The Name as Light

Every verse of the Hebrew Bible is one point, read like a page from left to right. A point shines where God's four-letter Name stands in that verse.

• Torah
• Prophets
• Writings
• the Name stands here

And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.Exodus 3:15 (ASV)

How this picture was made

The text

The Leningrad Codex, from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, where every Hebrew word is tagged with its dictionary entry.

What was counted

Every word tagged as the four-letter Name (Strong's numbers H3068 and H3069). The short form Yah is not counted. It stands 50 times and is reported separately. Only the written text is read, and no Name stands in the margin readings.

How it was drawn

23,213 verses in Tanakh order, each section a block of its own. Dim points carry their section's colour. Bright points are verses where the Name stands.

What it shows

• The Name stands 6,827 times, in 5,789 verses: about one verse in four.
• The Prophets are brightest (31.6% of verses), then the Torah (26.6%), then the Writings (16.0%).
• Jeremiah holds the Name most often (726), then the Psalms (695) and Deuteronomy (550).
• It never stands in three books: Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Esther. Look for the dark stretch in the Writings.

What it does not show

It does not show God's other names and titles, such as God, Lord or Most High. Only the four-letter Name is lit.