03-17-2008, 09:51 PM
Dear Otto,
Thank you for your kind words about my translations. It really is those "goofy" codes that led me to translate The Peshitta.
The Peshitta's letter distribution is not random; in that you are correct, but I did not search The Peshitta's surface text; I searched the skip texts, starting at a skip of 1000 letters and going up to a skip rate of over 100,000 letters at a time. I also searched the Hebrew translation of War and Peace in the same way.
Any text should show random letter distribution at skips beyond 50 letters or so. War and Peace certainly does. The King James Bible does. The Greek NT in five editions does. Greek Josephus does. Moby Dick in English does. Williams NT translation does. All these have been tested for codes with negative results.
Only two texts have yielded positive results,statistically, with highly abnormal long and short ELS occurrences; those texts are the Hebrew Tanach and The Peshitta NT. I have not seen any other claims for codes in any other text, in any language, which have statistical significance.
I am sorry to be an embarassment to you, Otto, but I cannot simply turn away from what I have found, simply because it is embarassing to some. I expect that the public will be slow to consider Bible codes seriously. Perhaps I am wrong, and we will find such phenomena as I have in Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, or some such text. Until such time, I stand by my hypothesis as a valid theory, and all the subsequent discoveries in Aramaic-Greek word comparisons, internal evidence, etc., showing that The Peshitta is Divine in origin and the original New Testament from which the Greek was translated.
I am reminded of the scripture:
???When Paulus had thus rendered a defense, Festus cried out with a loud voice, "You are insane, Paul; much study has made you insane." Paulus said, "I am not insane, excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and integrity." Acts 26:24-25
And another:"We are insane because of The Messiah, but you are sensible in The Messiah. We are weak and you are mighty; you are praised and we are despised." 1 Cor. 5:10 - (My translations, of course)
Suddenly, I feel I am in good company. Of course, I do not place the codes on a par with the testimony of The Messiah and His Gospel. I do believe, however that the codes are merely an instrument which have brought me to a clearer understanding and discovery of the original scripture, and has enabled me to present the pure Divine text of scripture to many in a wonderful and new way.
Please forgive me my foolishness. I fear it may only get worse.
Many blessings, Otto. You have a good heart, and I am appreciative of your support of my work of Peshitta translation and analysis. I know your motives are pure, and it is right to be concerned for how people view The true word of God. I can only pray that our Lord will direct hearts and minds to Himself, whether I am right or not. Some who do not necessarily believe in the codes still read my translation with great benefit. You are one of them. Others who turn away because of the codes claim may never really want to believe in the truth, anyway.That issue is in His hands and theirs, not mine.
Dave
Thank you for your kind words about my translations. It really is those "goofy" codes that led me to translate The Peshitta.
The Peshitta's letter distribution is not random; in that you are correct, but I did not search The Peshitta's surface text; I searched the skip texts, starting at a skip of 1000 letters and going up to a skip rate of over 100,000 letters at a time. I also searched the Hebrew translation of War and Peace in the same way.
Any text should show random letter distribution at skips beyond 50 letters or so. War and Peace certainly does. The King James Bible does. The Greek NT in five editions does. Greek Josephus does. Moby Dick in English does. Williams NT translation does. All these have been tested for codes with negative results.
Only two texts have yielded positive results,statistically, with highly abnormal long and short ELS occurrences; those texts are the Hebrew Tanach and The Peshitta NT. I have not seen any other claims for codes in any other text, in any language, which have statistical significance.
I am sorry to be an embarassment to you, Otto, but I cannot simply turn away from what I have found, simply because it is embarassing to some. I expect that the public will be slow to consider Bible codes seriously. Perhaps I am wrong, and we will find such phenomena as I have in Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, or some such text. Until such time, I stand by my hypothesis as a valid theory, and all the subsequent discoveries in Aramaic-Greek word comparisons, internal evidence, etc., showing that The Peshitta is Divine in origin and the original New Testament from which the Greek was translated.
I am reminded of the scripture:
???When Paulus had thus rendered a defense, Festus cried out with a loud voice, "You are insane, Paul; much study has made you insane." Paulus said, "I am not insane, excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and integrity." Acts 26:24-25
And another:"We are insane because of The Messiah, but you are sensible in The Messiah. We are weak and you are mighty; you are praised and we are despised." 1 Cor. 5:10 - (My translations, of course)
Suddenly, I feel I am in good company. Of course, I do not place the codes on a par with the testimony of The Messiah and His Gospel. I do believe, however that the codes are merely an instrument which have brought me to a clearer understanding and discovery of the original scripture, and has enabled me to present the pure Divine text of scripture to many in a wonderful and new way.
Please forgive me my foolishness. I fear it may only get worse.
Many blessings, Otto. You have a good heart, and I am appreciative of your support of my work of Peshitta translation and analysis. I know your motives are pure, and it is right to be concerned for how people view The true word of God. I can only pray that our Lord will direct hearts and minds to Himself, whether I am right or not. Some who do not necessarily believe in the codes still read my translation with great benefit. You are one of them. Others who turn away because of the codes claim may never really want to believe in the truth, anyway.That issue is in His hands and theirs, not mine.
Dave