Audio-Visual Reading of Joshua 18

David P. Barrett, author of the BibleMapper program, has been sharing outstanding, high-quality maps of biblical events on his blog. Check his List of All Atlas Maps.

He recently posted something a bit different, an audio-visual reading of Joshua 18. This chapter describes the process of allotting territory to the tribes and starts with defining the boundaries of the tribe of Benjamin. Barrett's video provides a walk-through showing on a map exactly what is being described in Joshua 18. Without a resource like this, it takes some work trying to read and consult a map to see what exactly is being mentioned and where it is. 

HERE is the link to check out! 

Bible Mapper Video Tutorials

Bible Mapper 5 remains the only Bible mapping program with which I am familiar that allows users to create their own, copyright free, high-resolution maps. As David P. Barrett, author of the program and also of the maps in the excellent Crossway ESV Bible Atlas, notes:

Bible Mapper is the ideal tool for researching and creating maps of the biblical world. Virtually every known location and geographic feature in the Bible can be displayed and fully customized quickly and easily, making it a snap to create stunning maps adapted to your particular needs.

Version 3 is free to download and is fully functional. To get the improvements in version 5, the cost is $37, though you can download and try it for free (just not save any maps you create).

Some time ago I made some introductory video tutorials, but it was back in the day of WMV files. It was pointed out to me that those don't play well on a Mac, so I've just uploaded them all to YouTube. There are 7 short videos in all you can check out here:
Bible Mapper YouTube Video Tutorials Playlist

If you do purchase Bible Mapper 5, Barrett does provide email support, but you may also want to check out the user wiki I created here.

New Bible Mapper WebViewer!

Web page view showing results of a search for sites in John 2

David P. Barrett, creator of the Bible Mapper program and co-author of the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas, has just released an initial version of the Bible Mapper WebViewer. According to Barrett,

It is intended to be a quick reference tool for Bible geography information, not a way to make maps (there is not a way to save, export, or print a map other than the default tools of your browser). I envision people using it to look up Bible geographical information on the fly, such as on their mobile device at church or Bible study, or on their computer while studying a passage. You can also input a reference like "Joshua 10-12," or pass in a page URL, and it will automatically fetch the text and map all the locations it can discern on it (though it's definitely not 100%).

There are still some glitches in my intial testing. It works well in Chrome on my Android phone and on my desktop computer, but it got hung up in Firefox on my desktop. The interface is very nice and works well on my phone, but zooming in/out requires repeated taps of the + and - icons. Searching for a specific site works very well. Searching for sites mentioned in a specific passage or sites mentioned on a web page works but is not entirely reliable. Including the option to display hi-res tiles did not particularly slow things down, and it's nice to be toggle on/off OT and NT roads. (If you're looking for something more in-depth, check out the Bible geocoding at OpenBible.info.)

Especially for its purpose as an quick reference, particularly for mobile devices, this is a very nice tool, and it's even better that Barrett is providing it for free. Thanks, David Barrett!

Bible Mapper 5 released!

 I am happy to report that David P. Barrett has released a version 5 of his excellent Bible Mapper program. Barrett provided the maps for the Crossway ESV Bible Atlas which is the required atlas I use in my Survey of the Lands of the Bible class. From the description on the site:

Bible Mapper is the ideal tool for researching and creating maps of the biblical world. Virtually every known location and geographic feature in the Bible can be displayed and fully customized quickly and easily, making it a snap to create stunning maps adapted to your particular needs. Check out the gallery of pre-made maps that ship with Bible Mapper 5.

You can learn about all the features of this Windows program HERE. Notable new features include the capability to:

• Create high resolution maps of Jerusalem (the Jerusalem Ordnance map of 1865 is also able to be overlaid on the terrain)
• Upload your custom objects or styles to a repository to share with other registered users, or restrict access to yourself for easy import into other maps
• Import basic KMZ/KML data (points, lines, areas, etc.) created by other software (e.g., Google Earth) and customize it on your map

If you want to get an idea of how the program works, you can use version 3 for free with no limitations. A key for the new version 5 costs $37. Here are examples of two maps I created using Bible Mapper.

One of the great benefits of this program is that any map you create is your own, and you don't need to obtain any copyright permissions or pay any costs to share your map. You simply need to cite Bible Mapper as the tool you used. A great example of how Bible Mapper has been utilized is at BibleAtlas.org where there are maps of every biblical location.

Making a Custom Bible Map - Accordance and ...

David Lang at Accordance recently posted a fine 11 minute video on the Accordance blog showing how to make a custom map of Genesis 19 using the map module in Accordance. It is a great feature that I don't think any of the other Bible software packages can handle. BibleWorks does include a map module, but it would be very difficult to create the kind of map you see above with the labeling and highlighting. What's more, you don't have the 3-D option that Accordance offers.

Of course, you don't always want to create your own maps. Accordance offers a number of overlays illustrating biblical events, some even with animations. There are also atlas modules available. The map module in BibleWorks also uses a more extensive system of overlays to highlight periods or books of the Bible or particular events. They also include The New Moody Atlas of the Bible which has a very good collection of maps. Logos 5 has a Bible Places Guide that is very helpful, and they have a large selection of very nice maps. (Don't buy one of the old map sets. What you want are the Bible Facts: Places and the Logos and Faithlife Infographics datasets that are included with most libraries.) All three of these programs have integration of the maps with biblical text and related resources.

Still, only Accordance has the map creation possibility that's as nice as one that David Lang created. There are two other possibilities, however.

•  One is using Google Earth. Lang's article partly caught my attention because I had occasion last fall to want to create exactly the same kind of map he did. Using this Google Earth KMZ file from the Geocoding page at OpenBible.info, I have quick access to all the biblical sites. Then I navigated around until I was able to capture the view above and put it into my PowerPoint. Compare it to Lang's map above!

• Another option is a standalone Bible mapping program called BibleMapper created by David P. Barrett. You can use version 3 for free (no limitations) or get the improved version 4 for $37. The map of the Seven Churches of Revelation is one I created in BibleMapper. One of the great virtues of this program is that any map you create is your own, and you don't need to obtain any copyright permissions or pay any costs to share your map. (Accordance allows free usage of any map you create, but they appreciate attribution. If you want to use their maps for any commercial project, however, you should contact them.)

If I'm missing something, let me know!

Related to this topic, Todd Bolen on the BiblePlaces blog recently pointed out the availability of physical 3-D topographical maps for various biblical and modern periods. (When I was a kid and we visited the USA national parks, I always used to get one of those 3-D maps of the park.) The maps are 9" x 14" and about $30 each.

UMapper mapping resource

UMapper is "the first universal web-based map authoring application." I just gave it a spin, and it has some nice features.

• When you start creating your own map, you can choose to use either Microsoft Virtual Earth or Google Maps.
• To locate places on the map, you can either locate them manually, use a map lookup, or use a Wikipedia lookup.
• It's easy to embed the map (cf. below) or share it in quite a few other ways.
• It's free!

As an experiment, I did a quick map of Acts 16.11f. showing Paul's journey from Troas to Philippi. Take a look:

A few things to note:

• In this example, Microsoft Virtual Earth worked better than Google Maps. It's easy to switch back and forth between them, however.
• It's not really designed to map ancient locations, so searching for such sites won't always get you the result you want.
• You probably don't want modern highway maps, so using the aerial or satellite views are better. UMapper won't replace BibleMapper or Accordance Bible Atlas for creating your own maps with more attractive backgrounds suitable for printing.

Still, for a quick and free mapping resource, it's worth checking out.
Go HERE for the map within UMapper.
[HT: Jane's]

Bible Mapper wiki update - More videos!

Want to learn how to make the fine map pictured below that depicts Paul's travels as described in Acts 16.11-12? I made it using the free Bible Mapper program. Over on the Bible Mapper wiki, I have posted a series of short videos showing all the necessary steps. Look for them on the Tutorials page. Okay, I have other things to do, so that will be the last of my work on Bible Mapper for a while. Join the wiki, and share your work!
And BTW... did you note the new RefTagger from Logos? Hover over this Acts 16.11-12 reference for a moment.

Bible Mapper wiki update

With some help from the creator of Bible Mapper, David Barrett, and from Tim Bulkeley, the Bible Mapper wiki has been updated. I have added two short videos in the Tutorials section that should get you going on how to use the program.

Bible Mapper wiki

I have recommended and discussed the Bible Mapper program in the past. It is a fine mapping program, and it is free to use. What's more, it can be used to create copyright free maps. The program is provided without support, however. For this reason, I have created a Bible Mapper wiki for users to provide mutual support and advice. Perhaps of even greater help, it can serve as a repository for sharing maps and templates users have created. Check it out and download maps of "The Seven Churches of Revelation" that I have created and see how you can also participate on the wiki.