Excavating the Text

Biblical Studies and Reviews

Digging into the text, the manuscripts, and the questions worth resolving.

“Resolved, whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved.” — Jonathan Edwards, Resolution 35, Dec. 18, 1722

About

Who this channel is for, and why it exists.

Stephen Hackett

I'm Stephen Hackett, and Biblical Studies and Reviews is where I work through Scripture the slow way — textual criticism, original languages, and the questions that come up when you actually sit with a passage instead of skimming it. Some of it is verse-by-verse study, some of it is reviewing tools and resources for people doing the same kind of digging.

This site is the home base for the channel: videos, a running blog for things that don't fit in a video, and a link to Digging Deep: Notetaker Deluxe, the Bible study notebook app that grew out of this work.

Videos

New studies and reviews, posted regularly.

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Their Best Fossil Just Backfired on Them!

Digging into a fossil find that creates more problems than it solves for the standard narrative.

Creationism and the Septuagint: Recent Study Alters Debate!

A recent study on the Septuagint that shifts how we should think about the debate.

Septuagint Bible Makeover: Turning an Ugly Bible into a Masterpiece

Reviewing and rebuilding a Septuagint Bible into something worth studying from.

Blog

Notes and write-ups that don't fit neatly into a video.

The Greek New Testament Project: Where Things Stand

September 7, 2026 · Project update

A personal update on my role in the project, the people who carried the work, and our plans for an independent hardbound printing.

On Choosing a Desert-Island Bible

August 6, 2026 · Mark 8:34

Three English translations I'd keep if I could only have three — and why even three can't carry everything the Greek does.

The 1,400 Missing Years: Genesis 5 and 11 in Greek and Hebrew

August 6, 2026 · Genesis 5:3

Why the Septuagint's chronology in Genesis 5 and 11 runs about 1,400 years longer than the Masoretic Text — and why neither side gets to claim neutrality by default.

Starlight and the Convention of Simultaneity

August 6, 2026 · Genesis 1:14

Why the starlight-travel-time objection to a young universe rests on an assumption most people never examine.

Resources

Public-domain texts and reference tools worth having on hand.

Greek New Testament resources

Robinson–Pierpont Byzantine Text (2026) · Free PDF & hardbound printing

A public-domain Byzantine Greek New Testament (plain PDF and hyperlinked edition), plus notes on an independent hardbound printing and a short guide for comparing editions. The full PDF description, print-your-own steps, hardbound update, and waitlist live on their own pages so this homepage stays light.

Start with the free PDFs, join the waitlist for this site’s independent hardbound printing, or take a short quiz that compares two Byzantine editions from different publishers (not options within this waitlist).

Free PDF / Greek NT → Hardbound waitlist / printing → Compare Byzantine editions →

The App

A running Bible study notebook, built alongside this channel.

Digging Deep: Notetaker Deluxe

A running notebook for Bible study, built around the way Jonathan Edwards worked: read, resolve, write it down, and cross-reference it later. Includes the KJV, ASV, SBLGNT with tap-to-view critical apparatus, Strong's numbers, and more — free to use, right in your browser.

Free to use. Go through the quick page below — give your email and tip if you'd like — and you'll get a password to unlock it here.

Get your free password →
Video · Method

Learn Jonathan Edwards’ Notetaking Method

Before you dig into the notebook app, see how Edwards numbered, cross-referenced, and kept a running record of what he resolved in Scripture — the habit Digging Deep is built around.

Watch the method →