Advantages and Disadvantages of the Use of Digital Tools Exemplified by Textual Studies

Abstract

Since the 1970s, computers have been used in the service of the humanities, and now we can no longer do without them. A good computer program such as Accordance consists of fully integrated biblical texts with morphological analysis and linked to lexicons, atlases, and commentaries. All the imaginable bilingual searches are now possible. However, there are drawbacks to the digital advancement in textual criticism. (1) The users of computer editions lose the familiarity readers previously had with the printed Bible text. (2) For textual criticism, it is important to have a mental image of the shape of the ancient book. (3) When practicing textual criticism, one needs to have a clear concept of the existence of margins around the written, but in computer editions there are no margins. (4) The lines of many poetical texts are arranged graphically in the medieval codices and the Qumran scrolls, but this system has been discontinued in the main computer editions. (5) The running text of Masoretic Text is subdivided into sections, but the computer editions do not provide the visibility of the spacing of the open and closed sections.