Use the Passage Analysis tool to create visual analyses of a particular pericope (passage).
Get Started
- Click Tools > Passage > Passage Analysis, or type Passage Analysis in the Command Box and press Enter. The Passage Analysis tool will open in a new window.
- Type the biblical passage you want to study in the Reference box and press Enter.
- Select the Passage Analysis feature you want to use.
Compare Pericopes
The Compare Pericopes view lets you see at a glance how different translations break up passages of scripture. You can use this view to determine which pericope gives you the exact verse range you want to use in the other Passage Analysis views.
To select the versions you want to compare, click Pericope Sets, and choose from the versions in your Library. Enter a passage of scripture then scroll up and down to quickly see how your selected versions have delineated pericopes. Hover over a pericope to view the text of those verses in your preferred Bible, or click a pericope to open it in your preferred Bible.
Word Tree
The Word Tree view displays repeated keywords or phrases in varying sizes depending on the frequency of their use in your pericope. It also shows how those keywords and phrases relate to the rest of the passage. As you can see above, the word world is used more frequently than the phrase hates you and is therefore displayed in a larger font. The lines flowing out from the word world demonstrate how the other ideas in the passage are connected to that word.
To select a word or phrase, enter it in the Word box or click it in the passage. Select the Bible version, chart direction, and ordering using the drop-down menus in the toolbar.
You can zoom in and out, and pan left and right with your mouse in this view.
Morph River
The Morph River view helps you see how different parts of speech are used relative to their morphological attributes in your chosen pericope.
Begin by entering your passage in the upper left and selecting the Bible version you want to analyze using the Version drop-down menu in the upper right of the view. Select the part of speech and morphological category (or categories) you want to analyze using the drop-down menus in the toolbar.
A legend at the bottom of the display explains the color-coding of the graphical display and provides a percentage indicating how frequently that particular morphological construction appears in the passage.
The vertical lines in the graphical display represent verses in your pericope. As with the Compare Pericopes view, hover over a verse to view it in a pop-up or click a verse to open it in a new panel.
You can zoom in and out, and pan left and right with your mouse in this view.
Cluster Graph
The Cluster Graph view visually represents the degree of difference between Bible translations. Enter the version names or abbreviations (separated by commas) that you want to compare in the version box, or select a collection in the drop-down list of suggestions that appears. The closer together translations appear in the display, the greater the degree of similarity between them. So, in the example above, the LEB has a far greater degree of similarity with the ESV than it does with the CEB.
Note: The Cluster Graph requires two or more Bible versions to compare.
Version River
The Version River view visually represents the differences between Bible versions on a verse-by-verse basis, using one version as the base to which the others are compared.
Enter the version names or abbreviations (separated by commas) that you want to compare in the version box, or select a collection in the drop-down list of suggestions that appears.
A legend at the bottom of the display explains the color-coding of the graphical display and provides percentages indicating how the degrees of difference between that translation and your base text. In the image above, the red river representing the NRSV completely disappears in verses 21 and 23 because the only difference between the ESV and NRSV is of word order rather than word selection. These verses correspond to the 0 under Minimum beside the NRSV.
You can zoom in and out, and pan left and right with your mouse in this view.
Note: Version River requires two or more Bible versions to compare.
Additional Resources
- Open Passage Analysis in Verbum
- Verbum Help: Passage Analysis