Asher אשר
Jacob's eighth son shares his letters with the Tanakh's commonest word, the relative pronoun. About 5,000 bare appearances, and few of them are him.
- Found in the Torah
- 12,936,949
- Chance alone: 12,544,878
- Skips 2 to 152,424
- Found in the Tanakh
- 157,094,986
- Chance alone: 158,317,101
- Skips 2 to 598,520
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Nobody searches for the word אשר on purpose, and yet this page does. The tribe's name means happy: Leah says באשרי, happy am I, in Genesis 30:13, the same word that opens Psalm 1. By plain bad luck those three letters also spell which, who and that, the relative pronoun, one of the commonest words in Hebrew. It stands bare 4,837 times, and Asher the son of Jacob and his tribe account for a few dozen of those. So asking how many times the name stands in the Tanakh is a hard question for a computer and an easy one for a person, and that makes it a good term to learn on.
- As a whole word
- 4,837
- First, with any prefix
- Genesis 1:7
The measurement
The name's 4,837 bare appearances are nearly all the relative pronoun, and they make no difference at a skip. In the Torah the count stands 3.1 percent over the formula, and at the short skips every letter shuffle passes it. Over and under, depending on the range.
| At every skip | Torah | Tanakh |
|---|---|---|
| Found | 12,936,949 | 157,094,986 |
| Chance alone | 12,544,878 | 158,317,101 |
| P (≥ found) | below 10⁻³⁰⁰ | 1.00 |
| Shortest skip | 2 | 2 |
| Longest skip | 152,411 | 598,424 |
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 793,552 against 809,370 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 4:23
… לֶ֔מֶךְ הַאְזֵ֖נָּה אִמְרָתִ֑י כִּ֣י אִ֤ישׁ הָרַ֨גְתִּי֙ לְפִצְעִ֔י וְיֶ֖לֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִֽי׃
And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me;
Shortest skip 2, forward from Genesis 10:11
מִן־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַהִ֖וא יָצָ֣א אַשּׁ֑וּר וַיִּ֨בֶן֙ אֶת־נִ֣ינְוֵ֔ה וְאֶת־רְחֹבֹ֥ת עִ֖יר וְאֶת־כָּֽלַח׃
Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-ir, and Calah,
Short skip 50, forward from Exodus 2:20
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֶל־בְּנֹתָ֖יו וְאַיּ֑וֹ לָ֤מָּה זֶּה֙ עֲזַבְתֶּ֣ן אֶת־הָאִ֔ישׁ קִרְאֶ֥ן ל֖וֹ וְיֹ֥אכַל לָֽחֶם׃
And he said unto his daughters: ‘And where is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.’
וַיּ֥וֹאֶל מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָשֶׁ֣בֶת אֶת־הָאִ֑ישׁ וַיִּתֵּ֛ן אֶת־צִפֹּרָ֥ה בִתּ֖וֹ לְמֹשֶֽׁה׃
And Moses was content to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֔ן וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ גֵּרְשֹׁ֑ם כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר גֵּ֣ר הָיִ֔יתִי בְּאֶ֖רֶץ נָכְרִיָּֽה׃
And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said: ‘I have been a stranger in a strange land.’
Middle skip 500, forward from Genesis 2:3
וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱ־לֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱ־לֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃
And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made.
וְשֵׁ֨ם הַנָּהָ֤ר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי֙ חִדֶּ֔קֶל ה֥וּא הַֽהֹלֵ֖ךְ קִדְמַ֣ת אַשּׁ֑וּר וְהַנָּהָ֥ר הָֽרְבִיעִ֖י ה֥וּא פְרָֽת׃
And the name of the third river is Tigris; that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
וַיֹּאמֶר֮ הָֽאָדָם֒ זֹ֣את הַפַּ֗עַם עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י וּבָשָׂ֖ר מִבְּשָׂרִ֑י לְזֹאת֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א אִשָּׁ֔ה כִּ֥י מֵאִ֖ישׁ לֻֽקֳחָה־זֹּֽאת׃
And the man said: ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’
Wide skip 5,000, forward from Genesis 2:6
וְאֵ֖ד יַֽעֲלֶ֣ה מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהִשְׁקָ֖ה אֶֽת־כָּל־פְּנֵֽי־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃
but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְקוָ֗ק לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃
And the LORD said: ‘My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.’
מִן־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַהִ֖וא יָצָ֣א אַשּׁ֑וּר וַיִּ֨בֶן֙ אֶת־נִ֣ינְוֵ֔ה וְאֶת־רְחֹבֹ֥ת עִ֖יר וְאֶת־כָּֽלַח׃
Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-ir, and Calah,
Outside the Torah
Shortest skip 2, forward from Joshua 1:10
וַיְצַ֣ו יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַ אֶת־שֹׁטְרֵ֥י הָעָ֖ם לֵאמֹֽר׃
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying:
Middle skip 500, forward from Judges 5:8
יִבְחַר֙ אֱ־לֹהִ֣ים חֲדָשִׁ֔ים אָ֖ז לָחֶ֣ם שְׁעָרִ֑ים מָגֵ֤ן אִם־יֵֽרָאֶה֙ וָרֹ֔מַח בְּאַרְבָּעִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
They chose new gods; Then was war in the gates; Was there a shield or spear seen Among forty thousand in Israel?
זְבֻל֗וּן עַ֣ם חֵרֵ֥ף נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לָמ֖וּת וְנַפְתָּלִ֑י עַ֖ל מְרוֹמֵ֥י שָׂדֶֽה׃
Zebulun is a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death, And Naphtali, upon the high places of the field.
חַכְמ֥וֹת שָׂרוֹתֶ֖יהָ תַּעֲנֶ֑ינָּה אַף־הִ֕יא תָּשִׁ֥יב אֲמָרֶ֖יהָ לָֽהּ׃
The wisest of her princesses answer her, Yea, she returneth answer to herself:
By skip range, shuffled texts and book
| Skips, Torah | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 10 | 1,373 | 1,481 |
| 11 to 100 | 14,282 | 14,809 |
| 101 to 1,000 | 143,012 | 147,611 |
| 1,001 to 5,000 | 634,885 | 645,468 |
| 5,001 to 152,424 | 12,143,397 | 11,735,508 |
Shuffled Torahs
The Torah's own count at skips 2 to 1,000 is 158,667. Each family below rebuilt the text 100 times (seed 5787). What each family keeps.
| Control family | Runs at or above 158,667 | Median run | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter shuffle | 100/100 | 163,931 | 162,805 to 164,947 |
| Words within each verse | 96/100 | 159,140 | 158,413 to 160,225 |
Where the sequences start
| Torah | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis | 3,439,567 | 3,212,616 |
| Exodus | 2,515,342 | 2,614,363 |
| Leviticus | 2,014,132 | 1,843,358 |
| Numbers | 2,614,684 | 2,614,939 |
| Deuteronomy | 2,353,224 | 2,259,601 |
| Tanakh | Found | Chance alone |
|---|---|---|
| Torah | 46,657,423 | 40,318,525 |
| Prophets | 74,351,560 | 73,241,904 |
| Writings | 36,086,003 | 44,756,671 |
Run this search yourself
Change the skips, set אשר beside another word, and run the controls on your own question.
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