BibleWorks 8: Software for Biblical Exegesis and Research
Purchase BW8 from the following sellers:
Westminser Bookstore | BibleWorks | Amazon
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With thanks to Jim Barr at BibleWorks for this review copy!
In this day of technology I’m woefully behind the times. I’m probably the only guy I know under the age of 35 who doesn’t own an iPod and I’m one of the few who doesn’t own a blackberry or some kind of cell phone with a touch screen. I suppose it can all be chalked up to my aversion to change. When I find something I like, I stick with it, that is until I’m forced to change. I stuck with audio cassettes long after compact discs came out, VHS well into the DVD period, and now DVDs when Blu-Rays are all the rage. My point is this: I’m not a technophile. I can type, Google stuff, and burn the occasional song to a CD, that’s about it. So I’ve said all this to say that for as much as BibleWorks can do, I’ll never know the half of it, but I’ll certainly enjoy trying to figure it all out.
For years I used the free Bible software e-Sword and it suited my purposes just fine. It functioned as an exhaustive concordance that I could search quickly and cut and paste Bible verses from. All of the extras were nice, but ultimately wasted on me. So why upgrade to BibleWorks you ask? Well, for starters I heard from everyone with a PC that BibleWorks is simply unparalleled in terms of power, speed, and functionality. Having tried out a couple of other programs I can confirm this. Searches are amazingly fast whether you’re searching a single version or across multiple versions of any given resource. For example, when simply double-clicking the word πρεσβύτεροι in Sib. Or. 2.264 (in toggle browse mode), in 0.05 seconds it returned 10 results in the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as well as hundreds of hits in the other Greek texts available on BW8. That’s unbelievably quick!
The features in this program are legion, some of which I’ve mentioned before, many of which I’ve not yet discovered. One of my favorite features is the ability to create your own parallel versions window. So for example, if I want to compare the Greek text of the Fragments of Aristobulus with the English translation then all I have to do is click the parrallel versions icon, choose my versions, and presto(!), I’ve got the diglot (or as many glots as you prefer) of my choosing. And it’s also easy to syncronize; all you have to do is click a single button, so as you scroll through the one text the other moves with it.
But as nice as quick searches and parallel versions are, are these features enough to justify the cost of such a program? Well, not for my purposes, but the variety of quality texts included are! BW8 comes equipped with Greek and English versions of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Josephus’ complete works, Philo’s complete works, and the Apostolic Fathers. There are a number of Greek New Testament texts, as well as a couple of Greek Old Testament texts (Rahlfs’ Septuaginta & BibleWorks Greek LXX). The Aramaic and Hebrew (and let’s not forget Syriac) texts are nothing to sneeze at either. There’s a variety of Targumim, the Peshitta, various Hebrew Old Testaments and more. And finally, there’s a few Latin texts as well (a couple of Vulgates and the relevant portions of the Apostolic Fathers and Josephus). But this is only where my personal use of languages ends. I chose to do a custom install and stick solely with English (of which there is over 30 Bible translations), Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Spanish resources. This says nothing of the multitude of modern language Bibles that could have been installed in every language from German to Italian to Korean if I had a use for them.
But the texts don’t stop at Biblical and related literature. BW8 also comes with some great grammar resources such as Dan Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics and Bruce K. Waltke and M. O’Connor’s Biblical Hebrew Syntax (and much more). There’s a number of good lexical aids like Louw & Nida’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. and A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. BDAG & HALOT can be added for a relatively nominal cost considering what the print versions go for. The Ante-Nicene Fathers as well as the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (series I & II) are included as well as Rodkinson’s Babylonian Talmud and Philip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church. While all of these resources are extremely useful, there are a few that I have little use for like Nave’s Topical Bible or the Thompson New Chain-Reference Bible. Nonetheless, the useful far outweighs the useless.
As I said above, BW8 is full of features that I’ve yet to figure out or discover, but those that I have familiarized myself with are incredibly helpful for aiding in my studies. After using this program for the last six months I wonder how I ever managed without it. I use it on a daily basis and can’t see my use slowing down any time soon. I’d be hard-pressed to think of a reason not to recommend it. If you have an older version of BW then upgrade asap! If you’ve got no version then get BW8 asap, trust me, you won’t regret it.
B”H
Nice review. I’ll have to check out that method of parallel versions. That will be valuable later on for me.
I have mine open almost all of the time too.
I’d like to see more commentaries (I still use e-Sword for dead people commentaries) and some more translations like The Message, GNB, NEB, REB.
Jeff
Jeff: Thanks. The parallel versions thing is probably the feature I most enjoy. It’s also cool because you can not sync everything up and make your own synopsis of the four Gospels (or Kings and Chronicles) as well.
I’m not upset by the lack of dead guy commentaries but I did get a lot of use out of Robertson’s Word Pictures on e-Sword that I miss here. I suppose they make up for it by providing his Greek grammar though. In terms of translations I think your suggestions are good, although I personally have little to no use for The Message.
Glad to hear that you have started to use BibleWorks 8. It really is an awesome piece of software. There is a wealth of Hebrew and Aramaic resources, as well as Greek. It is extremely easy to use once you get started, and all the information is easily accessible.
Don’t it make my brown eyes…green!
Neat! I’ll have to upgrade to 8. Frankly, I’d forgotten.
I’ve had Bibleworks since version 4. It’s addictive. I added on the BDAG and HALOT, and not too long ago got the DSS too.
You can actually create your own files/databases and thus have any books you want in there. The trick is the mapping to Biblical verses. I’m working on getting the NETS in there, actually. The mapping in some of the books is “interesting” (my word of the week).
I’m glad you like it. I’ve been a fan since I first got it. The only comparable thing that I’ve heard of is Accordance, which is a Mac-platform thing.
I’m so jealous that you got this as a review copy…. any chance you think they’ll send me one if I ask?
Hebrew Student: Yeah, that’s what I’m finding as well.
Nancy: Sorry!
Kevin: I can’t afford BDAG or HALOT right now but I’ve considered getting the DSS since it’s definitely affordable. It’s just that my studies haven’t made it a necessity quite yet.
As far as creating files/databases, I actually can’t do any of that! I’m a complete spaz when it comes to technology. And I’ve heard the Mac fanboys talking about how great Accordance is as well. I suppose if I had a Mac that’s what I’d like to use.
Mike: I’ve seen a number of bloggers get review copies so I think your chances are as good as anyone’s. Give it a shot.
The DSS module is very nice. All the non-Biblical texts are in there. It’d be great if they did all the Biblical ones, too. Maybe someday.
The database thing is really, really simple. Maybe I’ll write something up about that. You could really fit any book in there, if you wanted to.
I almost got a Mac, and then thought of doing a Mac emulator thing so I could use Accordance. But I’m too lazy. If Macs weren’t so expensive, I might get one, I suppose. Or maybe I could become the receiver of tons of beautiful review stuff, like someone I know!
Kevin: If you do write something about it I’ll at least attempt to do it. I could have gotten one of the cheapest Macs for what I paid for the laptop I’m typing on but I like PCs. Plus Mac users and their enthusiasm bother me to no end so I refuse to join their ranks!
BTW, you most certainly could receive a ton of free review stuff, especially since you’d offer what I’m sure would be spectacular reviews.
Don’t forget to hook yourself up with the free user-created add-ons available at the unofficial BibleWorks blog. One of the best things about BW is that it does have a lot of room for expandability. There is a small learning curve for such things, but if Kevin can do it, we all can! :) P.S. I used Kevin’s valuable website loooong ago to make a Eusebian canons synopsis tool for BibleWorks.
Mike: I’ve tried to download a couple of things when you offered them but I didn’t know how to get them working in BibleWorks. And the difference between Kevin and me is that he gets paid to be a computer wiz and I’m just lucky to have a computer. ;-)
Well all you have to do is ask, we don’t bite :)
Mike: Thanks. I figured out last night how to add the Tregelles GNT so that was good. I’ll look around and see if there’s anything else I’m interested in. If I have any problems I’ll ask for some help.
I’m grateful for those extra resources. I found Calvin’s commentary and Croy’s vocabulary.
Jeff
Jeff: I tried a couple of other things like the Coptic grammar and a Latin lexicon but they didn’t take. They’re not important enough for me to find out what the problem is though. I’m satisfied with the program as it is without all the extras.
Files found in the modules section have an extra step you must to in order to get them to work properly, but otherwise you won’t have any problems with them. Make sure you follow the step by step on that link.
Mike: Thanks.