Perfect example document (template) for English, Greek and Hebrew (XeLaTeX)

Question

EDIT 2 (23-2-2017): Changed the title and added that the example file in this post specifically works with XeLaTeX.

EDIT 1 (20-2-2017): Due to cfr's request, I have added a file. This is not the original, but a progress file, so to speak, based on cfr's example file. This one works with XeLaTeX:

\documentclass[12pt, a4paper, titlepage]{article}

\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{verbatim}
\usepackage{afterpage}
\usepackage[top=1.00in, bottom=1.00in, left=1.00in, right=1.00in]{geometry}
\usepackage{setspace}


%% for centering section titles
\usepackage[center]{titlesec}

\usepackage{polyglossia}

\setmainlanguage[variant=british]{english}
\setotherlanguage{hebrew}
\setotherlanguage{greek}
\newfontfamily\hebrewfont{SBL Hebrew}
\newfontfamily\greekfont{SBL Greek}


\title{Title}



%%   BEGIN DOCUMENT
\begin{document}
    \begin{titlepage}
        \maketitle
        \thispagestyle{empty}
    \end{titlepage}
    \pagenumbering{arabic}

\section{First}
\textgreek{αταραξία}. That was in Greek using SBL Greek.

\texthebrew{קֹהֶלֶת}. That was in Hebrew using SBL Hebrew.


\end{document}

---

OLD ORIGINAL POST:

Perhaps I am foolish in this regard, but I could not---after having tried to figure it out for a long time---manage to get a basic working file with English as the main language and Greek and Hebrew as the ones thrown in every now and then.

First I tried to add Hebrew to my existing working PdfLaTex document (that accepts English and Greek), but this is a very annoying and soul-killing process. Then, since many seem to recommend XeLaTex or LuaLatex, I tried these, but to no avail either (and also a soul-killing process; in fact, do I even have a soul left after all this? Is not the point of technology for the user that it serves him and not the other way around?).

I also followed the instructions in version 5.06 of The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX 2ε. It is the part on XeLaTeX (starting on p. 34) in section 2.5.8 The Unicode option. Well, it didn't help me at all, even though I followed it.

So will someone please provide a basic working file for PdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX (preferrably the best option) where English is the main language and Greek and Hebrew are the others?

I have installed, by the way, the Hebrew font called SBL Hebrew. For English and Greek I would simply use Computer Modern or something similar.

Answer 1

Update

babel's BIDI support is coming along nicely, and it's now possible to do this relatively painlessly. babel seems to be being more actively developed than polyglossia, so this is likely to be increasingly the way to go. It also works with both xelatex and lualatex.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[nil,bidi=default]{babel}
\babelprovide[import=en-GB,main]{british}
\babelprovide[import=he]{hebrew}
\babelprovide[import=el]{polutonikogreek}
\babelfont[british]{rm}{Latin Modern Roman}
\babelfont[hebrew]{rm}[Contextuals=Alternate]{SBL BibLit}
\babelfont[polutonikogreek]{rm}[Contextuals=Alternate]{SBL BibLit}
\usepackage{parskip}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}

\textsuperscript{1}In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. \textsuperscript{2}He was with God in the beginning.
(John 1:1–2)

\selectlanguage{polutonikogreek}

\textsuperscript{1} Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς
ἦν ὁ λόγος. \textsuperscript{2}Οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
\foreignlanguage{british}{(John 1:1–2)}

\selectlanguage{hebrew}

\textsuperscript{1}בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
\textsuperscript{2}וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֨הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְהֹ֑ום וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת
עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ \foreignlanguage{british}{(Genesis 1:1–2)}

\selectlanguage{british}

Inline Greek (\foreignlanguage{polutonikogreek}{Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος} [John 1:1]) and
Hebrew (\foreignlanguage{hebrew}{בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ} [Genesis
1:1]) also
must work.

\end{document}

---

Original answer

Here's a slightly extended example, which also works for lualatex (@cfr's answer will not compile with lualatex — My guess is it ought to, but there are bugs in luabidi.sty).

I've also found problems with \raggedright under xelatex which is worked around in this example (bug in bidi.sty?).

Finally, this shows how to use the SBL BibLit font correctly, specifying the Script and Contextual Alternates needed particularly for Hebrew.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage[variant=british]{english}
\setotherlanguage{hebrew}
\setotherlanguage[variant=ancient]{greek}
\newfontfamily\greekfont{SBL BibLit}%
  [Script=Greek,Contextuals=Alternate,Ligatures=Required]
\newfontfamily\hebrewfont{SBL BibLit}%
  [Script=Hebrew,Contextuals=Alternate,Ligatures=Required,Scale=1.2]
\pagestyle{empty}
\ifluatex
  \let\luatexpardir\pardir % luabidi needs this
  \let\luatextextdir\textdir % luabidi needs this
  % text direction gets stuffed up without these workarounds
  \let\luatextextgreek\textgreek
  \let\luatextextenglish\textenglish
  \AtBeginDocument{%
    \renewcommand{\textgreek}[1]{\bgroup\textdir TLT\luatextextgreek{#1}\egroup}
    \renewcommand{\textenglish}[1]{\bgroup\textdir TLT\luatextextenglish{#1}\egroup}
  }
\fi
% \raggedright stuffs up under xelatex
\let\origraggedright\raggedright
\renewcommand{\raggedright}{%
  \origraggedright
  \ifxetex
    \renewenvironment{hebrew}[1][]{%
      \par
      \raggedleft % add to right align paragraphs
      \begin{otherlanguage}[##1]{hebrew}}%
      {\end{otherlanguage}\par}%
  \fi}
\begin{document}

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. (John 1:1)

\begin{greek}
  Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
  \textenglish{(John 1:1)}
\end{greek}

\begin{hebrew}
  בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. \textenglish{(Genesis 1:1)}
\end{hebrew}

Inline Greek (\textgreek{Ἐν ἀρχῇ}) and Hebrew (\texthebrew{בראשית}) also must
work.

\section*{With \texttt{\textbackslash raggedright}}
\raggedright

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. (John 1:1)

\begin{greek}
  Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.
  \textenglish{(John 1:1)}
\end{greek}

\begin{hebrew}
  בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. \textenglish{(Genesis 1:1)}
\end{hebrew}

Inline Greek (\textgreek{Ἐν ἀρχῇ}) and Hebrew (\texthebrew{בראשית}) also must
work.

\end{document}

Answer 2

Something like this?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainfont{Noto Serif}
\setsansfont{Noto Sans}
\setmainlanguage[variant=british]{english}
\setotherlanguage{hebrew}
\setotherlanguage{greek}
\newfontfamily\hebrewfont{Noto Sans Hebrew}[Script=Hebrew]
\newfontfamily\greekfont{Noto Serif}
\begin{document}

This is the main language.

\begin{hebrew}
  עברית
\end{hebrew}

\begin{greek}
  εὐδαιμονία
\end{greek}


\end{document}

Compile with XeLaTeX.