[sword-devel] Open Hebrew Lexicon.

[Aaron Christianson]

Hi all.  I'm a grad student in Bible at the Hebrew University of 
Jerusalem, and I'm soon to finish my second degree in the discipline 
exclusivity using Bible software based on the Sword Project (with very 
occasional recourse to some of my friends' proprietary software for 
advanced searches involving grammatical features).  Thanks for that!

Anyway, I've been feeling like it's time to give something back.  My 
main field of interest Hebrew Language, and that is undoubtedly where I 
would have the most to offer the project.  I'm not a programmer (unless 
you count bash!), but I am 'technically inclined,' and I have a little 
experience with XML and a couple of markup standards, though not 
specifically OSIS.  I have thought about helping with the tagging on the 
OSMHB module, and I would be very open to that.

However, my real interest is in producing a better Hebrew lexicon for 
use with sword modules.  I'm not thinking in terms of porting BDB or 
something, but rather creating a new, open source work that could grow 
and develop over time.

My thought was forking "Strong's Real Hebrew" (from the Xiphos repo), 
and, first and foremost, adding definitions based on the different 
stems(Strong's dictionary is almost unusable for any Hebrew verb that 
appears in multiple stems), and also adding slightly more detailed 
definitions.  Initially, these would probably be heavily based on BDB, 
but later, if the project can get more volunteers, adding up-to-date 
information based on HALOT, TDOT, and various other sources, with 
references (and I'm talking about summarizing information, not copying 
text).  This isn't a project I ever imagine being "finished," per se, 
but something that could grow and change with scholarship, and perhaps 
even eventually come to be considered as a worthwhile lexicon in it's 
own right.

I realize this is all rather grandiose, considering that I've done, 
well, nothing.  I'm perfectly content to start out by simply adding 
stem-based definitions to the Hebrew verbs in Strong's.  This would go a 
long way in improving usability.

So, what I need to know is the protocol for forking "Strong's Real 
Hebrew," and the basics of developing Sword modules (including, among 
other things, a good place to learn OSIS).

I may also attempt to maintain a plain-text or HTML version separately, 
but the sword module is the first priority.

Thanks, and God bless,
Aaron