Who actually wrote the Bible has remained a mystery for generations.
Scholars and theologians have puzzled over handwritten words, edits, and centuries of compilation, leaving behind few definitive signatures from individual authors. Even with all those years of searching, much of the authorship debate stayed unresolved.
Recently, though, artificial intelligence has stepped into this ancient debate, giving history’s old mysteries a modern twist. An international research team has unleashed tools from statistics and linguistics on the first nine books of the Hebrew Bible, which scholars call the Enneateuch.
Their findings point clearly to three separate scribal traditions, each with their own style. The researchers were taken aback by how uniquely authors used even basic words like “king” or “which”, and the AI could reliably distinguish these differences.
AI Finds Patterns in Ancient Scripture
The team zoomed in on distinct biblical segments: priestly writings from the Torah, the single book of Deuteronomy, and the Deuteronomistic History, which goes from Joshua through Kings. It turned out that Deuteronomy and these historical accounts looked much more alike, from a language standpoint, than they did to the priestly texts—a finding that lines up with long-held theories among experts.
When experts have sparred over the origins of certain chapters, the AI model could weigh in too, analyzing writing style to compare mysterious verses with established traditions. For instance, one disputed chapter in 2 Samuel matched what’s seen in Deuteronomistic writing, while a similar chapter in 1 Samuel stood apart, not fitting with any of the three main styles.
One of the project’s leads, Shira Faigenbaum Golovin, remembers her curiosity beginning back in 2010. She and archaeologist Israel Finkelstein pored over Hebrew script on sixth century pottery, convinced that even those dusty inscriptions might help set dates for Old Testament texts.
“It was then that we started gathering this team who could really break down biblical texts,” Faigenbaum Golovin recalls. The project pulled together a diverse group—archaeologists, biblical scholars, mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists from Israel, France, and the United States.
On top of stylistic confusion, the Bible posed another unique challenge: fragmented passages, sometimes just a handful of verses. Regular machine learning routines fumbled with so little content, so the researchers built their own specialized AI system, one that thrives on short text, enabling them to spot subtle language patterns.
While AI is flexing its muscles academically, it has found its way into pop culture, too. Since the arrival of the latest Google video AI, creators have been crafting viral hits that give famous biblical figures smartphones and modern attitudes.
People online are sharing clips of Noah snapping animal photos and Jesus holding a selfie stick, merging ancient tales with futuristic tech in ways only today’s AI could imagine.
