biblical_languages_flex

This project's aim is to linguistic tools found in Fieldworks Language Explorer for exegesis and Bible study, especially through Discourse Analysis and especially in preparation for Bible Translation

For reference:

/your_project_folder |-- app.py |-- index.html |-- /sword_repo |-- /mods.d | |-- SBLGNT.conf | |-- RobGNT.conf | |-- StrongsGk.conf | |-- ... (and potentially other SWORD config files) |-- /modules |-- /texts |-- SBLGNT.bbl |-- RobGNT.bbl |-- StrongsGk.dict |-- ... (and potentially other SWORD module files)

Setup

1. Python dependencies

• Install Python 3.9+ and then install the Python packages:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

2. Optional: SWORD (libsword) for dictionary lookups

• On macOS:

brew install sword

• A Python binding that exposes from sword import Sword is optional. If not present, the app will still run using pysword for MorphGNT text and a local JSON for Strong’s glosses. Place a mapping file at data/strongs_greek.json to enable English glosses.

Running the app

python3 app.py

The app will try to use python-sword + libsword if available; otherwise it falls back to pysword for text and a JSON file for glosses.

Supports references:

• Single verse: John 1:1
• Intra-chapter range: John 1:1-18
• Cross-chapter range (same book): John 1:1-5:14

Enter the reference in the input box and click “Load Data,” then generate the .flextext file. For ranges, each verse becomes a separate phrase in the FlexText output. The exported FlexText:

• Wraps output in a <document version="2"> with <interlinear-text> metadata (title and title-abbreviation)
• Includes phrase-level Greek text and verse segment number
• Includes phrase-level literal translation built from word glosses
• Exports only word-level baseline and gloss (no morpheme analysis blocks)

FLEx template project (recommended)

This repo includes a FieldWorks Language Explorer (FLEx) blank project preconfigured for NT Greek:

• Path: flex-template/NT Greek blank project.fwbackup
• Included in releases: yes (the backup is bundled with release files)

Why use it?

• It already has the languages and writing systems configured to match this app’s output (e.g., Greek grc for baseline, English en for glosses).
• It includes text-charting templates suitable for NT Greek imports.

How to use it:

1. Open FieldWorks Language Explorer.
2. Restore the project from backup using the .fwbackup file above (choose a project name when prompted).
3. Use FLEx’s import feature for FlexText interlinear files to bring in the .flextext files generated by this app.
4. The imported data will align with the preconfigured writing systems and analysis views in the template.

Strong's glosses (JSON fallback)

The app will look for a JSON file at:

• data/strongs_greek.json (preferred)
• or data/strongs_greek.sample.json (included demo)

Format:

{
    "3056": "word, message, statement, matter",
    "2316": "God, deity, divine being"
}

You can generate this file from an open dataset using the helper script:

python3 tools/strongs_to_json.py \
    --input path/to/strongs_greek.csv \
    --output data/strongs_greek.json \
    --num-field id --gloss-field gloss

Supported inputs:

• CSV or TSV (use --tsv if tab-delimited). If no header, add --no-header.
• JSON mapping (key -> gloss) or a JSON array of objects (--num-field/--gloss-field can help map keys).

Numbers may be given as G3056 or 3056; they are normalized to digits only in output keys.

Using STEPBible TBESG (recommended open source)

If you have the Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strong’s for Greek (TBESG) from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0), you can convert it directly:

1. Place the TBESG TSV/text file in the project root (or note its path). It usually has a header like:

EStrong#\tGreek\tTransliteration\tGloss\tMorph\tMeaning

2. Run the converter (it auto-detects header and column order variants):

python3 tools/strongs_to_json.py \
    --input "TBESG.-.Tyndale.Brief.lexicon.of.Extended.Strongs.for.Greek.-.CC.BY.txt" \
    --output data/strongs_greek.json \
    --tsv

This produces data/strongs_greek.json with English glosses (e.g., 746 → "beginning", 3056 → "word").

Attribution (required by CC BY 4.0): If you use TBESG in your app or outputs, please include a note such as:

Strong’s glosses derived from TBESG – Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strong’s for Greek. Data created for www.STEPBible.org by Tyndale House Cambridge and others (CC BY 4.0).

You can find STEPBible datasets and license information at https://github.com/tyndale/STEPBible-Data.

Optional: English translation line (LEB only)

The app supports using the Lexham English Bible (LEB) for the phrase-level translation of each verse. It does not ship the text—add the SWORD module yourself and ensure you comply with LEB licensing.

• Auto-detected module ID: LEB

How to add LEB:

1. Place leb.conf into sword_repo/mods.d/ and the data files into sword_repo/modules/leb/.
2. The app will auto-detect LEB and use it by default. If LEB is not available, the app falls back to a simple literal line built from word glosses.

Important: LEB is not public domain. If you include it, you are responsible for complying with its license and attribution requirements (see the license link provided in leb.conf). The app supports user-supplied modules but does not distribute them.

If no translation module is detected, the app will fall back to a simple literal line generated by concatenating word glosses.

Web (GitHub Pages) version

This repo also includes a browser-only version that runs entirely from static files (no Python/server needed). It’s hosted from the docs/ folder, which you can serve on GitHub Pages.

What’s included under docs/:

• docs/index.html: the web UI that mirrors the desktop app’s core features (reference input, preview, FlexText download)
• docs/assets/data/: prebuilt per-book JSON files (e.g., John.json) containing words and an optional phrase-level translation
• docs/assets/strongs_greek.json: Strong’s glosses derived from TBESG (CC BY 4.0)
• docs/sword_repo/: packaged SWORD modules for transparency (not used by the browser directly)
• docs/assets/NT Greek blank project.fwbackup: preconfigured FLEx template project download

How to generate more book data (optional):

1. Ensure the SWORD modules are available in sword_repo/ (MorphGNT required; LEB optional if you want phrase-level English in the JSON).
2. Run the exporter to produce per-book JSON into docs/assets/data/:

python3 tools/export_web_data.py --books John

You can pass multiple books as a comma-separated list, e.g. --books John,Mark,Matthew.

Enable GitHub Pages:

1. Push to main.
2. In your GitHub repo settings → Pages, set Source to “Deploy from a branch” and Folder to /docs.
3. Your site will be available at https://<owner>.github.io/<repo>/.

Publishing (unofficial preview)

For an initial unofficial preview, this repo includes settings to avoid search engine indexing until licensing is finalized:

• docs/index.html sets <meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">.
• docs/robots.txt disallows all crawlers.
• docs/.nojekyll disables Jekyll processing (helps ensure all static files are served as-is).

When you’re ready to make the site discoverable, remove the robots meta tag and update docs/robots.txt to allow indexing (or delete it).

Expected URL once GitHub Pages is enabled for this repo:

• https://rulingants.github.io/biblical_languages_flex/

Notes and licensing:

• The web app uses prebuilt JSON only; it does not load SWORD modules in the browser.
• If the JSON includes LEB phrase-level text, ensure the required LEB attribution is displayed (it is in the web UI) and that you comply with the license.
• Strong’s glosses (TBESG) require CC BY 4.0 attribution; this is displayed in the app and listed here.

Packaging (optional)

The included bundle.sh shows an example pyinstaller command. Update the --add-data paths for your environment. The app includes logic to find bundled resources at runtime.

Notes

• The repository contains sword_repo/ with module configs and data for MorphGNT and Strong’s. The .conf files are adjusted to match the included folder layout.
• If you later install a Python binding to libsword (exposing from sword import Sword), the app will automatically prefer it for Strong’s lexicon lookups.

Attributions

• Greek text and morphology

  • MorphGNT lemmatization and parsing by James Tauber (CC BY-SA). See https://github.com/morphgnt/
  • Base text: SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT). Copyright © 2010 Logos Bible Software and the Society of Biblical Literature. See SBLGNT.com for license details.

• Strong’s glosses

  • Derived from TBESG – Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strong’s for Greek. Data created for www.STEPBible.org by Tyndale House Cambridge and others (CC BY 4.0).

• English translation (when enabled)

  • Lexham English Bible (LEB). Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible (LEB). Copyright © Logos Bible Software. Used under the LEB license. See http://www.lexhamenglishbible.com/license/ for license details.