Fonts and Keyboards for Biblical Languages... again

Our seminary is getting new systems for the faculty! (Dell Venue Pro 8) That's great, but it also means we are revisiting what we are doing with fonts and keyboards for working with the biblical languages. I wrote about this matter back in September 2012, and since then, some things have changed and some not. So, this post will be an update of that one with additional info.

FONTS

The font situation is clear for us. We moved to Unicode a few years ago, and at that time David Perry's free Cardo font was really the best choice. It's kind of a 'big' font (the characters are wider than usual and have a high x-height), so it works well in projection. Beginning students like it because it is easy to read. Cardo is now in release 1.04. It's also nice because it contains Hebrew, Greek, and every transliteration character and text critical mark. Further, Google obtained the rights to Cardo, so it transfers nicely back/forth from Google Docs. Cardo looks rather chunky in printed form, however, especially when used with a typical serif font like Times New Roman. Here's where we can thank the Society of Biblical Literature and the groups that supported the creation of high-quality Greek and Hebrew Unicode fonts. There is a SBL Hebrew and a SBL Greek, but we are just installing the combined font set known as SBL BibLit. It's a beautiful font that looks great in print.
SUMMARY: We are installing both Cardo and SBL BibLit on all our systems. I'll still use Cardo for projection, but I use SBL BibLit in printed resources.

KEYBOARDS

The situation is better but still not ideal.

• What I have been doing the last few years is have my students use the Tyndale Unicode Font Kit. It's free. There are installers for various flavors of Windows and for Macs. It installs the Cardo font automatically and handles the right-to-left enabling as part of the installation too. That's all wonderful! I could live with the Hebrew keyboard, but I do not like the Greek keyboard it installs because it requires typing accents and breathings before you type the vowel, and accents and breathings require a variety of CTRL-ALT-Shift combinations.
• For myself, therefore, I have used the superior Tavultesoft Keyman progam. I bought licenses of their Desktop 8 Light version, and they work very well for me. I like the Greek layout for accents better, it allows for accents and breathings after you type the vowel, and it has 'smart' final forms for both Greek (ς) and Hebrew (ך  ם  ן  ף ץ). Until just last October 2014, Keyman cost at least $20 for their light version, and students weren’t going to pay for that when Tyndale was free. As of October 2014, however, Tavultesoft released the light version of Keyman Desktop 9 for free. This version even shows an onscreen keyboard if you want it. Once the program is installed, you load a keyboard. The Galaxie BibleScript Mnemonic is the one you want, and it includes both Hebrew and Greek. The free version only allows for two keyboards to loaded (in addition to the native language), so if you want to type Syriac, Coptic, or Hieroglyphic, you either need to buy the Pro version or dis/enable keyboards.
• How big of a difference is there between the Tyndale and Keyman keyboards?
•  I've noted some of the Greek differences above, and you can see them in practice in the examples below.
• The Hebrew keyboards are very different as you can see in my examples below. The main thing is that Tyndale puts the vowels on English vowel letters, and Keyman puts them all on the number row. Keyman also puts all letters w/ dagesh in the uppercase and has ‘smart’ final forms. Tyndale has a keystroke for adding dagesh, and the final forms are all on the uppercase.
• Tyndale has a printable keyboard layout chart, but I like Keyman because it has a popup keyboard available.

• There are other options for typing in biblical languages, and they might do the trick if you don't have large amounts of text to write.
• There are online tools for small bits of writing. Try the Unicode Classical Greek Inputter. Even better, check out the KeymanWeb for Greek or KeymanWeb for Hebrew and Hieroglyphic and hundreds of other languages. They use the Galaxie keyboards described above, and the keyboard is displayed.
• If you don't use the biblical languages often enough to remember where all the accents and special characters are, check out Logos’ Shibboleth program. It’s free, and it has 15 language sets: Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Ethiopic,Coptic, Ugaritic, Armenian, South Arabian, Transliteration, Hieroglyphs, Akkadian, Hittite, Old Persian. It’s great because it displays all the characters, and it’s Unicode. (But it isn’t optimal Unicode since it still uses some combining characters rather than the preferred precomposed ones.) 

SUMMARY: I will probably have my students use the Tyndale Unicode Font Kit. It's easy to use, and it does Windows and Mac. Keyman is only for Windows (and iPhone, iPad, and Android). For students who are more confident with their computer skills and are using Windows, I'll suggest Keyman as an option.

LEXICITY update

lexicity

Identifying itself as "The first and only comprehensive index for ancient language resources on the internet," lexicity is now online in an updated version. (I seem to have missed the first one.) From the site:

Two years ago we launched Lexicity - a site dedicated to providing online study resources for ancient languages. We're happy to announce the second version of our site, which looks cleaner, runs more efficiently, and gets you to the resources faster.
With the second version, we're also committed to continual updates and expansion for language resources. We hope to include other languages soon as well, and we remain focused on creating an online community for learners of ancient languages.

As you can see from the graphic above, there are links to resources for: Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Church Slavonic, Coptic, Egyptian, Elamite, Ethiopic, Etruscan, Gaulish, Georgian, Gothic, Greek, Hebrew, Hittite, Latin, Mayan, Old Chinese, Old English, Old French, Old Frisian, Old High German, Old Irish, Old Norse, Old Persian, Old Turkic, Sanskrit, Sumerian, Syriac, Ugartitic.

Clicking on any of the languages will bring you to a page for subsequent links to Dictionaries, Grammars, Charts & Aids, Texts, and Other Resources.
I did a quick survey of resources connected to Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Syriac, and I think the site authors have done a great job of locating and linking available material. This is a great place to start if you are looking for resources in this ancient languages.

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.

BibleWorks 10 Released

I have been beta testing BibleWorks 10 for the last few months. I will get around to a fuller review after the semester ends, but here is my quick take on this release.

BibleWorks 10 is an attractive update to a long-respected program. Existing users will find a fresh but familiar interface that is now customizable and scalable. New users will more easily be able to find their way into the extensive capabilities of the program and hundreds of Bible texts and versions and study aids. Everyone will appreciate the new features and resources including notable ones like English “fuzzy” searching, a BibleViews Picture Library, Danker’s 2009 Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the NT, the Leiden OT Peshitta, and the New English Translation of the Septuagint to name just a very few. New add-on modules available include Crossway’s ESV Bible Atlas and original Hebrew and Greek language packages including the Nestle-Aland 28^th with apparatus and morphology. Able to run on both Windows and Macs, BW 10 is a tremendous value in Bible software.

HERE is a full list of what's new.

HERE is a video preview of BW10.

A Quick Survey of Bible Apps for Android and iPhone

A Quick Survey of Bible Apps for Android and iPhone

For more detailed study, check into the offerings from Accordance, Laridian, Logos, or Olive Tree. If you already have purchased desktop versions of these programs, then you have access to most of your resources through the apps as well.
There are many free Bible apps from which to choose for both Android and iPhone. Things to keep in mind:

• Note that some of these are actual apps. Some provide access to web versions optimized for mobile devices. If your mobile device has a web browser, you can, of course, always go to some of the better sites' web pages. Check out the Lumina Bible site or the Tyndale House STEP Bible online (also downloadable for Win and Mac).
• Some of them work by 'streaming' Bible versions to you. That is, you must have access to a data stream, and you won't be able to use that version when you don't have data access. The benefit of this approach is that you can often have access to Bible versions for which you would otherwise need to pay. (E.g., for NRSV)
• Most of them will allow you to download some Bibles to your device and use them offline or without a data stream. Many are free. Some you will need to purchase. Some common free and useful Bibles include:
  • English: ESV, NET (without full notes), KJV, Lexham (from Logos), LXX Brenton English (an older English translation of the LXX)
  • Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad codex
  • Greek: SBL Greek New Testament (from SBL and Logos), Westcott-Hort, Scrivener, some also offer the Greek LXX
• Some apps offer a variety of related resources: dictionaries, maps, commentaries, Bible reading plans, etc. One thing to look for are Bible versions that are linked with Strong's. This provides the quick and free way to get some lexical and parsing help. Note that you can find versions in English, Hebrew, and Greek (both LXX and NT) linked to Strong's. Most of them have search capabilities. Some have audio versions.
• Some of them offer all sorts of options for highlighting, social sharing, and note keeping, and often these can be synced with an online version.

With those things in mind, here are some suggestions.

ANDROID

• If you have already purchased the program, check into Laridian, Logos, or Olive Tree.
• Among the free ones I recommend:
  • MySword: This is one of the fastest loading programs, so when I'm in church and want to get to the lesson quickly, I use this one. Lots of free modules including: LXX and an analytical LXX, Brenton's LXX English, NET (no notes), Hebrew Westminster, Lexham, KJV, SBL GNT.
  • YouVersion: Many, many English versions, and many can be downloaded including NET (with notes), CEV, CEB, ESV, Good News, Holman, KJV, Lexham, Message, NIV, NIrV, NLT, etc. Westminster Hebrew, SBL Greek NT; hundreds of other non-English versions.
  • BibleGateway: If you are familiar with the BibleGateway web site, this is an app version of it.
  • Textweek - The Text This Week: Many of you are doubtless familiar with the rich Textweek site. Here's an app that will give access to all its riches.

iPhone / iPad

• If you have already purchased the program, check into Accordance, Laridian, Logos, or Olive Tree.
• Among the free versions, I recommend:
  • YouVersion: Many, many English versions, and many can be downloaded including NET (with notes), CEV, CEB, ESV, Good News, Holman, KJV, Lexham, Message, NIV, NIrV, NLT, etc. Westminster Hebrew, SBL Greek NT; hundreds of other non-English versions.
  • BibleGateway: If you are familiar with the BibleGateway web site, this is an app version of it.
  • Lumina Bible Study: This is an app version of the Lumina Bible site.
  • Textweek - The Text This Week: Many of you are doubtless familiar with the rich Textweek site. Here's an app that will give access to all its riches.
  • ESV Bible App: ESV only but does include ESV Global Study Bible for free

These are my recommendations. There are doubtless many more apps out there, and I know less about the iPhone ones. If you have a favorite to recommend, please leave a comment. Thanks!

Pontius Pilate by Maier for only 99 cents

This is a worthwhile read of what Maier--a well-known historian with other books on antiquity--calls "documented historical fiction." Only 99 cents on Amazon as a Kindle download. (Only for a limited time?) Click on the graphic to check it out.

Google Earth Pro is now free!

I have frequently blogged about the value of Google Earth (a free program) for exploring and understanding the biblical lands. Somewhat amazingly, Google has now released Google Earth Pro for free. (It used to be a $399/year upgrade.) While mainly oriented to business users, the Pro version has advanced tools for measuring, creating maps, and producing high resolution videos.
You can get the download HERE and follow the directions on that page.
HT: CNET

Logos 6 Bible Software Review - Part 1

[Disclaimer: I received the new Logos 6 Gold from Faithlife (the new parent company of Logos and the related software and online services) as an upgrade to my existing Logos 5 Gold. The only stipulation was that I write a fair and honest review and post it on this blog.]

I have long used Logos Bible software and have reviewed versions and aspects of it in the past. I have primarily used it for original language study of the Bible and to gain access to the numerous primary and secondary resources available for Bible study.

Background, Packages, Upgrades:

In the history of Logos, there was a significant transition from (Libronix) version 3 to (Logos) 4. The transitions from versions 4 to 5 and now from 5 to 6 have been incremental, but in both instances have shown significant enhancements and important resource additions. As has become their practice, Logos 6 is offered in a range of "families": Starter, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Portfolio, and Collector's. These range in price from $295 to $10,800, but there are regular sales (e.g., currently 15% off as I write) and academic discounts available. There are similarly priced tradition-specific packages that have a different collection of resources that include more denomination theological resources than biblical or generic ones. (Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran [HERE is my review of Lutheran Gold], Pentecostal & Charismatic, Reformed, and SDA. Verbum is the analogous package for Roman Catholicism.)

For existing Logos users, there are a number of options for moving to Logos 6.

• Getting the free engine update: This allows one to keep all existing resources, provides the new interface, but does not add any new datasets, resources, or related features. It will probably be released in February 2015 or so.
• Crossgrade: A crossgrade assumes you have an existing Logos library, and the price to crossgrade depends on whether you want a "core," "feature," or "extended" crossgrade. The core crossgrade only give you the new Logos 6 tools and media. The feature crossgrade adds the new datasets, and the extended crossgrade adds new resources. A crossgrade can still be somewhat expensive (for my existing Gold library, the cost would have been $124, $175, or $226 after discounts), and in my case, it would have made more sense to upgrade and gain even more resources for a marginally greater expense.
• Upgrade: A person retains rights to the resources in your existing library, but in upgrading to Logos 6, you have the option of moving up at the same level or to another package like the ones I listed earlier. The Logos website provides tools for comparing what is new in Logos 6 and what would be new for you depending on your upgrade package.

For Logos 6 hardware requirements, check HERE.

Installation and Getting Started

Installation is straightforward and occurred without incident. Upon placing the order for the crossgrade or upgrade, users receive a confirmation email with a download link. This is just a small installer file. Run it, and when Logos starts, it will also begin downloading all the applicable new resources and datasets and updates. Logos takes care of things without user intervention. The main thing is to have a fast Internet connection and allow plenty of time for all the downloads to occur. (In my case, with a good connection and fast computer, it took about 15 minutes, but Logos has had regular download updates ever since.) You also have to allow time for Logos to index its resources. This runs in the background (and can be paused if you want) and can potentially slow down other computer functions. 

If you are already using Logos 4 or 5, you should be able to start using the program right away since the interface is largely unchanged. For those less familiar with Logos, they have quite a few resources for getting you started. For basic training, start HERE and choose your platform (Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Kindle Fire, Android). A desktop/laptop device is where Logos best displays its capabilities, and training for that is HERE. There are 28 quickstart videos which will show both old and new users some of the capabilities of the program and how to use them.
I am using Logos6 on a Windows 7 SP1 system with 12GB RAM, Intel i7 at 3.40GHz, and the program running on a SSD drive. I.e., though this system is now 2.5 years old, it is still decently fast. Complicated searches may take a bit to run, but in general the program runs acceptably well without any annoying lag. Logos does suggest some ways to optimize performance that help if you have a slower system.

In Part 2, I will describe some of the new features to Logos6 that I most appreciate.

HarperOne Special Ebook Offer: 20 Religion Classics for $2.99 Each!

This is simply a pretty good deal for some very interesting books by the likes of John Dominic Crossan, Richard Elliott Friedman, Bart D. Ehrman, N.T. Wright, Richard Hays, Amy-Jill Levine, and others. Note that these are ebooks, and you can obtain them through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBookstore, or Google Play. HERE is the link.