Adar אדר
Purim's month gets more mentions than any other Babylonian month in the Tanakh, and the Second Temple was finished in it.
- Found in the Torah
- 5,618,944
- Chance alone: 5,656,658
- Skips 2 to 152,424
- Found in the Tanakh
- 88,217,719
- Chance alone: 88,059,433
- Skips 2 to 598,520
Create a free accountFree, and this search opens as soon as you are in.
No other Babylonian month name gets anything like this attention. Adar stands eight times bare in Esther, because the whole plot turns on the date Haman's lot picks, the thirteenth of the twelfth month. Ezra 6:15 adds a detail the book of Esther has no interest in: the Second Temple was finished on the third of Adar, in the sixth year of Darius. That verse is written in Aramaic. The same word can also be a place, the Hazar-addar of Numbers 34:4, and a man, in 1 Chronicles 8:3. In a Hebrew leap year there are two of them, and Purim falls in the second.
- As a whole word
- 15
- First, with any prefix
- Numbers 34:4
- Last
- 1 Chronicles 8:3
The measurement
Common words make short sequences, and this one falls in את דברי, the words of, Genesis 24:30. Only 3 word shuffles in 100 reach the real 73,504, while 91 letter shuffles do. Every family keeps something and destroys something else, so read that as a fact about how these letters sit in verses.
| At every skip | Torah | Tanakh |
|---|---|---|
| Found | 5,618,944 | 88,217,719 |
| Chance alone | 5,656,658 | 88,059,433 |
| P (≥ found) | 1.00 | 4.2 × 10⁻⁶⁴ |
| Shortest skip | 2 | 2 |
| Longest skip | 152,266 | 598,489 |
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 364,014 against 364,956 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 24:30
… וְֽאֶת־הַצְּמִדִים֮ עַל־יְדֵ֣י אֲחֹתוֹ֒ וּכְשָׁמְע֗וֹ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֞י רִבְקָ֤ה אֲחֹתוֹ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּֽה־דִבֶּ֥ר …
And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying: ‘Thus spoke the man unto me, ‘that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain.
Shortest skip 2, forward from Genesis 24:33
ויישםוַיּוּשַׂ֤ם לְפָנָיו֙ לֶאֱכֹ֔ל וַיֹּ֨אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֹכַ֔ל עַ֥ד אִם־דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי דְּבָרָ֑י וַיֹּ֖אמֶר דַּבֵּֽר׃
And there was set food before him to eat; but he said: ‘I will not eat, until I have told mine errand.’ And he said: ‘Speak on.’
Short skip 50, forward from Exodus 1:5
וַֽיְהִ֗י כָּל־נֶ֛פֶשׁ יֹצְאֵ֥י יֶֽרֶךְ־יַעֲקֹ֖ב שִׁבְעִ֣ים נָ֑פֶשׁ וְיוֹסֵ֖ף הָיָ֥ה בְמִצְרָֽיִם׃
And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt already.
וַיָּ֤מָת יוֹסֵף֙ וְכָל־אֶחָ֔יו וְכֹ֖ל הַדּ֥וֹר הַהֽוּא׃
And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל פָּר֧וּ וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ בִּמְאֹ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ אֹתָֽם׃
And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Middle skip 500, forward from Leviticus 5:2
א֣וֹ נֶ֗פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּגַּע֮ בְּכָל־דָּבָ֣ר …
or if any one touch any unclean thing, whether it be the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean swarming things, and be guilty, it being hidden from him that he is unclean;
וְהִזָּ֞ה מִדַּ֤ם הַחַטָּאת֙ עַל־קִ֣יר הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ וְהַנִּשְׁאָ֣ר בַּדָּ֔ם יִמָּצֵ֖ה אֶל־יְס֣וֹד הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ חַטָּ֖את הֽוּא׃
And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin-offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin-offering.
וְאִם־נֶ֨פֶשׁ֙ כִּ֣י תֶֽחֱטָ֔א וְעָֽשְׂתָ֗ה אַחַת֙ מִכָּל־מִצְוֺ֣ת יְקוָ֔ק אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֣א תֵעָשֶׂ֑ינָה וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֥ע וְאָשֵׁ֖ם וְנָשָׂ֥א עֲוֺנֽוֹ׃
And if any one sin, and do any of the things which the LORD hath commanded not to be done, though he know it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
Wide skip 5,000, forward from Genesis 1:11
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱ־לֹהִ֗ים תַּֽדְשֵׁ֤א הָאָ֨רֶץ֙ דֶּ֔שֶׁא …
And God said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.’ And it was so.
זֶ֣ה סֵ֔פֶר תּוֹלְדֹ֖ת אָדָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם בְּרֹ֤א אֱ־לֹהִים֙ אָדָ֔ם בִּדְמ֥וּת אֱ־לֹהִ֖ים עָשָׂ֥ה אֹתֽוֹ׃
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him;
אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשׁ֥וֹ דָמ֖וֹ לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃
Only flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
Outside the Torah
Shortest skip 2, forward from Joshua 1:18
כָּל־אִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־יַמְרֶ֣ה אֶת־פִּ֗יךָ וְלֹֽא־יִשְׁמַ֧ע אֶת־דְּבָרֶ֛יךָ לְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־תְּצַוֶּ֖נּוּ יוּמָ֑ת רַ֖ק חֲזַ֥ק וֶאֱמָֽץ׃
Whosoever he be that shall rebel against thy commandment, and shall not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death; only be strong and of good courage.’
Middle skip 500, forward from Judges 20:1
וַיֵּצְאוּ֮ כָּל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וַתִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעֵדָ֜ה כְּאִ֣ישׁ אֶחָ֗ד לְמִדָּן֙ וְעַד־בְּאֵ֣ר שֶׁ֔בַע וְאֶ֖רֶץ הַגִּלְעָ֑ד אֶל־יְקוָ֖ק הַמִּצְפָּֽה׃
Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD at Mizpah.
… לָאֶ֨לֶף֙ וְאֶ֣לֶף לָרְבָבָ֔ה לָקַ֥חַת צֵדָ֖ה לָעָ֑ם לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת לְבוֹאָם֙ לְגֶ֣בַע …
and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the wantonness that they have wrought in Israel.’
… וַיִּשְׁאֲל֣וּ בֵא־לֹהִים֒ וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִ֚י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֣נוּ בַתְּחִלָּ֔ה לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה …
And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said: ‘Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?’ And the LORD said: ‘Judah first.’
By skip range, shuffled texts and book
| Skips, Torah | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 10 | 659 | 668 |
| 11 to 100 | 6,720 | 6,678 |
| 101 to 1,000 | 66,125 | 66,560 |
| 1,001 to 5,000 | 290,510 | 291,050 |
| 5,001 to 152,424 | 5,254,930 | 5,291,702 |
Shuffled Torahs
The Torah's own count at skips 2 to 1,000 is 73,504. Each family below rebuilt the text 100 times (seed 5787). What each family keeps.
| Control family | Runs at or above 73,504 | Median run | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter shuffle | 91/100 | 73,962 | 73,001 to 74,599 |
| Words within each verse | 3/100 | 73,038 | 72,172 to 73,745 |
Where the sequences start
| Torah | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis | 1,555,106 | 1,448,613 |
| Exodus | 1,097,808 | 1,178,852 |
| Leviticus | 854,633 | 831,196 |
| Numbers | 1,100,221 | 1,179,112 |
| Deuteronomy | 1,011,176 | 1,018,885 |
| Tanakh | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| Torah | 23,654,999 | 22,426,045 |
| Prophets | 42,488,875 | 40,738,749 |
| Writings | 22,073,845 | 24,894,639 |
Run this search yourself
Change the skips, set אדר beside another word, and run the controls on your own question.
Create a free accountFree, and this search opens as soon as you are in.