How we research

This page sets out the methodology behind every entry on the site. We publish slowly and carefully rather than quickly and broadly. Each entry is built from primary sources — original Hebrew and Greek texts, standard scholarly lexicons, and historical records — before a single word of the entry is written.

Primary sources

For the Hebrew Old Testament text:

• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), the standard scholarly edition of the Masoretic Text
• Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ), where available — the newer fascicle-based edition incorporating updated apparatus

For the Greek New Testament text:

• Novum Testamentum Graece (Nestle-Aland 28th edition, NA28)
• The Greek New Testament (United Bible Societies 5th edition, UBS5)

For lexical definitions:

• BDAG — Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition, for Koine Greek
• HALOT — Koehler-Baumgartner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, for Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic
• BDB — Brown-Driver-Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, where the older lexicographical tradition is the relevant reference

For displayed English text:

• Berean Standard Bible (BSB) as the primary on-site translation — modern, scholarly, dedicated to the worldwide public domain
• King James Version (1769 Oxford edition) as historical reference — public domain, source of most English-language misquotations
• Other translations (NIV, ESV, NLT, NASB, CSB, NKJV) are linked out to BibleGateway rather than reproduced on-site

For historical attribution of misquotations:

• Primary documents wherever available — original publications, first editions, dated letters, parish records
• Established reference works for cross-checking — the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the Oxford English Dictionary, peer-reviewed academic literature

How an entry is built

1. The claim is identified as it commonly circulates — in popular usage, sermons, social media, print.
2. Every relevant primary source is consulted in its standard scholarly edition.
3. The actual text is located in the BSB and KJV, or its absence is confirmed by exhaustive search across both translations and the underlying Hebrew or Greek.
4. Surrounding context is read in full — minimum 10 verses, usually a complete pericope or chapter unit.
5. Translation differences are documented across BSB and KJV; significant variants in NIV, ESV, NLT, NASB, CSB, and NKJV are noted where they differ in ways that affect meaning.
6. The original-language word or phrase is identified. Its semantic range is documented from the standard lexicons, cited by entry (s.v. — sub verbo, "under the word") rather than by page number, since pagination differs across editions.
7. For "not-in-Bible" entries, the actual origin is traced to the earliest verifiable source — the original publication or document where it can be located.
8. A draft is written, reviewed against the primary sources, and revised.
9. The four-way sensitivity test is applied: would a pastor find it disrespectful, an atheist find it preachy, a scholar find it inaccurate, a journalist find it citable?
10. The entry is published with a date added field and reviewed annually, or sooner when a reader identifies an error or new scholarship becomes relevant.

How we cite

Every lexicon reference cites the work and the entry. When we write that BDAG defines arsenokoitēs as "one who engages in same-sex activity," we mean the BDAG entry under that headword — the standard scholarly way of citing a lexicon, regardless of edition or pagination. This is more reliable than page-number citations, which depend on the specific edition the reader has access to and have been known to be wrong in secondary literature even when sincerely intended.

Where a word's meaning is genuinely uncertain — where the lexicons themselves note that the meaning is unknown or contested — we say so. The most honest scholarly answer is sometimes "we don't know, and the standard lexicon acknowledges this." We treat that as a finding rather than a gap.

What we do not do

We do not resolve interpretive disputes. When scholars disagree about the meaning of a Hebrew or Greek word, we document the disagreement and stop. We do not pick a side. We do not tell readers which translation is "more accurate." We do not tell readers what a passage means for their life, their faith, or their argument.

We do not paraphrase the lexicons. When we cite HALOT or BDAG, we cite what the lexicon actually says — not a softened, modernized, or popularized rendering of what the lexicon says. The standard scholarly works are written for readers who can engage with their full technical language; we represent that language faithfully.

We do not invent transitions. If an entry's primary passage and a related passage are not connected by the text itself, we do not invent a connection. The texts speak for themselves; our job is to organize them for clarity, not to argue them into agreement.

Last reviewed dates

Every entry shows when it was last reviewed. We revisit entries when:

• A reader identifies a factual error
• New scholarship becomes relevant — a new lexicon edition, a new critical text, a major academic monograph
• A significant new translation renders a key passage materially differently
• Annually, as part of routine review

Errata and corrections

Found a factual error? Email corrections@quotesfrombible.com with the entry URL and the specific claim you believe is incorrect, with a source. We correct mistakes within 48 hours, log them, and update the entry's Last reviewed date.

Editorial voice

We write under an institutional byline rather than under any individual's name. The work depends on a process — primary-source verification, lexicon citation, translation comparison, the four-way test — rather than on the credentials of any one person. Where an editorial note appears within a complex entry, it is signed Editorial note — QuotesFromBible, not attributed to a named individual.

This methodology page itself is reviewed annually and revised when our process changes. Last revised: with the launch of the Phase 2 expansion of the site, May 2026.