Adam אדם
The first man's name is the ordinary Hebrew word for a human being, and only context tells them apart. Ezekiel is called son of man in 93 verses.
- Found in the Torah
- 7,788,563
- Chance alone: 7,830,375
- Skips 2 to 152,424
- Found in the Tanakh
- 128,455,495
- Chance alone: 127,991,767
- Skips 2 to 598,520
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Genesis 1:26 has the word with no article and no name in view: let us make אדם, man. Chapter 2 calls him האדם, the man, and the Hebrew does not settle into a personal name until somewhere around Genesis 4:25 or 5:1. Translators have to decide where that happens, and they do not all agree. It stays a common noun for the rest of the Tanakh. Ezekiel has more bare cases than any other book, because God calls him בן אדם, son of man, in 93 verses. Then Chronicles opens with it, as a name, at the head of a list of names: Adam, Seth, Enosh. A page for Adam the person is therefore a page for a very ordinary three-letter word.
- As a whole word
- 367
- First, with any prefix
- Genesis 1:26
The measurement
Among 100 letter shuffles the count at skips 2 to 1,000 runs from 101,607 to 102,961, and the real 102,048 sits inside, near the middle. Three common letters leave no room for surprise: shuffling moves a count this large by under one percent.
| At every skip | Torah | Tanakh |
|---|---|---|
| Found | 7,788,563 | 128,455,495 |
| Chance alone | 7,830,375 | 127,991,767 |
| P (≥ found) | 1.00 | below 10⁻³⁰⁰ |
| Shortest skip | 2 | 2 |
| Longest skip | 152,291 | 598,517 |
Counted forward and backward on the written text, with final letters treated as ordinary ones. At the laboratory's opening setting, skips 2 to 5,000, the Torah gives 504,798 against 505,200 by chance. How these figures are made.
The sequences, letter by letter
Each letter is shown in the verse it happens to stand in, nothing more. Tap one to read it in the Tanakh, with the rest of the sequence marked.
In the Torah
Shortest skip 2, forward from Genesis 3:22
… אֱ־לֹהִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע וְעַתָּ֣ה …
And the LORD God said: ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.’
Shortest skip 2, forward from Genesis 11:1
וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃
And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
Short skip 50, forward from Exodus 3:19
וַאֲנִ֣י יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּ֠י לֹֽא־יִתֵּ֥ן אֶתְכֶ֛ם מֶ֥לֶךְ מִצְרַ֖יִם לַהֲלֹ֑ךְ וְלֹ֖א בְּיָ֥ד חֲזָקָֽה׃
And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go, except by a mighty hand.
וְשָׁלַחְתִּ֤י אֶת־יָדִי֙ וְהִכֵּיתִ֣י אֶת־מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּכֹל֙ נִפְלְאֹתַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֖ה בְּקִרְבּ֑וֹ וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵ֖ן יְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֶתְכֶֽם׃
And I will put forth My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in the midst thereof. And after that he will let you go.
Middle skip 500, forward from Leviticus 9:11
וְאֶת־הַבָּשָׂ֖ר וְאֶת־הָע֑וֹר שָׂרַ֣ף בָּאֵ֔שׁ מִח֖וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃
And the flesh and the skin were burnt with fire without the camp.
וַיִּשָּׂ֨א אַהֲרֹ֧ן אֶת־ידויָדָ֛יו אֶל־הָעָ֖ם וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֑ם וַיֵּ֗רֶד מֵעֲשֹׂ֧ת הַֽחַטָּ֛את וְהָעֹלָ֖ה וְהַשְּׁלָמִֽים׃
And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings.
… וּלְאִֽיתָמָ֨ר בָּנָ֜יו רָֽאשֵׁיכֶ֥ם אַל־תִּפְרָ֣עוּ וּבִגְדֵיכֶ֤ם לֹֽא־תִפְרֹ֨מוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א תָמֻ֔תוּ וְעַ֥ל …
And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons: ‘Let not the hair of your heads go loose, neither rend your clothes, that ye die not, and that He be not wroth with all the congregation; but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel…
Wide skip 5,000, forward from Genesis 3:5
כִּ֚י יֹדֵ֣עַ אֱ־לֹהִ֔ים כִּ֗י בְּיוֹם֙ אֲכָלְכֶ֣ם מִמֶּ֔נּוּ וְנִפְקְח֖וּ עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽא־לֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃
for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.’
כִּי֩ לְיָמִ֨ים ע֜וֹד שִׁבְעָ֗ה אָֽנֹכִי֙ מַמְטִ֣יר עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ …
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I blot out from off the face of the earth.’
עַל־כֵּ֞ן קָרָ֤א שְׁמָהּ֙ בָּבֶ֔ל כִּי־שָׁ֛ם בָּלַ֥ל יְקוָ֖ק שְׂפַ֣ת כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וּמִשָּׁם֙ הֱפִיצָ֣ם יְקוָ֔ק עַל־פְּנֵ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there aconfound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Outside the Torah
Shortest skip 2, forward from Joshua 7:21
… שְׁקָלִ֣ים כֶּ֗סֶף וּלְשׁ֨וֹן זָהָ֤ב אֶחָד֙ חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים שְׁקָלִים֙ מִשְׁקָל֔וֹ וָֽאֶחְמְדֵ֖ם וָֽאֶקָּחֵ֑ם …
When I saw among the spoil a goodly Shinar mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.’
Middle skip 500, forward from Judges 4:13
וַיַּזְעֵ֨ק סִֽיסְרָ֜א אֶת־כָּל־רִכְבּ֗וֹ תְּשַׁ֤ע מֵאוֹת֙ רֶ֣כֶב בַּרְזֶ֔ל וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתּ֑וֹ מֵחֲרֹ֥שֶׁת הַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֶל־נַ֥חַל קִישֽׁוֹן׃
And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth-goiim, unto the brook Kishon.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלֶ֔יהָ עֲמֹ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וְהָיָה֩ אִם־אִ֨ישׁ יָב֜וֹא וּשְׁאֵלֵ֗ךְ וְאָמַ֛ר הֲיֵֽשׁ־פֹּ֥ה אִ֖ישׁ וְאָמַ֥רְתְּ אָֽיִן׃
And he said unto her: ‘Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say: Is there any man here? that thou shalt say: No.’
יְקוָ֗ק בְּצֵאתְךָ֤ מִשֵּׂעִיר֙ בְּצַעְדְּךָ֙ מִשְּׂדֵ֣ה אֱד֔וֹם אֶ֣רֶץ רָעָ֔שָׁה גַּם־שָׁמַ֖יִם נָטָ֑פוּ גַּם־עָבִ֖ים נָ֥טְפוּ מָֽיִם׃
LORD, when Thou didst go forth out of Seir, When Thou didst march out of the field of Edom, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, Yea, the clouds dropped water.
By skip range, shuffled texts and book
| Skips, Torah | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 10 | 929 | 925 |
| 11 to 100 | 9,354 | 9,244 |
| 101 to 1,000 | 91,765 | 92,137 |
| 1,001 to 5,000 | 402,750 | 402,894 |
| 5,001 to 152,424 | 7,283,765 | 7,325,176 |
Shuffled Torahs
The Torah's own count at skips 2 to 1,000 is 102,048. Each family below rebuilt the text 100 times (seed 5787). What each family keeps.
| Control family | Runs at or above 102,048 | Median run | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter shuffle | 75/100 | 102,260 | 101,607 to 102,961 |
| Words within each verse | 41/100 | 101,954 | 101,455 to 102,574 |
Where the sequences start
| Torah | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis | 2,153,368 | 2,005,280 |
| Exodus | 1,510,070 | 1,631,857 |
| Leviticus | 1,188,492 | 1,150,604 |
| Numbers | 1,526,894 | 1,632,216 |
| Deuteronomy | 1,409,739 | 1,410,418 |
| Tanakh | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| Torah | 34,476,460 | 32,595,590 |
| Prophets | 61,773,496 | 59,212,560 |
| Writings | 32,205,539 | 36,183,618 |
Run this search yourself
Change the skips, set אדם beside another word, and run the controls on your own question.
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