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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Schools and scholarsOCABS Annual Symposium · October 2–3, 2026
Hosted at St. Elizabeth Church, St. Paul, Minnesota · seocc.org
Dr. Farah El-Sharif (Harvard PhD, formerly of Stanford) presents “The Qur’an and the Living Prophet.” After her lecture, Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi gives the 2026 Keynote, “The Scriptural Canon.” It will be his final public lecture, delivered on the weekend of his 83rd birthday and his 50th anniversary as a priest.
All times Central (CDT).
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…
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Fr. Paul’s weekly lectures, presented through The Bible as Literature.
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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.
Read today’s rootPut this on your site
Latest: א-ח-ד / أ–ح–د · One; each; every, Sep 26, 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: You Are Not the Subject, Sep 7, 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.
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 Son Of Man., Sep 18, 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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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 · Sep 24, 2026Do not look for mercy among menT he next blessing in the Beatitudes delivered by Jesus from upon the mountain in the Gospel of Matthew, is possibly the most ominous of all. This is because, from the Septuagint’s perspective, it blesses no one.
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 25, 2026Orphan ArmyAn ode to the children we have failed, who fight nuclear armies in flip flops.
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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