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Online Version of the ESV Recently Updated

 Books, Computing, Webapps and Websites  No Responses »
Mar 212013
 

esv reading mode

The online edition of the ESV Bible recently got a face lift. Many of you probably know this already, but I though I would point out a very handy feature. It’s called “reading mode.”

I have long wanted a Bible that looks more like a book; keep the paragraph breaks, the Book Titles (“Matthew,” “Romans”), and maybe the chapter numbers, but get rid of everything else. Verse numbers, section headings, cross-references–all these things are a distraction to what we might call “normal” reading, and the Bible is meant to be read (not dissected).You really do read differently this way, and the differences are for the better. (If you really need verse numbers, put them in the margins, like we do with Josephus and other ancient literature). If you’re looking for something like this, the closest thing I have found for the ESV, and it’s not even close, is this.

Well, the online version of the ESV goes a long way to making this a real possibility. To access it, click on the arrows in the top left corner of the page. reading mode

BibleArc Gets New Features and a New Look

 Bible and Hermeneutics, Christianity, Computing, Webapps and Websites  No Responses »
Jul 052012
 

For those of you who have not yet discovered Biblearc, now may be a good time to check it out. Biblearc is a handy tool for semantic and thought flow diagramming of Biblical passages, which is often a very helpful step in exegesis. I teach various kind of sentence diagramming in my exegesis classes, and I usually use BibleArc as a quick way of demonstrating some of the tools available.

They have recently updated their webapp with some significant improvements that make it much more usable. My favorites include:

  • The addition of WLC,  NA27 and the new SBL Greek New Testament as primary language resources.
  • A brand new and fairly decent syntax diagramming component. I had a little trouble getting certain words and components to “stick,” and I’m not sure yet how to diagram subordinate clauses (though I’m sure that’s because I refused to read the directions), but it’s actually pretty slick, especially if you don’t want to shell out a lot of $$$ for similar functionality in Bibleworks or Logos.
  • A radically new look that is both easier and more functional. It now looks like a modern webapp. Kudos to the designer!
  • The addition of BDB and Thayer’s is nice, as is the parsing module. Thayer’s is no substitute for BDAG, though.
  • Easier sharing and printing. But there is no way to save as PDF or PNG, which would have been nice.
All in all, a great update. I still have some quibbles, though. There is no way to mark prominence in the semantic diagramming module, for example, and I don’t like some of the categories and descriptions they use (I prefer the methods discussed by Cotterell in this book). But if you are look for an inexpensive and helpful way to move through the exegetical process, BibleArc can help.

 

Oxford and the Vatican Putting Millions of Texts Online

 Christianity, Computing, Webapps and Websites  No Responses »
Apr 142012
 

 

From Ars Technica:

Specifically, the texts will include pages from Oxford’s Bodelian Libraries and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (BAV). The digitized pages will include early printed books—called incunabula—from Rome and the surrounding area; Greek manuscripts including early church texts and works by Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Hippocrates; and Hebrew manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. “With approximately two-thirds of the material coming from the BAV and the remainder from the Bodleian, the digitization effort will also benefit scholars by uniting virtually materials that have been dispersed between the two collections over the centuries,” a statement from Oxford read.

 

Google Releases eBookstore

 Books, Computing, Research Tools, Webapps and Websites  No Responses »
Dec 062010
 

Google just officially announced and released their competitor to iBooks and the Kindle platform. You can check out the announcement and details here and the actual store here.

There are four things I like about this, even though I have a growing collection of Kindle books. First, it encourages competition and development. Second, Google includes a web-based reader, which means I don’t need any kind of device other than a computer to read my books. Third, finding free (open-domain) books is much easier with Google than with the Kindle. Finally, I love that all the open-domain books that Google has been scanning over the years (such as random volumes of the Patrolagiae Graeca Hodge’s Systematic Theology) are all freely readable on any device that Google Books runs on (which is, like, all of them).

And Apple’s iBooks might as well be dead to me, since it only runs on one device. It’s the prettiest and easiest, but also the least accessible.

Your opinions?

How To Search the ESV Bible from Google Chrome’s Address Bar

 Computing, How to, Webapps and Websites  No Responses »
Oct 012010
 

Here’s a handy trick when you want to look up some bible verses in a snap.

For those who don’t know, Google’s Chrome Browser allows you to search popular sites straight from the address bar. Many sites provide search functionality by default, and Chrome automatically adds those sites to its database. But any site that is searchable can be added to Google Chrome. Here’s how to do it for the ESV Bible online.

  • First, go to the ESV website here.
  • Right click on Chrome’s address bar and then click on “Edit Search Engines…”
  • This will bring to a new dialog box. Click “Add…”

  • This will bring up yet another box, with three text boxes. For “Name” type something like “ESV Bible.” For “Shortcut” type in something short and memorable, like “b” or “esv” or “bible.” Then the real magic, for the “URL” box copy and paste the following text:

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=%s

  • Click “OK” and you’re ready to go.
  • Now try it out. Open up a new tab and click on the URL bar. Type the keyword you entered in the previous step and then press “TAB.” Now type in what you want to search. The result should be like the picture below. Pressing return will load up the ESV Bible webpage with the results of your search.

  • For Firefox: You can do the same in Firefox, but the process is slightly simpler. Just go to the ESV website here. Then in your search box click on the left hand side drop-down arrow. You will see a list of search options, at the bottom of which will be “Add ESV Bible.” Click on that and it will be added. You can now search the esv by selecting it in the search bar. To search from the URL bar you need to set a shortcut. Click on the search engine dropdown, then “Manage Search Engines,”  then select “ESV Bible,” then “Edit Keyword,” and set that to your keyword of choice. Now type the keyword in the address bar, then your search, then return. Easy!
  • If you’re interested in this sort of thing, check out my posts on adding the Westminster Bookstore and Westminster Library to your search bar.
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