Verbum Tip 2i: Search multiple Bibles

MJ. Smith
MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,865
edited November 2024 in English Forum

Please be generous with your additional details, corrections, suggestions, and other feedback. This is being built in a .docx file for a PBB which will be shared periodically.

Previous post: Verbum Tip 2h Next post: Verbum Tip 3a

 

Top Bibles

Top Bibles for <Person Mary (wife of Clopas)>

This did search my top five Bible. However, the datatype form of the search argument requires that the Bible have a reverse interlinear. Two of my top Bibles do not – NJB and REB. A third Bible in my top 5 is the JPS which lacks the New Testament. So, yes, my top 5 Bible yields results in 2 Bibles.

Top Bibles for Mary NEAR Clopas

If one switches to a text term search argument all four of the Bibles with a New Testament show up. Note the use of two colors – one for Mary and one for Clopas because they are separate terms combined via the NEAR proximity operator. NEAR requires that they be within 48 characters; it includes footnotes in its search.

All Bibles

The same considerations that affected the results for the Top Bibles, apply to All Bibles as well. A new issue is shown in the <Person Mary (wife of Clopas)> search. Searching for the tag makes the search argument language independent so that the Clementine Vulgate (1) is selected. The Bibles are listed in priority order so that NJB (2) is the first resource picked by the text search argument but not the tag search argument.

All open Bibles

Set up: For this example, I opened my top five Bibles plus NA27.

The <Person Mary (wife of Clopas)> search worked as before, selecting the Greek resource (1) because tagging is language independent. On the text side, I cheated and took advantage of the morphology tagging of the NA27. I searched for (Mary, <Lemma ~ lbs/el/Μαρία>) NEAR (Clopas, <Lemma ~ lbs/el/Κλωπᾶς>) (2). Note this added the NA27 (3) to the (almost) text search.

Individual open Bible

The fact that a Bible is already open makes no difference in its behavior in a search run in a search  panel.

Predefined collections

My predefined collections are based on a variety of criteria:

  • “In chapter two Gorman focuses on the selection of an English translation for exegesis. He expresses a preference for formal-equivalence translations and divides translations into four categories: 1) preferred for exegesis (NRSV, NAB, TNIV, and NET), 2) useful for exegesis, with caution (RSV, NIV, NASB, REB, ESV, HCSB), 3) unacceptable for exegesis, but helpful in others ways (NLT, NJB, CEV, GNB, The Message), and 4) unacceptable for exegesis (KJV, NKJV, LB).[1]” yields 4 collects for the 4 groups.
  • A collection of translations used in liturgy somewhere in the world …sadly using the NJB as a stand in for the JB.
  • A collection of historical traditions reflected in English: NRSV to establish the canon; JPS for the Masoretic tradition, LES for the LXX tradition, Peshitta (English) series for the Syriac tradition, D-R for the Vulgate tradition. Yes, there is a parallel original language collection.

I am sure others have even more useful collections.

First, I built a collection based on mytag i.e. I tagged the resources so I could use either a formal collection or a temporary collection.

Remember that collections are listed in the drop-down selection menu that sets the resources to be searched.

The behavior is the same as we have seen elsewhere. The primary factor to watch is the presence of a reverse interlinear.

One gets identical results when you go further down the selection menu and select by mytag:

Temporary collections

For an example, I select Bibles published by the American Baptist Publication Society to make a temporary collection:

The collection contains:

  • Conant, Thomas J. 1884. The Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings: The Common Version Revised with an Introduction and Occasional Notes. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.
  • Matthews, I. G. 1931. The Books of Samuel: Translation. The American Baptist Publication Society.
  • Smith, Justin A. 1890. Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians: Translation. ed. Alvah Hovey. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.
  • Matthews, I. G. 1939. Ezekiel: Translation. Chicago; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Seattle; Philadelphia: The American Baptist Publication Society; The Judson Press.
  • Clark, Geo. W. 1903. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I. and II. Thessalonians, I. and II. Timothy, Titus, and Philemon: Translation. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.
  • The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. 1913. Improved Edition. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.
  • The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. 1913. Improved Edition. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.

Again the results are consistent with expectations.


[1] Nathan Patrick Love, “Review of Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers by Gorman, Michael J.,” Journal of Hebrew Scriptures: Volume 9 9, no. 26 (2009): 13.

Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

Tagged:

Categories