33 The Parallel BHS/LXX Database

 

 

This window contains an updated and enhanced version of the Tov-Polak Parallel-Aligned Greek-Hebrew Old Testament. It is an indispensable tool for studying the relationship between the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments which form the backdrop against which the New Testament was written. The Parallel BHS/LXX Window can be opened wither by selecting Resources | Parallel BHS - LXX from the Main Menu or by clicking on the button on the Main Button Bar.

 

The Parallel BHS/LXX Window

The Button Bar and Main Menu

The Scripture Text Window and Lexicon Window

The Parallel Alignment Window

Finding Hebrew - Greek Equivalents

Doing Detailed Searches

Column B - Tov-Polak Hebrew Analysis

Column C - Tov-Polak Greek Analysis

Column D - BibleWorks WTM Hebrew Morphology

Column E - BibleWorks BLM Greek Morphology

Column F - BibleWorks WTT Text

The Search Results List Box

Explanation of Symbols Used in the Tov-Polak Alignment

List of Biblical Book Abbreviations Used in the Alignment

 


The Parallel BHS/LXX Window

 

The Parallel BHS/LXX database is based on the Revised CATSS Hebrew/Greek Parallel Text (Tov-Polak, 2005). The Tov-Polak text contains the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek Old Testament (LXX) aligned in parallel columns, with a newly updated set of textual notes, containing proposals for a tentative retroversion of the presumed Hebrew/Aramaic text underlying the LXX, and many notations concerning translational and scribal phenomena that help to explain the relationship between the MT and the LXX.

 

This version of the Parallel-Aligned BHS/LXX also contains a collation with the Westminster Hebrew Morphology (WTM) and the LXX Morphology (BLM) in BibleWorks. This facilitates study of Hebrew and Greek correspondences underlying the BHS and LXX. It is easy, for example, to build a list of how a particular Hebrew word is rendered in the Greek.

 

The parallel BHS/LXX window is divided into four main sections as follows:

 


The Button Bar and Main Menu

 

The Parallel BHS/LXX Button Bar is located across the top part of the window. The functions of the various parts of the button bar are as follows:

 

 

The text entry box is the place where you type in a specific verse to display. If you enter a verse and press the return key, the Alignment Window will move to that verse.

This button will copy the currently selected range of alignment text to the clipboard in formatted mode. The dropdown provides options to copy the text in formatted and raw modes.

This button will open a new instance of the Main Window. You can open as many of these as you need.

This button opens the LXX/BHS equivalents window. This allows you to specify a particular Hebrew or Greek word and easily find a sorted list of equivalents. The same sort of thing can be done in the main search window but in many cases this is quicker and easier.

This button opens the Parallel BHS/LXX Search Window which allows you to construct detailed searches on the Parallel Text and its apparatus.

 

The Main Menu has the following options:

 

Search

§         Alignment Search Window ...
This option will open the main Alignment Search Window. This permits detailed searches of all columns in the Alignment databases.

§         Find BHS-LXX Equivalents ...
This option opens a window that lets you do quick searches to find Hebrew-Greek equivalents.

§         Import Search Window Verse List
This option will import the Search Window verse list into the last active tab in the Alignment Window (it will be the tab with a plus next to its label).

Copy

§         Copy Selected Text (formatted) ...
This option will copy the selected text in the Parallel Alignment Window to the clipboard in formatted mode.

§         Copy Selected Text (raw) ...
This option will copy the selected text in the Parallel Alignment Window to the clipboard in raw mode.

Options

§         Show Raw Data
This will change the Alignment Window to display the raw data behind the display.

§         Show Formatted Data
This option will restores the formatted display after you have turned on the raw data display.

§         Show Tips for Critical Notes
If this option is checked popup tips will be shown when the mouse cursor moves over a window with critical notes.

Help

§         Tov-Polak Documentation
The option opens the Tov-Polak database documentation, which contains a detailed discussion of the philosophy behind the database and how to get the most out of this storehouse of useful information. This is a separate document from the online BibleWorks Help.

§         Help on the BibleWorks Interface
This will open the BibleWorks Online Help for the Parallel Hebrew-Greek module.

 


The Scripture Text Window and Lexicon Window

 

Just under the Button Bar you will see two text windows side by side. These will automatically display the Greek and Hebrew texts of the currently highlighted Alignment entry in the Alignment Window below them. There is a yellow sizing bar just under these text windows which permits you to change the size of the section.

 

The two side-by-side windows at the bottom of the main Window contains Lexical entries for the Greek and Hebrew words in the currently selected entry line in the Alignment Window. They will change automatically when you select a new entry in the Parallel Alignment Window. There is a yellow sizing bar just above these windows which permits you to change the size of the section.

 


The Parallel Alignment Window

 

The large list box in the center of the main window contains the parallel-aligned text of the Greek and Hebrew Old Testaments.  The first three columns contain the Tov-Polak Alignment. The last three columns contain the BibleWorks collation with the BibleWorks Hebrew and Greek Morphological texts.

 

§         Column A
This column contains the verse reference (normally the Hebrew verse number)  for the entry line. The superscripted number contains the subword number.

 

§         Column B
This column contains one or more words from the Hebrew text, along with textual notes for the entry. The table at the end of this section gives a detailed listing of the meanings of the textual notes. If you move the mouse cursor over an entry with textual notes, a popup window will appear with a description of the meaning of the note.

 

§         Column C
This column contains one or more words from the Greek text, along with textual notes for the entry. The table at the end of this section gives a detailed listing of the meanings of the textual notes. If you move the mouse cursor over an entry with textual notes, a popup window will appear with a description of the meaning of the note.

 

§         Column D
This column contains the corresponding entry from the BibleWorks WTM Hebrew Morphology. This includes the root word and a set of codes specifying the morphology.  The codes are superscripted to make them more readable.

 

§         Column E
This column contains the corresponding entry from the BibleWorks BLM Greek Morphology. This includes the root word and a set of codes specifying the morphology.  The codes are superscripted to make them more readable.

 


Finding Hebrew - Greek Equivalents

 

There are many times when studying the New Testament that an interpreter would like to know what the Hebrew equivalent (as defined by usage) of a Greek word is, or vice versa.  It is possible to glean some rudimentary information of this nature by doing multiple version searches using the GSE. But specific information of this nature requires a database that closely correlates the Greek and Hebrew Old Testaments on a word-by-word and phrase-by-phrase basis. This is exactly what the Tov-Polak database does,. And the BibleWorks WTM/BLM collation makes it possible to identify Hebrew lemmas with Greek lemmas.

 

To use the BHS-LXX equivalents tool all you have to do is type in a Hebrew word and click the  button to do the search. All searches are vowel-point insensitive. Normally you would not have both a Hebrew and Greek word but you can do so to limit the search if need be.  You can also have a blank Hebrew word and a non-blank Greek word to reverse the process. A blank line is the same as a wildcard as far as the search engine is concerned. You can use the verse textbox to limit the range used in the search and the clipboard button to clip a selected range of output lines to the clipboard.

 

You may notice sometimes that the entries at the end of the list (i.e. infrequently occurring cases)  have strange results. That is the result of either insufficient granularity in the alignment or cases where the alignment is not very clear. What the program does is search column D for the lemma that you have typed in and try to match it with a lemma in column E based on the morphological tags. So for example if it finds the lemma in column D and it is a verb, it tries to find a lemma in column E that is a verb. Of course if there is only one word in column D and one word in column E this kind of checking is not necessary. But there are some cases, due to differences in Greek and Hebrew syntax where this process does not work very well. But the process overall works quite well for determining gross equivalencies and patterns. What is needed is for the process to be carried out by hand and entered into a database. That would remove the guesswork (which is minimal however) from the process.

 

If you see an entry in the results list box and want to examine in detail the verses behind the statistics, all you have to do is click on the entry. The appropriate Tov-Polak entries will be copied to the last active tab on the Parallel Alignment Window, where you can look at them in detail.

 


Doing Detailed Searches

 

When you want to do searches that go beyond finding simple equivalents, searching the textual apparatus for example, you will need to use the Alignment Search Wind. It can be opened by choosing Search | Alignment Search Window from the main menu or by clicking on the Alignment Search Window button  on the Main Window button bar. When you do that a window like the one shown here will open. It will be populated with the data from the currently selected Alignment Window item.

 

The text box in the upper left permits you to limit the search to a range of verses. It will initially be set to cover the entire Tov-Polak database. The window also has three buttons which have the following functions:

 

 

This button will import the settings from the currently selected item in the Alignment Window. It is a convenient way to start a search.

This option will initiate the search using the current settings in the rest of the window.

This button will copy the selected items from the list at the bottom to the search window to the clipboard.

 

The Search Window has 5 search input areas corresponding to the five data columns in the Alignment Window. Please note that the procedures for inputting data are different for the first two areas than the last three areas, so you should read the following carefully.

 

To set up a search you first check the activation check box for the columns that you want included in the search. Each column is checked separately and a match will be recorded only if all checked columns have a match. In other words the results of the search on each column are ANDed together. Each column in turn has its own search type specification which determines how the search word in each column is processed.

 


Column B - Tov-Polak Hebrew Analysis

 

If this check box is checked, this column will be included in the search.

 

This list box specifies the type of search to be performed on this column. The options are:

AND - All words must occur in the column for a successful match but the order does not matter.

OR - The match is successful if any of the words occur in the column.

Phrase - All words must occur in the columns and in the specified order. Other words may occur before and after the phrase.

Exact - All words must occur in the columns and in the specified order. No other words may occur in the column.

 

This text entry box contains the text that you want to match in column B the Tov-Polak database. Text is entered in Roman characters (for the analysis) and Hebrew (for the Hebrew text). To change fonts or to enter special characters you can right click on the text box and select the option that you want:

§         Hebrew (Ctrl-H)

§         English (Ctrl-E)

§         Up Arrow (Ctrl-Up Arrow)

§         Down Arrow (Ctrl-Dn Arrow)

§         Wildcard

§         ? Wildcard

§         * Wildcard

§         / Morpheme Separator (Hebrew)

Note that the * and ? wildcards must be entered via this menu. That is because the database itself has these characters and entering them this way marks them as wildcards and not characters in the text. You can tell the difference by the color. The wildcards will be blue (for Hebrew) or red (for Greek). To switch between Hebrew and English you can also use the Ctrl-H and Ctrl-E keyboard shortcuts.

 


Column C - Tov-Polak Greek Analysis

 

If this check box is checked, this column will be included in the search.

 

This list box specifies the type of search to be performed on this column. The options are:

AND - All words must occur in the column for a successful match but the order does not matter.

OR - The match is successful if any of the words occur in the column.

Phrase - All words must occur in the columns and in the specified order. Other words may occur before and after the phrase.

 

This text entry box contains the text that you want to match in column C the Tov-Polak database. Text is entered in Roman characters (for the analysis) and Greek (for the Greek text). To change fonts or to enter special characters you can right click on the text box and select the option that you want:

§         Greek (Ctrl-G)

§         English (Ctrl-E)

§         Up Arrow (Ctrl-Up Arrow)

§         Down Arrow (Ctrl-Dn Arrow)

§         Wildcard

§         ? Wildcard

§         * Wildcard

§         / Morpheme Separator (Hebrew)

Note that the * and ? wildcards must be entered via this menu. That is because the database itself has these characters and entering them this way marks them as wildcards and not characters in the text. You can tell the difference by the color. The wildcards will be blue (for Hebrew) or red (for Greek). To switch between Greek and English you can also use the Ctrl-H and Ctrl-E keyboard shortcuts.


Column D - BibleWorks WTM Hebrew Morphology

 

If this check box is checked, this column will be included in the search.

 

This list box specifies the type of search to be performed on this column. The options are:

AND - All words must occur in the column for a successful match but the order does not matter.

OR - The match is successful if any of the words occur in the column.

Phrase - All words must occur in the columns and in the specified order. Other words may occur before and after the phrase.

  

This text entry box contains text that you want to match from the WTM Hebrew morphology database. You do not need to make font changes for this text box. Text is entered in exactly the same way as the BibleWorks Search Window Command Line. The text is vowel point insensitive.

 

 

 

 


Column E - BibleWorks BLM Greek Morphology

 

If this check box is checked, this column will be included in the search.

 

This list box specifies the type of search to be performed on this column. The options are:

AND - All words must occur in the column for a successful match but the order does not matter.

OR - The match is successful if any of the words occur in the column.

Phrase - All words must occur in the columns and in the specified order. Other words may occur before and after the phrase.

 

This text entry box contains text that you want to match from the BLM Greek morphology database. You do not need to make font changes for this text box. Text is entered in exactly the same way as the BibleWorks Search Window Command Line. The text is accent insensitive.

 

 

 

 


Column F - BibleWorks WTT Text

 

If this check box is checked, this column will be included in the search.

 

This list box specifies the type of search to be performed on this column. The options are:

AND - All words must occur in the column for a successful match but the order does not matter.

OR - The match is successful if any of the words occur in the column.

Phrase - All words must occur in the columns and in the specified order. Other words may occur before and after the phrase.

 

This text entry box contains text that you want to match from the WTT Hebrew text database. You do not need to make font changes for this text box. Text is entered in exactly the same way as the BibleWorks Search Window Command Line. The text is vowel point insensitive.

 

 

 


The Search Results List Box

 

The list box at the bottom of the Search Window will display the search results.  This includes a list of all the Tov-Polak entries matched and their frequency of occurrence. If you want to examine all of the entries on a particular line just click on the line. The appropriate entries will be loaded into the last accessed tab in the alignment Window. That tab that will receive the entries will have plus sign in the tab label.

 

To copy selected items to the clipboard, click in the first item and then click on the last item with the SHIFT key depressed.  Then click on the  button.

 


Explanation of Symbols Used in the Tov-Polak Alignment

 

The following symbols are used in the Parallel Alignment:

 

?

Questionable notation, equivalent, etc.

,,a

In the Hebrew column: word included in one of the Aramaic sections of the Hebrew Bible.

 *

Ketib.

{*}

Possible agreement of the LXX with the Ketib.

 **

Qere.

{**}

Possible agreement of the LXX with the Qere.

 *z

The Ketib in Qere wela Ketib.

 **z

The Qere in Ketib wela Qere.

¯ <dn>

Reference to the continuation of the present verse or to next verse.

­ <up>

Reference to the preceding part of the present verse or to previous verse.

----

In the Greek column: an element of the Biblical text that is present in the MT but has no counterpart in the Greek (Minus of the Greek vis-à-vis the MT). The lack of representation frequently seems doubtful, in which case the notation includes a question mark.

--+

In the Hebrew column: element of in the Greek that doesn't have a corresponding counterpart in the MT (plus in the LXX vis-à-vis the MT). Often this indication is followed by a tentative reconstruction of the possible Hebrew source text: --+ =, or --+ =?

--- ''

Long minus (at least four lines).

--+ ''

Long plus (at least four lines).

--- {x}

In the Greek column (apparent minus) or

--+ {x}

In the Hebrew column (apparent plus), indicating lack of equivalence between long stretches of text in the LXX (where it is a ‘plus’) and the MT (where it is a ‘minus’).

---%

Element not represented in the Old Greek and supplied in Job by ‘Theodotion’ with asterisk.

[]

Reference to number of verse in LXX, different from MT.

[[ ]]

Reference to number of verse in MT, different from the LXX.

^

Difference in sequence between MT and LXX, denoted after the first Hebrew word and before the second one, as well as between two Greek words.

^^^

Change in word order: the equivalent of the Hebrew/ Greek) word(s) is present elsewhere in the verse or near context (possible transposition in the Hebrew source text of the LXX).

=

Introducing the Hebrew retroversion (in column b) of a Greek text that may be thought to reflect a Hebrew source text different from MT. In such cases the retroversion is considered a plausible reconstruction of that variant in the source text. Often marked as doubtful by a question mark.

=;

Retroversion in col. b based on equivalence occurring in immediate or remote context.

=:

Introducing reconstructed proper noun.

=v

Difference in vocalization (pronunciation tradition).

=+

Difference in numbers between MT and the LXX.

=@

Etymological derivation or exegesis.

=@...a

Etymological exegesis according to Aramaic, etc.

=r

Incomplete retroversion.

=??

Divergence between the Greek and the Hebrew that may indicate a Hebrew variant text, but for which at this stage no plausible retroversion can be suggested.

=<d>

Reference to a doublet in the Hebrew or to the Hebrew retroversion of a doublet possibly reflected by the Greek.

=%

Indicating categories divergences between the MT and the LXX, mostly attributable to translation technique, but also due to the Hebrew scribe.

=%a+

(Attributive) demonstrative pronoun in the LXX but not in the MT.

=%b

Two Hebrew words rendered by compound noun in the Greek covering all information (translation technique).

=%c

Two Hebrew words rendered by one in Greek (translation technique).

=%e

Two Greek words used to render one Hebrew (translation technique).

=%nv

noun/verb or verb/noun interchange.

=%np

noun/pronoun-particle or pronoun-particle/noun interchange.

=%o+

Independent personal pronoun in the LXX (direct/indirect object) but not in the MT (attributable to Greek translator or to Hebrew scribe).

=%p

Difference in preposition or particle (attributable to Greek translator or to Hebrew scribe).

=%p-

Preposition present in the Hebrew not matched by a corresponding counterpart in the Greek, mostly not for stylistic reasons

=%p+

Preposition present in the Greek, but not matched by a corresponding element in the Hebrew - Mostly used when the Greek has a dative, or an affix to a particle.

=%ps-

semiprepositional noun phrase represented as preposition (attributable to Greek translator or to Hebrew scribe).

=%ps+

preposition represented as semi-prepositional noun phrase (attributable to Greek translator or to Hebrew scribe).

=%r+

Presence of a relative pronoun in the Greek but not in the MT(for instance, if MT has an asyndetic relative clause).

=%vap

Change from active to passive form in verb, or from causative to active (diathesis) This phenomenon often involves pluses or minuses of pronouns (attributable to Greek translator or to Hebrew scribe).

=%vpa

Change from passive to active form in verbs, or from active to causative (diathesis) This phenomenon often involves pluses or minuses of pronominal phrases (attributable to Greek translator or to Hebrew scribe).

=%vq

interchange verb/particle-pronoun or vice versa.

={f}

Divergence between the Greek and the Hebrew connected with structure and syntactic function.

={@}

free, contextually conditioned and/or inspired exegetic rendering.

{...}

Equivalent reflected elsewhere in the text, for grammatical, stylistic, or exegetic reasons. At the place where the equivalent occurs, the present vocable is indicated by {...XXX} or {...?XXX}.

{..^}

Stylistic or grammatical transposition, mostly conditioned by requirements of Greek grammar or style.

{..d}

Double duty rendering, occurring once in the translation but referring to more than one Hebrew word. The corresponding term in the MT is matched by {...}.

{..p}

Preposition present in the LXX, but not in the MT, often in accordance with the rules of the Greek language or translational habits. The Greek preposition itself is matched by {...}.

{..r}

Notation in Hebrew column of elements repeated in the translation.

{+}

Introduction of addition of Greek word for stylistic reasons.

{d}

Reference to doublet in the Greek (occurring between the two elements of the doublet).

{g}

Reference to difference between the text of Rahlfs and that of the relevant Gottingen edition

{gl}

Apparent divergence between the Greek and the Hebrew plausibly explained by the Greek lexicon

{og}

In Esther and Daniel: long stretch of text not reflecting Hebrew or Aramaic source.

{+h}

Introduction of stylistic addition of eivmi,.

{p}

Greek preverb representing Hebrew preposition.

{s}

Hebrew /m, !m (comparative, superlative) reflected by Greek comparative or superlative.

{t}

Transliterated Hebrew word.

{v}

 The reading of the main text of the LXX seems to reflect a secondary text, while the 'original' reading is reflected in a variant.

{!}

Infinitive absolute in combination with a finite verb of the same root (paronymous or tautological infinitive).

{!}-

Paronymous infinitive with finite verb rendered as finite verb (minus).

{!}+

Finite verb of the MT rendered by construction probably reflecting paroxymous infinitive.

{#}

Asterized passage (in Job).

.

Interchange of consonants between MT and the presumed Hebrew parent text of the LXX.

.rd

As above, interchange of d/r, etc.

.m

As above, metathesis.

.j

Two words of MT joined into one word in the parent text of the LXX.

.l

Possible ligature.

.s

One word of MT separated into two or more words in the parent text of the LXX.

.w

Different word-division reflected in the parent text of the LXX.

.z

Possible abbreviation.

<q>

Possible agreement of the LXX with variant found in Qumran text.

<*q>

Possible partial agreement with variant found in Qumran text (in particular if that text is fragmentary or otherwise problematic, e.g., interlinear text).

<q=>

Agreement of the MT with Qumran text.

<q->

The vocable indicated is not present in the Qumran text.

<q11pl>

11Qpaleo-Hebrew Leviticus.

<q11t>

Temple Scroll from cave 11 in Qumran.

<qm>

Mezuzoth from Qumran (with cave and inventory number).

<qp>

Phylacteries from Qumran (with cave and inventory number).

<sp>

Possible agreement of the LXX with the Samaritan Pentateuch

<sp~>

Possible partial agreement of the LXX with the Samaritan Pentateuch

<sp->

The vocable indicated is not present in the Samaritan Pentateuch

a

Aramaic / Post-biblical Hebrew

ak

Akkadian

am

Aramaic

ar

Arabic

rh

Rabbinic / Post-biblical Hebrew

ug

Ugaritic

 

 


List of Biblical Book Abbreviations Used in the Alignment

 

Gen

 ge

 Genesis

Exo

 ex

 Exodus

Lev

 le 

 Leviticus

Num

 nu

 Numbers

Deu

 de

 Deuteronomy

Jos

 js

 Joshua (main text; in some chapters: B text)

Jdg

 jj

 Judges (B text; A text: Jda, j)

Rut

 ru

 Ruth

1Sa

 s

 1 Samuel

2Sa

 ss

 2 Samuel

1Ki

 k

 1 Kings

2Ki

 kk

 2 Kings

1Ch

 c

 1 Chronicles

2Ch

 cc

 2 Chronicles

Ezr

 e

 Ezra

Neh

 ne

 Nehemiah

Est

 es

 Esther

Job

 jb

 Job

Psa

 p

 Psalms

Pro

 pr

 Proverbs

Ecc

 qo

 Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth)

Sol

 ca

 Songs (Canticles)

Isa

 is

 Isaiah

Jer

 je

 Jeremiah

Lam

 la

 Lamentations

Eze

 ez

 Ezekiel

Dan

 d

 Daniel

Hos

 ho

 Hosea

Joe

 jl

 Joel

Amo

 am

 Amos

Oba

 ob

 Obadiah

Jon

 jo

 Jonah

Mic

 mi

 Micha

Nah

 na

 Nahum

Hab

 ha

 Habakkuk

Zep

 ze

 Zephaniah

Hag

 hg

 Haggai

Zec

 za

 Zachariah

Mal

 ma

 Malachi

1Es

 ee

 First Esdras

Sir

 si

 Sirach

Bar

 ba

 Baruch

Dat

 dd

 Daniel-Theodotion

Jsa

 ja

 Joshua A text

 

iii. ASCII Encoding of Greek and Hebrew

 

The ASCII encoding of the Hebrew marks consonants only, but distinguishes between left śin, right šin and the unpunctuated form of the letter shin. Final letters are not taken into account. Note the special codes for aleph /)/, ayin /(/, teth /+/.

 

)  

a

B

b

G

g

D

d

H

h

Z

z

X

x

+

j

Y

y

K

k

L

l

M

m

N

n

S

s

(

[

P

p

C

c

Q

q

R

r

&

f

$

v

#

X

T  

t

 

The ASCII encoding of the Greek includes, apart from the letters of the alphabet, all special diacritics

 

A

a

B

b

G

g

D

d

E

e

H

h

Z

z

Q

q

I

i

K

k

L

l

M

m

N

n

C

x

O

o

P

p

R

r

S

s

T

t

U

u

F

f

X

c

Y

y

W

w

 

The following signs are placed following the vocals (or consonants) that they are associated with:

 

)

spiritus lenis

(

spiritus asper

/

acutus

\

gravis

=

circumflexus

+

diaeresisis

|

iota subscriptum

 

In the ASCII notation the spiritus precedes the accents. The iota subscriptum comes last, following the accent.