Jump to content

How to search for all significant shared Hebrew words and phrases between two Bible chapters/passages?


Weatherby23

Recommended Posts

I use Accordance frequently to do basic word/phrase searches in the Hebrew bible but I've recently come across a feature called the Tanakh Lab on alhatorah.com that can pull up any two chapters/passages (you set your own range), side-by-side and tagged, to highlight in different colors all shared words and phrases. It's the most practically beneficial tool I've ever seen to aid in identifying possible parallels for inner-biblical allusions. Here is a link: https://mg.alhatorah.org/TanakhLab Moreover, it seems the default setting on the Tanakh Lab excludes very common, unimportant words, such as prepositions, and it seems you can narrow or widen how much you want to be filtered out in the search settings. 

 

My immediate thought was "Surely Accordance can do the same thing as this free website, and hopefully better!" So, my question is, can it? Is it possible to pull up two passages side-by-side, with all shared words/phrases highlighted in such a practically beneficial way? Or what is the closest Accordance equivalent? I would really appreciate a detailed description of how to do so, ideally including screenshots or video, as I've found that some of Accordance's search commands can have a bit of a learning curve.

 

On a side-note, if Accordance can't do this I highly suggest they add a future feature that can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is what the INFER command is for. What two passages would you like to compare?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, so this is really weird. I have a similar question and got online just now to search for it. I'm interested no in learning about INFER as well. Since these are related, I'm going to drop my question here. I'm sure there is a simple way that I'm overlooking.

 

I'd like to research all of the unique words in various books of the NT. I.e. What GK words are only used in Ephesians?

 

What search would I perform?

 

Then, on to INFER!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Mark Allison said:

This is what the INFER command is for. What two passages would you like to compare?

It really doesn't matter as I would use this everywhere. For example purposes though, perhaps we could compare 1 Sam 18 with Gen 29 in the MT?

Edited by Weatherby23
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The INFER search is a four-step process:

1) Create a tab and search for 1 Sam 9. 
image.thumb.png.09596e1656047afb5ab8be73d8e85989.png

2) Duplicate the tab (File —>Duplicate Tab)

image.thumb.png.68390f20a860c6cb37795f7f2fbeb5a8.png

3) In the second tab, set the range (you'll have to create one) to Gen. 29:
image.thumb.png.15127a8924f2c13666fe0996af601330.png

4) Insert the INFER command, set the number of words to "4" and press "Return." NOTE: the standard 6-word search is preferred, but in this case, there are no hits for 6-word phrases in this search. 

image.thumb.png.b8788ec9d80d1c7e80f7e5d5a26d3f2b.png

 

If you want to see where these phrases occur in 1 Sam 9, right-click on one of the references in the second tab and select "Search Back Linked Text."

image.thumb.png.135fe8f0a80c380a885428acf4a58e3f.png


 

Edited by Mark Allison
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To answer your question @josephbradford, you'll want to use the HITS command.

1) Create a tab and search for all the words in the NT except for Ephesians: * [RANGE matt-Gal; Phil-rev]

image.thumb.png.3953cf377000c3bc46ec94d71d2299a5.png


2) Duplicate the tab, set the range to Ephesians, and enter the following command in the second tab: *@-[HITS NA28 Greek NT]

image.thumb.png.10951272e49a57dc72f8eb575e2fe5c3.png

3) If you want to see a word list, click on the "Analysis" analytic:

image.png

Edited by Mark Allison
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This works splendidly. Thank you!

 

This may be asking a bit much, could you explain the reasoning behind this, or perhaps link me to a video from Accordance? 

 

The reason I ask is, what if I wanted to expand this and search for all of Paul's unique words? Or perhaps compare Paul's vocab and Luke's. This kind of thing is interesting to me because Paul and Luke were co-laborers/fellow-workers, I might like to see overlaps in vocabulary usage. 

 

I have a keen interest in behavioral science/economics and how one person might influence another is intriguing to say the least. I studied Ladd's book on The Pattern of NT Truth several years ago and have never gotten over it. LOL 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if only Mark were still working for Accordance... just saying things were a lot better back then

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Leopold Green said:

if only Mark were still working for Accordance... just saying things were a lot better back then


I wish @David Lang had more time to comment on these forums. Everything I know about Accordance I learned from him. Literally. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...