Orthodox Center for the Advancement of Biblical Studies
OCABS publishes, broadcasts, and teaches biblical scholarship through OCABS Press, the Ephesus School Network, and the work of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi.
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Radio and podcastsBooks from OCABS Press, the OCABS Journal, The Voice of the Shepherd, Skeireins, Unto Instruction, and translations.
Books and writingThe Ephesus School Network, the Andalus Reader, the Consolation of Consonants, Fr. Paul Tarazi’s exegetical notes, and his collected work.
Schools and scholars
New release, September 24, 2026
For centuries, the Bible has been interpreted both through scientific methods and through the teachings of the Church. Both approaches are consistent with Western thought.
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New release, September 1, 2026
Standing Before God follows the order of the Liturgy itself. From the opening blessing to the dismissal, it traces what God does at each turn and what is required of those who remain in His presence: to stand,…
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New release, July 11, 2026
In The Eucharist: Grammar of Thanksgiving, Marc Philip Boulos offers a fierce and sweeping hearing of Scripture through the shared grammar of Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and the Abrahamic scrolls.
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New release, May 8, 2026
In Seen and Unseen, Marc Philip Boulos hears the twelve verses of Luke 8:41–56, the raising of Jairus’s daughter and the healing of the hemorrhaging woman, through the consonantal triliteral roots that bind…
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New release, March 1, 2026
Kosta Levan Khetagurov (1859–1906) remains the towering figure of Ossetian literature and one of the most significant poets of the late Russian Empire.
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New release, February 15, 2026
Rise, Andalus: The Fall of Imperial Harlotry argues that the destruction of the shared Semitic intellectual tradition-rooted in triliteral grammar, comparative philology, and cooperative scriptural study-was…
Read the announcementOCABS Symposium 2026 · Special guest lecture
Reading Revelation through Prophetic Presence and Confraternity
Dr. Farah El-Sharif
Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the OCABS Symposium hosted at St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Dr. Farah El-Sharif is a scholar of Islam, Sufism, and intellectual history, with a focus on West African Islam, the nation state, and colonialism. Her ancestral roots lie in the lands of “the fig and the olive, Mount Sinai, and this secure city,” and she is a granddaughter of al-Ḥusayn. She holds a PhD from Harvard and has served as a Lecturer and Visiting Scholar at Stanford. Named a Rising Scholar by the International Institute for Islamic Thought, her academic formation also runs through Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and the Graduate Theological Union.
With Fr. Marc Boulos
Each week, the Bible read as literature. The newest episodes play first.
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Fr. Paul’s weekly lectures, presented through The Bible as Literature.
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Sermons for Sundays and feasts. The latest sermon is ready to play.
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Every day, one Semitic triliteral root heard in three scriptures: the root in Hebrew and Arabic, how it functions, and a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qurʾan, read in the original languages with the English. Two or three minutes a day.
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Latest: ק-ל-ל / ق–ل–ل · Be slight; swift; trifling, Oct 7, 2026
With Fr. Marc Boulos, with Fr. Paul Tarazi on Tuesdays
Each week, the Bible read as literature. On Tuesdays, an in-depth analysis of the text in its original languages.
Latest: The Scriptural Canon, Oct 6, 2026
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures. Every day: the readings of the Orthodox lectionary read in full, a short note on them, and a root pair from the Consolation of Consonants. About five minutes a day.
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Latest: Philippians 1:12-20 · Luke 6:46-7:1 — Wednesday, October 7, 2026
With Fr. Aaron Warwick and Jason Ewertt
Weekly conversations on the readings of the Orthodox lectionary.
Latest: The Law: A Two-Edged Sword, Jun 28, 2025
Scripture analysis: biblical texts and terminology, and how the teaching works through the function of words.
Latest: The Known God., Oct 4, 2026
With Andrea Bakas
Examples from our world and culture that help us better understand the biblical text.
Latest: What Lives On Is What Is Written, Aug 28, 2025
With Raymond Acker and Blaise Webster
A lexical and thematic journey through the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Latest: To Walk in His Ways, Oct 28, 2025
A close reading of the scriptures to bring out the story being told.
Latest: 65. Hypostasis: Scripture vs. Theology - an Essay for the OCABS 2023 Symposium
Scripture heard with ancient ears: setting aside our theologies and traditions to learn from the text through its original language and culture.
Latest: EPISODE 21 - MATTHEW 1:8, Mar 30, 2026
A critical examination of the scriptures as they are read aloud by a student of Aksum, Alexandria, and Antioch.
Latest: Hate Your Father, Dec 6, 2025
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The online journal of OCABS.
Online translations of OCABS books by Fr. Jorge Suez.
Reflections on Scripture by an Orthodox priest.
A digital journal of St. Elizabeth Church, by Fr. Marc Boulos. On Substack.
Latest · Sep 7, 2026You Are Not the Subject (Episode 590)We cast you down from the sword you fled to, by the hand that fed you, through the one to whom we gave the scroll, if only you knew.
Writing on Scripture by Blaise Webster. On Substack.
Latest · Jul 10, 2026Daniel 2:36–45— Semitic Language StudyThe triliteral at the heart of this discussion is m-l-k which connotes propriety. It is rendered in English as king, although the best translation would be “owner” or “proprietor”.
Scripture and poetry by Matthew Franklin Cooper. On Substack.
Latest · Oct 4, 2026On both sides of the scrollThe self-imposed irrelevance of the exegete
Writing on Scripture by Fr. Fred Shaheen. On Substack.
Latest · Sep 10, 2026The Greatest Born of a WomanAt Vespers in the Orthodox Church on the eve of the Beheading of St. John the Forerunner, we hear verses from Malachi, which speak of the terrible and great Day of the Lord:
Islam, intellectual history and justice, by Farah El-Sharif. On Substack.
Latest · Sep 30, 2026Fellowship at the Court 4: The Politics of SoulcraftA recording from Farah El-Sharif's live video
Politics and life in the Middle East, by Ori Goldberg. On Substack.
Latest · Jul 1, 2026What Israeli society's response to the MoU between Iran and the USPerhaps the most difficult element for the Israeli public to recognize or accept in the MoU between Iran and the United States was the fact that Israel is not a side to the emerging agreement.
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The Hebrew text read aloud in the Andalus pronunciation.
Open the ReaderGreek renderings in the Septuagint, among others
Womb · compassion · mercy
In Hebrew and Arabic the word for mercy grows out of the word for womb: reḥem (רֶחֶם) and raḥim (رَحِم). In this instance, the Septuagint carries the root into Greek as oiktirmon, and the New Testament takes that word up for the mercy of the Father.
אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן
“compassionate and gracious” God
Exodus 34:6
מֵרַחֵם בֶּן־בִּטְנָהּ
“compassion on the son of her womb”
Isaiah 49:15
לֹא רֻחָמָה
“not pitied”: the name of Hosea’s daughter
Hosea 1:6
γίνεσθε οἰκτίρμονες
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”
Luke 6:36
ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν
“the Father of mercies”
2 Corinthians 1:3
διὰ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ
“by the mercies of God”
Romans 12:1
διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους θεοῦ ἡμῶν
“because of the tender mercy of our God”
Luke 1:78
Bridge: the Septuagint renders raḥum in Exodus 34:6 as oiktirmon (οἰκτίρμων).
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful”
Sūrat al-Fātiḥa سورة الفاتحة “The Opening” 1:1
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
“and My mercy encompasses all things”
Sūrat al-Aʿrāf سورة الأعراف “The Heights” 7:156
وَٱلْأَرْحَامَ
“and the wombs,” the ties of kinship
Sūrat al-Nisāʾ سورة النساء “Women” 4:1
Greek renderings from the CATSS Hebrew–Greek parallel text (CCAT, University of Pennsylvania). English: World English Bible; the Qurʾan in Pickthall’s rendering. Transliteration follows the Andalus system.
The Andalus Method
Miqra · Injīl · Qurʾān
عَزاءُ الصَّوامِت
Every triliteral of the Qurʾan set against the Hebrew and Aramaic roots of the Bible, aligned radical by radical under the regular shift: the constellation of function across the scrolls, with the Septuagint as the lexical spine that connects the three scrolls of Abraham as one organism. Each root opens onto the classical lexicons and onto Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi’s comments on the root and its verses.
1,651 Qurʾanic roots · 3,081 biblical roots and lexemes · 2,315 correspondences · 725 Qurʾanic roots with an A–D correspondence · 3,080 Greek words of the New Testament, through the Septuagint · 4,335 entries from the Tarazi corpus.
The roots load as this panel comes into view.
Inspired by the ʿulamāʾ of al-Andalus, and especially by Kitāb al-ʾUṣūl, from the hand of the master grammarian Ibn Janāḥ.
By Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi
Notes on the Sunday Gospel readings, from the Lenten Triodion through the Sundays of Luke, for clergy, students, educators, and anyone who preaches or teaches. Available in English, with translations into Arabic, Chinese, French, Greek, Russian, and Serbian.
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