I’ve mentioned before that I never anticipated I would be writing Bible software reviews. Yes, I know I haven’t done so lately. It is true that I am too busy with other things, but there is a more fundamental reason: for the most part, and with rare exceptions, it is not fun anymore. History repeats itself. If you write a positive review, people might think you’ve been bribed one way or another. On the other hand, if you raise criticisms, then surely you must have some axe to grind. Reviewers will always be accused of having some vested interests, no matter what. No wonder reviewers are so difficult to find! You can very easily become a VIP or a persona non-grata in no time!

What actually prompted me to revisit this whole thing was the article Five Reasons Not to Buy Logos. Admittedly, I would never use a controversial title like that, but the review itself is balanced and well-written. One may partially agree or disagree, but he certainly makes some valid points. However, I can’t help feeling some sort of empathy with this unnamed missionary. Opening certain boxes can be unpleasant. You never know if it will end up being Pandora’s.

So, what should we do? I know that generalizations are unfair, but still, it appears that some companies are more interested in hype and ads than they are in reviews. A review is neither an ad nor a rehash of the info provided by the corresponding Public Relations department. You want publicity? Pay for it. You want a second opinion from a fallible but even-handed blogger? Get your product reviewed. Incidentally, I find a bit disturbing some of the current uses of social networks too. Personally, I refuse to blog, retweet or comment on every single sale, offer or product available. It’s nothing personal. It’s the way I see things. For me this is not a business, it’s a service. I reserve the right to mention or not mention whatever I want. You are free to read or not what I say, and so am I to review only what I really enjoy and find useful.

Let me make this clear: I will never, ever, again directly request to review any product. I don’t care how good you think your app is. If I don’t find it personally interesting, challenging and useful, I won’t bother with it. So don’t ask me how many readers I have, or how many monthly visits, or how influential the site and blog are (influence is a highly overrated notion anyway). Simply ask yourself if you really want to know my opinion (or somebody else’s) on the perceived value of your program. You don’t? Fair enough. You do? Le me decide if I’m interested in reviewing it. Why? Because I’m worth it

Having said that, the question still remains: is it really worth the effort to take on the task of reviewing Bible software? More often than not I would answer in the negative. As of late, only occasionally do I find any joy in doing it. It is clear to me that Bible software has become too much “the business of Bible software” and has lost the essence and impetus of the pioneers in the field. Sad but true.

In a loose kind of way –particularly so in the most recent incarnations–, Reina-Valera Bibles have followed  the Masoretic Text and the Textus Receptus, and have adopted a formal approach to Bible translation, while preserving, at the same time, a really good literary style. In this sense, the 1909 edition has struck a nice balance. It is a PD text that follows very closely the traditional Hebrew and Greek texts and still reads quite nicely. So, seeing that none of the other versions (including those based on the Critical Text) were readily available, this one seemed like the best candidate to use as part of a project I had had in mind for years: an electronic Spanish Bible tagged with Strong’s numbers that could be used by everybody and further developed with other types of tagging in the future.

I am happy to report that the first stage of this project is now ready for prime time. Reina-Valera 1909 with Strong’s Numbers is currently available for the following Bible programs: Accordance, Bible Analyzer, e-Sword, SwordSearcher and theWord. It should be coming soon to BibleReader and PocketBible. In the meantime, if other companies not mentioned here want to offer this title to their customers, they are welcome to contact me. My goal is to make it as widely available as possible. Please note that I don’t send the files to individuals, and that the terms and conditions may be different from one software vendor to another. Once they get the files and produce their module, everything else is entirely up to them. The only general condition is that the module should be locked (i.e., users cannot modify it) so that changes can only be implemented by the editor (in this case, me!). However, users are welcome and encouraged to email me typos and suggestions.

This is still a work in progress but already fully useable. The power and flexibility of having a Spanish Bible tagged with Strong’s depends largely on the application being used, but in some cases it can be pretty amazing, as I will try to show in future posts.

Tradicionalmente, la Reina-Valera ha seguido el Texto Masorético y el Texto Recibido de una forma más o menos libre –especialmente en las versiones más recientes–, y ha adoptado el método de la traducción formal, preservando, al mismo tiempo, un estilo literario de gran calidad. En este sentido, la versión de 1909 mantiene un excelente equilibrio. Se trata de un texto de dominio público que se atiene a los textos tradicionales hebreo y griego y cuya lectura resulta agradable. Así pues, viendo que ninguna de las otras versiones (incluidas las basadas en el Texto Crítico) estaban fácilmente disponibles, me pareció que esta era la mejor candidata para utilizarla en un proyecto que había tenido en mente durante años: la creación de una edición digital de la Biblia castellana con los números de Strong que pudiera ser utilizada por todos y emplearse posteriormente para añadirle otro tipo de etiquetas o códigos en el futuro.

Me complace informar de que la primera etapa de este proyecto está acabada. La Reina-Valera 1909 con los números de Strong se encuentra ya disponible para los siguientes programas bíblicos: Accordance, Bible Analyzer, e-Sword, SwordSearcher y theWord. Pronto lo estará también para BibleReader y PocketBible. Mientras tango, si otras compañías tienen interés en ofrecer este título a sus usuarios, sírvanse contactar conmigo. Mi objetivo es que goce de la más amplia circulación posible. Tengan en cuenta, eso sí, que no envío los archivos a particulares, y que los términos y condiciones de su uso puede que sean diferentes según el programa. Una vez que entrego los archivos y las compañías de software crean sus módulos, todo lo demás depende de ellos. La única condición general es que el módulo esté bloqueado (esto es, que no pueda modificarse), de manera que solamente pueda realizar cambios el editor del mismo (o sea, yo). Sin embargo, invito a todos los que usen este módulo a que me comuniquen cualquier error que puedan encontrar y a que me hagan llegar sus sugerencias a través del correo electrónico.

Se trata de un proyecto que sigue en marcha (especialmente el Antiguo Testamento), aunque puede utilizarse perfectamente tal como está. Las posibilidades y la flexibilidad de poder contar con una Biblia castellana con los números de Strong dependen en gran medida de la aplicación con la que se trabaje, pero en algunos casos, como pretendo demostrar en próximos artículos, resulta realmente espectacular.

Este es un vídeo que explica algunas de las ventajas que tiene trabajar con las Biblias castellanas con números de Strong en Accordance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdabniyEUfw

Verse Explorer and Morph Explorer look like nice additions, but do check out the whole list of enhancements and new features. I’ll post more info when it becomes available and/or can lay my hands on the new version.