The best Bible study software – Introduction

There are literally dozens of software packages that all promise to help us study the Bible better. In this mini-series of posts I want to look at the best of those that are aimed at Christians who have little or no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, and are studying the bible for their own spiritual growth, or to teach in Sunday School classes or youth groups.

Most software companies produce a range of packages. The cheapest come with a minimum number of resources – perhaps a few translations of the Bible, together with some out-of-copyright commentaries and dictionaries. The more expensive will come with dozens of English Bibles, and perhaps hundreds of other resources, including Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and interlinears (Bibles that have the Greek/Hebrew text printed alongside the English text).

Before we get to the strengths and weaknesses of the various programmes, let me say a few words about some of the features that all the packages will support:

• Reading: You can read the bible and associated resources, and can have lots of resources (e.g. the Bible, a commentary and a dictionary) on screen at the same time. As you move around the Bible, your commentaries will automatically update to the reference you are currently looking at. Some programs allow you to read multiple Bibles at the same time.
• Searching: All the packages listed here will allow you to search for words and phrases in the Bible, and in the other resources you own.
• Notes: You can write your own notes and attach them to a Bible verse.
• Maps: You can view maps of the Bible lands, often with places linked to the verses which mention them.
• Strong’s numbers: These numbers make it easy to look up the definitions of Greek/Hebrew words.

Over the next three posts, I’ll examine the best of the Bible-study packages, from those that are free, right up to those that costs hundreds (even thousands!) of pounds.

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