BibCrit
Biblical Textual Criticism
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Research tools, SBL/BibTeX export, corpus API access
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PhD Candidate
Dissertation-level analysis, methodology guidance, citations
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Student / Learner
Guided exploration, plain-language results, key concepts
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Scholarly tools
Corpus-grounded textual criticism.
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ETCBC (MT) · LXX Rahlfs-1935 · DSS 1QIsaᵃ · Samaritan Pentateuch · MorphGNT
SBL / BibTeX export Open Data API DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19358424 Apache 2.0 14 tools
Research tools — ordered by analytical depth
Dissertation research tools
Your research assistant for
dissertation-level textual analysis.
All 9 tools · methodology guidance · SBL/BibTeX export · open data API
Export citations Methodology notes Discovery feed DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19358424
Dissertation starting point
Not sure where to start? Pick a well-known crux passage and run it through Divergence + Back-Translation first.
info Methodology note: All analyses cite their scholarly framework (Tov, Aejmelaeus, Ulrich). Results are AI-generated and should be cross-checked against BHS critical apparatus and the Göttingen LXX for peer-reviewed publication. See full methodology →
All tools — balanced view
Explore the manuscripts
Discover the ancient texts
behind your Bible.
No Hebrew or Greek required — AI explains everything in plain language
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schoolThese are AI-generated starting points for learning — not finished academic arguments. Use them to understand a passage, then engage with your textbook and instructor.

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BibCrit

Biblical Textual Criticism

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MT/LXX Divergence Analyzer

Enter a verse or chapter and get every word-level difference between the MT (Masoretic Text) and LXX (Septuagint), classified and scored.Identify Vorlage divergences pericope by pericope. Each variant is tagged by mechanism — translation technique, inner-Greek error, or divergent Vorlage — giving you citable data points for your dissertation methodology.See exactly where the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Bible say something different, with plain-English explanations of why each difference exists.

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Back-Translation Workbench

Reconstruct the probable Hebrew source behind an LXX (Septuagint) passage — word by word, with confidence levels and translation notes.Reconstruct the Hebrew Vorlage behind your LXX passage — word by word, with confidence scores and translation-strategy tags. The foundation for arguing a divergent Hebrew exemplar in your chapter.Work backwards from the Greek to figure out what the original Hebrew probably said — and see how confident scholars can be in each reconstructed word.

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history_edu

Ancient Witness Bridge

Compare a passage across MT, LXX, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Samaritan Pentateuch. See which tradition each ancient witness sides with and what independent readings it preserves.Five ancient witnesses on one screen — Dead Sea Scrolls through Peshitta. Essential for any chapter tracking textual pluralism before the rabbinic standardization of the Hebrew Bible.Discover whether the Dead Sea Scrolls match your Bible — and what the oldest surviving manuscripts on earth actually say.

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Manuscript Genealogy

Visualize the full transmission tree of a biblical book — from its proto-text through the Masoretic Text, Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, and ancient translations.Map the genealogical relationships between textual traditions for any book — a robust methodological framework for situating your evidence within the history of transmission.See the family tree of your Bible's text — how all the manuscripts are related, and where the different branches split apart through history.

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NT Use of OT Analyzer

Enter a New Testament reference to identify every OT allusion, determine whether the NT author cited MT or LXX, and understand the textual implication.Determine which OT text form each NT citation uses — Hebrew, LXX, or independent — applying Beale-Carson, Stanley, and Hays methodology. The cornerstone analysis for any dissertation on NT use of OT or Pauline hermeneutics.Find every Old Testament quote hidden in a New Testament passage — and learn whether the author was citing the Hebrew Bible or the Greek translation.

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Targum Comparator

Compare Targum Onkelos and Jonathan against MT and LXX with word-level analysis of Memra, anthropomorphism avoidance, and targumic expansions.Corpus-backed Aramaic witness analysis for Torah and Prophets — includes Memra substitutions, targumic expansions, and messianic reinterpretation.Discover how ancient Jewish translators rendered the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic — and what theological changes they made along the way.

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fact_check

NT Textual Tradition Analyzer

Manuscript family support (Alexandrian, Western, Byzantine, Caesarean), Metzger A/B/C/D ratings, and full variant register for any NT passage.SBLGNT-grounded textual analysis with Metzger methodology, manuscript family attestation, and extended treatment of all major disputed passages.Discover how different ancient manuscripts of the New Testament vary — and what scholars think the original text said.

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Scribal Tendency Profiler

Profile a LXX translator's characteristic tendencies: literalness, anthropomorphism reduction, messianic heightening, harmonization, and paraphrase rate.Quantify the translation profile of your LXX book on five axes. A citable baseline for characterizing scribal behavior and situating the translator within the broader LXX tradition.Discover the personality of the ancient translator who put your book into Greek — whether they stayed close to the Hebrew or rewrote it freely.

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Numerical Discrepancy Modeler

Genealogical ages and census figures differ across MT (Masoretic Text), LXX (Septuagint), and SP (Samaritan Pentateuch). Model which tradition is earlier and why numbers shifted.Model every numerical variant in your passage — which tradition is earlier, what scribal mechanism caused each shift, and how the arithmetic resolves across manuscript families.Solve the mystery of why different Bibles list different ages and numbers — and what those differences reveal about how ancient scribes worked.

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psychology

Theological Revision Detector

Scan a book or passage for theologically motivated textual changes — anthropomorphism avoidance, messianic heightening, harmonization, and more.Flag passages where ideological motives likely shaped the text — anthropomorphism avoidance, messianic heightening, polemical revision — with motivation taxonomy and comparanda for your redaction-critical argument.Find places where ancient scribes may have quietly changed the text for theological reasons — and what those changes reveal about their beliefs.

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Patristic Citation Tracker

Trace how Church Fathers cited a passage, what text form they used, and what their citations reveal about early biblical transmission.Trace patristic citations of your passage through the 5th century — which text form each Father used, and what their testimony reveals about transmission history before our earliest manuscripts.Discover how early Church writers quoted your passage — and what their quotations tell us about the Bible they were reading.

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Chiasm Detector

Detect A-B-C-X-C'-B'-A' concentric structures, parallel panels, and inclusios in any passage. The first open tool of its kind.Identify chiastic architecture in your pericope — labeled structural units, pivot analysis, and correspondence table give you a publication-ready diagram and a citable BibCrit hypothesis.Discover the hidden mirror-image structure in your passage — and see how the central pivot verse reveals the author's most important point.

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Source Criticism (J/E/D/P)

Attribute Pentateuchal passages to source layers — Yahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), Priestly (P) — with scholarly evidence. No other digital tool does this.Delineate source layers in your pericope with systematic evidence — divine name distribution, vocabulary patterns, doublets, narrative tensions — mapped to JEDP designations with competing scholarly positions.Learn how scholars separate the different ancient voices woven into your Bible passage — and what each voice was originally trying to say.

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Second Temple Literature Bridge

Map allusions, echoes, and parallels between any canonical passage and five Second Temple works — 1 Enoch, Jubilees, Sirach, 4 Ezra, and Tobit. No open tool covers this.Assess directionality, confidence, and DSS/NT significance for every STL connection — with Nickelsburg, VanderKam, and Collins citations for each allusion found.Discover how ancient Jewish writers read and expanded your Bible passage — and why their interpretations matter for the Dead Sea Scrolls and New Testament.

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✦ Discovery Feed

Browse pre-analyzed divergences, scribal patterns, and numerical traditions — no reference needed.

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