Verbum Tip 5j: Bible Search -- selecting Bibles

MJ. Smith

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Bible Search – selecting Bibles

The Search for a Bible search begins with:

• Search (search fields of text) in (passage ranges) in (Bible editions) for (search argument).

The selection menu (1) for Bible editions offers:

• Search box/temporary collection rule box (2)
• Predefined collections (3)
  • Top Bibles
  • All Bibles
  • All Open Bibles
  • Collections (user defined) (4)
  • Tags and Ratings (5)
  • Series (6)
  • All Bibles (listed individually) (7)

Top Bibles

From Verbum Help:

 [quote]      To search a specific Bible or group of Bibles, click All Bibles, enter a resource title or abbreviation in the Find box, or choose from the drop-down list:

•     The Find box supports Library filtering syntax, and will create a “Quick Collection” of resources matching the entered filter.

•     Top Bibles (top 5 Bibles in resource priority)

•     All Bibles

•     All Open Bibles

•     Specific Open Bible

•     User-defined Collections

•     System-defined Series^[1]

From the prioritization panel in my library:

Run a typical search:

My “top 5” suddenly becomes “top 2”. Why? JPS is Old Testament only and therefore has not results; NJB and REB lack reverse interlinears and thus do not return results.

Sources of useful collections

An example from Gorman, Michael J. Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020.

[quote]The following discussion evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of popular English translations for purposes of exegesis. In each of three categories, I have listed several versions in order of overall quality for the purposes of exegesis: preferred for exegesis; useful for exegesis, with caution; and not recommended for exegesis, but useful in other ways. I have also listed several versions that are unacceptable for any type of academic study, including exegesis. This evaluation is based on the criteria noted above: underlying translation theory; qualifications of the translator(s), including knowledge of biblical languages and contexts; and readability of the final result for readers of contemporary English. Many contemporary commentaries are based on or keyed to one or more of these translations, even if the authors have worked with the original languages.^[2]

For “Versions Preferred for Exegesis,^[3]” Gorman suggests:

• NRSV
• NRSV-UE (not in Logos)
• NAB/NABRE
• RNJB (not in Logos)
• NIV 2011

For “Versions Useful for Exegesis, with Caution,^[4]” Gorman suggests:

• NET/NET2
• RSV
• ESV
• NASB
• CSB

For “Versions Not Recommended as the Basis for Exegesis, but Useful in Other Ways,^[5] Gorman suggests:

• CEB
• REB
• NLT
• CEV
• GNB
• MSG

For “Versions Unacceptable for Academic Study, including Exegesis,” Gorman suggests:

• KJV/AV
• NKJV
• MEV

For the Septuagint in English, Groman suggests:

• NETS
• LES

One can assign each of these groups a tag e.g. “exegesis: preferred”. You can make personal adjustments e.g. include both NAB and NABRE; use NJB as RNJB is unavailable . . .

In the library, screening by tag:

Remember that mytag is a selectable item in the drop down menu.

Or one can make a collection based on a collection rule:

Run using both for comparison:

Note the results are identical but the collection runs more quickly. For this reason, I have collections for each of Gorman’s categories. Other collections I find useful:

• Translations permitted for use with a particular lectionary, sometimes segregated by country.
• Translations traditionally considered to be Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox . . .
• Psalters (includes Psalters that are unversified, i.e. a monograph collection not a Bible collection)
• Translations with study bibles based on them

Collections built on the fly

For language collections, I simply type in one of the following:

• Type:Bible lang:English
• Type:Bible lang:Latin
• Type:Bible lang:Coptic

An example using English and Greek:

 

Homework:

Share in this forum collections or rules that you find useful for selecting resources in a Bible Search.

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^[1] Verbum Help (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2018).

^[2] Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 50.

^[3] Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 50.

^[4] Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 52.

^[5] Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 54.

Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers, Third Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020), 56.