Identification of the network structure of the Hebrew Bible texts based upon the notion of the otherworld and the afterlife

Abstract

In this paper, we apply the methods of graph theory to reveal hidden relations within the corpus of the Hebrew Bible texts. The structure of relations between different texts was studied based upon their interpretation of the otherworld and the afterlife. We have identified 43 most relevant texts that contained concepts related to the notion of the otherworld and constructed a graph representing the relations between the considered texts. The obtained graph was decomposed into 3 densely connected subgraphs using the Louvain method. An initial interpretation has been given to the results of the decomposition. Furthermore, we used different ranking methods to determine the most important texts forming the network structure of the intertextual connections. It turned out that there is an invariant set of texts that can be interpreted as having the larger influence or importance on the development of the idea of the otherworld. These texts are Proto-Isaiah, Qoheleth, Job, Psalms, and Proverbs as well as 1 Samuel, Ezekiel, and Book of Genesis. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the notions, associated with these texts, reveals that there are several concepts that are likely to be associated with the most influential texts.