Editing Bible code (section)

==Equidistant letter sequence method==

The primary method by which purportedly meaningful messages have been extracted is the ''Equidistant Letter Sequence'' (ELS), also referred to as {{transliteration|he|dilug}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aish.com/torah-codes-explained/ |title=Torah Codes Explained |website=Aish.com |year=2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=90 |title=The Rambam and the Bible Codes |website=Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston}}</ref> ({{lang|he|דילוג}}, {{gloss|skipping [of letters]}}). Letters are selected based on a starting point and counting every nth letter based on a given 'skip number' in a given direction. For example, taking every fourth letter in the phrase "{{strong|t}}his {{strong|s}}ent{{strong|e}}nce {{strong|f}}its {{strong|a}}n EL{{strong|S}}", when read backwards and ignoring spaces, derives the word 'Safest'.

[[Image:Bible_code_example.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|Example of the ELS method showing an arrangement of the letters from [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 26:5–10 in a 21-column grid to derive the words "Bible" and "code".]]

In some cases, multiple terms may be derived from an 'ELS letter array' (text in a grid, with the same number of letters in each line). In the example provided, part of the [[King James Version of the Bible|King James Version]]'s rendering of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] (26:5–10) is shown with 21 letters per line, showing ELSs for "Bible" and "code".<ref name="WRR"/>

===Extensions===

Once a specific word has been found using the ELS method, other words are sought based on the same letter spacing.<ref>Shak, Moshe Aharon. 2004. ''Bible Codes Breakthrough''. Montreal: Green Shoelace Books. 38</ref> Code proponents Haralick and Rips have published an example of a longer, extended ELS, which reads, "Destruction I will call you; cursed is Bin Laden and revenge is to the Messiah".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haralick |first1=Robert M. |last2=Rips |first2=Eliyahu |last3=Glazerson |first3=Matiyahu |title=Torah Codes: A Glimpse into the Infinite |publisher=Mazal & Bracha Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=0-9740493-9-5 |page=125}}</ref>

Proponents claim that such ELS extensions that form phrases or sentences have statistical significance, maintaining that the longer the extended ELS, the less likely it is to be the result of chance.<ref>Sherman, R. Edwin, with Jacobi and Swaney. 2005. ''Bible Code Bombshell'' Green Forest, Ar.: New Leaf Press. 95–109</ref> Critics reply, as in the ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'' deconstruction of 1997,<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/hidden_messages_and_the_bible_code |title=Hidden Messages and The Bible Code |date=1997-11-01 |first=Dave |last=Thomas |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |publisher=[[CSICOP]] |access-date=2015-04-19}}</ref> that the longer ELS is in fact effectively nothing more than further increased number of permutations, employing a massive application of the [[look-elsewhere effect]].