Archive for year 2013
Using the Complete Word Study Bible in The Bible Study App
4May 30, 2013
By Olive Tree Employee: Joe Carter
I’ve been a big fan of the Complete Word Study Bible (CWSB) from AMG Publishing House on Olive Tree’s Bible Study app for some time now.
This one resource in print actually takes 4 volumes:
- The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament
- The Complete Word Study Old Testament
- The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament
- The Complete Word Study New Testament
This is a massive original language study in one resource!
I love that you can search by the English, Greek, Hebrew, or by Strong’s Numbers! Even though I personally have limited knowledge about the underlying original languages, the CWSB allows me to read through the text in English, and quickly get in-depth info on any word there just by tapping on it!
The CWSB will give you information on the parts of speech for a word (and give you links that explain what those parts of speech mean if you don’t know – with examples no less!) – the Strong’s Number for that word, a VERY robust dictionary / exegetical discussion about the word in question as well as a link to a concordance at the end of nearly every entry showing you every verse in the Bible where a word is used.
Compare this resource to a standard “Strong’s” Bible and the amount of information available with the CWSB is staggering.
For example – the entry on αγαπαω:
In a Strong’s Bible you get this:
g0025. αγαπαω agapao;
perhaps from αγαν agan (much) (or compare h5689); to love (in a social or moral sense):— (be-) love (- ed). Compare 5368.
AV (142)- love 135, beloved 7;
of persons to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly of things to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
By comparison, in the CWSB, the entry on αγαπαω goes on for over 2 pages when pasted into my word processor – with various usages of the word compared and contrasted between different passages of scripture.
Here’s a very small taste of the article on αγαπαω from the CWSB (comparing the different words for love used in Peter’s encounter with the resurrected Jesus in John 21 – FYI: Greek words in the text are transliterated into English for ease of use):
The third question of Jesus to Peter was different, “Do you love me [phileo, Are you my friend]?” (a. t.). Are your interests, now that you have seen Me risen from the dead, different than before the resurrection? Peter became sorrowful because he understood the deeper meaning of Jesus ‘question (John 21:17). His answer utilized two similar, but distinct verbs, oida, to know intuitively, and ginosko (G1097), to know experientially:”Lord, thou knowest, [oidas, intuitively] all things. Thou knowest [ginoskeis, know experientially] that I love thee [philo, that I am now your friend].”
With this one resource you can get a backpack full of resources that you can carry around in your pocket – and instead of having to reference a number in one volume – then open another one and find that number, I can just tap on a word – then tap the links. Seamlessly moving between different ‘books’ in the collection.
This week you can get the Complete Word Study Bible (CWSB) Half Off the regular price now through Monday, June 3rd. As you can see, this is a great resource that helps you find original word meanings quickly and easily.
Customize Your Note Organization
1May 29, 2013
By Olive Tree Employee: Ben Backstrom
There are several practical ways you can interact with Bible text in the Bible Study App to enhance your personal study, including highlights, notes, bookmarks, book ribbons, and tags. The feature I use most frequently is notes. I use the app for both personal study and preparation for small group study, and notes come in handy for both.
One of my favorite features of notes in the app is the ability to choose different icons. I use this feature to label notes based on the type of content. (screenshots from Android)
I use the default page icon for most of my notes. These can be my own thoughts or someone else’s commentary on the passage.
I use the question mark to denote passages I am not sure about. Maybe the wording doesn’t make sense, or a couple of commentaries conflict on what they think the passage means. Denoting them this way allows me to come back and put an answer into the note when I find a good explanation.
Some passages capture my attention, whether they are especially challenging, or give me a new perspective. I mark these with a star icon. I love being able to read back through a passage and find this icon. These are usually verses that I find inspiring again and again.
Another great feature of notes is the ability to find my notes in any translation I’m reading. Any time you create a note by selecting a Bible verse number (circled below), that note will show up in any of your other translations. You can create a note this way in the ASV, then find it again at the same verse in the NIV or ESV.
Note that this does not work if you create a note by selecting text. Those notes will not show up in other translations, since they are based on the specific translation’s text.
I use my Android phone for personal study and my Mac for group study prep. However, I like having the notes I create for both to be together in one place. The Olive Tree Sync feature makes this possible. Here are some tips I find helpful with sync:
- Sync your notes at the beginning of your study. This will sync notes and changes to your device so that you know what notes you’ve already created.
- At the end of your session, sync notes again.
- If you want to sync both devices at the same time, sync one device, wait 15 seconds, then sync the other device. Order isn’t important, but pausing between them can give better results.
I would love to hear how you use notes in the app to enhance your Bible study. Feel free to share them in the comments below.
A Plethora of Pop outs – part 2
8May 27, 2013
Sermon & Lesson Prep in the Windows Desktop App
In my previous post I introduced the pop out feature in The Bible Study App. This is a handy feature if you want to study one Scripture passage with multiple resources.
But what if I want to view different scriptures in my study? What if I want to study how Ezra and Nehemiah compare to each other? I can open multiple pop out windows and choose either to have them sync or not sync with the main window. When I choose to have them not sync with the main window, I can move around in my main window without moving the other resources that I want open. To do this, choose the “Windows Link Options” in the pop out window drop down menu.
This is where things get really interesting. The Windows desktop version of The Bible Study App has an advanced feature called “linked sets”.
Here’s how it works:
After I’ve opened the new pop out window (usually a different Bible translation, comparing NIV and the ESV, for example), I click on the drop down menu of the new window and mouse down to the Window Link options. There I find that I can have this new window track with the Main Window, or I can choose “link sets” of windows, up to three groups A-B-C.
This means that I can have up to four groups of resources (including the Main Window and Split Window) open at the same time. These groups will scroll together without affecting the other groups or the main window. At this point, I can open as many as windows as my computer’s memory can handle.
What I like to do is have my favorite Bible translation in the main window and my favorite Study Bible in the split window. Then, I pop out an alternative Bible translation, Commentary, and Study Bible for Group A, then a third set of Bible + Study Bible + Commentary for Group B, and a fourth set for Group C.
It looks something like this:
| Main / Split Window | Group A | Group B | Group C |
| ESV | NIV | HCSB | NKJV |
| ESV Study Bible | NIV Study Notes | HCSB Study Notes | NKJV Study Notes |
| NIV Application Commentary | Key Word Commentary | Thompson Chain Reference System | |
| Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible |
An alternative would be this:
| Main / Split Window | Group A | Group B | Group C |
| ESV | NIV | HCSB | KJV |
| ESV Study Bible | NIV Study Notes | HCSB Study Notes | NKJV |
| Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary | Holman Bible Atlas | NLT | |
| Word Biblical Commentary | ESV Bible Atlas | The Message | |
| Amplified Bible |
This allows me to check different translations, commentaries, and other Bible study resources without leaving my main text.
There is a plethora of possibilities with these features. How do you make the most of multiple windows and resources in The Bible Study App?
A Veteran In Need
1May 25, 2013
by Andrew
in Inspiration
Watch this powerful story about a man who has served his country who finds himself in need of a helping hand. A modern day good Samaritan steps in to help him out and starts a journey that is more messy, and rewarding, than either of them could have anticipated.
via iLike Giving
I Like Veteran. from ILikeGiving.com on Vimeo.
Free Resource Friday
0
In Come Ye Children, C.H. Spurgeon offers his advice on sharing the gospel with children and training them early in the things of God. It is filled with scriptural examples that demonstrate the importance of caring for those who are young in faith, and helping them develop their understanding of the gospel.
Get this great title for Free, to read in The Bible Study App, by clicking HERE.
New features in the Windows Update
9May 23, 2013
The latest update for Windows is out today. Here are a few of the new features that have been added.
Web site links in notes
Web site links now show as hyperlinks in the notes view and will open in the user’s default web browser. These links must start with “http://”, “https://”, or “www.”. To open one of these links hold down Ctrl and click on the link (Figure 2).
Figure 1
Figure 2
Multi-verse highlights
To access this feature click on a verse hyperlink (Figure 3) and select the highlight option. You’ll then see up and down arrows that allow you to select multiple verses to highlight (Figure 4).
Figure 3
Figure 4
Categories can be organized with drag and drop
In 5.3.1 the ability to drag annotations into a category was added. In this release that same functionality has been expanded to categories as well. From the annotation lists this allows you to move a category into another category (Figure 5).
Categories can also be organized from the managed categories view. In this view categories can be holistically managed. They can be moved into or out of each other to achieve the desired hierarchy (Figure 6).
Figure 5
Figure 6
Additional Changes
- The current search hit now displays with a different color to differentiate it from other search results.
- Search suggestions are now displayed when typing in the main search field.
- Right clicking on a resource in the library views now allows you to select where the resource will be opened. This include resources shown in the quick launch sections on the left sidebar.
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