conVERsum

conversum (n.): That which has been turned together — a unified index formed from scattered parts. From Latin con- ("together") + vertere ("to turn") + -sum (result/outcome).

A scripture reference parser and cross-linker for Obsidian. Turn scattered Bible references into a unified concordance. Automatically discovers, indexes, and links scriptures across all your notes. Colligere et connectere ("To gather and connect").

Security and Privacy

See the security and privacy notes for information on what this plugin does and does not do behind the scenes.

Note on third-party forks

https://github.com/erykjj/conversum is the official source for con[VER]sum. This project is MIT-licensed, so forking is permitted. Beware that unofficial forks and repackaged versions exist that add functionality, modify behavior, or change the plugin's scope. Those versions are not reviewed, endorsed, or supported by me, and I cannot vouch for what they do with your data or your vault.

Important: Set your source and output languages and format before enabling auto-index. The initial index build may take up to 5 minutes (or more) on a vault with many notes.

Features

• Automatic reference detection – Scripture references are automatically detected in both View and Edit modes. Works with most book name variants and common abbreviations (e.g., "2 Sam.", "II Samuel", "2Sa"). References can also be force-detected by wrapping them in {{ }} (e.g., {{Song of Solomon 1:1}}). See Known Limitations for edge cases.
• Searchable concordance – Browse and filter references by book, chapter, or verse. All references are indexed for fast retrieval.
• Find related notes – Right-click any valid reference to see all notes that mention that reference, including containing ranges (e.g., "Mat. 5:3-5" will find notes with "Matthew 5:1-10").
• Export to Markdown – Generate a complete concordance as a Markdown file for reference or printing.
• Multi-language support – Handle references in any supported language, and display book names in a different language.
  • Supported languages: Cebuano, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Ukrainian
• Per-note language override – Set a language property in the frontmatter (meta-data) of any note to override the source language for that specific file.
• Desktop and mobile support

Settings

• Source language – Language of the scripture references in your notes. Changing this will force a full reindex.
• Output language – Language for displaying book names in the concordance view and export.
• Reference format – How scripture references are displayed (Full, Standard, Official).
• Auto-index – Automatically update the index when files change. Disable this while setting up your source language to avoid unnecessary reindexing.
• Excluded folders – Additional folders to exclude from indexing. _templates, _attachments, and .obsidian are always excluded.
• Rebuild index – Force a full rebuild of the concordance index.

Known Limitations

• Right-click menu in reading mode – Due to an Obsidian limitation, the menu position in reading mode is offset slightly so as not to conflict with the menu from the tra.VER:ture plugin (if installed).
• Whole books (like "James") are not detected unless preceded by a number (e.g., "1 John"). Use braces if detection is desired (e.g., {{Obadiah}}).
• "Song of Solomon" and its variants are not auto-detected. Use {{Song of Solomon 1:1}} to force detection.
• Ambiguous references like "1 John 5:3; 2 John 4" may parse incorrectly as "1 John 5:3; 2" (as in, 1 John chapter 2) and "John 4". Force detection with braces: 1 John 5:3; {{2 John 4}}.
• When the in(REF)ens plugin is also enabled, a lowercase colliding abbreviation (a publication symbol that doubles as a Bible-book abbreviation, e.g. re, pr, le) inside *** … *** (e.g. *** re 21 ***) is not indexed (it is left for in(REF)ens); capitalized forms (e.g. *** Re 21 ***) are indexed normally

Installation & Updating

1. In your vault's .obsidian/plugins/ directory, create a folder called conversum if it doesn't already exist.
2. Download main.js, styles.css, and manifest.json and place them in that folder (overwriting existing files to update).
3. If not already enabled, enable the plugin in Obsidian Settings → Community plugins.
4. Configure source and output languages in the plugin settings, then enable auto-indexing.

Feedback, etc.

Feel free to get in touch and post any issues and/or suggestions.

My other Obsidian plugins:

• in(REF)ens: GitHub repo, Obsidian Community
• mu/TEX/tum: GitHub repo, Obsidian Community
• tra.VER:ture: GitHub repo, Obsidian Community