Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
--Jeremiah 9:23-24 (Yirmeyahu 9:22-23)
These pages are dedicated to the study of the Holy Scriptures (also known as the Old Covenant, or Old Testament) and more particularly to the study of Isaiah and the Prophets. The Talmud reads (view the Talmud, Mishnah, Tanakh, and other Rabbinic Literature in Hebrew, free on-line), "All the prophets prophesied not but of the days of Messiah" (Sanh. 99a). In the New Covenant we read, "...for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10). There are so many wonderful free or low cost materials available to help us with our study of the Holy Scriptures. Here are a few of my favorites. These are not necessarily listed in order of importance. Many of these resources are so complete and wonderful that it would take pages to describe them, so I will only provide a few comments about each. Of course, prayer and the guidance of the Spirit will be the most important help we can obtain as we study the Scriptures.
1. eSword (available from Rick Meyers, Equipping Ministries Foundation)
This is perhaps the most complete all-in-one package software package for the study of the Holy Scriptures. Not only does it include a series of books such as The Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah by Edersheim, but also has three open windows where you can read a verse of scripture and check one of many available commentaries in another and look up words in one of the many extensive Bible dictionaries or available lexicons. You can download the Bible Versions that interest you, including the KJV, Geneva Bible, Septuagint, Hebrew (unpointed), an English version of the Vulgate, the Vulgate in Latin, and so on. At present there are also three editions of the Bible in Spanish, which are of special interest to me. There are numerous other languages available. You can open multiple versions of the Bible at one time when you are doing a comparative study. Several versions are linked to Strong so you can look up the corresponding number in Strong or several other lexicons that are available.
COST= Free. Can download it from http://www.e-sword.net/ Please note that the Bibles, commentaries, books, lexicons, and references included, when purchased in hard copy—if you are fortunate to be able to find them—would cost thousands of dollars. For instance, you will find all ten volumes of Keil & Delitzsch commentary on the Old Testament; John Gill’s, Barnes and several other multi-volume commentaries on the complete Bible, the four volume Standard International Encyclopedia, and many others. I have a hard copy of these, except for John Gill’s commentary, and it sure is nicer to have them all in my screen at the same time than having 15 or more books open on my desk. I still have to have several open books, anyway, but the number is greatly reduced.
2. LDS Scriptures Advanced Resource Edition (available from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
Contains the King James Version (KJV) Old and New Testament side-by-side with the Hebrew and Greek respectively. Superb search and statistical engine. Can click on any word in Hebrew and obtain the Strong definition. Hebrew has Masoretic points for easier reading. Also, can click on a Hebrew word and see how it is translated in every instance in the Old Testament. Similar tools exist with the Greek and New Testament studies. Those who have not learned how to read the Hebrew or Greek characters can switch the Hebrew for transliterated Hebrew. This software also contains multilingual versions of The Book of Mormon.
COST= $6. Can purchase from a Distribution Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, worldwide, or through the Web, Item #50315000 On-Line Distribution Center, or in the USA can also call 1-800-537-5971 (make sure to ask for the Advanced or Resource Edition).
3. 3D Holy Land Animation (available from ROHR Productions).
With this software you can “fly” over the Holy Land. For anyone who has ever wanted to get a good feeling for the terrain of the Holy Land. The software includes hundreds of photos as well as linked areas so that by the click of a button the plane will fly on its own and transport you from one part of the Holy Land to another. You can also fly on your own, and can control for the speed, elevation, and tilt of the terrain view. The software is composed of photos and satellite shots. One can descend to about 200 meters in some locations and still see pretty well in terms of focus, and not so low in other locations. The Holy Land 2-volume ROHR atlas that comes with this software is one of my favorite Bible atlases. “The satellite database of the Holy Land was made by merging the color data from NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite with the black & white data from the French SPOT satellite.”
COST= $135 (includes CD plus 2-Volume Atlas). Can purchase from Richard Cleave, ROHR Productions, Ltd., P.O. Box 23312 Nicosia, Cyprus. (Telephone 357 22 675082). E-mail Richard for a contact in your country, at info@rohrproductions.com.
4. Bible+ for Palm (available from Yih-Chun Hu, Poetry H.C. Poon, Alexander Pruss, Adam McDaniel, Michael Neuhold, J.S. Park, and Antoine R.J. Wright).
This team of computer experts have made it possible to carry the Holy Scriptures in your Palm Pilot. A large number of Bible versions are available, which can be viewed two at a time, including the pointed Hebrew, unpointed Hebrew, KJV, Targum, LXX, and much, much more. You will have to work for it if you want to install the Hebrew, as it is not immediately clear how to do it, but it is worth the effort! For instance, I was recently reading a book with a reference to the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. I was able to verify that the author's assertion about a particular reference was correct. In addition, you can download numerous commentaries, versions with Strong numbers lexicons,and an ever increasing number of useful Biblical tools.
COST = Free at http://palmbibleplus.sourceforge.net/pbmanual.htm#download
Or http://palmbibleplus.sourceforge.net/
Below is a screenshot of the unpointed Hebrew courtesy of J.S. Park, Primary Biblical Texts on the Palm.
5. Google Earth (available from Google).
With this software you can “fly” over the Holy Land and extended areas, as well as over the whole earth. So you fly over the Euphrates or Egypt, as well as over Israel. Cannot fly as low over Israel as you can over the USA. I hope this will be remedied soon. Cannot descend as low as with the ROHR software in the Holy Land. The quality of the images is otherwise outstanding. Also uses satellite imagery, and also permits you to fly and change speed or altitude or tilt of view.
COST= Free download at http://earth.google.com/
6. Bible Plus (available from Contact Plus Corporation).
Bible Plus is an excellent KJV software for quickly looking up or copying a verse or chapter of the Holy Scriptures. I often use it to search for scriptures while I have eSword open. It will list all the passages where a certain word is used. (A similar tool for those who work with the Spanish Reina Valera is called Spanish Holy Bible RVA http://www.zeitun-eg.org/ or download 1909 Reina Valera here.)
COST= Free download at Contact Plus Software Or download Bible Plus here.
7. Audio Scriptures in Hebrew (available from Talking Bibles International Website).
This is one of my very favorite references. Download or listen to the complete Old Testament in Hebrew. You can choose a complete book or download chapter by chapter. MP3 files may be listened to in your computer or can burn a CD using the "burn music" rather than the "burn data" option if you wish to listen in your car or CD player. Native Hebrew voice, excellent resource. This site also has "Talking Bibles" in a large number of other languages. Go directly to the Hebrew page.
COST= Free at http://audioscriptures.org/
8. Aleph-Bet (available from Akhlah: The Jewish Children's Learning Network).
Learn the basics of pronouncing the Hebrew alphabet. Gives the name of each letter in Hebrew, rather than a person speaking in another language to introduce the letter. There are other programs that you can buy that are excellent for learning how to pronounce Hebrew, my favorite being an older program called Triple Play Plus in Hebrew (unfortunately, not focused on Biblical Hebrew). There are other software packages for Biblical Hebrew that may be of interest. I am looking for one that combines a native voice with an emphasis on Biblical Hebrew.
COST= Free at http://www.akhlah.com/aleph_bet/aleph-bet.php
9. Hebrew Alphabet (available from National Jewish Outreach Program).
Like Aleph-Bet, a good place to practice your Hebrew pronunciation.
COST= Free at http://www.njop.org/html/interactive_hebrew.html
10. The Scriptures Audio (available from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
The King James Version audio may be heard in this site. The link provided below is linked to The Book of Isaiah, the whole of the Old Testament being narrated with an exquisite voice quality. You can listen and follow along with the KJV narration at this site. I own and have listened to a great variety of audio narrations of the Holy Scriptures (in Spanish and English), this being my favorite. Also available from the same site are the New Testament, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price.
COST= Free at http://www.lds.org/broadcast/scriptureaudio/book/1,5358,75-79,00.html
General site at http://www.lds.org/broadcast/scriptures/0,5393,48-1,00.html
10. Other Recommendations (available from Gregorio Billikopf).
There are too many excellent tools, and books available to mention them all. Anyone who is interested in additional resources, may contact me.
COST = Free at mailto:bielikov@yahoo.com?subject=Holy
Gregorio Billikopf
bielikov@yahoo.com
About Me
- Gregorio Billikopf
- My paternal grandfather was a Lithuanian Jew and grandmother a German Jew. My maternal grandparents are both Chilean. I was converted and baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1974, after reading the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Christ. It was the Book of Mormon that compelled me to go back and become more interested in my Jewish roots. While the writings of Isaiah and the Prophets have always held a special appeal for me, it was in 1996, while reading in the Book of Mormon, that the words of our Savior sank deep into my heart: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yeah, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3Nephi23:1). You may send mail to bielikov@yahoo.com