Rating: 
Summary: Interesting reading, but the math doesnt look solid.
Review: As an Israely, I read this book in Hebrew when it came out here.I'll give the book the credit of being good reading material - I read the whole book in two sessions in two consecutive days. But I've found the book's main claim to be unbased, at least as far as I could judge it, for two reasons. The first reason is that when the author finds in the bible predictions for events that have already happened (e.g. the text, written over 2000 years ago, predicting Rabin's murder which took place some time before the book was written), the author brings bible sections with lots of words all describing the event. But when he shows sections predicting events to occur after the book's writing, the sections have much fewer words in them. This is because he doesnt know *what* to search, and therefore *cant* find it in the text. This means either that the code wasnt cracked (if it was, he could find the predictions there, couldnt he ? that's the whole point of cracking a code, e.g. the German Enigma code in WWII) or that there's no bible code. The second problem is with the math - all the calculations are based on the probability of finding the specific words actually found in the bible. The point is that for each event different word sets could have been used. E.g. if there are a ten words in the section, and each of them has just three synonyms (or even different spellings, which is common in Hebrew), then there are 3^10 > 500,000 equivalent sections and the probability of finding such a section is half a million larger than presented. Example - one can say Rabbin was murdered, or alternately killed, shot, or slain and each of those words would be as surprising in the text as any of the other three. Finally, the same event can be described in different ways and angles (a la Rashomon), which makes the probability even larger.
Rating: 
Summary: Repetitive but Good
Review: I enjoyed reading THE BIBLE CODE by Michael Drosnin. This book provides insight on what the Bible Code is and how it works. The book also shows how the Bible Code is implemented in every day life. I recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the Bible Code or interested in the Bible. The book does get a little repetitive when going over how often a certain person or event is encoded in the Bible, for example, the same event will be mentioned more than twice. In spite of this repetitiveness the book is a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Fascinating
Review: Book does its best to explain the codes in a simplistic way. It helps very much if you know Hebrew and are familiar with Torah. Why isn't the code also in the New Testament or the tons of other versions of the Old Testament? Because the Torah is the one true word of G-d, the One and Only, He has no son, He has no multiplicity.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating --- if you know Hebrew
Review: I had this book on the shelf for a while before I got around to reading it, because, quite frankly, I thought it was just another piece of pre-millennial hype. Boy, was I wrong! If this theory is true (and it sure convinced me!), then i'st a strong affirmation of my faith as an Orthodox Jew. I confess that the mathematics used here are gibberish to me, being as math-challenged as I am, but the experiment did pass peer review and was published in the Journal of Mathematical Statisitics, which is nothing to sneeze at. (The original article is in the book, for those who what to check the math.) In the area of the Hebrew text, I can express a more educated opinion. The idea that the Torah can be read as one long Name of God (i.e., a continuous series of letters without any word breaks) is well-known in Jewish mystical circles. In the past, there were a number of Torah scholars who found skip-sequences coded in the Torah text. They were able to do this because they had memorized the entire Torah from beginning to end. Their brains served as a computer, scanning the letters -- and occasionally a meaningful skip sequence popped up. But it was not until the invention of the modern computer that this type of search could be done with any kind of scientific consistency. The result is this book, which presents a convincing argument for a code in the Bible --- if you know Hebrew. One of the weaknesses in Drosnin's presentation is, that he never tranliterates any of the Hebrew phrases in the printouts. He translates the meanings into English, but, without knowing Hebrew, it's hard to see how the words are encoded in the original language. Being able to read the charts is a big part of understanding how the Code works. For example, on page 15, the letters "yod-tzaddi-chet-kof-resh-bet-yod-nun" do indeed spell out "Yitzchak Rabin" -- but unless you know Hebrew, yoou just have to take the author's word for it. It would have helped Drosnin had also transliterated into English letters, like this: "y-tz-ch-k-r-b-i-n" (in Hebrew, most vowels are not written.) Even if space did not permit doing this with all the charts, he could have done it with a few examples of the more easily-recognized names. At the very least, he should have provided a chart of the Hebrew alphabet! So, if you don't read Hebrew, you will just have to take my word for it that the charts do work. Take the author's skepticism about God and his theories of ancient UFO visits with a grain of salt, though. I agree with mathematician Eliahu Rips, who first discovered the code: it was written by God.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of time and money
Review: Does the Bible contain secret codes that only a computer can find and translate? After reading this book I would have to say no. The author gives many examples in the Bible and tries to relate the translations to the modern world. However, the author does a very poor job in arguing his point throughout the novel. The argument is so poor that it makes me wonder if the novel was just a scam to get money from Christians who were paying close attention to the year 2000. I would recommend spending your money on another novel.
Rating: 
Summary: As troubling as the Book of Revelations
Review: Could the ancient scriptures contain messages for modern man that computers can only now decode? The author believes its possible -- and finds hidden reference to past historic events and future catastrophies such as earthquakes and nuclear wars. Each one has a year attached to it, and the past events were right on the money. These are not vague, Nostradamous-like puzzles that could have various interpretations, but brief, to-the-point, clearly defined phrases that include actual names. While Drosnin is not religious, he examines the evidence in a dispassionate, scientific manner and describes his efforts to warn Middle Eastern leaders of upcoming dangers. Can we ward off these calamities or is our fate already sealed? I was intrigued, and a bit shaken, by this fascinating subject.
Rating:
Summary: Bible Code
Review: I would rather have had more content on the analysis of the code, more information on additional words and phrases that have been found and more in-depth review of the remaining books of the bible. The accounts were fascinating but long winded. I could have done without the author's constant struggle with WHO wrote the code and WHY. More WHAT the code is all about. Good introduction to the topic but it left me wanting to know more.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of Hype, not enough back-up
Review: While I found the Bible Code to be a very fast and interesting read, the author fails to argue effectively the reliability of the Bible code. For example, he refers to War and Peace not having any of the same information using skip sequences that the Torah has, but he fails to maintain the same control factors for the two books. He translates W&P while stating that the Bible doesn't work when translated. His arguments run contrary to themselves. He refers constantly about God's encoding the Torah, then the whole bible (including books not "dictated by God"). He also mixes Plain Text with Encoded Text so much that the significance of a code is practically lost. I feel that the author should have spent more time backing up his data that the code is viable and less time sharing all the discoveries he made both prior and after the fact. By the time I finished the book, I had filled the three blank pages at the end with questions about his arguments, his interpretations, and his self-praising narrative.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Material For Writers, Students, and Researchers
Review: The Bible Code is a beautifully written, pragmatic piece of literature. Not only is it a page-turner filled with entertainment, but it is an excellent tool for writers, students, and researchers alike!
Rating:
Summary: Filled With False Promises
Review: The book is full of false promises of things that wont happen. It predicts that WWIII would have started in 1996 yet i see no war happening. Yet it is entertaining , thats the reason it got a 2.
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