Scripture fidelity — sacred handling principles
ZVBible treats the biblical text as holy — not product copy, not marketing, not a playground for speculative theology. Every surface that stores, transforms, or displays Scripture must remain faithful to the source text in its original form (Hebrew/Aramaic OT, Greek NT, and the English/open translations we ship under clear license).
This page is the normative policy for agents and maintainers. Related deep-dives: Greek text traditions, Theological debate notes, Unresolved theological issues.
Non-negotiables
| # | Principle | Practice in ZVBible |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do not rewrite Scripture | Never paraphrase, “improve,” censor, or theologically rephrase verse text for display. Show the licensed source string. |
| 2 | Separate text from aid | Study aids (pictographs, culture notes, Strong’s glosses, red-letter, roadmaps) must be visually and verbally distinct from Scripture text. |
| 3 | Public Domain / open sources only | English: KJV / WEB / BSB (+ optional open FR/AR packs). Hebrew: OSHB/WLC. Greek: MorphGNT SBLGNT. No copyrighted modern Bibles. |
| 4 | KJV numbers navigate; sources do not invent verses | Book/chapter/verse UI is KJV-authoritative. Missing original-language rows show a clear unavailable notice — never invent Greek/Hebrew or silently substitute another language as if it were the original. |
| 5 | Pipeline over hand-edit | Per-book data/ot-hebrew/ and data/nt-greek/ are regenerated from upstream. Do not hand-edit verse JSON for theological preference. |
| 6 | No silent conflation of traditions | Critical Greek (SBLGNT) is not Textus Receptus, not the Vulgate, not the Masoretic vocalization debates resolved by UI. Label the source. |
| 7 | Reverent UI copy | Error states, empty states, and tooltips may be plain; they must not mock, trivialize, or “meme” the biblical text itself. |
Scripture-handling inventory (audit map)
| Surface | What is shown | Source of text | Risk if mishandled |
|---|---|---|---|
Read /read | Full chapter English | KJV / WEB / BSB / optional packs | Layout must not drop/reorder verses; WEB/BSB holes must show (KJV fallback), never silent KJV |
| Cross reference | Linked verse English | Reading translation + TSK graph | Neighbor refs must match KJV ids |
Hebrew /hebrew | Interlinear OSHB + English | data/ot-hebrew/, mapping via lib/kjv-numbering.ts | Wrong map → wrong passage |
Greek /greek | Interlinear SBLGNT + English | data/nt-greek/ MorphGNT | KJV-only rows vs critical text gaps |
Strong’s /strongs | Dictionary + concordance | Strong’s JSON (historical) | Glosses are not inspired text |
| Search | Verse hits | Reading translation index | Ranking must not invent text |
| Fellowship | English + language packs + culture notes | Translations + culture packs | Culture notes ≠ Scripture |
| Cultures | Theme study copy + verse lists | Original pack prose + KJV refs | Must stay non-canonical study aid |
| Tapestry / TSK | Graph of refs | OpenBible-style TSK data | Votes ≠ doctrine |
| Encounter The Word | Gospel chapters | Same English pipeline | Journey UI must not alter verses |
| Red-letter | Words of Jesus highlight | BSB USFM \wj patch on Greek/English paths | Tradition-dependent marking |
| Pictographs (Hebrew/Greek letter aids) | Symbolic letter meanings | lib/pictograph.ts, lib/greek-pictograph.ts | Interpretive — never replace lemmas |
| Notes / user notes | User-authored | Local / mesh | User content is not Bible text; do not merge into verse JSON |
| Licenses | Attribution | HomeLicenses, data/*-source.txt | Must stay accurate |
Display faithfulness checklist (before shipping UI that touches text)
- Same characters as source — no smart “corrections” to Hebrew pointing, Greek polytonic forms, or archaic KJV spelling unless the source file itself changes via pipeline.
- RTL intact for Hebrew (and Arabic packs).
- No automatic theological paraphrase in tooltips that quote a verse.
- Attribution visible on Licenses and pipeline labels.
- Unavailable original language → explicit notice (
lib/original-language-availability.ts), not blank cards that look like empty inspiration. - Culture / pictograph / roadmap copy never presented as “the Word says [paraphrase]” without a full reference and the actual verse text nearby or one click away.
What may surround Scripture
Allowed as secondary layers when clearly labeled:
- Strong’s numbers and traditional English glosses
- Cross-reference graphs (TSK)
- Culture-pack study notes (alignments / differences)
- Letter-level pictograph meditation aids
- Roadmaps and Encounter reflections (user/original study content)
These must never overwrite the verse body in storage or export as if they were the Bible.
Related
- Greek text traditions & Latin exclusion
- Theological debate notes
- Unresolved theological issues
- English translations
- Verse mapping KJV ↔ OSHB
- Greek availability
- Product rules:
AGENTS.md, Licenses/licenses