238 Preston Kavanagh from regularly spaced text words, one letter per word. The interval can range from one (letters taken from consecutive text words), to four (a letter from every fourth text word). Suppose the author wished to conceal a four-letter word while using an interval of two. He or she would have employed single letters from text words one, three, five, and seven. Any letter within the proper Hebrew word could be used. There seems to have been just one other general rule: the concealed word could have letters falling in any sequence. Thus cat could also be spelled cta, act, atc, tca, and tac. In summary, to form coded words a biblical author could: – Use one letter per text word – Employ text words spaced at regular intervals – Arrange letters in any sequence. Under the rules outlined above, the benediction’s fifteen Hebrew words conceal fourteen spellings of Jehoiachin, ˆykywy. The Bible has only one Jehoiachin, and it clearly establishes his dates. Jehoiachin briefly reigned over Judah before his exile in March of 597 B.C.E. (2 Kgs 24,12). Thirty-seven years later, in late March (Jer 51,31) or early April (2 Kgs 25,27) of 561, the Judean king emerged from a Babylonian prison. One could add a few post- prison years to establish the span during which Jehoiachin might have influenced scripture. That period between 597 and, say, 558 B.C.E. sets the probable limit for the Priestly Benediction’s composition, which would have been created during or immediately after Jehoiachin’s lifetime. However, since the Priestly Benediction is a benediction, it is far more likely to have been written immediately after Jehoiachin’s death — unless the coded Jehoiachin spellings are coincidental. This table shows how the author by accident or intent worked those fourteen coded spellings into the benediction. Table 1: Jehoiachin (ˆykywy) Spellings Concealed within Priestly Benediction Letter Word Start End Sequence Interval Verse-Word Verse-Word 1 1 24-1 25-3 ˆyyywk 2 2 24-1 26-3 ˆykywy 3 1 24-2 25-4 ˚nyyyw 4 2 24-2 26-4 ˚wynyy 5 1 24-3 25-5 ˆywyyk 6 2 24-3 26-5 ynyywk 7 1 25-1 26-1 yyknwy 8 2 25-1 26-6 ˚ywyny 9 2 25-2 26-7 wynyky 10 1 25-3 26-3 yyywkn 11 1 25-4 26-4 yywynk 12 1 25-5 26-5 wknyyy 13 1 26-1 26-6 ˚wynyy 14 1 26-2 26-7 wkyyny The Letter Sequence column shows the scrambled order of the Hebrew spellings. They are like anagrams, except that letters are drawn from more than one text word. Notice that only item 2 gives the true letter sequence for this version of Jehoiachin, which is ˆykywy. The Word Interval column