A lot of the dazzle of this book is gone once you realize that, if you can read Hebrew, the horizontal text is just plain text. So he's just playing find-a-word vertically (without vowels, so, for instance, DALLAS would be DLS), and then looks for words 'crossing' it - of course words cross it! It's plain text!


Looking at what I've written so far, breaking at every 32nd letter:

Alotofthedazzleofthisbookisgoneo
nceyourealizethatifyoucanreadHeb
rewthehorizontaltextisjustplaint
extSohesjustplayingfindaw More...

I picked up a cheap copy of Michael Drosnin's "Bible Code" at a yard sale many years after it came out. I had always been intrigued by the idea that information could be encoded in the Bible through ELS, and that computer analysis might reveal something that had not been discovered before computers made these searches possible. I had never read the book previously because I had heard you could get the same results analyzing "Moby Dick" or anything else of sufficient length.

But I am also an autho More...

Hardcover Edition:

I read this book years ago when it first came out and have watched pretty much all of the Discovery Channel episodes relating to this theory which I also found interesting. I saw this on someone else's reading list and thought I would do a quick review.

They say hind-sight is 20/20 but they also say that dabbling with this is the devil's handiwork Recently some scholars have been plugging names and social events into this matrix and coming up with possible future outcomes not o More...

You knew I’d get to this book eventually, right? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s absolutely brilliant. Drosnin is my idol. With a savvy grasp of human nature, a little computer programming, and a mathematician’s insight into probabilities, he put together a best seller.

The book’s premise is that the Bible contains a secret code, and that he has cracked the code to reveal its hidden messages. Simply start at any letter in the Bible, skip ahead a fixed number of letters to the next, and continue u More...

I bought this book awhile ago, and have the follow-up somewhere on a bookshelf as well. What I've found interesting about this book - and the topic in general - is that it sounds logical and almost believable. That is, until you see the same folks on television, on History Channel or NatGeo, etc., and they seem like utter quacks. Much like saving history from disaster is oftentimes 20/20 when seen through the review mirror, books of this ilk frequently show that they would've been able to 'predi More...

A very interesting idea. Some of the codes are a little far-fetched; others, quite compelling. Some predictions came to startling fruition; others didn't (especially reading this pre-2000 book in post-2000 years). I started this book in 2009 and came back to it in 2011. I didn't miss much due to the fact that the author repeats himself incessantly. Sometimes I feel like each chapter or portions of a chapter had once existed as independent articles. Not good.

But the most important thing to gain f More...

I didn't go to the end in detail on this book. the entire premiss seemed strained (though admittedly the idea goes back a long, long way) still. Th Bible either is what it is or not. By that I mean either the Bible is simply a book as some think or it's an inspired set of writings from God through called writers. If it's the former the code would mean nothing more than the happenstance. if it is the latter then understanding the text itself would be quite enough.

Since the text of the Bible in t More...

I received this book in 2000 from an old friend who wrote a note for me on the inside cover, which I think makes a particularly nice review of the book: "I know not whether the phenomenon revealed herein is a simple case of a million monkeys typing on a million typewriters for a million years or truly a purpose—an outline for our tiny swirly spot of biomass. Whatever case ultimately unfolds, may you continue as always to forge or defy—rather than experience—your destiny."

2006 having long since p More...

RUBBISH! I read this before reading the Bible. A lot of the 'interpretations' are nothing short of far-fetched coincidence to idiotic.

I bought this crap for a long time. You can do this with any book.

This book was kind of fascinating at first. My mom had it laying around the house and I think she read it in a book club once. The underlying concept is that they take the first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), translate it into Hebrew (the original text version), string the letters together from 1 to 304,805, and then they put them into columns and rows of different size. For instance, 64 rows of 4772 letters. Then they plug the information into the c More...

The topic is fascinating, but the writing is rather banal. The chapter notes (which are written as block paragraphs and not referenced by number in the text) are as long as the book's primary content. The author can seem a bit repetitive at times. Having said that, the work is worth reading simply because of its interesting subject matter.

Of course, searching for hidden codes can become a kind of word game. Drosnin seems to spend a lot of time plugging things into his computer program just to se More...

I heard about this phenomenon when I'd started studying Hebrew. I bought this book on sale at a mall bookshop. I had problems with it from the start. First off, it uses Hebrew, which doesn't use vowels (they're spaced in and around the letters as diacritical marks), so that increases the chances of any consecutive string of letters making words. So, to me, the comparison with War and Peace is so unfair as to make those who proposed it seem almost dishonest. For instance, my name is Lance. To tra More...

I actually was excited to read it, I have a multitude of hypotheses and I had a couple friends insist that I read this and see oh in line my ideas were with his. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as far as I would have liked because his blatant ego was more prevelant than the content of which he was speaking. He ruined what could have been monumental by prematurely stoking himself, and yes I intentionally avoided ego for any mutually freudian-minded persons reading this : )

I wasn't expecting to glean anything useful from this book, so the fact that it wasn't horrible earns it three stars. That and I thought it was interesting enough to learn more about. I don't like the fact that the author has no authority on any subject he is dealing with - he's not a mathematician, physicist, scientist, theologian, or linguist. If I read more about this subject, (and I would like to), it will be from a more authoritative source.

Een populair wetenschappelijk boek van Michael Drosnin waarin hij verondersteld, dat van iedereen en alle gebeurtenissen een voorspelling wordt gedaan in de THORA door middel van een code. Critici omschrijven het als onzin (ook in Moby Dick zouden deze te vinden zijn). Neemt niet weg, dat het een interessante theorie is om te lezen. Of je nu pro of anti wordt t.o.v. Drosnin's opvatting, de weg naar je eigen antwoord geeft je wellicht nieuwe kennis.

For the record, I do not endorse this book. I got it off the New Arrivals shelf of the library when I was in high school. Even as a conservative Christian (at the time), the book didn't leave much of an impression on me. I'm only adding it now because I noticed it on a bookshelf today - brought me back to the days when I was desperately searching for miracles in a faith I could not justify in my mind.

He uses the profound to teach the simple, and the simple to teach the profound. The Bible Code is certainly profound, but to understand it coming from our Creator, it seems simply perfect. I know it seems like a hoax to some, but you can never understand something or have a true opinion about it until you know what it is. I encourage you to read this work for yourself.

I remember reading this and thinking, how come no one is warning people about what the Bible Code reveals??? I still wonder that. Overall a good book, but it first came out before the whole world had read "The Da Vinci Code". This is like the pre-code to "The Da Vinci Code". It was a lot juicier of a read before we knew that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were an item!

Interesting mathematics but in the end a bit of a strained use of mathematical codes to find results... that require the author of the code program to select a subject and then see if there is a coded bible reference to it... so unless the "code breaker" conceives of a idea to search for... it is a problematic exercise at best.... still interesting none-the-less

Pretty fantastic what they have done, which is to find hidden phrases that can be interepreted and translated into modern day prophecy.

This was all fine and dandy until someone did the same thing with Moby Dick. If the text is big enough, phrases WILL be found, any phrase you want. So, while the first one was cool and new, it was eventually debunked.

Interesting, though I couldn't firmly place this within science-fiction or reality. So the bible contains codes? Is this significance? Couldn't the same thing be done with many other works? Is this an effective method of predicting the future? Especially since we cannot tell what is in there until we know what to look for? Still, intriguing.

Fascinating..insightful...but like most modern day theories, it must be taken with a grain of salt. Skeptical or not, it's still interesting enough to hold your attention for a bit..until it gets bogged down and too wordy. Not bad. Considering reading the second volume, as this one is about 13 years outdated.

Definately an interesting read, but upon further research I found much debate over the authenticy of the book's findings. A must read if you enjoy learning new conspiracy theories and challenging your beliefs. However, if you're a skeptic and hard set in your religious views, I wouldn't suggest it.

hmmm, starts off well but then dips into the land of doubt for me. i'm interested enough to read The Bible Code II however to see what the more recent publication offers as explanation for the 'predictions' made this in this book that failed to eventuate.

This book is for those who really, and I mean really, like to be bombarded with a lot of information. I'm no scholar, so it was a bit too much for me. I read a lot of the key points and it IS interesting. Just a bit long winded.

Very interesting, kinda scary. Apparently in the original Hebrew Torah, "predictions" arise when a program picks out every so many letters and strings them together. Written by a supposedly objective journalist. Not sure I believe that.

I recall that I was absorbed in this book, when reading it in 2003 - poolside in Nevada - situated in the middle of blank fields, with dry soil being picked up and swirled around, in the hot Vegas breeze...

Kind of a cool concept but, as many reviewers have pointed out, you shouldn't take it too seriously. It can be done with any book. If you read this more like a DaVinci Code book, it is more fun to read.

Mathematical bits of code that can predict future events? Sounds interesting. Unfortunately, this book only "predicts" events that have already occurred. How fortuitous. Don't bother wasting your time.