Sometime next week and then the week following I will be reviewing The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: V. 1, Scripture and Scrolls, V. 2, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran Community, and V. 3, The Scrolls and Christian Origins edited by James H. Charlesworth. These won’t be book reviews solely, but book reviews in the context of their function as part of Logos Bible Software. In other words, I will be reviewing both content and function.
In order to allow for a more content focused review in those upcoming posts I’ve decided to do a post quickly highlighting why it is beneficial to use Logos when studying the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). A few weeks ago I reviewed Wise, et al., The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation. As I noted there, I have a physical copy of the book. Unfortunately, it lacks a strong topical index in the print version, so if you are wanting to study something like “spirit” it would take a very long time to move page by page with a highlighter preparing to go back and do a thematic study. When I read this book with Logos I can simply search for a word or phrase and it would show me all the locations where it can be found in the book. Also, I have the Sectarian Texts package (there is also a Biblical Texts package, which I intend to get) so once I’ve searched I can then parallel the translation with the Hebrew text prepared by Martin G. Abegg, Jr., who is one of the translators of the aforementioned book.
What about other DSS related resources though? Well, let me show you why I enjoy reading the volumes edited by Charlesworth on Logos. In the screenshot below you’ll see that several references are mentioned. If I was reading a hard copy of Charlesworth’s book alongside a hardcopy of either a translation of the scrolls or a book with the Hebrew text I would have to spend a lot of time slipping through multiple books to check a reference, but not using Logos since these texts are hyperlinked:
The two volumes edited by Charlesworth are full of helpful essays from top-notch scholars of the DSS. It helps to be able to keep one’s reading rhythm by quickly checking the reference rather than pausing, putting one book down, picking up another, heading the text, putting that book down, then resuming your reading in the first book.
Also, users of Logos are (or should be) aware that you can highlight your book. I prefer red underlines:
Next week I’ll take a look at the content of V. 1 and the following week the content of V. 2. Then after that V. 3. If you have any questions about reading books in Logos let me know.
These books were provided for free in exchanged for an unbiased review.
Funny that you should bring this up… this topic remains the only reason why I’ve stuck with Accordance. Am I right to think that Logos still lacks tagged/searchable Hebrew and Aramaic modules of Qumran related literature?
In the review to which I linked I discussed this a bit. Now, there may be ways of doing a search to which I am not privy, but it appears that the best way to search the Aramaic/Hebrew texts themselves—and yes, there are two modules, one for Biblical texts and the other for Sectarian texts—is to place the lemma in the top search bar, search your library while having the module open. When you do this the scroll bar area has little black lines appear indicating places where your search item has been found. I don’t have Accordance so I’m not sure how to compare. How does Accordance do it?
A visible example might be my second screen shot. There would can see lines in the scroll bar. That is how you know a search has found your request in that module. That said, if there is a way to change the settings so that the hyperlinks in a book like this one edited by Charlesworth leads to the the Hebrew/Aramaic transcription (by M.G. Abegg, Jr.) rather than the English translation by Wise, et al., then someone needs to show me how to do that. I’ve been doing the extra step of having it pop up in translation then searching for that reference in the transcription afterward.
Logos does have tagged Hebrew/Aramaic non biblical texts from Qumran here: http://www.logos.com/product/4242/qumran-sectarian-manuscripts — These texts can be searched just like a Bible.
Logos’ biblical DSS are tagged and searchable as well, but this collection is a bit different than a Bible or the non biblical Qumran texts. Instead of having all the biblical scrolls in one electronic book, each “scroll” is a separate electronic book. This allows you to use Logos’ text comparison tool to display all the extant biblical DSS witnesses to a particular verse in BHS, but it makes searching the biblical texts a little cumbersome.
http://www.logos.com/product/5961/qumran-biblical-dead-sea-scrolls-database
So Logos does have tagged biblical and non biblical DSS, but their collections are not as comprehensive as Accordance’s. For example, in Logos both the biblical and non biblical DSS texts are limited to Qumran.
I’m going to explain all this in more detail in a series of posts starting next week that will discuss DSS resources in Logos, Accordance, BibleWorks, and Brill’s DSS Electronic Library.
@Brian D.
I need to get the biblical DSS collection. Do you know if there is a way to change one’s settings so that as I am reading the volumes edited by Charlesworth the hyperlinked texts go to the tagged Hebrew/Aramaic rather than the English translation by Wise, et al., or is that something only the programmers can control?
I look forward to your series!
All you would have to do is prioritize the QSM database above Wise, Abegg, and Cook’s translation. So, go to library, search for QSM, click prioritize, drag and drop the QSM database to the prioritization list, placing it above Wise, Abegg, and Cook. If WAC is not in your prioritization list, then by dragging the QSM to your prioritization list you will automatically place it above WAC and your hyperlinks will then go to QSM by default.
Thank you! I followed your instructions, but I must be missing something because the Charlesworth books keep going to WAC even though I don’t have WAC on my prioritized lists and I do have QSM.
Place WAC under QSM, then. That should fix it. If it doesn’t I’ll make a video to be sure we aren’t missing a step somewhere.
OK, it seems there is a problem with the way the QSM database’s reference system is coded that is keeping the hyperlinks from going to this resource. Even when I open QSM and click “send hyperlinks here” it isn’t working for me either. I have the Martinez Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition (Transcription) prioritized, and my hyperlinks go there. Now that I think about it I remember seeing something on the Logos forums about this issue with QSM.
Here is the issue: http://community.logos.com/forums/p/23830/177264.aspx#177264
In the past, I have reported a couple (significant) problems with this database, and Logos has since fixed the issues. For example, http://community.logos.com/forums/p/66799/465475.aspx#465475
I still know of one or two problems, and now this one gets added to the list, too.
Well, as disappointed as I am that it isn’t working, it does make me feel a bit better to know it wasn’t perpetual user error! 🙂
Thanks Brian and Brian, this has been a helpful post.
-anthony
You’re welcome.
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