The validity of syllable—word pattern analysis using the chi—square test was rejected in Richard A. O'Keefe's `Critical Remarks on Houk's “Statistical Analysis of Genesis Sources”' (JSOT 29 [2005], pp. 409-37), based on various types of data dependence and multiple comparisons. This article provides a response to O'Keefe's `Critical Remarks', countering each of his claims and showing that independent and distinctive syllable—word patterns in Biblical Hebrew offer a useful tool for the statistical analysis of Old Testament texts.
