BibleWorks 8 Review: Part 1, Contents and Modules

Many thanks to the folks at BibleWorks for the gratis upgrade copy of version 8. I’m coming to the software from BibleWorks 6. Both those who have earlier versions and those who do not already have a copy of the program ought to get a sense of its value and utility in the course of this (multi-part) review. Of course, I will not be able to highlight everything the program can do and all the resources it has to offer, but I will note some of what I have found to be its most significant features.

BibleWorks 8 comes with an impressive variety of resources and tools aimed at enabling the user to perform anywhere from simple to advanced exegesis of the Hebrew and Aramaic Bible, the Greek New Testament and several of their ancient translations. One can easily perform word searches (on form or lemma), phrase searches, searches on complex syntactical constructions, and even locate related verses or words with this set of handy tools: the Related Verses and Phrase Matching tools and the KWIC/Collocation table module. The last of these allows you to see what words appear in association with another word and with what frequency (click picture below; this can be done with the lemma and not simply a particular form, too). One can also view multiple translations (ancient and modern) simultaneously. Tagged and fully searchable in their original languages are the LXX, the Greek OT Pseudepigrapha, several Targumim, the Apostolic Fathers, Josephus’ works, and Philo’s works. A powerful map module, Charles’ Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Rodkinson’s Babylonian Talmud, and Schaff’s Early Church Fathers are among some of the most significant “extras.” Included with the cost of the program are important secondary sources such as Joüon and Maraoka’s A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Waltke and O’Connor’s Biblical Hebrew Syntax and Wallace’s Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. These are extraordinary resources and their inclusion at no extra cost is a huge bonus.

Though the focus of the program is to assist one’s independent exegesis of the biblical text, a select number of secondary resources or additional primary resources in the form of modules are available at extra cost, some of which can be difficult to obtain—or not at all available—in print. An example of the former is the standard Greek Grammar of the New Testament (BDF) and of the latter is Martin Abegg’s Qumran Sectarian Manuscripts module. For research into the DSS this resource is absolutely crucial and (as far as I can tell) displaces any need for the DSS Concordance (non-biblical texts) inasmuch as it is fully searchable and kept up-to-date with the latest critical editions of the Scrolls. Although readily available in print, one can also purchase module versions of HALOT and BDAG, which would save considerable time in research (though I have not made the purchase). One disappointment, however, is the absence of a Qumran Biblical Manuscripts module. Another desideratum is an original language module of the Mishnah, which is surely as relevant to biblical interpretation as the Apostolic Fathers. Given the rate at which its creators have been expanding and improving the program, one can hope that such projects are in the (Bible)works.

(Link to review index)