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January 12, 2005
New Testament Interpretation — General
These resources apply to interpreting the New Testament as a whole, or to various different portions of the New Testament (such that they don’t fit well into another single category).
Electronic Reference:
The Sword Project Bible Software, available here for Windows and here for Mac OS X.
I’ve test-driven MacSword several times, and found it stable, functional (if a little awkward), and sound. Unfortunately, they don’t have a license for the leading contemporary biblical translations, and the substitutes available from Sword would need checking against more generally-accepted editions (which vitiates the convenience of the electronic version). On the other hand, it’s free and open-source.
Scripture4all Interlinear Scripture Analyzer software (PC only), available here.
I have no basis for evaluating this.
Scripture4all Online Interlinear translations (with parsing information), available here.
These look acceptable, at first glance, though students should note that the Greek text used iss the Westcott-Hort version from the late nineteenth century; that shouldn’t make a vast difference in most cases, but students must always use outdated sources with thoroughly critical caution. The English translation is the Authorized (King James) Version, which renders the English a problematic guide for academic work. The “concordant” interlinear text offers some help, but some renderings might mislead students who rely exclusively on this tool.
The SBL Student Handbook, a style guide for student papers that distills composition rules from the compendious SBL Handbook of Style. Very useful, highly recommended — most of the style notes do not depend on owning the full SBLHS.
Posted by AKMA at January 12, 2005 12:44 PM