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. When the Sahara, Arabia and Mesopotamia were wetter cargo moved along the great interconnected river systems.

The Horites have been identified with references to Khar, a unit of measurement used in trade in the Egyptian inscriptions (See James Orr, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, page 1421.) The word khar is related to gur. In Akkadian gurguri means metalworkers or copper smiths. In Oromo gurguru means to sell (gurgurtaa = sale, gurguraa = seller). In Somali gur- means to collect something and gurgure means one who Collects and Keeps Collecting. The Gurgure clan of the Dir refers to traders who collect wares and resale them. The Persian and Urdu word Saudagar means trader. This contains the gr root in connection with Arabia.

In Abraham's time these rulers attracted the attention of Chedorlaomer, King of Elam who attacked the Horites of Mount Seir (Gen. 14; Gen. 36).

Moses' family was a priest-scribe family in Egypt and it was through the Horite families that the material was preserved. How do we know that Moses was a Horite? His father, Amram, married a descendant of Seir the Horite. Ishar was Amram's patrilineal cousin or niece. This means that Ishar and Amram had a common Horite ancestor, probably Seir.

Moses' Horite Ancestry

Assuming that Amram followed the marriage pattern of his Horite ruler-priest ancestors, Moses' mother was Amram's half-sister.  They had the same father, but different mothers (as did Abraham and Sarah). As blood line was traced through the mothers and the priestly lines intermarried exclusively, it is highly probable that Moses, Aaron and Miriam were of Horite blood.


The Possibility of David Authorship

David was of the Horite royal priest lines also and some have argued that the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible reflect his time rather than the time of Moses the Horite. Certainly, both are candidates by reason of their familial ties, and it is likely that both had a hand in the development of this material. The final editor is the Deuteronomist Historian who revises biblical history, creating contextual incongruities, but that is the topic of another discussion.


Related reading: Petra Reflects Horite Beliefs; Who Were the Horites?; Two Named Esau; Who was Oholibamah?; Abraham and Moses: Different Origins of Israel?; False Assumption #5 of Young Earth Creationists

The Possibility of Davidic Authorship

Alice C. Linsley


The Authority of Sacred Texts

For Jews the authority of a sacred text depends upon the authority of its source or sources. Jewish tradition regards Genesis as part of “The Five Books of Moses,” the Pentateuch. Therefore, the authority of Genesis rests on the authority of Moses. That Moses was Horite or Horim, is rather problematic for Jews. Many have viewed him and Abraham as different peoples, rather than as men who belonged to the same ruler-priest caste.  Abraham and Moses do not represent different origins of Israel.

The genealogical material in Genesis clarifies that Abraham and Moses belong to the same caste.  Their kinship, marriage and ascendency pattern is identical.  This is the case, we must recognize that they are one family and their story is of one piece.  It is the story of the Horim, those who the Jews call their ancestors or parents.

Some scholars believe that Moses is responsible for the preservation of the material and that it came to be written much later. Others hold a view that God dictated the words to Moses, much as Muslims believe that an angel dictated the Quran to Mohammed. The Church Fathers didn’t question the role of Moses, but they also didn’t provide much in the way of explanation for how Moses accomplished this.

In the first of this series on “Who Wrote Genesis” I proposed that the material in the Genesis prehistory could have been mediated through King David who was a direct descendent of the Horim.  His city Bethlehem was a Horite city. It is possible then to regard David as contributing to the family narrative that his people received from their ancestors who expected a "Woman" of their caste to bring forth the "Seed" (Gen. 3:15).  What we have is a consistent witness that constitutes the authority of Genesis.

Unlike the other books assigned to Moses, Genesis is not a book of law and it shares none of the other books’ fixation with Moses, the Levitical priesthood, and the nation of Israel. The most ancient authorities don’t claim that Moses wrote the entire Pentateuch, only particular passages identified with these words: “Moses wrote…” This raises the question of whether Genesis can be understood as having authority apart from the other books assigned to Moses. If we believe that each book of the Bible is superintended by the Holy Spirit, then we also believe that each has its own unique authority. Taken together, the books of the Bible must be regarded as extraordinarily authoritative.


The Question of Mosaic Authorship

The Five Books of Moses represent 5 scrolls of roughly equivalent length. They are regarded as containing all the essentials of the law and religious instruction called “Torah.” Therefore Jews sometimes refer to these scrolls as “The Five Fifths of the Law.” This general view of sacred law and doctrine is what Ezra has in mind when he writes, “The Torah of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given.” (Ezra 7:6)

In Greek, the books are called “Pentateuchos”- Book of Five Volumes. The Septuagint accepts these books as revelation mediated through Moses. The Church Fathers accepted this also, never questioning John 1:45: “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote” or Jesus: “...there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:45-47). The Apostles taught what they had been taught, that both the revelation mediated by Moses and the revelation delivered through prophets testify to Messiah’s appearing. But can we take these passages as proof that Moses is the author of Genesis? Not if we are diligent in the weighing of evidence.

Here are some of the reasons to doubt the assignment of Genesis to Moses:

There is no claim of Mosaic authorship in Genesis, or in any of the Five Books. There are passages attributed to Moses (Deuteronomy 1:5, 4:45, 31:10) and passages that tell us that Moses made written records (Exodus 17:14, 24:4, 34:27, Numbers 33:2, Deuteronomy 31:9,24), but nowhere is there an allusion to the authorship of the Hebrew, raised as an Egyptian. In fact, references to Moses in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy are always in the third person. Consider, the examples of Numbers 2:1, 5:1, 31:1, Deuteronomy 33:1 and Numbers 12:3, which states, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Or Exodus 11:3: “Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt.” Is it likely that a “meek” man would write these statements about himself?

Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is doubtful because Moses could not have written the account of his own death and burial. “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-pe'or; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.” (Deut. 34:5-8)

The phrase “to this day” implies that considerable time has elapsed between Moses’ death and the writing of the passage. However, we must be careful in the labeling of anachronisms, because some identified by modern scholars, such as camels in Abraham’s time (Gen. 24), have been shown to be groundless. The Biblical narrative is supported by the representation of camel riding on Mesopotamian seal cylinders dating to Abraham’s time. (See Gordon/Rendsburg, in BANE:120-12; and Journal of Near Eastern Studies 3, 1944, pp. 187-93.)

Reading the works of Albright, Von Rad and Speiser, one receives the impression of an evolutionary viewpoint that colors their interpretations of the text. The notion that human society in Abraham’s day was primitive is not supported by the evidence. Instead we have evidence of widespread commerce over huge areas 30,000 years ago and sophisticated mining operations in southern Africa involving tunnels and thousands of miners over 80,000 years ago.


The Pentateuch Had Different Authors

The internal evidence indicates that the Pentateuch could not have been written in the form that we have received it by Moses. There is material that comes from a time well after his death, such as the attacks on Horite religious practices such a local shrines.

Some scholars maintain that the five books could not have been written by the same person because of the “doublets”, which they propose come from different sources. A doublet is the same story told twice, but presented from different perspectives. They cite the two creation stories, the two flood stories, the two accounts of Abraham attempting to pass off his wife as his sister, and the two accounts of Hagar being driven from Abraham’s household.

Personally, I find the doublets to be dubious evidence of multiple authors. If Genesis is an account of the Afro-Asiatic peoples, we must expect at least two versions of the material. These versions can be explained by the fact that the Afro-Asiatic peoples have a western/African version of these stories and an eastern or Mesopotamian version. This is not evidence of different authors as much as it is proof of the Genesis claim that “The whole world spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary.” (Gen. 11:1) The “whole world” here refers to the Afro-Asiatic Dominion and we have considerable linguistic evidence that all these peoples spoke cognate languages.

Furthermore, when we look at the creation story in Genesis 1, we recognize similarities to Mesopotamian creation stories, but when we look at the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, we recognize similarities to African creation narratives.  Genesis clearly contain both the Afro and the Asiatic threads.

The more persuasive evidence for multiple authors of the Pentateuch is that Genesis simply doesn’t belong with the other books. Genesis is a narrative record of the Afro-Asiatic peoples before the emergence of a people identified as Israel. As such, it is distinct from and stands apart from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy which focus on Moses and the people of Israel.

While Genesis names no one as its author, it claims to be the “toledot” or record of God’s intervention in history among real persons. The claim to be toledot is made thirteen times in Genesis, not a randomly selected number, but one associated with the Afro-Asiatic lunisolar calendar of 13 months (requiring adjustment 7 times every 19 years.) This is significant because it suggests an organization different from the 7 days of Genesis 1.



The Case for Davidic Authorship

I am not the first to propose the possibility of Davidic authorship of Genesis, but I do offer some overlooked evidence in support of this position. Let us consider, very generally, the case for Davidic authorship.

Genesis has affinity to the book of Ruth, the narrative of King David’s pedigree.

The selection of the youngest son to rule over his brothers is the theme of David’s life.

Unification of the tribes under David would require officially embracing the traditions of both northern and southern tribes and these traditions are reflected in the doublets.

The evidence of close relations between the House of Sheba and the House of David.

The acceptance of David by the Jebusites, an Afro-Asiatic people.

The African etiology of the term “selah” found in David’s Songs of Zion.

The theme of setting up a shrine to the God who selects you.

David’s “people of the land” heritage.

David’s 3 blood lines: Edomite, Moabite, Israelite.

Solomon’s fortification of Hazazon-Tamar.


Related reading:  The Genesis Record of Horite Rule; The Horite Marriage and Ascendency Pattern; Using Arab Math to Uncover the Authors of the Torah; Who Were the Horites?