In the back of one of the books, someone scrawled that there were some "new words" of Jesus found on column 128. Intrigued, I turned to this page and found:
There is no English translation in the book of course. And the Greek text is mixed up with the Latin on the other column, because the layout detection sucks in the Google Vision API.
But with just a little imagination you can perceive the possibilities here, if I can develop the last mile of missing technology (just an engineer's pet peeve here that we don't have any technology until we have the engineering actually done, not trying to suggest that what I am doing is particularly innovative).
(1) The character recognition was already human-level quality. Better even. I didn't notice any errors. It's google vision API. $1.25 per 1000 pages.
(2) The layout engine is weak for multi-column with those little A,B,C,D things. There's also extra stuff on the page. I had to delete the Latin translation line by line to get just the Greek text. This is the part I need to work on the most to automate at this point.
(3) The translation is ChatGPT. It's not human expert quality, but it's better than I can do without a lot of effort. It's cheap, fast, and almost consistent. The McDonald's of translation. Over 10 billion served!
I have always wanted to see the PG digitized. It has always seemed like an impossible task without a huge investment. But now it seems possible and within my resources. And as a bonus, the free gift of the success of LLMs, it looks like a serviceable draft translation is the easy part.
... to a physician, and not a glorified God, the blind cried out,
"Have mercy on us, Son of David." Yet, He did not immediately grant their request
so that their faith might grow further.
Thus, the blind, having received the surpassing grace,
were enlightened in their souls. And shortly thereafter, when the Lord saw
that their souls had been illumined and that they had
received the light of faith, the Lord asked them,
saying, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
What then did the blind, who had advanced in faith, reply?
"Yes, Lord." No longer did they say, "Yes, Son of David," but rather,
"Yes, Lord." They recalled the delay, and thus
immediately confessed, saying, "Yes, Lord, we believe
that you are able to do this." Then, the Lord,
showing that their faith had matured, answered, saying,
"Let it be done for you according to your faith,"
for if their faith had not grown, they would not have received sight.
For this reason, even here, when the Lord
encountered the paralytic who was more spiritually disjointed
due to the corruption of sins, the Lord asked him,
"Do you want to be made well?"
But the paralytic, not yet knowing who it was speaking to him,
answered the Lord, saying, "I want to be made well. You have asked rightly if I want it,
for I no longer desire it. Many times, I have desired it and achieved nothing.
What is left for me to desire that I cannot attain? I want to be made well.
I have grown old on this bed; I am a verbose tomb,
a living dead man, waiting for nothing new to endure.
Everyone takes oaths against me. Thirty-eight years
I have remained by the pool, and no one has had compassion on me.
The gift is sold; it is profited by the sons of the Pharisees.
Once a year, a person is cleansed, and, though it should be the first one who is honored,
it is the wealthier who is chosen. The pool is without justice,
the present state is unjust. Will there be a just visitation
so that the water is no longer sold but is given freely to all?"
The Lord then said to the paralytic, "Why do you
remain in one place, bogged down by such thoughts?
You speak as if I am unaware of what you are thinking.
Do I not rule over this pool? Do I not know what happens here?
I have known the dealings of the Jews.
For this reason, I have come to exchange this pool,
and now I put an end to it and open the baptismal font.
Here, one person is cleansed each year;
there, countless will be reborn daily.
Here, I sent an angel; there, I, the Creator of angels, have descended.
Therefore, answer the question: Do you want to be made well?"
Which means, "Do you believe that the one speaking to you is able to do this?"
The paralytic, lifting his head slightly and recognizing the lordship of the Lord,
yet still clinging to his habitual despair,
replied, saying what you all know clearly,
"Yes, Lord, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred. While I am coming,
another steps down before me."
The Lord then said to the paralytic,
"Why do you hesitate, paralytic? It is enough for you that..."
"Have mercy on us, Son of David." Yet, He did not immediately grant their request
so that their faith might grow further.
Thus, the blind, having received the surpassing grace,
were enlightened in their souls. And shortly thereafter, when the Lord saw
that their souls had been illumined and that they had
received the light of faith, the Lord asked them,
saying, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
What then did the blind, who had advanced in faith, reply?
"Yes, Lord." No longer did they say, "Yes, Son of David," but rather,
"Yes, Lord." They recalled the delay, and thus
immediately confessed, saying, "Yes, Lord, we believe
that you are able to do this." Then, the Lord,
showing that their faith had matured, answered, saying,
"Let it be done for you according to your faith,"
for if their faith had not grown, they would not have received sight.
For this reason, even here, when the Lord
encountered the paralytic who was more spiritually disjointed
due to the corruption of sins, the Lord asked him,
"Do you want to be made well?"
But the paralytic, not yet knowing who it was speaking to him,
answered the Lord, saying, "I want to be made well. You have asked rightly if I want it,
for I no longer desire it. Many times, I have desired it and achieved nothing.
What is left for me to desire that I cannot attain? I want to be made well.
I have grown old on this bed; I am a verbose tomb,
a living dead man, waiting for nothing new to endure.
Everyone takes oaths against me. Thirty-eight years
I have remained by the pool, and no one has had compassion on me.
The gift is sold; it is profited by the sons of the Pharisees.
Once a year, a person is cleansed, and, though it should be the first one who is honored,
it is the wealthier who is chosen. The pool is without justice,
the present state is unjust. Will there be a just visitation
so that the water is no longer sold but is given freely to all?"
The Lord then said to the paralytic, "Why do you
remain in one place, bogged down by such thoughts?
You speak as if I am unaware of what you are thinking.
Do I not rule over this pool? Do I not know what happens here?
I have known the dealings of the Jews.
For this reason, I have come to exchange this pool,
and now I put an end to it and open the baptismal font.
Here, one person is cleansed each year;
there, countless will be reborn daily.
Here, I sent an angel; there, I, the Creator of angels, have descended.
Therefore, answer the question: Do you want to be made well?"
Which means, "Do you believe that the one speaking to you is able to do this?"
The paralytic, lifting his head slightly and recognizing the lordship of the Lord,
yet still clinging to his habitual despair,
replied, saying what you all know clearly,
"Yes, Lord, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred. While I am coming,
another steps down before me."
The Lord then said to the paralytic,
"Why do you hesitate, paralytic? It is enough for you that..."
There is no English translation in the book of course. And the Greek text is mixed up with the Latin on the other column, because the layout detection sucks in the Google Vision API.
But with just a little imagination you can perceive the possibilities here, if I can develop the last mile of missing technology (just an engineer's pet peeve here that we don't have any technology until we have the engineering actually done, not trying to suggest that what I am doing is particularly innovative).
(1) The character recognition was already human-level quality. Better even. I didn't notice any errors. It's google vision API. $1.25 per 1000 pages.
(2) The layout engine is weak for multi-column with those little A,B,C,D things. There's also extra stuff on the page. I had to delete the Latin translation line by line to get just the Greek text. This is the part I need to work on the most to automate at this point.
(3) The translation is ChatGPT. It's not human expert quality, but it's better than I can do without a lot of effort. It's cheap, fast, and almost consistent. The McDonald's of translation. Over 10 billion served!
I have always wanted to see the PG digitized. It has always seemed like an impossible task without a huge investment. But now it seems possible and within my resources. And as a bonus, the free gift of the success of LLMs, it looks like a serviceable draft translation is the easy part.
Statistics: Posted by Peter Kirby — Fri Jan 17, 2025 11:29 pm