Typing Biblical Hebrew

What are the best ways to type biblical Hebrew? Personally, while I have strong preferences about how my polytonic Greek keyboard is laid out, I haven't typed frequently enough in Hebrew to have clear preferences. For example, 

• Do you want to use an English keyboard which matches the Hebrew phonetically? Or do you prefer an Israeli keyboard?
• Should the shift state serve to provide final forms or doubled forms? 
• Where do the vowel points go? Try to match them with English phonetically? Or put them all on special keys (123...)?
• Where is the aleph key? (I'm always searching for it if it's not on the "a".) Or the vav/waw? Or the het or tet?

That's only one set of issues related to the keyboards. You also have to consider whether/how Hebrew with its right-to-left typing is handled in your word processor. Or maybe you want to compose all your Hebrew in your Bible software and copy/paste it into your documents. Or do you want a system-wide switch so you can type in Hebrew in your word processor, email, web page...

I'll try to sort out some of the options, but in all cases I will assume that you are wanting to end up with Unicode Hebrew using a font like Cardo or SBL Hebrew. Even if you go with transliteration, you will need some help to get the special characters... I'm also providing screenshots of keyboard layouts where possible so you have a better idea of the layout philosophy of the various options. (Click on the graphics to enlarge them.)

System-wide Hebrew Keyboard

The idea here is that your operating system understands that you want to type in Hebrew and switches to a Hebrew keyboard and a Unicode Hebrew font using right-to-left formatting. (For Windows users, at least, this is going to mean enabling a buried regional parameter to allow the right-to-left typing.) Do note that most English users are not going to want to use an Israeli keyboard but rather one that is laid out for an English keyboard and optimized for biblical Hebrew needs. An advantage in using a Windows system keyboard is that you also can use the onscreen keyboard which is included for free. (It is part of the accessibility options in Windows. For WinXP see here or here and for Win7 see here. [HT: bkMitchell]) What about Macs? I don't have much experience with Macs, but I have noted some solutions below. 

TYNDALE UNICODE FONT KIT

One of the easiest ways to get started typing in Hebrew is to use the Tyndale Unicode Font Kit. It provides clear instructions for installing everything, the fine Cardo font, and an installer. It's available for WinXP, WinVista (& 7, I presume), and Mac. For the Hebrew keyboard, it uses a combination of sound-alike and look-alike positions. (E.g., note that the aleph is on the "x", shin is on the "w", and vowels go with their sound-alikes.) Cf. the graphic above. (A transliteration keyboard is included in the Greek keyboard using the Cardo font and activated by turning on caps lock.)

TAVULTESOFT KEYMAN

Another excellent way to type in Hebrew (and other languages) is Tavultesoft's Keyman program. (Pricing is $19 for 2 keyboards. Windows only) Once you have the program, then get Galaxie's BibleScript Greek and Hebrew Keyboard. (Here is a PDF of the installation manual and keyboard layouts.) As you can see in the graphic above, the shift state is used for doubling and most of the vowels are on the shifted number row. It's a bit of a trick finding the final form. A nice feature is that it does include a pop-up keyboard if you need help.

SBL HEBREW SIL KEYBOARD

In addition to the fine SBL Hebrew font, SBL also provides Hebrew keyboards. Here is the SIL keyboard manual. It's mainly phonetically based, but the aleph and ayin are on the shifted angle brackets, and you'll find the het on the "x" and the tet on the "v".

SBL HEBREW TIRO KEYBOARD

SBL also provides a Tiro Hebrew keyboard. Here is the Tiro keyboard manual. It's mainly based on the Israeli standard keyboard, so it is probably not a preferred keyboard for those not familiar with that layout.

HEBREW QWERTY KEYBOARD

Based on a Hebrew keyboard for the Mac, this Hebrew QWERTY keyboard has been made available for Windows. (Link is to a ZIP file. Extract all files and run the .msi file. [HT: Mikhtav]) There a few 'qwirks' to this layout, but it may work for you...

LOGOS KEYBOARDS

Logos provides a Hebrew keyboard for use in Windows. The placement is  largely phonetic (but the aleph on ") and the shift state is used for finals and for related letters. (E.g., t is tav, and Shift+t is tet. A transliteration keyboard is also available on that page.)

MULTIKEY

MultiKey by Stefan Hagel is a free program that supports Unicode input in many Windows programs. (I.e., it isn't exactly a system keyboard like the ones listed above.) It includes keyboard tables for Hebrew and 17 other languages using Unicode and 3 older Hebrew keyboard tables. (WL Hebrew, WinGreek Hebrew, BWHEBB) You can customize your keyboards, but it will take some work since it's primarily geared for modern Hebrew. (E.g., I can't find the final forms...) 

DO IT YOURSELF (OR MODIFY EXISTING ONES)

Don't like a keyboard layout? Tyndale provides some instructions for changing the layout using SIL's Ukelele program for the Mac or the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator for Windows. Basically these allow you to assign Unicode characters to keystrokes, but matters are complicated with Hebrew (and Greek) because you will want to add vowels and accents and such and have the keyboard reference the proper precombined character. You will probably want to get familiar with BabelMap which is a great free Unicode character mapping program for Windows.

... and for Macs
TYNDALE UNICODE FONT KIT 
Cf. the description above.

HEBREW QWERTY KEYBOARD

Here is a good place to start for some basic information on installing and using a Hebrew keyboard. Info is given on how to activate the Keyboard Viewer. Instead of using the standard Hebrew keyboard layout, it is recommended that you use the Hebrew QWERTY keyboard displayed above.

SBL HEBREW KEYBOARD DRIVERS

SBL provides Hebrew keyboard Drivers for SIL and Tiro (OS X) Cf. graphics above for these keyboards.


HEBREW-ZC KEYBOARD

Bill / Ze'ev Clementson provides his own well-considered Hebrew-ZC Keyboard. It's well-considered, because he has tried to incorporate the best of both the SIL and Tiro keyboards as well as frequency of Hebrew character and vowel stats. The keyboard download, installation instructions, and layout diagrams are on that page.

Independent Hebrew Typing Aids

SHIBBOLETH

Shibboleth is a great free tool from Logos I have previously mentioned for entering text in 10 languages as well as a transliteration mode. Logos states:

Shibboleth is a tool for typing Unicode text in ancient scripts. It was designed to help people unfamiliar with a script easily enter the correct characters, and then copy text to the clipboard in Unicode or another format.
While a keyboard layout is provided for several scripts, the emphasis is on helping the user recognize and select the proper characters. To that end, user input is shown in both typed and rendered format, with multiple font options, and all of the characters for each script are selectable from a well organized palette on the right side of the application window.

You can enter text using your keyboard or pointing/clicking on the characters you want. This is particularly helpful if you need to include cantillation marks and have trouble remembering where to locate them on a keyboard. Do note that the output is actually in XML, so when you paste your text you will see the XML Hebrew encoding indicators. In a word processing document, you will probably want to delete those. It works great in a web page since you will only see the text, as I am demonstrating here: בּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִם. (In a word processor you would see angle brackets enclosing "he" and "/he" codes.)
Note also that Shibboleth does require Microsoft's .NET Framework 4 Client to run. Also available on the download page are other fonts you can install to use your output in other applications.

KEYMAN WEB

Keyman Web is a free, online notepad from Tavultesoft for typing in just about any language and then copy/paste into your document. For Hebrew, you can choose to use the Galaxie Hebrew keyboard described above as part of the Tavultesoft Keyman program. As you can see in the graphic, you can activate an onscreen keyboard. (But it won't show you all the vowels on the shift state.) You can see that the אֱלֹהִים doesn't look correctly spaced, but when you paste it into your word processor, it will be fine.

HEBREW KEYBOARD BOOKMARKLETS
Here's a clever idea if you are needing to input Hebrew on a web page, and you are not using your own computer. Hebrew Keyboard Bookmarklets from Bill (Ze'ev) Clementson provides your choice of four Hebrew keyboards (Tiro, SIL, QWERTY, or his own ZC--cf. above) that you can activate (using javascript) as a bookmarklet. You are also provided bookmarklets to turn off the Hebrew keyboard and adjust LtR or RtL text direction.

AM HA-ARETZ

Now only available on Internet Archive, Am ha-Aretz is another notepad type of online app that allows you to type / copy / paste. There is an Internet Explorer version that works well and an "other browser" version that works with Firefox but not very well.

Integrated English-Hebrew Word Processors

Another option is to use a word processor that is designed for scholarly work that requires a variety of  fonts including a mix of left-to-right and right-to-left languages.

NOTA BENE LINGUA

Nota Bene Lingua is much more than a word processor, but it is incredibly easy to use for typing in Hebrew and handles mixing typing direction well. It has popup keyboards and smart characters that automatically convert to final forms as you type where appropriate. It uses a largely phonetic layout, but vowels are accessed through using F6 and then selecting the one you want.

DAVKAWRITER

DavkaWriter is "the world's most innovative Hebrew / English Word Processor." I personally have never used it, but I have only heard positive comments from people who do. (It appears to be Windows only.)

MELLEL

"Mellel is the leading word processor for Mac OS X designed especially for creative and technical writing, scholars and anyone who wants a reliable word processor." "If right-to-left languages, or languages related to biblical studies are important to your work, Mellel is probably what you need."

CLASSICAL TEXT EDITOR

Classical Text Editor is "the word-processor for critical editions, commentaries and parallel texts..." Allows for any number of notes and apparatus, bidirectional text. Created by Stefan Hagel. (Cf. MultiKey above) For Windows and Macintosh with emulated Windows.


MICROSOFT WORD

You can actually do quite well in MSWord using a system keyboard as described above. The graphic shows how I can type in Hebrew mixed in with English and Greek. I have activated the on-screen keyboard (also described above) and am using the Logos Hebrew keyboard which I activated by using the ALT-SHIFT strike to toggle through my available keyboards. (Cf. the "HE" for Hebrew in my system bar at the bottom near the right.)

OTHER WORD PROCESSORS [UPDATED]
As indicated in the comments, Nisus Writer Pro (Mac) reportedly does well with right to left fonts and NeoOffice (Mac) is also usable. OpenOffice (Windows, Mac, Linux) is also an excellent choice.

UNITYPE

I have no experience with Unitype, but you can buy this program (starting at $150USD) as part of either the standalone Global Writer or Global Office which integrates with MS Word.

ANTIOCH

Antioch "is a utility which allows you to type classical Greek and Hebrew in Word. It includes fully programmable Greek and Hebrew keyboards, a uniquely simple and flexible system for handling diacritics and vowel points, an elegant font with all necessary characters, and converters for documents in many other formats." It works with all versions of MS Word (including 2010) for Windows. Vowels are on the number row and also on the keypad. It allows for personalization of the characters. Cost is US$50.

Bible Software Editors

If you have one of the major Bible software programs, you can use their built-in editors and then copy/paste into other applications or documents.

Accordance

Accordance provides a good explanation of font usage in this PDF file. The font used for Hebrew is Yehudit. Keyboard diagrams are provided. Accordance does not actually use Unicode, but it can export Unicode.

BibleWorks

BibleWorks has a rather robust editor that allows for typing either in its own BWHEBB font (shown above) or in Unicode. (When using the Unicode Hebrew, it actually uses the Hebrew system keyboard you have installed.) The 'busy' buttonbar shown can be simplified, and the editing works for both the editor and chapter/verse notes entries. The files are actually RTF files, so you could do your work in the editor and then open the file in your word processor.

LOGOS

Logos works entirely with Unicode, so anything you type will use the system keyboard you have installed (cf. the choices above), and you can easily copy/paste text into documents outside Logos in full Unicode beauty.

BOTTOM LINE
Well... pulling this info together took way longer than I anticipated, but I am gearing up for a writing project that does involve a lot of Hebrew, and so I wanted to get myself properly situated. For that project, I may try to do everything in Nota Bene. For now, I've been using the Logos Hebrew keyboard in MSWord and also in the BibleWorks editor. When I've gotten frustrated with finding vowels or other markings, I've pulled up Shibboleth. Keyman Web is another quick option, and I am considering whether I should go ahead and buy the Keyman Desktop program, since it really does the best job with polytonic Greek. I've provided graphics of the keyboard layouts, because that really is the most important factor.

At least now you know many of your choices, but I have to suppose I've missed other options out there. Please post a comment on your preferred way of typing Hebrew, and I will try to update this entry. Thanks.

Greek Legacy Fonts to Unicode Converters

This is an update of a post from 2008.
Everyone should really be using Unicode for Greek fonts now, but there are still a few publishers who request Greek be rendered in one of the older legacy fonts. You may also have some older documents with non-Unicode Greek fonts, and you want to convert them to Unicode. The problem with the older TrueType fonts (e.g., Sgreek, SPIonic, Graeca, etc.) is that they each have their own character encoding, so there is no single way to convert these fonts to Unicode. What's the solution? I have gathered all the Greek font converters of which I am aware. Many of them allow conversion to/from Unicode. Note that it is possible to convert from a legacy font to Unicode back to a different legacy font if necessary.
Also note that most of the converters are Microsoft Word macros or templates. If you try to convert a file that has footnotes with Greek, the footnotes might not get converted.
Let me know if I missed any.

Greek Transcoder (Word document template) - excellent, free converter; handles the following fonts

• Beta Code (Betaread)
• GreekKeys (Athenian, Bosporos, Kadmos, Xanthippe)
• Ismini
• LaserGreek (GraecaII, GraecaUBS, GreekSansII, GreekSansLS, Hellenica, Odyssea _/F/UBS, Payne, Payne Condensed, SymbolGreekII, UncialII)
• Paulina Greek
• SGreek (SGRead, SGreek, SgreekFixed)
• SPIonic (SPIonic, Tadzoatrekei, Takeros, Talaurinos)
• SuperGreek (Achille, Graeca, GreekSans, SSuperGreek, SuperGreek, SymbolGreek, UncialLS)
• Vilnius University (Anacreon, Attica, Corinthus, Corinthus Lector, Grecs du roi, Greek Old Face V, Greek Grotesque, Hellenica, Hierapolis, Milan Greek V, Odyssea)
• WinGreek and Son of WinGreek (Aisa, Angaros, Athenian, Grammata, Grecs du roi WG, Greek, Greek Garamond, Greek Old Face _/C, Korinthus, Milan Greek, Standard Greek)
• Unicode

Galaxie BibleScript (Word macro/template)

• Use the Windows Installer to Galaxie Greek/Hebrew fonts and Word template
  
• Involves a two-step process converting legacy fonts to Galaxie fonts and then to Unicode
• Greek fonts handled: Alexandria, Koine, Gideon, Mounce, Bwgrkl, SymbolGreekP, Graeca, WinGreek, GraecaII, SuperGreek, Sgreek (also Hebraica/II, Bwhebb, SuperHebrew, Shebrew)
  

BibleWorks BWGRKL to Unicode (Word macro)

• Look for the Word macro on this forum thread. (An alternative macro here.)
  
• There is also a Unicode > bwgrkl posted here.
  

BibleWorks BWTRANSH to Unicode (Word macro)

• Look for the Word macro on this forum thread.
  

Sgreek (from Silver Mountain; used in BibleWindows and Bibloi)

• Bibloi 8.0 includes a Unicode Type Assistant for Sgreek to Unicode
• Silver Mountain also sells ($49) a Beta Export program for use with the Beta Code TLG and PHI data which converts those texts to Unicode.

SIL (Word template and standalone SILConverters 3.1)

• IPA93 legacy fonts (Doulos, Sophia, Manuscript) to Unicode
• Check here and here.
  

Meander's Nod (online)

• GreekKeys (Athenian, Attika, Sparta, Salamis)
• WinGreek
• Bosporus(GreekKeys format)
• Kadmos (GreekKeys format)
• ISO 8859-7 (Modern Greek)
• Beta Code
• > Unicode, Beta Code, GreekKeys, WinGreek

Logos3: Graeca/GraecaII to Unicode (within Logos program converting Word docs - I cannot find a similar converter in Logos4.)

Multikey (Word macro)

• Aisa
• Logos Gramma
• Athenian
• OldGreekSerif
• WinGreek
• WP Greek Century
• WP GreekTimes Ancient
• MgPolAplaM
• TimesTenGreekP
• Kadmos
• Grk

Greek and Hebrew Encoding Converter (Ken Penner - online: copy/paste textbox)

• From: Unicode, SPIonic, Greek BETA, SGreek, LaserGreek, AG, SPTiberian, Linguist HebraicaII, B-Hebrew transliteration, Greek Unicode NFD, Unaccented Greek Unicode, Greek Code Page
• To: Greek Unicode NFD, Greek BETA, Unaccented B-Greek, SPTiberian, B-Hebrew transliteration, SuperHebrew, Unaccented Greek Unicode

 JBLC (paid conversion service for RTF files)

• "...transforms texts with legacy fonts like SPIonic, SuperGreek, Bwgrkl, and others to any Unicode font"

Antioch ($50 for registered version: Word macro)

• includes keyboard and converter
• To Unicode from WinGreek / Son of WinGreek, SGreek, GreekKeys, Linguist's Software (also called LaserGreek), Vilnius University coding, SIL, SPIonic, Lector, Titus and Ismini.

Cardo and Google Web Fonts

Google recently opened up 18 fonts that can be freely used on the web. (A selection is displayed above. More info here and here.) What is important about this is that it means you can reference those fonts on your web pages and be assured that they will show up as you intend even if the person does not have that particular font on their system. You can get the embed code by clicking on the font from here and following the links. There is a nice font previewer here that even generates the code you want with text effects applied. To download the fonts so that you can use them as you design web pages, grab them here.

Of particular interest is that Cardo--a long time favorite for those using biblical languages because it contains a complete set of Unicode Greek, Hebrew, and diacritical marks--is among those released. Cardo's designer, David Perry, has provided some additional information about this development. He's been working on a updated edition of his resource, and now book, Document Preparation for Classical Languages, which will be released in June. He is also going to provide an update to the Cardo font set which was last revised in 2004. This is all good news!

Now for the disclaimers...

For now, at least, the Cardo font that Google is providing is only a subset and does not include the Greek and Hebrew characters. (I don't know that they will ever do so, but it sure would be nice...) OTOH, Weston Ruter pointed me to FontSquirrel. For someone who is industrious and knows their way around CSS, it makes it possible to create and serve up your own font set.

BOTTOM LINE: Thanks to Google, the web should be a more attractive place and hopefully one more attuned to Greek and Hebrew. Thanks to David Perry, we can look forward to an update to Cardo and a great new resource.

Considerations for Translating New Testament Greek to English

A bit off-focus for this blog, but this is the best place I have for soliciting some help from others of you who regularly with the Greek NT. I am teaching an Advanced Greek class, and I have split the class into translation teams working on translating Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. As one part of the course, we have spent nearly the whole semester working through each verse of the text. Now I am asking them not to simply translate the Greek but to compose a translation of the text. (There is a difference...) I was unable to find any resource that concisely described the types of things I wanted them to keep in mind as they worked. So, I have tried to compose and organize a list of considerations when composing a translation. Here's the introduction I wrote:

When translating New Testament Greek into English, we sometimes are seeking simply to confirm the accuracy of an existing English version. Sometimes we can look at the Greek and produce a translation in our mind that reflects our understanding of the text. In the considerations that follow, however, I am trying to note the kinds of things we should be thinking about if we are actually trying to produce a share-able translation. That is, we are trying to produce a translation that is faithful to the original Greek text, will stand independently from our explanation of it, and will communicate effectively to its readers.

HERE is the 3 page PDF of what I pulled together. If anyone is interested enough to read it and comment upon it (corrections, additions, suggestions...), I would be grateful. If you know of a similar sort of list to which you can point me, that would be appreciated too.

Google Maps > Google Earth

Google just announced this week that Google Earth views are now available within Google Maps. Here's their own video description:

Once you get to the location you want using Google Maps, it's a simple matter of clicking on the "Earth" button to gain the advantage of the 3D imaging available. (You may be prompted to install the Google Earth plugin if you don't already have it.) If you are already familiar with Google Earth, all the navigation will be familiar to you including the shortcuts for tilting and rotating. 

What's the advantage of having this new view available? 

• The dimensionality of Earth views can give you a better sense of a place.
• The integration of map, satellite, and earth views allows for fast and easy switching so that one can become more familiar with a place. (Also note that terrain view is still available under the More dropdown.)
• The earth view also includes 3D models that have been created. (In fact, I don't see how you can turn off the 3D models.) Some of these have actual photographic 'skins' wrapped around the objects. Take a look at some of these examples I made. (You can click on the link to go to Google Maps yourself.)
  Here is Athens >

•  Here is Ephesus with models of the theater and the Library of Celsus.

•  Using tilt and zoom, you can even stand at the threshold of the Ephesian theater and relive Acts 19:29-40!

•  And here's a view of Jerusalem.

• Also note under the More dropdown that you have access to links to Wikipedia references, photos from Panoramio, YouTube videos taken on location, and even live webcams where available.

There are still some extra things you can do in Google Earth (e.g., have indices of biblical sites [like this or this] or create tours [

BTW, one thing that Google Earth does not yet do is provide relief maps. To get that, either use the free Bible Mapper program or use the fine maps-for-free site. Here's an example of a relief map. Can you figure out what biblical region it's depicting?

˙pǝʇɐɔol ǝɹǝʍ uoıʇɐlǝʌǝɹ ɟo sǝɥɔɹnɥɔ ㄥ ǝɥʇ ǝɹǝɥʍ ʎǝʞɹnʇ uɹǝʇsǝʍ

iGoogle Home Page - Caesarea Aqueduct theme

I use iGoogle as one of my home pages. It's possible to customize the banner theme, and a long time ago, I stitched together a panoramic view of the aqueduct at Caesarea Maritima. I allowed it to be shared, and I see that it finally has become available. So, if you too want a Google home page that look likes this, just choose the "Change theme" option and search for Caesarea.

BIBLIndex: Online Biblical Index for the Church Fathers

Biblindex should be your first stop for locating biblical quotations and allusions in the writings of the Church Fathers. Between 1975 and 2000, 8 volumes of Biblia Patristica were published which produced about 400,000 biblical cross-references from the following works:

• Beginnings to Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian
• The third century (except Origen)
• Origen
• Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius of Salamis
• Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, Amphiloque of Iconium
• Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose of Milan, Ambrosiaster
• Didymus of Alexandria. Supplement, Philo of Alexandria.

In addition, about another 100,000 biblical references have been derived from:

• Athanasius of Alexandria
• John Chrysostom
• Theodoret of Cyrus
• Procopius of Gaza
• Jerome

They state: "The ultimate goal of this site is to permit the identification of biblical quotations in all Jewish and Christian literature of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages."

Access to the data is free with a free registration at the site. There is an English version of the site, but its French roots are evident throughout. (I.e., some of the English is a bit awkward, and once you get down to some of the deeper levels of the site, you will want to know some French or use a page translator.)

The search form allows you to select a biblical verse or passage. You then choose to search among author/work (or select all), provenance of the work, date of the work, or series. 

The results indicate provenance, author, work, and provide bibliographic information. As an example here is one of the references returned for Mark 16.8.

There are not direct links to the works, but in this particular case, I did a quick search on the Cramer title from 1840, found it at the Internet Archive, and, as the search result indicated, I went to page 446 and looked at line 25 and indeed found the reference to Mark 16.8. Clicking on the an author cited provides a link to additional information and bibliographical help at Sources Chrétiennes.

I'm not the first to blog about this great resource, but they have been seeking additional funding and just sent out a downloadable poster or brochure (from which I snipped the graphics here) that provides a quick overview of the site.


(BTW, they note on the site that "Biblical files of Biblindex are developed with the assistance of BibleWorks 8.")

Glo Bible - Review Part 2 - Easter Gallery Sampler

I started my review of the Glo Bible  here, and this time I'd like to say a bit more about the media included. I'm prompted by the Easter Gallery they have shared online, and it will give you a good idea of the type and quality of media provided. [HT: Todd Bolen at BiblePlaces] 40 images and a video will walk you through the events of Holy Week and are accompanied by relevant Scripture texts. The images are of high resolution, and you can see how helpful some of them are, such as the depiction of 1st century CE Jerusalem.

In the program, there are "Virtual Tours" that provide interactivity so that you can click on hotspots and delve deeper into the setting. E.g., the picture of 1st century Jerusalem above is provided with the hotspots off. Here's what it's like with them turned on:

Clicking on any one of them will zoom in and offer some brief information and further hotspots. In this way, one can pretty much 'walk' up to the Temple via the southern Triple Gate into the Court of Gentiles, via the Hasmonean Gate and around to the east, through the Beautiful Gate into the Court of Women, through the Nicanor Gate into the Court of Israel, to the Court of Priests, into the Temple, and even past the curtain into the Holy of Holies. All of this is done with the ability to zoom in/out and move around in a 360 degree environment. Tours like this are very helpful for giving a sense of place... Note that one can get to this resource through any number of paths: Scripture, maps, articles, etc.
According to their description, there are 550+ such virtual tours along with 3.5 hours of HD video, 2300+ photos, and 140+ maps. They don't list how many pieces of artwork are included. As an example, a search on "crucifixion" returned 32 photos, 21 artworks, 28 virtual tours, 1 map, and 2 interactive documentaries (in addition to the 11 Scripture links, 92 articles, and 11 web article links). 

• The photos, all of excellent resolution, include most of the Jerusalem sites one might hope to see, some generic pictures of crosses/trees, and, interestingly, a few pictures of the famous archaeological find of the heel bone of a person who had been crucified with the nail retained in the bone. (Many of the photos provided by BiblePlaces.)
• The artwork includes images, many of which are viewable on the web, by artists like Tissot, Doré, Brueghel, and others. 
• Some of the virtual tours are more along the lines of illustration with explanatory hotspots. [One such illustration provides a closeup of the sign above Jesus on the cross. The Latin comes from John 19.19, and the Greek is from Matthew 27.37. I can't make sense of the Hebrew at all other than it has "Jesus" in it, but it doesn't have "king."] Others are photos of actual spots with explanations. 
• The maps are based on satellite imagery with descriptive overlays, some of which are animated. (The images are the same as the ones used in Microsoft's Bing maps, such as this one of Jerusalem.) Glo's acknowledgment page indicates the Dr. Leen Ritmeyer worked on the maps and illustrations. 
• The interactive documentaries are indeed high quality video using a variety of experts and represent a range of historical and theological/devotional reflections.

It's very easy to take a 'snapshot' of any screen and save the image, but I am having difficulty finding information about what restrictions there are on using the photos and images and such in my own work. I'll report back when I find out...

Glo does continue to update the program, now up to version 1.6. I occasionally encounter glitches, but it is basically stable. As noted before, the program is not 'fast,' especially when dealing with transitions to visuals. It is acceptable, however, and keep in mind that I'm running the media from an external hard drive.


All in all an impressive collection of media objects that are widely cross-linked. Take a look at the Easter Gallery for an idea of the range the Glo Bible offers.

New Book: Holy Bits: A Guide for Using Computers in Biblical Scholarship

Just received a review copy of Thomas Naef's A Guide for Using Computers in Biblical Scholarship. It's from Gorgias Press as part of their Bible in Technology series.

From the publisher's description:

Where on the internet can I find some reliable information about (or even images of) New Testament manuscripts? What should I consider before beginning to type a scholarly article about Pentateuchal Laws and their parallels in the Ancient Near East? You will find in this book answers to these and many other questions. It gathers information and experience in the field of "Biblical Studies and Computer". Some subjects being treated in the book are of a more general interest like hardware and networks, operating systems, textprocessors and others. The main focus however is on concise subjects for biblical scholars like Unicode, biblical software and websites in the field. Each chapter ends up with a list of URLs for further information about the subject. An online up-to-date link list is available.

I hope to have my review up soon...

Logos Search Exercise: A Response

It's time to earn my keep as a contributor here. Life has been busy and has taken some unexpected turns.

MVGH threw down the gauntlet when he posted his article BibleWorks Search Exercise. David Lang responded for Accordance here. Logos users were also issued the challenge but I haven’t seen anyone take it up yet.

Here’s my attempt to "try to find the Greek words used to express a concept in English."

Specifically to answer these questions, What happened to Jesus after he was crucified and buried? He ______ from the dead! What words might you put in that blank? Rose? Was raised? Is risen? What Greek word(s) are behind our English wordings? How will you determine this? There are a number of possible ways to do so...

Although there are a several possible ways to do this, like David Lang I offer the simplest way in Logos 4. (Caveat: I am running the latest beta of 4.0c so your screen may not match, but the steps should work in versions post-4.0a).

0. MVGH suggested using a version tagged with Strong’s numbers. Since Logos offers several Bible versions as “Reverse Interlinears” (currently, KJV, ESV, Lexham, NASB, NKJV, NLT and NRSV) and the goal is to discover Greek words for seminary students studying Greek, I recommend using one of those “Reverse Interlinear” versions.

1. Open a Search window, select Bible search, set preferred “Reverse Interlinear” (NASB to match MGVH) to search and, since we are specifically looking for a Greek word, set search range to New Testament.



2. Since I might put any of “rose”, “was raised”, or “is risen” in the blank of “He ______ from the dead!”, I enter the following terms in the Find box (raised, risen, rose) [133 results in 125 verses]. Separating the terms with commas is the same as using an OR operator to match any terms. Enclosing the search terms in parentheses makes further refinements to the search results easier.



3. Perusing the search results reveals the power and the limitation of the “Match all word forms” option. Results include “raised”, “raise”, “raises”, and “raising” matching “raised” as well as “risen” and “rose”. What is missing are the other forms of “risen” such as, “rise”, “rises”, and “rising”. “Match all word forms” enabled is the default setting, so I assumed above that it was already set. If not, click on the large magnifying glass icon in the top left corner of the search window and ensure that there is a check mark beside the “Match all word forms” option. However smart "Match all word forms" is, it doesn't get all conjugations.

4. To expand the search results to include forms of “rise”, edit the Find box to (raised, risen, rose, rise) [164 results in 156 verses].



Substituting “rise” for “risen” won’t work though, because searching for all word forms of “rise” will not find “risen”. A wildcard could be introduced such as MGVH and David Lang did; however, searching for “ris*” also finds “risked” and “risking”. While these can be filtered by other means such as the “death” term, I would rather not deliberately include false positives only to later filter them out. For example, I found that Philippians 2:30 where “risking” matches “ris*” is not filtered out with the “death” filter.

5. To focus the search results on those instances where “rise” is used in the sense of “resurrection”, I can include “death” and “dead” in the search terms by editing the Find box to (raised, risen, rose, rise) (dead, death). [132 results in 59 verses]



6. Perusing the search results reveals a few false positives (e.g., Matt. 10:21, Mark 13:12). These could be filtered out by using a WITHIN operator such as David Lang did; however, for me the medicine is too strong. Editing the Find box to (raised, risen, rose, rise) WITHIN 5 WORDS (dead, death) excludes relevant passages such as Acts 2:24, Acts 5:30, Romans 4:24, 1 Corinthians 15:13, 42.

7. To find the Greek word(s) behind our English wordings, select the Analysis search results view. Now the search results can be played with. By dragging the Result column heading to the top, search results are grouped first by the search result. By dragging the Lemma column heading to the top, search results are grouped second by the Greek lemma. Right-clicking on one of the group headings and selecting Summary view reveals that the relevant Greek verbs are ἐγείρω, and ἀνίστημι.



G1453 and G450 for the Strong’s Number crowd!



For those interested in Louw-Nida numbers that column heading can be dragged to the top to summarize the search results in that way, revealing that the relevant L-N number is 23.94, Physiological Process and States – Live, Die.

BibleWorks Search Exercise

I am trying to construct some exercises for BibleWorks to help my students get experience answering some typical questions one can use BW to answer. Here is the first of what may be a series... 

In this exercise we will try to find the Greek words used to express a concept in English. We will learn a variety of different ways to get the desired results in BibleWorks. Specifically, we will learn to use:
•    OR and AND searches, nested searches, and search limits
•    The Graphical Search Engine to construct a complicated search
•    The Search Limits Filter to conduct two-stage searches
•    The Verse List Manager to collect verses and then use them to set search limits
•    The Louw-Nida Lexicon to look for English words and their Greek counterparts
While we will be addressing a specific question here, the skills you will learn will be applicable in many other situations.>Here's the question I'm using in this exercise:

What happened to Jesus after he was crucified and buried? He ______ from the dead! What words might you put in that blank? Rose? Was raised? Is risen? What Greek word(s) are behind our English wordings? How will you determine this? There are a number of possible ways to do so...

How would you go about answering that question? Open or download this PDF to see six ways you can do this in BibleWorks.

BTW, I'd love to think I would have the time to produce a similar guide for Logos and Accordance, but I know it's not going to happen... If someone else wants to pull it together, I would be pleased to post it on this blog or link to your own.

UPDATE: 2010.03.19: David Lang has posted steps for solving this question in Accordance over on the Accordance blog. Especially note that Accordance has a "Details" > "Analysis" option that nicely consolidates the information to make visible the underlying Greek words. Thanks!

BibleWorks8 Review

I'm guessing if you read this blog, you are also subscribed to Rubén Gómez' excellent Bible Software Review site. If not, you should check out the thorough review of BibleWorks8 he has just posted there.

(I posted some notes on installing BW8, and you can follow the other information I've provided related to BW8 here.)

Bible Software Reviews

I taught a JTerm course last month on "Technological Tools for Biblical Studies." (Go figure...) One of the requirements was to provide a brief review of a couple Bible software resources, either downloadable or online, including programs for mobile devices. Students were to pick from this list I compiled which you may want to check, which I describe thus:

This list of resources reflects free or low-cost Bible study options that might be recommended to persons who may not have original language training or who do not want to invest in the major Bible software programs like Accordance, BibleWorks, or Logos. 

I set up a course blog where we accumulated all the reviews. Here are direct links to the various reviews:

• E-Sword
• Xiphos
• Online Bible
• BibleZ for Palm Pre
• Scripture 4 All version 2.1
• Blue Letter Bible
• YouVersion
• LaParola 7.13
• Great Treasures in the Scriptures
• OliveTree BibleReader (Palm OS with NET Bible)
• Into the New Testament
• MacSword 2.1
• Cross Word 3.5
• Biblos.com and Biblos.com / Online Mobile Bible
• Crosswire: MacSword and Xiphos
• NET Bible Online
• BibleWorks8
• Bible Explorer 4.0
• The Bible Gateway
• Theophilos
• Online ESV Study Bible

Thanks to my students for giving me permission to share all their work!

Looking ahead in 2010: Biblical Studies and Tech Tools

I started this post about a month ago and never got around to finishing it. A main focus of my prognostications was the potential of mobile devices like netbooks, ebook readers, and the (then still rumored) Apple tablet device. With the announcement of the iPad (I was thinking it would be called an iTablet), I can now appear to have been somewhat prophetic... Now updated, here's what I am thinking is on the horizon in technology as it relates to biblical studies.

Going Mobile

I am convinced that we are moving to an available-everywhere Internet and that we are going to be using mobile devices to access it. Smartphones have become the device of choice for many, and their advantage is that they are small and can handle the primary tasks of texting, web surfing, email, and, oh, yeah, making phone calls. Many can also serve as MP3 players, game- and video-playing devices, GPS, etc., and, with the abundance of apps now available, as your biblical studies resource too. Their disadvantage is that they are small. It's not just that web-surfing is limited on such devices because of screen size, but they are physically too small. I hate misdialing numbers or text because the keys are so small. With my oldER person's eyes, I have to beef up the font size, and that just means so much less viewable text on the screen. Compared to my current phone's 1 inch square display, most newer phones do have quite nice displays and larger viewing areas. (E.g., Apple iPhone or Google Nexus One or Droid. For now, I have what I need with my old phone and my old but still trustworthy Dell Axim x51v.) So they are great as portable devices, but not for getting serious work accomplished. Will something like the forthcoming Dell Mini5 be better? (Maybe, but I'm not sure I want to put that thing up to my ear when I use it as a phone.) So, is it necessary to choose between the convenience of portability and the need for greater functionality that a laptop offers? And where do ebook readers and netbooks fit in? I believe there is a place something like the now-announced Apple iPad, but the iPad isn't it. Personally, I'd be more inclined to get a good netbook which can do more than the iPad and cost less. If we are heading toward ebook readers, then I think they are going to need to be able to do more in terms of being good tools for students to highlight and take notes (like this) or for being interactive devices with live updates (like this or this or this). Of course there is all sorts of new technology coming down the line...

So what do I want? I want a phone that can provide access to all my biblical stuff in a pinch (like I can now do with my Dell Axim). It would also be nice to have all those other nice goodies like web access, email, MP3, GPS, ... I can probably do that (for a price! and for data fees!) if I ever upgrade my phone and when my Axim dies. I'm the sort that will be looking for a phone using either Android or Windows Mobile 7. I applaud companies like Olive Tree and Laridian for the work they do on developing Bible resources for the various mobile platforms. Logos is also to be commended for their iPhone app. (And how about something for Android next?) To do more substantial work, however, I think I will still use a real computer with at least the minimum functionality offered by a netbook.

With all that said, I still suspect that Apple's iPad (in its 2nd generation) will generate the cool buzz to make more people look at this form factor. Since it seems to be not much of a deal to move apps from the iPhone/iTouch to the iPad, it will have a lot of momentum going forward.

Both Sides of the Cloud

I'm doing more and more of my personal and seminary work in the cloud. I'm using Live Mesh to keep my home and sem computers synced, in particular, the notes I'm writing in BibleWorks8. I'm using drop.io to back up files, make them accessible from any computer, and share them with students. I'm integrating blogs, nings, Google Docs, wikis, and diigo into my courses as ways of sharing and developing resources. I'm also really liking using Google Wave for doing collaborative work that uses threaded discussions. I use Xmarks to keep my browser bookmarks synced across various machines and have access from any machine. (Weave Sync is another option for Firefox.) I use Zotero to do my bibliographic work, and it also automatically keeps things synced across my computers and is accessible from any machine.

What are the themes here?

• Collaboration: I'm using social networking tools and sites that allow for multiple authors to do collaborative work. 
• Resource Availability: I'm still not comfortable having my stuff exist solely on the web. (Google Wave is this way for now, but it is still in beta, and it appears that one will be able to download waves in the future.) What I do really like is the kind of syncing to multiple computers AND online access from any computer allowed by tools like Live Mesh, Xmarks, GoogleDocs, and Zotero. 

In relation to biblical studies, Laridian has one good idea with its way of automatically syncing the desktop version of the program and its notes with the USB drive version you can use in any machine. I also like that the Logos iPhone app (which I've only used it on my daughter's iTouch) allows you to access most of the library you have on your computer.

[BTW, for a list of utility software (most of which is free), I recommend THESE to my students.]

Working on the Web and at My Desk

For doing serious original language work, I don't think Accordance, BibleWorks, or Logos can be surpassed. I am impressed, however, with some of the free Bible software that is available (e.g., LaParola or e-Sword) and with some of the online Bible resources sites (e.g., NET Bible, Great Treasures, Biblos, or Bible Web App). Most of these are labors of love and service which generate little or no income. On behalf of all of us who use them, you have our thanks! There are, at least, the kind of resources I can recommend to interested lay persons who don't necessarily want to invest in or are able to make full use of the big commercial programs. (BTW, for a somewhat complete listing of such resources, check HERE.)
As far as the future goes of Accordance, BibleWorks, and Logos, I have no inside information. Looking back and watching how they have progressed, however, it appears that they all have been rather faithful to their roots even as they add features and tools. I hope they all continue to thrive, because not only do they do somewhat different things, but I think the competition is good as a way of encouraging innovations and improvements. One such area is the creation of biblical texts that are syntactically analyzed. Another area where all of them are working is integration with online resources.

Okay, so I haven't really gone out on a limb to make any wild predictions here. I've done better at describing the current state of things and identified some trends. If you want some provocative future predictions, check this timeline. Be sure to check the prediction for 2020. Imagine having, say, an entire biblical library implanted in your brain, always available just for the thinking of it. Are you thinking of it? Are you thinking it is something we really want in our future?

Bibloi.NET for the Web and Mobile Devices

Received the following notice today:

Silver Mountain Software is happy to announce the release of Bibloi.NET. Bibloi.NET is a web version of the Analytical Greek New Testament and the Analytical Lexicon. The program can display the AGNT as a regular text or as an interlinear text. There are several different translations and versions (Modern Hebrew NT, TR, and several other languages) which can be interleaved with either the plain or interlinear text. More alternate texts are on the way... Works great with the iPhone and other mobile devices!

Check HERE to see a sample of the text.

Many of you may remember Silver Mountain for its Silver Greek and Hebrew fonts and for its Bible Windows program--now known as Bibloi--which was at one time the premiere program for scholarly, original language work in the OT and NT. Bibloi.NET brings some of that to the web in an online and mobile format. Some things to note:

• It provides access to the Analytical Greek New Testament (AGNT) and Fribergs' Analytical Lexicon. I don't think those are available anywhere else online.
• As you can see in the graphic above, it provides a true interlinear with the Greek text, analysis, lemma, gloss, and translation. I don't know that there is anything exactly like that on the web.
• For now at least, there is the drawback that the ASV is the only English translation available, and the only other versions available are Tagalog, Textus Receptus Greek NT, Modern Hebrew, and the Spanish Reina Valera.
• It costs $49.00 which includes a one time setup fee and a one year subscription to the site.

For comparison, do note what you can do at the NET Bible site, at Biblos, and at the interesting Bible Web App site.

Biblical Art on the Web - Help?

I received an email message from Rolf Staerk who has done an incredible amount of work locating and organizing Biblical Art on the Web. It's one of the first places I recommend people check when looking for such art. He writes:

I regret to tell you that I have decided to pause my work on the Biblical Art site since, after about 10 years on the Net, I've received an email that puts into question my use of thumbnails.

I have always thought that since displaying thumbnails is ruled fair use of images in court, I am not breaking any law. Now I'm told by a copyright holder that I do. I'm not sure.

I'm seeking advice as to whether or not I may expect legal prosecution from my work, or not. IF YOU KNOW ABOUT A LEGAL EXPERT who may help me as a service in God's Kingdom (I'm not able to pay anyone), please let me know.

I've put approx. 6-8000 hours into this freely, so I feel very sad about the situation. About 1500 people use the service every day.

If I receive help on the above mentioned matter, I may be able to continue as before.

Anyway, the site will probably be up going for months yet, but there will be few updates, if any. I'm sorry.

If anyone knows more about such matters or can provide advice, it would be appreciated. Click on the Contact button on the Biblical Art on the Web home page to let Rolf know.

glo Bible Review - Part 1

Received my copy of the glo Bible, and I will supply notes as I go about installing and using it.

The software comes attractively packaged, and the packaging itself is fairly eco-friendly. (Ie, not a large package and no plastic.)

Check out the system requirements: WinXP, Vista, of Win7 (no Mac yet, but there is a promise of a Mac version in late 2010); dual core processor; 1GB RAM (XP) or 2 GB RAM (Vista,7); video graphics card (ATI or NVIDIA w/ DirectX 9 support); Internet connection; DVD-ROM drive; and 18 GB free hard disk space. I'm all good for except for that last figure. That's a lot of space, and apparently it can't be run from the (3) DVDs. I'm going to have to clear off some pics and music... Even that won't do for my laptop with its 100Gb total. >> So, I've got an external hard drive at home for my desktop. It's almost 5 years old now (P4 3.00GHz, 3GB RAM, 256MB Nvidia graphics, WinXP SP3)...

Started installation and got an installer error message. Try again, but this time I uncheck the initial installer message that wants to prevent access. Installation first makes sure I have minimum system requirements. OK! Registration goes fine, except that it takes a couple tries to activate and register using the code. It helpfully pops commonly confused characters, but I have to erase everything to make it work. (Ie, I can't just correct the one character.) We're good... Select Install Path, and I set up a location for it on the external hard drive. It's just a USB 2.0 connection, so hopefully it won't slow things down. Now it makes sure I have the latest DirectX. That I don't, so it installs that. Then checks for latest MS SQL Server Compact. That I don't, so it installs that. Tests the Media Player. OK. Now we're ready to install, and the instructions indicate that it may take "1-3 hours (or more)." I'm supposed to close all other programs, but I'm living dangerously and keeping this Firefox window open to record my progress. As it installs, it will display a bunch of tips... Then it looks for and installs updates from the web...Back later...

Well, only 15 minutes later, and it says "Glo is ready to run." I've only inserted the first DVD, so probably more to come...

Program starts right up, and indeed I do get the option to "Explore Glo Now!" or to "Continue installing Glo media" which will take 1-3 hours. I'm going exploring!

Here's the opening screen. These are the "lenses" that provide the overall orientation: Bible, Timeline, Atlas, Topical, Media, and MyGlo.

I've been working with Mark 4.26-29 lately, so I click Bible, and find it very easy to navigate to the book and chapter. There looks to be quite a few ways to navigate to a text with a variety of buttons, but I don't see any direct reference entry option. The text shows up like this:

Nice. Most things work via a drag and move. (If my computer had a touch screen, this would be very easy to navigate.) The scroll wheel will magnify/decrease display when appropriate. Moving the mouse over any section pops up more options: changing text size, navigation buttons, changing from mouse navigation to text selection, popout links back to main menu, page snapshot, search, bookmark the page, etc. I note that I have the NIV translation (the only other option for now is KJV) with NIV Study Notes at the bottom. Clicking on the study notes or photo brings up another page like this with articles, photos, artwork, virtual tours, maps, and interactive documents that are attached to this passage. Articles are from the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. My spot can be saved as a "session" at any time to return to it.

Right clicking on a text brings up more options:

It's another way to move around or to add notes to a verse. (There's also a journal one can write within the program.)

Looks like I will need to take the time to load up the rest of the content to do much more. So I will come back to this later.

First impressions? >>

I read a lot of mixed reports about the program on glo's Amazon page, but, other than the minor glitchy things with installation, I'm not experiencing any problems. My system certainly isn't state of the art, and I am using an external hard drive. (I can understand the desire to get fast access to media by requiring hard drive installation, but still, 18GB is a lot of space...) The text display is fast. The other graphical stuff is not 'fast,' but at a few seconds for the visuals to appear, it's certainly acceptable. While the program won't be confused with a heavy duty Bible software package for original language study, it is a diverting and entertaining way to get around. I suspect that many users will start out with a text and end up wandering around from some interesting aspect to the next. I suspect this is the kind of thing most casual readers are hoping from a Bible software package, so I am (at this point) comfortable recommending it. I'd like other options than the NIV or KJV, but I suspect that was a natural marketing decision based on what Bibles are best sellers today. The 1975 Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (which sells for $125) is not my favorite, but it's better than the public domain dictionaries floating around the web or included in other software packages. Selling for about $50, the glo Bible is not that much more than a bound study Bible. You certainly are getting a value when you consider the reference and media materials included in the package.

I'll finish my report later after loading the rest of the media and playing with it a bit more.

Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary... and some technological aspects of publishing

This post is not intended to endorse or denigrate the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary OT series. Rather, I'd like to note a couple 'technological' aspects of this work that reflect the evolution of publishing today.

First, as you would expect, you can buy the collection as a hardcover set. Meanwhile, it's also in development as a digital resource for the Logos/Libronix platform. (I'm not sure whether it will be available for Accordance, but they do have a working relationship with Zondervan also.)

Second, as a way of promoting the series, Zondervan has been publishing excerpts of it on Scribd. The most recent is the release of the commentary on Daniel by Ernest C. Lukas. (This is probably only available for a limited time. You can also check out Zondervan's excerpt from Kostenberger's A Theology of John's Gospel and Letters.) Scribd is an interesting presentation format that allows you either to scroll down through the pages, view it as a book where you turn the pages, or view it as a slideshow a page at a time.

Third, you will note that this background commentary is highly illustrated. And from where did many of those pictures come? (Cf. the Acknowledgments, pages vi-vii.) In addition to ones from publishing sources, some come from the usual suspects that are probably familiar to those who inhabit the web, e.g., Todd Bolen at BiblePlaces or Tim Bulkeley's eBibleTools. The first listed in the acknowledgments are those from ... Wikimedia and Flickr! 

So, publishing a book today may include getting quality resources like pictures (free, no less!) from the web. It is not simply a matter of getting a hardcover out the door, but it also involves promoting it by sharing digital excerpts and publishing is simultaneously in a digital edition. These things have really only become feasible within the last 10 years.