Israeli Hebrew scholars computer-test authorship of the Torah

[bpkantor]

I heard R.C. Sproul reference a study that was done within the past couple years regarding the authorship of the Torah. Apparently about 50 Israeli Hebrew scholars computer-tested the authorship of the Torah and found the computer results demonstrated that it came from a single author. Does anyone know where this reference comes from?

Thanks and God bless,
--Ben

 

[Jeffriesw]

I heard him (RC) speak of the same thing as was wondering also...

 

[Notthemama1984]

Could this be it?

Meru Foundation Research: Divine Authorship? Computer Reveals Startling Word Patterns

 

[Wayne]

No, that would be something entirely different, and another whole discussion, to boot.

 

[Phil D.]

Could this be what Dr. Sproul had in mind?

Genesis: An Authorship Study in Computer-assisted Statistical Linguistics, by Yehuda Thomas Radday, Haim Shore

Only thing is, this study was done in 1981, and published in 1985...

Also, while this study focused on the book of Genesis, my understanding is that determining a single authorship for that book goes far towards disproving the overall Documentary Theory (i.e. asserting multiple authorship) as it pertains to the Pentateuch as a whole.

 

[Notthemama1984]

No, that would be something entirely different, and another whole discussion, to boot.

Oh well, I tried.

 

[Marrow Man]

I believe Gordon Wenham mentions this in an article on the authorship of the Pentateuch, but it was published more than a couple of years ago. I think I still have the source; let me see what I can find.

 

[Marrow Man]

OK, here's the paper I was thinking about: it was written by Wenham and appears in vol. 42 of the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (1988). The article is entitled "Genesis: An Authorship Study and Current Pentateuchal Criticism." He mentions an effort by Y.T. Radday to submit the documentary analysis of Genesis to computerized statistical analysis. A book on this work apparently appeared in 1982. Wenham states in the article:

The conclusion was quite clear-cut. The styles of J and E are so similar (82%) that they are most unlikely to have been written by different authors. But the differences between P and the other sources is total. However Wickmann [Wickmann is a statistician who co-wrote with Radday]. says this is only to be expected given the very diverse contents and genres of P and JE. P consists largely of lists, genealogies, and laws, whereas E and J are nearly all stories. Had P proved to have the same style as E and J that would have indicated the criteria used for stylistic analysis were irrelevant.

 

[Phil D.]

He mentions an effort by Y.T. Radday to submit the documentary analysis of Genesis to computerized statistical analysis.

Yeah, that's the one I linked to.

 

[Marrow Man]

Yeah, that's the one I linked to.

I had Wenham on the brain when I wrote that response, and consequently did not see your link to Radday. My apologies.

Here is a link to a preview of the Wenham article I mentioned. Also here.