Best Free Bible Study Software
Well designed and truly beneficial bible study software is hard to find, so it's unusual, and an outstanding value, to find such software for free. e-Sword is just that. A fast and effective way to study the Bible, e-Sword is feature rich and user friendly, with more capabilities than you would expect in a free software package:
- All available Bibles, commentaries and dictionaries are readily viewed without having to "tile windows".
- Integrated editor for creating your own commentaries or study notes, complete with Spell Checking and a Thesaurus!
- Comprehensive print capabilities, including print preview, allow you to create impressive Bible study handouts from the Study Notes Editor.
- Strong's definitions and scripture references in the Commentary and Dictionary views are displayed as ToolTips! Just place the mouse pointer over the reference and the passage will then be displayed. To go to the passage, just click it!
And much more.
If you consider yourself a serious student of the bible, and enjoy complex Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin searches, or are looking for a bible program that is light on resources, but heavy on content, check out DAVAR3. DAVAR means "Word" in Hebrew and with over 500MB worth of downloadable content (all free), it appears that DAVAR delivers on that expectation. It's context-sensitive search features are what make DAVAR stand out from the bible software crowd, as searching for complex results is near instantaneous. Want to search for word or phrase? Highlight the word or phrase and just right+click for a menu that gives you many options as to what to do with that word or phrase. As well as including a wide array of references, commentary, dictionaries, lexicons, tools, maps, and more, DAVAR3 includes a mobile version, as well as audio provided by mechon-mamre.org (requires separate download and setup) so you can read along to the Hebrew.
e-Sword
Website: www.e-sword.net
Author: Rick Meyers
Date: Last update Feb. 25, 2008
Version Number: 7.9.8
Download file size: 17,789kb
License: Free
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, or Vista
64 Bit Capable: ?
Other languages supported: None
Additional Software Required: None
Portable: No
Other Relevant Information: Many additional tools, dictionaries, bible translations, commentaries and maps are availible for download if you would like them. Most of them are also free.
DAVAR3
Website: http://www.davar3.net/
Author: Rick Meyers
Date: Last update Oct. 24, 2008
Version Number: Beta2 3.0.0.267
Download file size: 20.5MB
License: Free
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, or Vista
64 Bit Capable: ?
Other languages supported: None
Additional Software Required: None
Portable: Yes
Other Relevant Information: Many additional tools, dictionaries, bible translations, books, images, commentaries and maps are availible for download if you would like them. All of them are free. Audio files require speaker or headphones. Total available packages to install and use exceed 500MB.
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In my opinion, eSword has everything a Bible student needs: A KJV Bible, the KJV+ (includes Strong's numbers), (TSK) = A Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Naves & Torrey's Topical Bibles, and a KJV concordance. The KJ2000 is a good alternative for those who want a modern translation (just Google "KJ2000 Bible" eSword). All four extra's (TSK, Nave's, Torrey's, and concordance) are geared for Topical Bible studies. In other words, pick a (word or) topic (love, faith, sin, etc) and these extra's will show you every Scripture that uses the word. and help you find out everything the BIBLE says about that topic. A commentary will tell you someone's OPINION of what the Bible says. Our goal should be to learn what GOD says.
The above are all FREE, and everything we need to be a serious student of the God's Word. I think when using dictionaries and word studies and all that stuff (eSword provides many for free, and some you must purchase), we have to be careful to hear what God is saying, and not look for a way to 'force' Scripture to say what we have already chosen to believe.
Having said that, I'm hypocritical enough to own a number of other extra's, such as:
A Word for the Day, by J. D. Watson. ($10.00. If you like daily devotionals, I highly recommend A Word for the Day).
Thru The Bible (McGee) commentary. ($40.00)
And a number of (both free and extra cost) commentaries and word studies, etc. But more and more, I lean towards topical studies, and mostly use the (free) four listed extra's, in an effort to let Jesus say what He says.
I installed the free Bible Explorer 4 download, and it includes NOTHING except a Bible reading plan, unless you register and download the other stuff. It's a little amusing that they give you a Bible software program that includes a Bible reading plan, but no Bible (or anything else). But only a little amusing.
this category is a joke, right? where's the best quran study software? lol
E-Sword is the best for me, but for basic speedy searches, and which allows copying in paragraph formatting, I find the last freeware version of QuickVerse the best. http://www.genesis.net.au/~bible (qv4nonav.exe) It was evidently made for W/3.1 but it works fine under XP Vists. Praise the Lord.
Davar3 is incorrectly attributed to Rick Meyers, the person who wrote and maintains E-Sword.
For work with the original languages I use (the expensive) BibleWorks, but for daily use and in the classroom I am a fan of E-Sword.
http://www.theword.gr/en/ - perfect GUI, many translations. In a word - the WORD.
Another Bible program worth a look is Evening Dew (Free) at www.eveningdew.com. Only a handful of bible translations though.
Regards
Gregg
South Africa
There are a lot of different ones out there all right.
I like www.Laridian.com
I have used it for many years on my Palm devices and now that there is a PC version I use it too. The two synchronize to keep me on track. I have read the Bible from "cover to cover" three times on my hand-held. It is not free but not expensive either it is very easy and flexible.
P.S. I am not affiliated with Laridian, just a fan.
R~
Hi everybody
I use the The Word bible program. It's a free bible program also. It can be downloaded at www.theword.gr What I like about it, you can enter your own footnotes and verse references in the verses. It also has a really powerful search engine. I like it better than E-Sword because it has more features.
The Internet Sacred Text Archive - http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm
thanks for all the authors of bible softwares, it really helps those serious bible students out there to understand more and more and more. May God bless you in all your endeavors, especially those who give it for free.
Antonio L. Santos, Philippines
Re: NIV (Zondervan) and NKJV (Nelson) NASB (Lockman)
I still don't understand how the bible can be legally copyrighted.
Especially since the content did not originate with Zondervan, Nelson, etc.
For example, I don't think I would be allowed to copyright a novel (originally written by another author) even if I published it as a paraphrase (translation).
Anyway. Is there a limit to how long a copyright can last?
Any Linux users ? e-sword can be installed via wine .
I use it in Linux Mint as well as windows
I have used eSword for so long I can't remember when I started with it. Rick has, over the years, added and expanded it to a point that if you have all the things he is offering you may have trouble getting into your study. Not a poor reflection on eSword but a compliment. If you want it, it's probably there, including a good word processing tool.
Give it a try big or small or anyway in between Rick has provided a Bible study tool for your tastes. Some Bible versions and version extras cost a small fee, not Ricks choice I'm sure, but worth the small price if you need those tools.
I agree, Bible Explorer 4 is the best free bible software out there. Plus you get 192 bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, etc. for free.
I have used, e-sword, swordsearcher, online bible and logos and these are all good applications, however, my favorite is by far BE4.
I was using Bible Explorer since long and I was extrely satisfied. Now, I have changed my desktop PC. While I have downloaded the new BE4 and started using. I am experiencing hardship in downloading the free books which I was using. I have spent lot of time but in vain. The software is now un-friendly. Down loading free books is extremly difficult and one has to go through "help" route and which lands in Cross word. The site is not faithfully responding. Why the procedure has been made cumbersome. My request is to revert to the older methods which was very user friendly.
V.S. Bowaj
I need the New International Version but it seems it's not for free at e-sword's. Does anyone know where i can download a freeware version of it? Thanks.
I have NIV for esword
the NIV is copyrighted by Zondervan publishing and is not available for free anywhere legally. Buy it from the e-sword NIV link it's only $15 bucks.
There is no freeware version of the NIV, or NRSV, or any other version that is copyrighted, and not freely available on the e-Sword or any other Bible reading software site. The reality is that the copyright owners are protecting their interests, with what they invested time and money into by not allowing the text to be made available at no charge. Be honest now - are you willing to work for free? No, I am not referring to volunteer hours, or even ministry if you are involved in any at all. I am referring to the eight hours a day we traditionally spend working to earn a living. I'll bet you are not willing to work for free, and in the same way, Zondervan as the copyright holder of NIV, Thomas Nelson with New King James, and The Lockman Foundation with the NASB and others are also not willing to put all their research, translation time, publishing and marketing etc. costs up for free either.
Yes, you can probably find some place on the internet where you can download it freely without paying. Freely available does not equal free, it means copyright violation. That seems like a REAL oxymoron to me if you are a Christian. An authentic Christian. The last time I looked, and in fact every other time I looked, the eighth commandment is Exodus 20:15 and Leviticus 19:11, "You shall not steal", or if you prefer it in King James which is free, "Thou shalt not steal". When you take a copy of something that is copyrighted, something that has not been submitted to the public domain without paying for it, that is stealing.
As my final rant before I climb down off my soap-box, e-Sword is the best Bible software I have ever used, by far. Rick Meyers develops and gives it away free, as a ministry. He does accept donations to support the ministry from users of e-Sword. You might consider a donation if you're going to use it regularly, though of course none is required, since it is free software. And to spare you the effort of asking, yes, I did.
If you want to read just about any available translation without paying for it - go to http://www.biblegateway.com/
DAVAR3 in my estimation is the best free bible software suite allowing advanced students the ability to search and cross reference Hebrew and Greek among not just dictionaries, lexicons, and other references, but also searches all other plugins for the same, such as Jewish commentaries, the Didache, Early Church Fathers writings as well as other tools and commentaries. In case you may be wondering, DAVAR is Hebrew for Word and this program certainly lives up to its name as I have found it easier to search and more featured than E-Sword (and less resource heavy too!). The coolest option is to download the optional free Hebrew audio files and just let DAVAR3 read to you the entire Hebrew scriptures line by line in automatic mode, or whenever you pull up a verse - which is great for students desiring to learn how to read Hebrew as they study scripture. There is a project also in the works to provide the same thing for students of the Greek scriptures too. Currently after downloading and installing most Hebrew, Greek, and English add-ons, the DAVAR3 folder can easily climb to over 1GB worth of audio and text data. DAVAR3 also automatically checks for updates, which is good, since DAVAR3 is a Beta 2. Don't let the Beta version fool you though, since DAVAR3 Beta 2 is such an improvement over the officially stable DAVAR2, the maintainers of the project have made DAVAR3 Beta 2 their primary download option. There is also a mobile version of DAVAR called mDAVAR, but I haven't evaluated it yet. For screenshots of DAVAR3, check out: http://www.faithofgod.net/davar/index.htm
Better check your link..........the site has been suspended. Not a very good choice for a Bible Program?
Just a note, Davar 3 is moving to a new site for better hosting:
http://www.davar3.net/
The site is not suspended anymore. It was so popular that it was overwhelmed with download requests. The developers have since corrected it. http://www.faithofgod.net/davar/index.htm
Here is the link you can use to download Davar3
http://www.stahuj.centrum.cz/podnikani_a_domacnost/ostatni/davar3/downlo...
Hi here is a link to a small program I use called popup wisdom it contains a complete kjv as well as proverbs and is easy to add your own favourite scriptures to . (Create a book )
You can set it to any time frame when it will randomly pop up a scripture to read .
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/PopUpWisdom/index.html
http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html
i want you to send me a bible and cds
micheal gyadu
amazing truth church
p.o.box 2066
koforidua E/R
GHANA
NII
NSRV is not available for E-Sword due to copyright problems. But if you look around the web, you can find it (NRS.bbl plus NRS.cmt). Same with RSV, which is easier to find, even a version with Apocrypha. There are also programs available for making custom E-Sword components from local and online sources. You can find them if you look around.
Unfortunately, NSRV is not available for eSword. NSRV edition of Bible Explorer costs $9.95.
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