Mikraot Gedolot User Guide

Guides and Tutorials

• Click here for: User Guides for all AlHaTorah resources.
• Click here for: Video Tutorials for many AlHaTorah resources.

Getting Started

• Select a text you wish to study using one of the following methods:
  • Click on the Book icon () in the top red bar or the Select Text button in the center of the home page to call up the Select Text dialog. Then choose a book + a Parashah, chapter, or individual verse.
  • Enter your desired book and chapter in the input bar in the top red bar or (in larger than phone screens only) in the input bar near the center of the home page.
  • Press the Parashat HaShavua button on the home page to go directly there.
• Use the magnifying glass icons (, ) in the top red bar to adjust the font size of the commentaries for your maximum reading comfort.
• Select one of the three display options in the top red bar:
  • Full Mikraot Gedolot mode which displays all desired commentaries together
  • Dual Pane mode which displays the chapter with one commentary
  • Single Pane mode which allows one to toggle between Tanakh and commentary

Navigation

• To move to another verse within your chapter, use the column of buttons on the right side of the screen, the single arrow buttons (, ) in the top red bar, or simply scroll.
• To move to a different chapter, use any of the double arrow buttons (, ) in the top red bar, the arrow buttons at the end of the page, the Book icon , or the input bar in the top right corner.
• To move to a different book, press the Book icon (), or use the input bar in the top right corner.
• On a phone, use the up arrow icon () above the individual commentary to scroll back to the Biblical verse.

Full Mode Customization

• In Full Mikraot Gedolot mode (), click on the Gear icon () in the top red bar and check the boxes next to the commentators you wish to display to custom design your Mikraot Gedolot. Commentaries which are grayed out are not available on your chosen text. For a full list of the available commentaries and the manuscripts they are based on, see Editions. [Note: Due to their extreme length, a few commentaries are viewable only in Single and Dual Pane Modes (see below), but not in Full Mode.]
• Press the "Check all" button to select all commentaries, or "Uncheck all" to deselect all of them.
• Under "General Settings":
  • Check "Expand all" if you prefer a full view without a scroll bar. Otherwise, by default, lengthier interpretations of the commentators display with a scroll bar.
  • Check the "י"י instead of Hashem's name" box if you wish to display the Tetragrammaton as a double yud rather than as it is written in the Torah.
  • Check the "Rashi font" box if you wish to display Rashi's commentary in a special font.
  • Check the "English translations" box to display all available English translations of texts.
• Using the Notes checkboxes, opt whether to display the explanatory footnotes, textual variants apparatus, or both, and whether you want these notes to display underneath each of the main text and the commentaries or only in a popup (when their individual letter or number is pressed).

Full Mode Options

• A row of icons displays above each verse.
  • The ones on the left serve to minimize/restore all commentaries on a verse, view a full chapter (), and display/remove an English translation () of the verse.
  • The ones on the right (when available) serve to open additional resources:
    • The camera icon () opens the Olam HaMikra overlay which contains maps, tables, and pictures of places, flora, fauna, artifacts, and inscriptions. Clicking again on an individual image opens it in a larger size in its own tab.
    • The audio icon () opens an audio bar with the Torah reading.
    • The Torah icon () opens in a new tab a list of AlHaTorah topics extant on your chapter or Parashah.
    • The microscope icon () opens in a new tab the Tanakh Lab for this chapter.
• In larger screen displays, a row of icons above each commentary offers additional options for the individual commentary. Use these to minimize/restore, view a full chapter (), display an English translation (), or access an intellectual profile () of the commentator.
• To see additional commentaries (which were not selected from the Gear options dialog) on an individual verse, press the "Show Additional Commentaries" button.
• In phone size displays, the commentator buttons below each verse allow you to open/close each commentary. Alternatively, press the הכל button to open all of the commentators (selected in the Gear dialog).

Dual and Single Pane Modes

• To display a chapter of the Biblical text accompanied by only a single commentary, click on the Dual Pane Mode icon () in the top red bar. On a phone, toggle between modes by pressing the icon currently displaying in the top red bar.
• To display the Biblical text alone or only a single commentary by itself, click on the Single Pane Mode icon () in the top red bar. In Single Pane mode, use the side tabs to switch between the Biblical text and its commentaries, or on a phone simply swipe sideways.
• For both Dual and Single Pane modes:
  • In the Biblical text pane, use the right side buttons to format the text according to Masoretic divisions or by individual verses and to display or omit vowels and cantillation (טעמים). [Turning off all of verse sectioning, vowels, and cantillation displays a תיקון קוראים.] Use the right and left arrows (, ) to navigate to the next or previous chapter.
  • In the Commentary pane, use the dropdown menu from the commentator's name or the up and down arrows (, ) to cycle through the various commentaries. Commentaries checked in the Gear dialog will display in the upper portion of the list.
  • For each of the Tanakh and Commentary panes, use the E/ע toggle to display available English translations, and press the footnote button to display/hide footnotes at the bottom of the pane.
  • When footnotes are displaying, drag the pane's divider line to adjust the amount of space designated for viewing the notes.

Power Features

• Click (or double tap on mobile) on any word in the Biblical text to open the One Click Concordance, Graphical Concordance, and Dictionary. A separate guide to the Concordance features is available here.
• Highlight any word or phrase in either the Biblical text or a commentary to discover its other occurrences using either the Concordance or Instant Search. [To highlight non-consecutive words (this works only in a Firefox browser), hold down the Ctrl key.] A separate guide for the Search function is available here.
• Highlight any word or phrase in either the Biblical text or a commentary to copy and paste it into an open document. Use the "Copy with Title" option to include the name of the text. Use the "Copy to Word" option if characters are pasting in the wrong direction.
• Color any text on the page by selecting it and pressing the "Color" option in the context menu.
• Send comments or report errors by highlighting text and selecting the "Send" option from the context menu.
• Click on any (gray) footnote letter or number to display it in a popup.
• Click on any (gray) hyperlinked source reference to display it in an overlay. Ctrl-click or middle-click to open a link in a new tab (or to open a full Mikraot Gedolot view for a link to a Biblical verse).

Accessing AlHaTorah.org Topics

• To view ALHATORAH topics related to your chapter or Parashah, press the sandwich icon () in the left corner of the red top bar and select from the topics in the list. A separate guide to the ALHATORAH.ORG Topics site is available here.
• Alternatively, in Full mode, press the Torah icon ().

Printing

• To print from the Mikraot Gedolot, press Ctrl-P or select Print from the sandwich menu (). The printed result will correspond to the current display, so be sure to first use the Gear icon () to select your desired commentators, preferred notes and translation options, and whether to display Hashem's name as written in the Torah or as a double yud.
• Similarly, to print either a full chapter or only a single verse, first make the appropriate selection from the Book icon ().
• Before printing a hard copy, you may wish to first print to a PDF file to confirm that your desired settings were selected.