NETBibleTagger

[JonathanL]

Wasn't sure where this thread should go, so I put it here in the lobby and will let the moderators decide if it can stay, or if it should be moved somewhere more approriate.

So apparently the fine folks over at bible.org have had this nifty little tool available since at least 2009, without me knowing. What it basically does is that it recognizes whenever there is a reference to a bible verse or passage (e.g. John 3:16, or Col 2:1-5) on a webpage and turns all such references into hyperlinks, which when hovered over creates a "tooltip" window containing the text of the passage in question (Using the NET translation).

Based on the instructions (link below) it doesn't seem like it would be at all difficult to get it working site-wide on Theologyweb, and I hope the owners decide to implement it, but even if they decide against it anyone who is interested in the functionality can use it on almost any site, regardless of whether the owners of the site has added the functionality, simply by dragging the link they provide in the instructions I'm linking below to their bookmark bar. (I would post the actual link here, but the [URL]-tags seem to do funny things with javascript bookmarklets, making them unusable).


Now whenever you see someone post a scripture reference here on TWeb (or on any other site/forum) without citing the actual text you can just click on the bookmark you added, and it should automatically convert the reference into a hoverable hyperlink that brings up the actual text of the reference, as long as the text is properly formatted. The downside of the bookmarklet approach is that you need to click on the bookmark whenever you go to a new page on the site, or whenever you refresh the current page, an issue that wouldn't exist if the owners decided to implement the feature into the site itself ().

In any case, I'll leave the link to instructions on how to use the NETBibleTagger (instructions on how to use it as a bookmarklet is also in there) below:

https://labs.bible.org/NETBibleTagger/

[Cow Poke]

cool

[Sparko]

That would have to be something Raphael implements. He would have to add it to every template page and recompile them all I think. Since we are working on updating the site and this old version is being held together with bubblegum and bandaids, it probably isn't a good idea to mess with it at this point. Maybe on the new version.

[JonathanL]

That would have to be something Raphael implements. He would have to add it to every template page and recompile them all I think. Since we are working on updating the site and this old version is being held together with bubblegum and bandaids, it probably isn't a good idea to mess with it at this point. Maybe on the new version.

That's understandable. And it's still possible to use the tool even if the site doesn't implement the functionality, by adding the bookmarklet I mentioned in the OP.

On a sidenote, it is only restricted to one translation (the NET, or New English Translation) as far as I can tell, with most of the translators (while surely qualified and capable) being connected to Dallas Theological Seminary, so a certain theological bent is not out of the question. Not that I have a problem with that per se, just letting people, for whom that might be a problem, know.

[Cow Poke]

That's understandable. And it's still possible to use the tool even if the site doesn't implement the functionality, by adding the bookmarklet I mentioned in the OP.

On a sidenote, it is only restricted to one translation (the NET, or New English Translation) as far as I can tell, with most of the translators (while surely qualified and capable) being connected to Dallas Theological Seminary, so a certain theological bent is not out of the question. Not that I have a problem with that per se, just letting people, for whom that might be a problem, know.

I didn't realize they were DTS-ish. Haven't really looked at the NET much at all. Will have to check it out.

[JonathanL]

I didn't realize they were DTS-ish. Haven't really looked at the NET much at all. Will have to check it out.

The entire translation is available at https://netbible.org , with study and translation notes and the greek and hebrew text (among other things) available as study helps. There's a translation note for almost every verse in the bible, where they explain the reasoning behind the translation they ended up with, and they also provide some cultural (and other) insights that help illuminate the text of the bible. It's not a perfect translation by any means (some of their decisions to forego a literal translation for a more dynamic one means that some messianic prophecies are obscured for example), but I don't see that as serious problem since the serious bible student shouldn't be limiting himself to one single translation in any case.

[tabibito]

I haven't been overly impressed by NET Bible to date ... but the additional information available rescues it.

[Cow Poke]

The entire translation is available at https://netbible.org , with study and translation notes and the greek and hebrew text (among other things) available as study helps. There's a translation note for almost every verse in the bible, where they explain the reasoning behind the translation they ended up with, and they also provide some cultural (and other) insights that help illuminate the text of the bible. It's not a perfect translation by any means (some of their decisions to forego a literal translation for a more dynamic one means that some messianic prophecies are obscured for example), but I don't see that as serious problem since the serious bible student shouldn't be limiting himself to one single translation in any case.

Thank you for this cogent analysis -- it is SO un-Tweb.

[One Bad Pig]

The entire translation is available at https://netbible.org , with study and translation notes and the greek and hebrew text (among other things) available as study helps. There's a translation note for almost every verse in the bible, where they explain the reasoning behind the translation they ended up with, and they also provide some cultural (and other) insights that help illuminate the text of the bible. It's not a perfect translation by any means (some of their decisions to forego a literal translation for a more dynamic one means that some messianic prophecies are obscured for example), but I don't see that as serious problem since the serious bible student shouldn't be limiting himself to one single translation in any case.

I grabbed a hard copy almost as soon as they became available. I often prefer the footnoted, more literal translation to the main text, but the notes are really helpful.

[NorrinRadd]

The entire translation is available at https://netbible.org , with study and translation notes and the greek and hebrew text (among other things) available as study helps. There's a translation note for almost every verse in the bible, where they explain the reasoning behind the translation they ended up with, and they also provide some cultural (and other) insights that help illuminate the text of the bible.

I recall years ago reading online that the team responsible for the ESV revision of the RSV made considerable use of the NET notes in the course of their work.

It's not a perfect translation by any means (some of their decisions to forego a literal translation for a more dynamic one means that some messianic prophecies are obscured for example), but I don't see that as serious problem since the serious bible student shouldn't be limiting himself to one single translation in any case.

I always find myself torn between a 4-translation parallel Bible but no notes, or a single translation with a ton of good notes.

In How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth, Fee and Strauss characterize the NET as a "mediating" translation at roughly the same point on the spectrum between "Formal" and "Functional" as the TNIV.

I'd like to plug the version available for "The Word" free Bible study software. The "premium" version of the NET is not free, but IMO well worth its $20 price. The full notes set is included. Notes can be set to appear in a "pop-up" balloon upon "mouse-over" of superscripts. Mousing over individual words evokes a pop-up of a definition in any chosen dictionary equipped with "Strong's numbers." Few if any other modules have both notes and "Strong's" capabilities. I don't really have a favorite single translation, but in The Word, I use that one the most because of those features.