06 · In practice
ABC reference guide
What you’ll learn
In this chapter · 4 topics
These examples use articles in the French guide. Select French in Language and library to follow them, and use the French article titles and search terms shown below.
How can you recognise Judas in an image?
1. Read about the betrayal
Open Matthew, chapter 26, and read verses 21–23. Notice the words about the hand and the dish. Look for this detail in an image of the Last Supper.
2. Find the article in ABC
Select ABC in the app’s navigation; if the header is compact, open the menu first. In the French guide, choose C and find Cène, the article about the Last Supper. Select its title.
3. Look at the illustration
Find the manuscript illustration with a shared meal at the top of the page. Select the image to enlarge it. Follow the participants’ hands: who is reaching towards the dish?
4. Check the explanation
Close the enlarged image using the cross and read the explanation beside it. BEST connects Judas’s gesture with the announcement of the betrayal. Compare this reading with your observation, rather than trying to identify the figure by appearance alone.
5. Return to the Gospel
Close the guide using the cross in its header and reread Matthew 26:23. The words about a shared meal have become a visible detail in the image. What has the artist emphasised through this gesture?
Why are three scenes placed side by side?
1. Find the “Bible of the poor”
Open ABC and enter Biblia pauperum in the guide’s search field. Choose the article about this medieval illustrated Bible. Here, you are looking for an article, rather than a match in the biblical verses.
2. Examine the page’s composition
Find a composition with a central scene and a scene on either side. Select the image to enlarge it if that option is available. Identify the scene from Christ’s life and the episodes from the Old Testament.
3. Read the explanation
Close the enlarged image and read the paragraph about the connection between the three scenes. The Old Testament episodes are set beside the New Testament scene as prefigurations. This is a way of interpreting the texts, rather than a claim that all the events happened at the same time.
4. Check your observation
Look at the page again: can you explain why the scenes are placed together, drawing on the author’s commentary? Close ABC and return to reading. The next time you encounter an image like this, begin with its central scene.
How do two sources describe Mesha?
1. Begin with the biblical account
Open 2 Kings 3:4–5, under 2 Rois in the French edition. Read about Mesha’s tribute and his actions after Ahab’s death. Notice how the account describes the relationship between Moab and Israel.
2. Find the article on stelae
Open ABC and enter stèles. Choose Bible et Archéologie XII : Stèles and find the section about the Mesha Stele. The inscription gives the king of Moab himself a voice: it offers another view of the relationship between the two countries.
3. Read the king’s words
Find the translated passage about Omri’s rule over Moab. Notice how it describes that rule as oppression. Who is speaking in the inscription, and how does his position affect his choice of words?
4. Compare the wording
Close the guide and reread the biblical verses. One source speaks of tribute and rebellion against Israel’s rule; the other speaks of oppression. Keep your observations about the sources’ words distinct from your own conclusions about the history of the events.
What does IHS mean?
1. Read about the name
Open Matthew 1:21. Find the name to be given to the child and read the verse’s explanation of it. Next, explore how this name is represented in the Christian written tradition.
2. Find the abbreviation
Open ABC and enter IHS in the guide’s search field. Find Nomina sacra, the article about sacred abbreviations, in the results. Select its title.
3. Check its meaning
Find IHS in the list of abbreviations and read the explanation beside it. It connects these letters with the name of Jesus. Do not automatically apply this meaning to other, similar combinations of letters.
4. Return to the original verse
Close the guide and reread Matthew 1:21. You have found an explanation for an unfamiliar abbreviation. You can now distinguish the way the name is written in the tradition from the explanation of the name in the Gospel itself.