Scientists have uncovered hidden patterns in the Bible that challenge ancient beliefs about its origins.
Using artificial intelligence, they discovered ‘fingerprints’ in text throughout the Old Testament, suggesting multiple people wrote the stories.
The traditional Jewish and Christian understanding is that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, including stories about creation, Noah’s flood and the Ark of the Covenant.
The new study found three distinct writing styles with distinct vocabulary, tone and focus areas, suggesting multiple authors and sources contributed to the books over time.
Researchers used AI analyzed for 50 chapters across five books, uncovering inconsistencies in language and content, repeated stories, shifts in tone and internal contradictions.
The theory that scripture had multiple authors was first proposed more than 200 years ago, but was dismissed due to religions debate, lack of technology and nuances of biblical text.
Thomas Römer, a biblical expert from the Collège de France and co-author of the study, told The Times of Israel: ‘There are no authors of the Bible in the modern sense.
‘The original versions of the scrolls were continuously reworked and rewritten by redactors who added, altered, and sometimes also omitted parts of the former texts.’
The traditional Jewish and Christian understanding is that Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. However, the new study has found evidence suggesting that multiple people may have contributed to these texts.
While the Bible portrays Moses as a key historical figure, most scholars today view him as a legendary figure, or at least a composite character, rather than a literal historical person.
The Old Testament was written over a period of approximately 1000 years, starting roughly around 1400 BC and ending around 400 BC.
It is comprised of 39 books, focusing around God’s covenant with humanity, His relationship with the Israelites, and the promise of a Messiah who would bring salvation and redemption.
In several books, Moses is attributed to writing some passages. Exodus 24:4 reads: ‘Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord’
A similar passage is found in Deuteronomy 31:9 that states: ‘Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests…’
For thousands of years, Jewish and Christian traditions held Moses to be the author because he is the central figure in the books and was seen as a prophet, lawgiver and leader capable of writing such texts.
But the new study could change this long-held history.
The AI examined patterns in word usage, word frequency, phrases and sentences structures as these are subtle linguistic “fingerprints” that can reflect different authors or schools of scribes.
According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built by the Israelites shortly after they fled Egypt around the 13th century BC. Moses then placed the Ten Commandments inside.
Beyond confirming the styles, the team extended their AI method to study nine other biblical sections with disputed authorship.
These differences were found in key biblical stories, including the creation narrative, Noah’s flood and the giving of the Ten Commandments (pictured), which have been traditionally attributed to a single author but are now shown to involve multiple authors
These included well-known stories such as the creation narrative, Noah’s flood and the Ark of the Covenant accounts.
According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built by the Israelites shortly after they fled Egypt around the 13th century BC. Moses then placed the Ten Commandments inside.
The AI algorithm compared these chapters’ word usage to the three known styles, revealing new affiliations and helping clarify long-standing scholarly debates.
Researchers said this new technique could revolutionize the study of ancient texts, helping to solve other authorship mysteries beyond the Bible, such as texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls or historical documents where authorship is uncertain.
The three writing styles were first found when Biblical scholars noticed certain sections of the Old Testament had different vocabulary, themes and ways of writing.
The first style, known as the Deuteronomic (D) corpus, focuses on laws, obedience, and clear commands.
The second, the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH), narrates Israel’s history, emphasizing moral lessons based on faithfulness, and the Priestly (P) style highlights rituals, priesthood and sacred spaces with formal and detailed language.
Thomas Römer, a biblical expert from the Collège de France and co-author of the study, told The Times of Israel: ‘Deuteronomy refers to the last book of the Torah/Pentateuch.
‘There is a wide consensus that the first version of this scroll was written down in the 7th century BCE. The core of this first version was the laws that stipulate that the God of Israel had chosen only one place [Jerusalem] for the sacrificial cult.’
He explained that Deuteronomistic History was also re-worked several times.
And the Priestly Writings include several texts in Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus.
‘These texts were written for the first time around 520 BCE in the context of the reconstruction of the Second Temple,’ Römer said.
‘The priestly authors and redactors want to show the importance of rituals and the different types of sacrifices.’
