APNT Syriac Module

[jarnett0001]

I was wondering if someone could review the APNT Module, as I am very interested in the Syriac language, but I only know the alpha-bet. I have purchased some resources (a grammar, dictionary, ect.), and Lord willing I plan on studying this language at Gordon-Conwell next fall semester. I realize it will be extremely helpful, and I am going to purchase it, I just wanted some first hand accounts of how well it serves its purpose, and how much you feel it would help me as a beginner. Any info would be extremely helpful.

[Ewan MacLeod]

I have used the APNT module every day from the moment it first came out. If you are at all serious about Syriac and the Peshitta and use BibleWorks, you really MUST get the APNT. It is not expensive, and I would recommend it above all else - more than buying printed lexicons, dictionaries, etc.

When I started studying the Peshitta, I already had an extremely good knowledge of Hebrew, but had very limited understanding of the Aramaic portions of Daniel/Ezra, and almost no knowledge of the Peshitta at all. However, using the APNT module, by carefully thinking about what the APNT was saying and the morphological analysis of words, I was able to understand the Peshitta easily within a few weeks. I still need to learn some of the vocab, but that is OK. You will learn the Peshitta much much faster using the APNT than reading lexicons and printed copies of the Peshitta. As a bonus, I then went back to the Aramaic portions of Daniel/Ezra and found that for the first time in 15 years I could now understand those too :-)

APNT gives you the Peshitta in Estrangela text and also Hebrew letters, so as long as you know either alphabet, you can get started. I started without knowing the Estrangela script. Like all the morphological versions in BW, mousing over a word in the Peshitta gives you the grammatical analysis of the word. You can search on forms, etc., just like you can with any other morphological text. However, the APNT offers several other things which other morphological texts do not - (1) it gives you an English translation of the word/phrase in the context of the sentence, which combined with the grammar and root, lets you understand the word more fully, (2) it gives notes on words which explain examples of common idioms where the word is used; (3) it gives examples of related Greek loan words or Hebrew words which come from the same root (using Strongs numbers), so that you can explore these connections more fully; (4) it lists grammatical/morphological summaries in a very understandable way which is well laid out.

In summary, trying to learn the Syriac NT without the APNT module (using traditional books) would take a long time and be frustrating and slow. Using the APNT, you really will make progress as fast as your abilities and desire allow. Combined with the fact that the price is so low, I really can't recommend it highly enough. There are no downsides. If you have no Hebrew or Aramaic at all, you will find it harder than I did, and will probably need to dip into grammars to understand what verb forms like Aphel mean, but that is not a problem.

Remember also that several other Aramaic resources are now available in BW. Janet Magiera has updated her translation to have embedded notes, and I have a database of the 1905 BFBS Peshitto, and have produced BW modules of Norton's Introduction to the Syriac, and Christopher Lataster's book "Was the NT Really Written in Greek?". Both these are linked to BW. There are also other English translations of the Peshitto such as Lewis, Etheridge, Murdock.

- Ewan MacLeod

[jarnett0001]

Thanks Ewan! That's got me really excited about the APNT. I will get it next paycheck. I am trying to learn using Robertson's Paradigms as my grammar, and I have the UBS Syriac Bible in print as my text (Old and New Testaments), and I have the Compendious Syriac Dictionary. I am just starting Hebrew, I do plan on learning it first, and after a good foundation in it, then moving into the Syriac full-time. I also am learning Greek, and I am halfway through Mounce's grammar. I'm glad you mentioned the speed factor, as I am teaching myself these languages without classes or even a tutor (other than the main things which are prayer and discipline!). So thanks again, and any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated!

Chan Arnett

[Alfred Persson]

Can I switch from Estrangela to Hebrew font in browser window for the OSS & OSC versions?

[DavidR]

First, as a friendly suggestion, it's easier for people to get at your question and respond to it if you start a new thread rather than reactivating an old one.

It is possible to do this, but it requires editing a BibleWorks control file, which must be done very carefully. I just figured this out myself; it is not documented or authorized by BibleWorks, and I do not know what might get messed up if you do anything other than exactly these steps. I take no responsibility for anything that goes wrong; proceed at your own risk! (My brother's a lawyer. ).

1. Shut down BibleWorks if it's running.
2. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder that holds the BibleWorks databases. On my Windows 7 machine, it's C:\Program Files (x86)\BibleWorks 9\databases.
3. Find the file named OSC.dbu. This is a control file for the Old Syriac (Curetonian) version. It is a short, plain text file.
4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF THIS FILE!! There are various ways to do this. A simple method is: with the file highlighted, press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard, and then Ctrl+V to paste a copy of it into the same folder. In Windows 7, this will create a new file called OSC - Copy.dbu.
5. RENAME THIS BACKUP COPY! You must change the extension from .dbu to .bak, or add .bak after .dbu, or in some other way keep .dbu from being the last thing in the filename. Otherwise, there will be two .dbu files for the same version, and BW will become confused and give you error messages. The point of all this is that if anything goes wrong in editing OSC.dbu, you can always delete the edited file and rename OSC - Copy.dbu.bak (or whatever you've used) to OSC.dbu to recover the original file.
6. After OSC.dbu has been backed up and the backup copy renamed, use a plain text editor such as Notepad to open OSC.dbu.
7. Find the line that says: font Bwheba.
8. Change Bwheba to Bwhebb. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE!!
9. Save the file and close it.
10. Restart BibleWorks.
11. OSC should now display in Hebrew letters.
12. Assuming this worked, repeat the process for OSS.dbu, which is a control file for the Old Syriac (Sinaiticus) version.

This should cause these Syriac texts to display in Hebrew characters. If you ever want to put them back into Syriac characters, you'll need to edit the .dbu files again, reversing the above process and changing Bwhebb back to Bwheba.

One last note: it's possible that when you update BibleWorks to the next updated version, the original .dbu files will be installed again. If that happens, you'll have to do this all over again.

[Alfred Persson]

First, as a friendly suggestion, it's easier for people to get at your question and respond to it if you start a new thread rather than reactivating an old one.

It is possible to do this, but it requires editing a BibleWorks control file, which must be done very carefully. I just figured this out myself; it is not documented or authorized by BibleWorks, and I do not know what might get messed up if you do anything other than exactly these steps. I take no responsibility for anything that goes wrong; proceed at your own risk! (My brother's a lawyer. ).

1. Shut down BibleWorks if it's running.
2. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder that holds the BibleWorks databases. On my Windows 7 machine, it's C:\Program Files (x86)\BibleWorks 9\databases.
3. Find the file named OSC.dbu. This is a control file for the Old Syriac (Curetonian) version. It is a short, plain text file.
4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF THIS FILE!! There are various ways to do this. A simple method is: with the file highlighted, press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard, and then Ctrl+V to paste a copy of it into the same folder. In Windows 7, this will create a new file called OSC - Copy.dbu.
5. RENAME THIS BACKUP COPY! You must change the extension from .dbu to .bak, or add .bak after .dbu, or in some other way keep .dbu from being the last thing in the filename. Otherwise, there will be two .dbu files for the same version, and BW will become confused and give you error messages. The point of all this is that if anything goes wrong in editing OSC.dbu, you can always delete the edited file and rename OSC - Copy.dbu.bak (or whatever you've used) to OSC.dbu to recover the original file.
6. After OSC.dbu has been backed up and the backup copy renamed, use a plain text editor such as Notepad to open OSC.dbu.
7. Find the line that says: font Bwheba.
8. Change Bwheba to Bwhebb. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE!!
9. Save the file and close it.
10. Restart BibleWorks.
11. OSC should now display in Hebrew letters.
12. Assuming this worked, repeat the process for OSS.dbu, which is a control file for the Old Syriac (Sinaiticus) version.

This should cause these Syriac texts to display in Hebrew characters. If you ever want to put them back into Syriac characters, you'll need to edit the .dbu files again, reversing the above process and changing Bwhebb back to Bwheba.

One last note: it's possible that when you update BibleWorks to the next updated version, the original .dbu files will be installed again. If that happens, you'll have to do this all over again.

It worked so well you should get paid!

You will be rewarded in the after life without doubt.

Thanks.

[DavidR]

Glad it worked for you! Any "stars in my crown" (as we say in the U.S.) will be welcome!