bible

Colby Goettel's translation of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, typeset in XeTeX. The most recent version can be downloaded here.

More information about the translation can be found in the preface.

Style guide

This style guide is a work in progress. It's an effort to make sure there is consistency throughout this growing work.

Appendices

Because there should be more information readily accessible to the reader, include as much information as possible in footnotes. However, don't use more than ½–¾ page for a single footnote. A lengthy appendix is nice, but not really usable. Anything longer than that limit should be placed in an appendix and referenced.

Additionally, if the information needs to be said in more than one place or would also be nice to have accessible, add it to an appendix. This is the same line of thinking as functions in code: if you have to write it more than once, consider putting it in the appendix. However, it's probably best to abbreviate the information and tell the reader that more can be found in an appendix.

For section (and subsection, etc.) headings, use lowercase except for proper names.

Consistent spelling

The following words should be spelled and capitalized as follows:

• Abimelech
• Amoz
• Aram-Naharaim
• Ark of the Covenant
• Atonement (but only when referring to the Atonement of Jesus Christ)
• Balaam (son of Beor)
• Beersheba
• burnt offering
• Cairo Genizah
• cherubs
• City of David
• cornerstone
• Day of Atonement
• dwelling-place
• Eleazar the priest
• Ephes Dammim
• Ezion-Geber
• gospel (should not be capitalized)
• Heaven or the heaven. Treat this as you would "Earth": when you refer to the name of the planet, say "Earth," but otherwise say "the earth." For instance, in Haggai 2:21 either say "I am shaking the heavens and the earth" or "I am shaking Heaven and Earth."
• Hebrew, Proto-Hebrew, Paleo-Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, Medieval Hebrew, Modern Hebrew
• (the) high priest
• hithpael
• Holy of Holies
• Holy Place
• Kadesh-Barne'a; but always differentiate when the text says "Kadesh" instead of "Kadesh-Barne'a".
• Kiryat Arba
• \latina -> old Latin version
• Law (when referring to the Mosaic Law)
• Lord of Hosts
• maqaf
• Meribah
• Mount Ephraim
• Mount Seir
• Nahor
• Paddan Aram
• Paran desert (it's not the name of a desert, it's the desert of Paran, so don't capitalize "desert")
• Promised Land
• Ramah, Ramoth-Gilead (not the same places, differentiate)
• Rebecca
• Sabbath (depending on context)
• Selah! (always with the exclamation mark)
• sof pasuq
• Shur desert (see Paran desert)
• Sin Desert
• Sokho
• (the) Spirit of God
• Tabernacle
• targumim
• Tent of Meeting (never Meeting Tent)
• Testimony (when it refers to the Ark of the Covenant)
• Timnath-serah
• trans-Euphrates
• toward (towards is the British English way of saying it)
• Urim and Thummim

Footnote formatting

The \footnote command should never be used. There is a specific, footnote marking for every season. If, for some reason, there is not, add it.

Footnotes should always come after punctuation, including periods, commas, colons, semi-colons, and quotes, both single and double. However, if the footnote is a reference to the critical apparatus that adds information that would otherwise come before the punctuation, include the reference before the punctuation. For example:

Hear the word of the Lord^a: (example, not attested) a. CA: 𝔊 + θεὸν Ισραηλ (the Septuagint adds "the God of Israel")

When placing multiple footnotes simultaneously, give them in the following order:

• \ca
• \halot
• \halotu
• \ed alt and lit are too big of wild cards to make a hard and fast rule on. However, if a better order can be inferred from context, place an in-line comment explaining why.

Alternate and literal readings, explanations, and editorial notes

Match the punctuation and capitalization of the verse to give context. For example:

LIT number (Gen 13:16)

LIT not numbered from great. (Gen 16:10)

ED Some translations give "stands at," but this verb is not present in L. (Ps 45:10)

However, if the footnote is a fragment sentence, do not capitalize the first word (unless a proper noun) and do not conclude with a period.

in reference to her beauty; easy on the eyes (Ps 45:13)

Additionally, if the footnote merely explains, do not capitalize:

He* said *the Lord

In cases where a fragment sentence is followed by a complete sentence, reword so that only complete sentences are given. A notable exception to this rule is illustrated in the footnote to Ps 1:3:

IE so even in the heat it will grow.

This is not capitalized at the beginning but concluded with a period because it is a complete thought and a continuation of the verse. Additionally, id est is the beginning of the complete sentence. Finally, if there are multiple, comma-separated words in a LIT or ALT at the end of a sentence, separate the words with commas and end with a period, as follows:

case, lawsuit. (Ex 23:3)

When adding an editorial note to a LIT or ALT, begin with the LIT or ALT, then a semi-colon, then the editorial note. For instance,

from afar.; but this is written from his perspective (Gen 22:4)

References to a person after a quote should be given with an m-dash, non-breaking space, and the date in long format (DD MMMM YYYY), as follows:

"Malachi 2 is difficult because it doesn't make much sense." ---~Steven D.\ Ricks, 11 February 2015

Critical apparatus

Always quote the critical apparatus in whole. The explanation should always begin in lowercase (unless a proper noun). It is not necessary to match the punctuation of the critical apparatus when providing a translation, simply write idiomatically.

When explaining, be idiomatic and take a little liberty, but put in brackets anything else. Here's a good guide:

𝔊 suff 3 sg

can well be translated and explained:

the Septuagint has a third singular pronominal suffix [i.e., "his king"]

The last item per page in the critical apparatus ends with a period. Do not include this.

Do not conclude translations and explanations with a period, even when the translation is a complete thought. The only exception is if the translation ends with context-relevant punctuation, as in this example from Ps 47:7:

the Peshitta says "in splendor" [instead of "Praise!"]

Often, the critical apparatus will give excerpts from both the Septuagint and Peshitta. Simply say "the Septuagint and Peshitta" and not "the Septuagint and the Peshitta."

Some Hebrew quotations will be preceded with the Hebrew single quote character, geresh. Use the punctuation mark inside the \Hebrew command.

When a reference is given to a specific manuscript (e.g., a manuscript of the Septuagint), give the Latin name of the manuscript and leave it to the reader to decipher.

Known issues:

• No standard for mdashes (ndashes?) that precede Hebrew words. (Use a maqaf or rafe?)

Quotations from HALOT

Only provide complete quotations. Match bolding. However, when the material contains abbreviations, spell things out. We're not as interested in saving space as they are. For instance, this excerpt from the entry on נַחֲלָה:

(inalienable) hereditary possession, heritage, acquired by individual or family by conquest or inheritance, both property (i.e., [originally "i.e."] land and [originally &] buildings) and [originally &] (movable) goods

If it's necessary to deviate, put editorial comments in brackets. If only a small part of the reference is needed compared to the amount of editorial comments, it is better to give an editorial footnote and provide quotations from HALOT in quotes with the referenced item following in parentheses. For example:

ED In HALOT this verb is defined as "[provided definition]" ([referenced word, page number in HALOT]) which is interesting because....

The default assumption is that the definition comes from A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Holladay. If references are given from the unabridged HALOT, use the \halotu command.

When HALOT uses an mdash, it is always preceded and followed by a space, but never a non-breaking space; for instance,

animals, חַיּוֺת or collective singular, rarely a single animal Gn 37₂₀: --- 1.\ animals of all kinds, mostly untamed... land animals... beasts of burden... water animals... --- 2. wild, predatory animals

References in HALOT use a $\cdot$ instead of the typical -- for ranges. Note that this $\cdot$ must be in an inline math formula because the entire subscript is in a \text{} field.

Non-breaking spaces

If a verse reference is a quotation from HALOT, use the \haref command and corresponding abbreviation. If it's an editorial reference, use the \vref command and corresponding abbreviation.

If there are multiple verses or chapters being referenced in longhand, follow these examples:

• see verse~13
• see further in verses~1 and~2
• as it says in verses~13--17 of chapter~5
• as seen in verses~12,13, and~14 (stylistic choice, not an incorrect form)

Use the above rules for formatting units (e.g., ft, m, years) as well.

##Numbers and units Numbers smaller than one hundred should generally be written out in longhand. Larger numbers should be written in Arabic numerals with a \thinspace delimiting thousands. However, if a sentence has both large and small values, be consistent, as in:

The king of Aram said, "Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he went and took 10 talents of silver, 6000 gold pieces, and 10 changes of clothes with him. (2 Kings 5:5)

Ages should always be written in Arabic numerals.

Units should be attached to their respective numbers with non-breaking spaces. See examples in non-breaking spaces.

Years

National Geographic's style manual says it best: "Small caps, periods, no space." For specifics, see their style guide. The only exception is that numbers greater than 999 should be formatted as above stated. And that AD should precede the year.

Poetry

Sometimes quotations or partial quotations will be typeset as poetry. In this instances, always start as unindented as possible. For instance, see 1 Sam15:22–23. Here, the first line of poetry is typeset at depth b because verse23 is the least indented so it must be at depth a.

When poetry starts following a \verse command, put a \smallskip at the end of the preceding line, as in Isaiah 6:3:

³They proclaimed to each other, and said,\smallskip

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory." (emphasis added)

When poetry switches back to prose without a section separator, \noindent the following verse.

Punctuation

When a single quote and double quote are nested, separate them with a \thinspace.

README.md formatting

Use this style for quotations. Either put the reference before the quote or after (in parentheses).

Use a   when referencing Biblical books (e.g., Ps 45:18). Note that no period follows the abbreviated book name.

References to deity

Always capitalize the proper names of deity. Additionally, always capitalize pronouns referring to God, except for relative pronouns referring to God (e.g., "who"). However, do not capitalize "god" or "gods" when it refers to the gods of other nations, but do capitalize the proper names of foreign gods (e.g., Baal).

When there is ambiguity about a name of a foreign deity (for instance, does Asherah refer to the god of that name or to the consort of another god? Is that god's consort's name, Asherah?) and always leave footnotes explaining the choice that was made, its justification, and a literal rendering of the verse.

Specific renderings

Use the following rules when rendering non-idiomatic Hebrew:

• children of Israel (instead of sons of Israel, unless only men are being referred to)

The Tetragrammaton

When translating the ineffable name of God, always render it in small caps. However, when referring to the Lord in an English explanation (e.g., in a heading or footnote), always spell it as "Lord" (or "God" or whatever the situation warrants) but reserve small caps to signify the Tetragrammaton.

TODO work

Mark all TODO work with xxxx, always in lowercase.

Any inconsistencies found should be cataloged in issue 51.

Why is there a %% at the end of every line?

LaTeX sometimes freaks out and is inconsistent with vertical spacing. Adding a % to the end of each line fixes this problem. However, there are two percent signs at the end of every line because when revise the translation (starting around 2030 (the year)), I will remove one of the percent signs as a signal that that verse/line has been revised. The %% is just long-term planning ahead.

Be sure to include %% even after footnotes in poetry verses.

Words in translation

Sometimes there is no suitable translation for a word. In such cases, simply give the word in-line in Hebrew.

Some words, like הַשְּׂרָפִים, are classically rendered in English while retaining the Hebrew plural ending (seraphim). Strip the Hebrew plural and add the English plural (seraphs in this case).