Improving Search Accuracy and Efficiency with Dicta

Note: This blog post was originally published on August 22nd, 2019. For our most recent updates, check out The Sefaria Blog and sign up for our newsletter.

At Sefaria, we’re always working to improve and upgrade our technology to provide our users with the fastest and most effective methods of Torah study. That’s why today, we’re happy to announce that we are now using the Tanakh search service from Dicta to return Tanakh search results for Hebrew searches. Dicta is a non-profit organization that provides its products at no charge for the benefit of the public, and they’ve been a fellow-traveler and help for Sefaria all along the way. Now, using Dicta's technology, searches will better account for Hebrew verb conjugation, alternate spellings, prefixes and suffixes, numbers, and more.

For example:

Search for “הלך” and now you’ll find לֶךְ־לְךָ֛
Search for 12 and you’ll find things like:

אסתר ט׳:א׳

(א) וּבִשְׁנֵים֩ עָשָׂ֨ר חֹ֜דֶשׁ הוּא־חֹ֣דֶשׁ אֲדָ֗ר בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר יוֹם֙ בּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגִּ֧יעַ דְּבַר־הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ וְדָת֖וֹ לְהֵעָשׂ֑וֹת בַּיּ֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר שִׂבְּר֜וּ אֹיְבֵ֤י הַיְּהוּדִים֙ לִשְׁל֣וֹט בָּהֶ֔ם וְנַהֲפ֣וֹךְ ה֔וּא אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִשְׁלְט֧וּ הַיְּהוּדִ֛ים הֵ֖מָּה בְּשֹׂנְאֵיהֶֽם׃

Esther 9:1

(1) And so, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month—that is, the month of Adar—when the king’s command and decree were to be executed, the very day on which the enemies of the Jews had expected to get them in their power, the opposite happened, and the Jews got their enemies in their power.

In the past, if you searched for מוריה, the first result would be II Chronicles 3:1. We missed Genesis 22:2, since the word is written הַמֹּרִיָּה:

בראשית כ״ב:ב׳

(ב) וַיֹּ֡אמֶר קַח־נָ֠א אֶת־בִּנְךָ֨ אֶת־יְחִֽידְךָ֤ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַ֙בְתָּ֙ אֶת־יִצְחָ֔ק וְלֶ֨ךְ־לְךָ֔ אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה עַ֚ל אַחַ֣ד הֶֽהָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֹמַ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃

Genesis 22:2

(2) And He said, “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.”

If you searched for לב, we would only find verses where it was written just like this. Now, we also find לבי, לבו, לבכם and similar instances. Like Genesis 18:5:

בראשית י״ח:ה׳

(ה) וְאֶקְחָ֨ה פַת־לֶ֜חֶם וְסַעֲד֤וּ לִבְּכֶם֙ אַחַ֣ר תַּעֲבֹ֔רוּ כִּֽי־עַל־כֵּ֥ן עֲבַרְתֶּ֖ם עַֽל־עַבְדְּכֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֵּ֥ן תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּֽרְתָּ׃

Genesis 18:5

(5) And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on—seeing that you have come your servant’s way.” They replied, “Do as you have said.”

And let’s be honest. Sometimes our morphology was just plain weird. Like searching for אריה. Why did we return Exodus 21:10 as the top result?

שמות כ״א:י׳

(י) אִם־אַחֶ֖רֶת יִֽקַּֽח־ל֑וֹ שְׁאֵרָ֛הּ כְּסוּתָ֥הּ וְעֹנָתָ֖הּ לֹ֥א יִגְרָֽע׃

Exodus 21:10

(10) If he marries another, he must not withhold from this one her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.

Now, the results make more sense, with Genesis 49:9 topping the list:

בראשית מ״ט:ט׳

(ט) גּ֤וּר אַרְיֵה֙ יְהוּדָ֔ה מִטֶּ֖רֶף בְּנִ֣י עָלִ֑יתָ כָּרַ֨ע רָבַ֧ץ כְּאַרְיֵ֛ה וּכְלָבִ֖יא מִ֥י יְקִימֶֽנּוּ׃

Genesis 49:9

(9) Judah is a lion’s whelp;
On prey, my son, have you grown.
He crouches, lies down like a lion,
Like the king of beasts^-a—who dare rouse him?

We’re very thankful that Dicta has made this service available.

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