I get asked often, “What do you use to Study the Bible?”

 

E-SwordI have bookshelves full of books and research notes.

But my Favourite tool is:

E-Sword – “the Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge provided by Rick Meyers.

The main E-sword program is free and downloaded from e-Sword: Free Bible Study for the PC. Good FAQ.

Pocket-NIV-Bible

I started with it on my Personal Computer in April, 2000, at home and since then it has become available on Android, Apple Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

I carry it on my iPhone, in my pocket… not like years ago when I had a zippered leather pocket-sized NIV Bible that fitted my work suits. So convenient now.

Why E-sword?

Well, initially it was because it primarily was free.

I could switch between different versions of the Bible, commentaries, and dictionaries, … everything is just a click away! Cross-referencing and powerful searches that are simple to use. Enter as many words as you want to search for and select the settings. You can even search for Strong numbers!

What I use for my Studies:

E-Sword-Download-Menu

Once the E-Sword program is downloaded you will have plenty to start with…and all free.  You can go to the download menu and download a whole lot more!

You can go overboard…

I know I did.

 

Bibles

But after checking out the different free Bibles for example, I ended up keeping the following:

  • Modern King James Version,
  • KJV+ Strong’s Numbers,
  • Eth Cepher,
  • King James Version,
  • The Scriptures 2009
  • Complete Jewish Bible
  • Hebrew Old Testament (Tanach) w/ Strong’s Numbers
  • Berean Study Bible

They add free ones from time to time…always good to check them out. And they have them in a myriad of other languages too!

Then there are the Premium Bibles.  You go to the site, eStudySource (create a free account) and prepurchase a Product Key for the product you desire, then back to E-Sword to download using your email address and Product Key.

I have purchased:

  • New International Version (NIV)
  • TNIV (no longer available)
  • New International Version (NIV84)
  • New International Readable Version NIrV
  • New King James Version
  • Greek New Testament (Interlinear) w/ Strong’s Numbers

These all have different aspects that I like and gives me different perspectives.

Commentaries

The free versions I have (plenty more to choose from; be selective, not all are beneficial!) are:

  • Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge

Then I purchased Premium Content:

  • The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury (this also turns up as a Dictionary)

Dictionaries

I love these!  These are treasure troves. The free versions:

  • Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions
  • Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
  • King James Concordance
  • Robinson’s Morphological Analysis Codes
  • Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries
  • Smith’s Bible Dictionary
  • Thayer’s Greek Definitions
  • Webster’s Dictionary of American English (1828)

And I purchased:

  • Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary
  • TS2009 Notes
  • The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury
  • Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible
  • Complete Jewish Bible Pronunciation Glossary

Graphics & References

The free versions:

  • American Bible Society Maps
  • Ancient Mediterranean Maps
  • Bible Book Word Clouds
  • Bible Timelines
  • CIA World Fact Book
  • Clarence Larkin’s Book of Charts
  • Classic Bible Maps
  • Gustave Dore New Testament Woodcuts
  • Historical Atlas
  • Mitchell’s Ancient Geography
  • NASA Satellite Images
  • Rand-McNally Bible Atlas
  • Sacred Calendar
  • Scripture Atlas
  • Smith Bible Atlas
  • E-sword Reference Library

I purchased:

  • Bible Maps and Charts

Devotions

There are plenty of these for free too.

Tools

There are plenty of tools for all sorts of requirements e.g. Daily Devotions, Scripture Memory, Prayer Requests, SermonAudio.com, STEP Reader, etc.

Mobile – iPhone, Android

Yes, I have E-sword installed on my iPhone too.

Here are some screenshots. As you can see, I have a lot loaded on my phone…and it is fast.

E-Sword-BiblesE-Sword-ChaptersE-Sword-CommentariesE-Sword-LexiconsE-Sword-References

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can highlight verses, write notes, and tag.  I like the ‘compare’ function – I have the verse selected in the Bible Version I like to read it in (e.g. NIV) with the same verse in KJV+ with Strong’s Numbers displayed below. From there I can quickly look up the meaning of words or a commentary on the book, chapter or that specific verse. See below:

E-Sword-Display

Setup

On my Personal Computer, this is what my setup looks like most of the time.  I can easily switch between Bibles, Dictionaries and Commentaries.

E-Sword-on-PC

My Advice

Download E-sword.    [EDIT: and no, I do not get any perks from e-sword, or anyone, for sharing all this with you]

Don’t try to download everything that is free… you will run out of memory on your Computer and it will then be slow to load the different modules as you switch between them. Download a Bible at a time, check it out and if you like it, keep it otherwise uninstall it (you can always download it again if need be).

Same with the Commentaries & Dictionaries. These can chew up RAM and may slow down the switching between modules. Just have the ones you will use. You’ll have your favourites.

In the Options you can select what will ‘load’ too – I don’t have everything always loaded… just the few I work with all the time. For example, I like the NIV or MKJV for readability and the KJV+ with Strong’s Numbers as I can quickly look up word meanings.  You can see my default Bibles and Dictionaries that I use in the image above.

Since I started using E-sword, my love of the Word has grown and my understanding increased. Still need God for Wisdom though 😉

Hope E-Sword helps you in the same way.

Let’s now let’s return to: A Menu of Important Things.