This is a severe limitation for those using Macs and hopefully Microsoft will fix this problem in its next major release. For those using Macs, however, MS Word 2008 does not properly handle inputting right-to-left Hebrew. ![]() This is not an issue for those using Windows, since MS Word supports right-to-left scripts. Full word processor support for Biblical Hebrew Unicode fonts will depend on whether or not your word processor displays right-to-left scripts properly. In regards to operating systems, Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X fully support Unicode. While Unicode is certainly the way to go with Hebrew and Greek fonts, there are still a few limitations depending on your operating system and word processing software you use. Luckily, there are a number of excellent fonts available for free (see below) While this is fine for the basic Hebrew and Greek characters, those wanting to use Biblical Hebrew and Greek with all of the various vowel points and accents will need to use a specialized Hebrew or Greek Unicode font. In order to type in Greek or Hebrew all you have to do is install and select the appropriate Greek or Hebrew keyboard in your operating system. Thus, the most current Unicode editions of, e.g., Times New Roman or Ariel include encoding for Hebrew and Greek built right into them. In contrast, Unicode fonts have each letter encoded separately. Working with right-to-left Hebrew with non-Unicode fonts were more problematic since you would have to learn to write Hebrew backwards and worry about line breaks. This meant that for someone else to view your document they would need the same fonts (and if you didn’t have the same fonts installed on your computer, then the Hebrew or Greek would be gibberish since the Hebrew or Greek letters would be represented with Latin letters). ![]() ![]() Non-Unicode ASCII fonts had limited encoding features where a Hebrew font would use the same encoding as regular Latin characters (e.g., the aleph would be mapped the same as the letter “A”). Thankfully, the move to Unicode standards in the computing industry has made incorporating and displaying biblical languages into word processing documents and web pages far more easy and reliable. This is especially the case for Hebrew, since it is a right-to-left language. One of the challenges of working with Biblical Hebrew or Greek for students and scholars is how to use them on your computer for your papers and other research projects.
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