I am so impressed with all the reference tools in BibleWorks 8. And not just the quantity, but the type of resources. There are Greek and Hebrew tools in BibleWorks you will not find anywhere else. Fantastic original language resources and background material.

Take, for example, the Salkinson-Ginsburg Hebrew New Testament. Yes, it is the New Testament, but in Hebrew. Many people believe that much of the original stories behind the New Testament text (and maybe parts of the text itself — such as the Gospel of Matthew) was originally in Hebrew, not Greek. So while you were hear lots of people talk about the importance of studying the Greek New Testament, there are huge advantages to studying the Hebrew New Testament as well. It was, after all, written primarily by Jews and for Jews. Studying the Salkinson-Ginsburg Hebrew New Testament was one of the things that helped me come to my conclusions on the recent paper I posted on Luke 6:1.

Anyway, I’m not aware of any other Bible Study software package that has this quantity and quality of original language resources. Below is the entire list of study resources in Bible Works 8. It is quite long, so I have included some hotlinks for you to jump to sections that interest you.

Shortcut to Sections:
Original Languages – Hebrew/Aramaic/Syriac
Original Languages – Greek
Bible Versions – English
Bible Versions – Other (they even have Swahili…)
Lexical-Grammatical Reference Works (Look at this list!…)
Other Reference Works (…this list too!)

Original Language Texts

Hebrew/Aramaic/Syriac

1905 British and Foreign Bible Society Peshitto edition
The Aramaic New Testament (Peshitta), with the Etheridge (1849), Lewis (1896), Murdock (1851), Norton (1881), and Magiera (2005) English translations
Leningrad Codex Hebrew Bible, with full accenting & full vowel pointing
Leningrad Codex Hebrew Bible, transliterated
Delitzsch Hebrew NT
Groves-Wheeler Westminster Hebrew Old Testament Morphology database,version 4.10
Hebrew Accent Extensions to Groves-Wheeler Westminster Hebrew Old Testament Morphology database
Old Syriac Sinaiticus manuscript
Old Syriac Curetonian manuscript
Peshitta, with Syriac and Hebrew letters
Salkinson-Ginsburg Hebrew New Testament
The Targumim, parsed, lemmatized and tied to entries in the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Also included:
- FragTargums with morphology, TgSheniSuppEsther with morphology, TgTosefProphets with morphology
- Psalms Targum (English)
- Rodkinson Babylonian Talmud and Mishnah
  (English)
- Targum Cairo Geniza with morphology
- Targum Jerusalem on the Pentateuch (English) (Etheridge)
- Targum Neofiti with morphology
- Targum NeofMarginalia with morphology
- Targum Onkelos on the Pentateuch (English) (Etheridge)
- Targum Pseudo Jonathan on the Pentateuch (Etheridge)
- Targum PseudoJonathan with morphology
- Targumim (Mostly Onkelos and Jonathan) with morphology (updated 2005)

Greek*

Aletti/Gieniusz/Bushell Morphologically Analyzed Greek New Testament
Aletti/Gieniusz/Bushell/CATSS Morphologically Analyzed Septuagint
Apostolic Fathers English translation
Apostolic Fathers (Greek with Morphological tags by Gieniusz/Bushell)
Apostolic Fathers Latin
Brenton’s Septuagint English Translation, including Deutero-canonical section
Complete Works of Flavius Josephus, parsed and lemmatized, with the 1828 Whiston English translation and Latin sections
Friberg’s 1999 Morphologically Analyzed Greek New Testament
Nestle-Aland 27th Edition/UBS Fourth Edition Greek New Testament
OT Pseudepigrapha in Greek, morphologically tagged, with English translation
Rahlfs’ Septuagint, with Apocrypha & variants
Robinson-Pierpont Greek New Testament (Byzantine Textform 2005) with Morphological Analysis
Scrivener’s Greek New Testament (Textus Receptus), with Morphological Analysis
Stephanus Greek New Testament (Textus Receptus), with Morphological Analysis
Tischendorf Greek New Testament, with Critical Apparatus
Von Soden Greek New Testament
Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament (proofed & corrected), with Morphological Analysis
Works of Philo (Greek Text & Morphology with English translation)

* Modern Greek versions in separate section below

Bible Versions

English

American Standard Version, 1901
Bible in Basic English, 1949/64
Bishop’s Bible, 1595
Brenton’s Septuagint English Translation, without Deutero-canonical section
Complete Jewish Bible, 1998
Darby Bible (1884/1890)
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
English Revised Version, 1881/1885
English Standard Version, 2007 update
Geneva Bible, 1599
GOD’S WORD® Translation, 1995
Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2004
Hone English NT Apocrypha
Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1917
Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1985
King James Apocrypha, 1611
King James, 1611, with Strong’s Codes and Geneva Bible notes
King James, 1611/1769, with Strong’s Codes
MacDonald Idiomatic Translation Bible
NET Bible with notes and maps
New American Bible
New American Standard Bible, 1977, with Codes
New American Standard Bible, 1995, with Codes
New International Reader’s Version
New International Version (UK)
New International Version (US), 1984, with cross references and footnotes
New Jerusalem Bible
New King James Version (1982) Version, with Strong’s Codes
New Living Translation, 2nd edition, 2005
New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, 1989
New Testament Peshitta Translation, Etheridge, 1849
New Testament Peshitta Translation, James Murdock, 1851
New Testament Peshitta Translation, Lewis, 1896
New Testament Peshitta Translation, Norton, 1881
New Testament Peshitta Translation, Magiera, 2005
Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, 1952
Today’s NIV
Tyndale New Testament, 1534
Von Soden Greek New Testament
Webster Bible, 1833
Revised Webster Update, 1995, with Codes
Young’s Literal Translation, 1862/1898

Latin

Nova Vulgata
Latin Vulgate (Weber Edition)
Latin Vulgate (Nova Vulgata)
Latin Vulgate (Vulgata Clementina 1598 with Glossa Ordinaria notes)
Latin sections from Works of Flavius Josephus
Online Bible Vulgate Mapped to KJV

Afrikaans

Bible Afrikaans, 1953
Afrikaans, 1983

Albanian

Albanian (1994)

Arabic

Van Dyke Arabic Bible

Bulgarian

Bulgarian Protestant Version, 1940/1995/2005
Bulgarian Bible, 1938
Constantinople (Tzarigrad) Bible, 1871

Catalan

Catalan BCI Version

Chinese

Chinese Union Bible, Big5
Chinese Union Bible, Simplified
Chinese New Version, Big5
Chinese New Version, Simplified

Croatian

Croatian Bible

Cyrillic

Russian Synodal Text of the Bible with Codes

Czech

Bible, 21st Century Translation (B21), 2009 (added after initial release)
Bible Kralicka, 1613
Cesky Ekumenicky preklad, 1985
Preklad KMS, 1994
Nova Bible Kralicka, 1998
Slovo na cestu, 2000

Danish

De Hellige Skrifter, 1931
Wierød Danish New Testament,1997

Dutch

Leidse Vertaling, 1912/1994
Lutherse Vertaling, 1750/1933/1994
The Netherlands Bible Society, 1951
Statenvertaling, 1637, with Codes
Willibrordvertaling Version, 1978
Willibrordvertaling Version, 1995

Finnish

Raamattu, 1933/1938 käännös

French

Bible en français courant, 1997
Jerusalem Bible
Haitian Creole Bible
Louis Segond, 1910, with Strong’s Codes
Nouvelle Édition Genève, 1979, with Codes
Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible, 1988
Version Darby, 1885

German

Einheitsübersetzung-KBA, 1980
Elberfelder, Revised, 1993
Elberfelder, Unrevised, 1905 (Darby)
Herder Translation (Revised Version 2005)
Lutherbibel, 1545
LutherBibel, 1912, with Strong’s Codes
Münchener New Testament, 1998, with Codes
Schlachter Bible, 1951
Schlachter Bible, 2000
Zuercher Bibel, 2nd edition, 2008

Greek (modern)

Greek Orthodox Church NT
Metaglottisis Greek New Testament, 2004
Modern Greek Bible

Hungarian

Károli, 1993

Indonesian

Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari
Terjemahan Baru, 2nd edition, 1974/1997

Italian

San Paolo Edizione, 1995
La Nuova Diodati, 1991
La Sacra Biblia Nuova Riveduta, 1994

Japanese

Shinkaiyaku Version
Kogoyaku Version (added after initial release)

Korean

Korean Revised Version

Lithuanian

Lithuanian Bible

Macedonian

Macedonian Bible

Norwegian

1930 Bokmål
1938 Nynorsk
Norsk Bibel Konkordant, 1988
Norsk Bibel Nynorsk, 1994

Polish

Biblia Gdanska, 1632
Biblia Tysiaclecia. Wydanie 4., 1965/84
Uwspółcześniona Biblia Gdańska (NT), 2009 (added after official release)

Portuguese

Almeida Revista e Atualizada, 1993
Almeida Revista e Corrigida, 1969
Almeida Biblia, 1994
Corrigida Fiel, 1753/1995
Modern Language Translation, 2005

Romanian

Cornilescu Bible

Russia

Orthodox Russian Synodal Translation
Contemporary Russian version, New Testament

Slovak

Sväté Písmo, 1995

Spanish

Castilian La Biblia (Herder)
La Biblia de Las Americas, NASB, 1986
La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo (added after official release)
La Biblia del Peregrino (added after official release)
Nueva Biblia de los Hispanos
Nueva Versión Internacional
Reina-Valera, 1909
Reina-Valera Actualizada, 1989
Reina-Valera Gómez
Reina-Valera Revised, 1960
Reina-Valera Update, 1995

Swahili

New Testament

Swedish

Svenska 1917
Svenska Folkbibeln, 1998
Bibel 82
Bibel 2000

Thai

Thai King James Version

Turkish

Turkish Bible, 2002

Ukrainian

Ukrainian

Vietnamese

Vietnamese

Lexical-Grammatical References

A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament: Based on the Lexical Work of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner (Holladay)
Beginner’s Grammar of the Greek New Testament (Davis)
Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon, 1905, unabridged
Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English/Hebrew-French/Hebrew-Russian Lexicons (Strong’s), abridged
CATSS/Tov Hebrew-Greek Parallel Aligned Text
Friberg’s Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Complete 2000 edition
Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar
A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Revised (Joüon-Muraoka) (no unlock needed)
Grammar of Septuagint Greek (Conybeare & Stock)
A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, 3rd edition (Robertson)
Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic paradigm charts with sounds (revised)
Greek Enchiridion: A Concise Handbook of Grammar and Exegesis (MacDonald)
Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Wallace) (no unlock needed)
Greek New Testament Diagrams (Leedy), complete
A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, Volumes 1 & 2 (Lust, Eynikel, Hauspie, Chamberlain)
Syntactic and Thematic Greek Transcription of the NT (MacDonald)
An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Waltke & O’Connor) (no unlock needed)
Introductory Lessons in Aramaic (Eric D. Reymond)
Liddell-Scott Greek Lexicon, abridged
Louw-Nida Greek New Testament Lexicon based on Semantic Domains, Second Edition
Moods and Tenses of New Testament Greek (Burton)
The Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Revised Edition (Gingrich/Danker)
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Harris, Archer & Waltke)
Thayer Greek Lexicon, abridged
Thayer Greek Lexicon, unabridged
The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Module (J.H. Moulton and G. Milligan) (no unlock needed) (added after initial release)
Wigram’s Tense, Voice, Mood codes for some English, German, Dutch, French and Russian Bibles

Reference Works

1689 London Baptist Confession (added after initial release)
Belgic Confession (added after initial release)
Biographical Bible (distinguishes Bible people with same names)
Canons of Dort (added after initial release)
Charles, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha English translation
Early Church Fathers
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Fausset Bible Dictionary
Greek NT Vocabulary Sound Files (Schwandt)
Hebrew Vocabulary Sound Files (Verbruggen)
Heidelberg Catechism (added after initial release)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
James, New Testament Apocrypha English translation
Matthew Henry’s Commentary
Metzger’s Bible Outline
Nave’s Topical Index
New Chain Reference Bible (1934) topics (Thompson)
New Topical Text Book (Torrey)
Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament (Archer & Chirichigno)
Synopsis of the Gospels
Timelines: Biblical, Church, and Secular History
TEXTKRITIK des Neuen Testaments (Gregory)
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
Westminster Confessional Standards (CHM version) (added after initial release)

FTC Disclaimer: I was asked to review BibleWorks 8 in exchange for a review copy.

Everywhere I turn, Christians and churches are debating James 2:14-26, and especially the role of faith and works.

Enough already!

The primary problem with such debates is that they cause us to ignore the rest of the book of James, which the church so desperately needs to hear. As we debate James 2, we continue to show favoritism in church (James 2:1-9), gossip and slander one another (James 3), judge, condemn, and fight with each other (James 4), and misuse, abuse, and neglect the poor (James 5).

I say we should stop all debates about James 2:14-26 until we have obeyed the rest of the book. (Frankly, if we did that, I think it would clear up James 2…)

I was thinking about this earlier today, so it was with great appreciation that I read the following comment on the blog of Alan Knox, who was quoting Arthur Sido at his blog, The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia:

I asked Beoda and another young boy, Stevenson, to write their names in the small Bible I brought with me on the page facing the first chapter of James to remind me that James is not speaking of theological concepts to be debated in the ivy covered halls of academia. He was speaking of real people, real orphans who had their lives turned upside down. Real widows who lost their husband and often had children to care for in a very different, very difficult world. James was writing about Beoda and Selene, about Stevenson, about Kimberly.

The great tragedy–can I call it heresy?–of James 2 is not necessarily where we stand on the issue of faith vs. works, but how we allow this debate to sidetrack us from the message of James that we so desperately need to hear and obey today.