Verbum 9 Tip 7s: Basic search terms part 5 (Bible references)

Docx files for personal book: Verbum 9 part 1; Verbum 9 part 2; Verbum 9 part 3; Verbum 9 part 4; Verbum 9 part 5; How to use the Verbum Lectionary and Missal; Verbum 8 tips 1-30; Verbum 8 tips 31-49

Reading lists: Catholic Bible Interpretation

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Datatype terms

From Verbum Help:[quote]

Data Type References

A data type is a kind of data, or the pattern for a reference scheme. The Bible follows a book, chapter, verse scheme with a certain set of books, with a certain number of chapters in each book, and a certain number of verses in each chapter.

To search for a data type reference, type an opening angle bracket (<) then the name of the data type (for example Bible) then a space and an optional data type matching operator (more below) then a string that specifies what reference you want to match (for example Jn 3:16) and finally a closing angle bracket (>). The example <Bible Jn 3:16> will match John 3:16 no matter how it is “spelled” in the resource: “Joh. iii, 16”.

Some data types allow for references to be matched with varying levels of exactness. This is specified by an optional data type matching operator, either = or . Each data type uses these operators differently, but in general:

•     <DataTypeName = reference> — Match the specified reference precisely

•     <DataTypeName ~ reference> — Match the specified reference loosely or generously

•     <DataTypeName reference> — Let the software decide how loose or precise the matching is

If Match equivalent references is checked in the Search options, data type references that are basically interchangeable (such as <Topic Money> and <PreachingTheme Money>) will all match if any one of them are typed. This option mainly affects data types involved with Factbook (Person, Place, Thing, Topic, Theme, etc). It has no effect on the Bible data type.

Bible References

The most common data type to search for in Verbum is Bible references, for example, <Bible John 3:16>. The Bible part can even be removed, so <jn 3:16> or <~jn 3:16> or <=jn 3:16> will all work. jn 3:16 with no angle brackets — if the entire query looks like Bible reference, Verbum will insert the full syntax.

•     <Bible Jn 3:16> or <Bible ~ Jn 3:16> — Match this reference and references that contain it within the same chapter, so John 3:1–24 but not John 3-4.

•     <Bible = Jn 3:16> — Match only exactly John 3:16 and not John 3:1–24 or John 3.

•     <Bible intersect Jn 3:16-21> — Match any reference that intersects with verses 16–21, so John 3:1–24 or John 3–4 but not John 3:1–15.

•     <Bible superset Jn 3:16-21> — Match any reference that includes verses 16–21, so John 3 or John 3:1–24 but not John 3:17.

•     <Bible subset Jn 3:16-21> — Match any reference included within verse 16–21, so John 3:16 or John 3:16–21 but not John 3.

Different editions of the Bible have different content, and so there are actually several Bible data types. Learn more by reading about versemaps.

Morph References

The most basic way to start searching for these terms is to right-click a word in a morphologically tagged resource or a reverse interlinear Bible and choose the data type from the right side of the Context menu. Several options to search for that data type reference will appear in the left side.

Use the Morph Search and type g: or h: or a: to specify a Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic lemma respectively, root: to specify a root form, surface: to specify a surface (inflected) text form, or @ to start a morph term. Learn more about how to type Greek or Hebrew/Aramaic.

Typing morph data type terms using the < syntax is not recommended.

Data types in morphologically tagged resources include:

•     Lemma lemma:λόγος (Morph Search) or <Lemma = lbs/el/λόγος> (Basic/Bible Search) — specifies a lemma, within a given language and morphological analysis.

•     Root root:חסד:2 (Morph Search) or <Root = lbs/he/חסד:2> (Basic/Bible Search) — specifies a root form.

•     Morphology @VaW[^2]MS (Morph Search) or <LogosMorphHeb ~ VaW[^2]MS???> (Basic/Bible Search) — specifies a cluster of morphological properties against a given morph scheme.

A “morph scheme” refers to a particular morphological and lexical analysis of a set of texts. Each scheme represents a coherent theoretical viewpoint or scholarly perspective on how word properties should be documented, or how the lexicon ought to be organized. Most scholars agree that there are nouns and verbs in Hebrew, but not all agree what is the best way to describe the various kinds of Hebrew verb stems. Nor does every lexicon divide and number homographs in the same way, or spell lemma forms in the same way.

Morph schemes and their corresponding data types, lemma and morph:

Aramaic

•     Andersen-Forbes Aramaic Morphology — <Lemma = af/arc/...> and <AFMorphAram ~ ...>

•     Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Morphology (CAL) — <Lemma = cal/arc/...> and <CALMorph ~ ...>

•     Logos Aramaic Inscriptions Morphology — <Lemma = in/arc/...> and <ArcInsMorph ~ ...>

•     Logos Aramaic Morphology — <Lemma = lbs/arc/...> and <LogosMorphAram ~ ...>

•     Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible (SESB) Aramaic Morphology — <Lemma = sesb/arc/...> and <SESBMorphAram ~ ...>

•     Werkgroep Informatica (WIVU) Aramaic Morphology — <Lemma = wivu/arc/...> and <WIVUMorphAram ~ ...>

•     Westminster Aramaic Morphology — <Lemma = lls/arc/...> and <AramaicMorphology ~ ...>

Greek

•     Friberg Greek Morphology — <Lemma = fr/el/...> and <FRMorph ~ ...>

•     GRAMCORD Greek Morphology — <Lemma = lls/el/...> and <GRMorph ~ ...>

•     Logos Greek Morphology — <Lemma = lbs/el/...> and <LogosMorphGr ~ ...>

•     Robinson Greek Morphology — <Lemma = mr/el/...> and <MRMorph ~ ...>

•     Swanson Greek Morphology — <Lemma = js/el/...> and <SWGreekMorph ~ ...>

Hebrew (including Semitic inscriptions)

•     Andersen-Forbes Hebrew Morphology — <Lemma = af/he/...> and <AFMorphHeb ~ ...>

•     Logos Hebrew Morphology — <Lemma = lbs/he/...> and <LogosMorphHeb ~ ...>

•     Logos Semitic Inscriptions Morphology — <Lemma = in/he/...> and <SemInsMorph ~ ...>

•     Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible (SESB) Hebrew Morphology — <Lemma = sesb/he/...> and <SESBMorphHeb ~ ...>

•     Werkgroep Informatica (WIVU) Hebrew Morphology — <Lemma = wivu/he/...> and <WIVUMorphHeb ~ ...>

•     Westminster Hebrew Morphology — <Lemma = lls/he/...> and <WestMorph ~ ...>

Latin

•     Logos Latin Morphology — <Lemma = lbs/la/...> and <LogosMorphLa ~ ...>

Syriac

•     Leiden Peshitta Institute Syriac Morphology — <Lemma = lpi/syr/...> and <LPIMorph ~ ...>

•     Sedra 3 Syriac Morphology — <Lemma = s3/syr/...> and <SyrMorph ~ ...>

Transliterated

•     Biblia Hebraica Transcripta (BHt) Morphology — <Lemma = bht/x-tl/...> and <BHtMorph ~ ...>

Bible Senses

Senses are indivisible units of meaning as defined by the Bible Sense Lexicon dataset. Each word in the Bible has been assigned a sense, which can be concorded using the Sense data type.

For example, <Sense to cure> finds various places where curing happens. But “to heal” is a type of curing as well.

•     <Sense ~ to cure> or <Sense to cure> or <Sense subset to cure> — Finds this sense and all narrower senses

•     <Sense superset to cure> -- Finds this sense and all broader senses

•     <Sense intersects to cure> — Finds this sense and all narrower or broader senses

•     <Sense = to cure> — Finds exactly this sense

The easiest way to specify a Sense term is to type a word into the Search box and choose a Sense term from the drop-down term suggestion list, or to right-click a word in a reverse interlinear Bible and choose the Sense term from the right side of the Context menu.

Factbook References

Several data types associated with Factbook pages can be searched for in resources and in Community Tags.

These can be searched for directly:

•     Person <Person Jesus> — Finds mentions of biblical persons

•     Place <Place Jerusalem> — Finds mentions of biblical places

•     Thing <Thing dog> — Finds mentions of biblical things

•     Topic <Topic Law> — Finds mentions of topics

•     Biography <Biography Martin Luther> — Finds mentions of non-biblical notable persons

Note that the string specifier for all of these data types must exactly match the primary label of the person/place/etc., and that they are case-sensitive. Only <Person Simon (Cyrene)> will match Simon of Cyrene. <Person Simon of Cyrene> and <Person simon cyrene> will not work. It’s best to use the term picker in the Search panel or right-click to build these terms.

These Factbook-related data types require {Section ...} extension terms:

•     Event {Section <Event The Israelites cross the Red Sea>} — Finds items/text tagged with the specified event

•     Sermon Theme {Section <PreachingTheme Wealth>} — Finds text tagged with the specified theme.

•     Cultural Concept {Section <Culture Assassination>} — Finds text tagged with the specified cultural concept. Complete ontology can be found in the Lexham Cultural Ontology Glossary.

Note that cultural concepts are hierarchical in the same way as Bible Senses. The = and  data type reference matching operators can be used to specify either this and only this heading (=) or this heading and all narrower/child headings ().

Biblical Annotation

Several datatypes associated with annotation of textual phenomena in the Bible require the {Section ...} syntax:

•     Speech Acts — {Section <SpeechAct = Info: Assert>}

•     Sentence Types — {Section <Sentence = Declarative>}

•     Hebrew Grammatical Constructions — {Section <GrammaticalConstructions = Root Pairs>}

•     Greek Grammatical Constructions — {Section <GrammaticalConstructions = 1st Condition>}

Other

•     Literary Typing {Section <LiteraryTyping = Gospel>} — Complete list of types can be found in the Lexham Glossary of Literary Types.

The Logos public wiki has a comprehensive listing of data types and their abbreviated search aliases.^[1]

Bible references

Basic rules for Bible references:

Two features of Bible references that require special thought:

1. In a Bible datatype one can control what matches through the operator that may occur between the datatype name and the datatype value.
2. There is no standard naming or versification across all Bibles. Because they rely on different base texts there cannot be. Verbum handles most of the variation in names and versification behind the scenes through “verse mapping”.

Abbreviated Bible references

The basic structure of a datatype reference in Verbum is: opening angle bracket – datatype name – space – datatype matching operator – space – datatype reference – closing angle bracket. The datatype matching operator is optional; it is usually used when the default doesn’t provide what you need. It is discussed below.

Abbreviations starting with the Context Menu value:

Datatype operator

From the Logos Wiki:[quote]

Using Operators with References

With most datatypes, you can also search for ranges, as the bible example above shows. But if you want more control over the range, you can also change the operator (the equals sign). The following operators are available (listed in order, from the most exact at the top to the broadest at the bottom):

Verse mapping

Verse mapping is best understood by examples. 

Example from the Psalms: Probably the best known variation in versification is in the Psalms.  The numbering of the psalms themselves differs between the Masoretic and the LXX.

In addition, some translations treat the superscriptions as verse 1, others as a title with verse 1 starting the psalm proper.

Example from Malachi: Depending on the Bible, Malachi is divided into either 3 or 4 chapters. When I limit a Bible search to Malachi 4:1, I get results from both Mal 4:1 and Mal 3:19. Mal 3:19 and Mal 4:1 refer to the same text. It is just the numbering that differs.

Example from Jeremiah: Jeremiah exists in two major forms: the Greek form (LXX) is older and about 1/8^th shorted than the Masoretic form. In addition there are differences in the order of the shared texts. Both forms are canonical in some Churches.

Jeremiah 39 has both reordered text (Masoretic Jer 39:1-3 is LXX Jer 46:1-3) and missing text (Masoretic 39:4-5 does not occur in the LXX text).

Example of Daniel: The “additions to Daniel” i.e., text in the LXX but not the Masoretic, may differ not only in versification but also in name of the Biblical book. In this case <BibleNABRE = Dan 13:60> refers to the same text as <BibleNRSV = Susanna 60>.

The example of Job: There are also significant textual variations that are not reflected in the versification. See Job 42:17 in Brenton, Lancelot Charles Lee. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament: English Translation. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1870.

If Verbum handles these conversions between verse mapping, why do you need to worry about it? Verbum handles verse mapping when:

• You click on a Bible link
• When you enter a Bible reference without a verse map and Verbum assumes your default
• When you enter a Bible reference with a verse map designator

What it does not handle is when you enter a Bible reference that uses a verse map other than your default and you did not provide a verse map designator. This happens most often when you are reading a book outside Verbum and enter a reference from that book into Verbum as a reference.

There are also specific references it cannot handle such as (Greek) Esther 1:1 in the New Jerusalem Bible which is divided into 1a, 1b, 1c, …1q, 1r which is notation for portions of a verse which is not supported in Verbum.

Paraphrases in paragraph form also cause problems … Wuerst in the Text Comparison tool is a case that appears regularly in the forums. I consider it reasonable that Faithlife has not coded for such rare conditions.

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

[2] Detailed Search Help (logos.com) 4/2/2021 3:43 PM