The Bible Study App makes the NICOT/NICNT even more dynamic.  Here’s how:

Resource Guide

Open your preferred Bible Translation in the main window and have the Resource Guide open in the Split Window.  You’ll see relevant NICOT/NICNT commentary “hits” in the split window.

The Bible Study App also keeps up with the scripture passage you’re reading in the main window with sync scrolling.  This means that as you move along in the Bible text, the NICOT/NICNT syncs to exactly where you are in your study.  No more flipping pages back and forth.  No more holding the commentary text open on your desk in one spot, reading through your Bible text, and having to go back and find your place in the commentary. You’ll save an enormous amount of time with this feature alone.

Search & Look Up Feature

Search the NICOT/NICNT for words or passages.  Take “love” as an example.  You can search the entire NICOT/NICNT series for where “love” is mentioned in the commentary series.  You can also limit your search to the Old Testament, New Testament, biblical genre, or a specific book.

When your search hits are displayed, you can tap on the result to go directly to that passage. You can also copy the text to add to an existing note or add a note right from the search results.

Linked Reference Pop ups

One of my greatest frustrations in the hard copy world of biblical commentaries are the other biblical references within the commentary.  For example, when I’m reading in Matthew about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry there are multiple references to The Lord’s Chosen servant in Isaiah that are pertinent to my study.  With a hard copy, I have to open a different Bible and find each and every reference to read how the verse relates to what I am currently studying.  This is time consuming, slows down my study momentum, and requires me to keep all of my study materials out and open, spread out over a large desk space. With The Bible Study App, the scripture references are hyperlinked within the commentary text.  All I have to do is tap the scripture reference to read it instantly.

Related to this is footnotes/endnotes.  Since the NICOT/NICNT is a highly scholarly work, there are a lot of references to other materials.  In the past I would have to stop where I was in the reading, look at the footnote, then go back to where I was in the writing.  This also was a huge time waster, and I would often lose my train of thought.  With The Bible Study App, all of the footnotes are linked.  Just tap on the footnote, read it, and go back to where you were without losing your place.

As you can see, the NICOT/NICNT within The Bible Study App gives you the best in scholarly work, while saving you valuable study time and tremendous effort.  Get the NICOT and NICNT at 40% off the regular price this week through Monday, May 27^th.

One of my favorite features in The Bible Study App is the Split Window feature.  However, when preparing for a sermon or small group lesson, sometimes two windows just aren’t enough.  For example, when I prepare for teaching, I like to compare multiple Bible translations, study Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, concordances, atlases, and my own notes I’ve taken on the Scriptures I’m studying. This is not a problem in The Bible Study Desktop App.  All I have to do is use the pop out feature in The Bible Study App.

I start with the split window feature in The Bible Study Desktop App (here’s a helpful video on split window feature in Windows) by clicking the split window button .  I then click the Pop out button  at the top right hand corner of The Bible Study App.  This opens a new pop out window in the resource that I’m already in.  I can accomplish the same task by hitting the drop down menu and choosing “Open this book in a new window”.

Next, I choose the resource that I want to view in this new window by choosing it from the drop down menu.

I continue this process until I have all of the Bibles, Study Bibles, Commentaries, etc. open that I want to view for this study.  With this option, I can view all of the resources I want at the same time and the multiple windows will sync with where I am in the main window of the app.

How do you utilize the pop out feature in The Bible Study App?

This resource contains 140 full color maps key to biblical events:

and 140 full color photographs illustrating the land, sites, and archaeology of the biblical world:

The Holman Bible Atlas begins with an introduction to the geography of the biblical world emphasizing the major physical features of the Ancient Near East with special attention given to the geographical regions of Palestine.

There are also over 20 charts that give insight into the Biblical text:

With The Bible Study App, you can easily access the maps, charts, and pictures through the Table of Contents, by chapter, or Bible section.

Enhance your Bible Study with The Holman Bible Atlas, on sale now through May 20th.

Introductions at the beginning of each biblical book highlight major themes within that book, the style of the author and his writing, and the historical and biblical context of the book. Detailed verse-by-verse notes follow the introductions and book outlines and contain helpful insights into the biblical text.

There are also over 90 excursus that help explain the thematic and theological background of the Bible text.

Students of the Bible will find new depth and insight in this work, whether newcomers to scriptural study or seasoned academics. Check out the New Interpreter’s Study Bible Notes on The Bible Study App.  Now through May 13th, you can get the New Interpreter’s Study Bible Notes, the New Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary, and the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible Complete Set for half the regular price.

This resource does just that.  This book is not written in your typical research academic resource. Rather, it has a conversational tone to which any person can relate.  A Visual Guide to Bible Events is packed with over 500 photographs and maps brings a heightened awareness to the biblical text like no other.

For example, take the seven churches of Revelation.

With the addition of the map, you can visualize how John’s letter carrier would have made a circular trip and how closely the seven churches were geographically.  You can also see the length of the Israelites’ detour around Edom in Numbers 20:14–21 and Deuteronomy 2:1–8.

Looking through the beautiful full-color photographs gives a sense of being “in the action” and gives a sense of realism and depth like no written resource could.

Another example is a section of the Jerusalem wall during Nehemiah’s time.

Or, seeing a scale model of the temple and envisioning what it would have been like to be with the early church in Solomon’s Colonnade.

Perhaps even seeing a picture of an altar to an unknown God and how that would have affected the Apostle Paul.

Bible history told and shown in this context is insightful for all those wanting to deepen their Bible knowledge.  The Bible Study App enhances this resource to strengthen your Bible study.  As you’re reading through A Visual Guide to Bible Events, tap or click on a scripture reference to instantly see the Bible text.  You can also use the split screen feature to view the articles and pictures while reading your Bible to augment your daily reading.

This week you can pick up A Visual Guide to Bible Events for Half Off the regular price now through May 6^th.  It’s a resource I know you’ll enjoy!

(1) the instructional aim of the series—giving contemporary students a basic grounding in academic New Testament studies by guiding their engagement with New Testament texts;

(2) the fact that the New Testament texts as literary unities are shaped by the educational categories and ideas of their ancient writers and readers; and

(3) the pedagogical aims of the texts themselves—their central aim being not simply to impart information but to form the theological convictions and moral habits of their readers.

Although this series is intentionally aimed at “MA students in religious and theological studies programs, seminarians, and upper-divisional undergraduates” the authors do not go into so much theological detail as to leave the rest of us lost in a sea of research.

Paideia is also different in that the series is not a “verse-by-verse” commentary, but rather looks at the final form of the Biblical text in large units of thought.

As such, each commentary is broken out into three sections:

(1) introductory matters

(2) tracing the train of thought

(3) theological issues

Paideia also has several maps, photos, and charts that help make the biblical text more accessible to those without original language, biblical and extra-biblical historical backgrounds and preparation.

Here are a few Examples:

The Paideia commentaries are even more powerful with The Bible Study App.  Use the split window to read your chosen Bible translation on one side of the screen while the corresponding Paideia commentary will sync with your reading in your split window.  Or, use the pop-out windows to view the content separately.  If you are using the Windows 7 app, this is especially helpful if you have two monitors.

Like what you see? Right now, you can get the 10 volume Paideia commentary set for 50% off the regular price through May 6^th.

The Archaeological Study Bible is a great resource.  There are 520 articles covering five main categories: Archaeological Sites, Cultural and Historical Notes, Ancient Peoples and Lands, the Reliability of the Bible, and Ancient Texts and Artifacts.  The Bible Study App enriches the Archaeological Study Bible. As you read through your Bible, the split screen and resource guide keep you synced with your reading.

Here’s an example of an article on the Zealots and Essenes (screenshots from an iPad):

Also included are almost 500 full-color photographs throughout the text.  Here’s two examples:

Throughout the text there are detailed charts like this one:

At the end of the Archaeological Study Bible there are several maps that help you get an idea of the placement of biblical events:

The authors of the Archaeological Study Bible also included detailed book introductions for every book of the Bible. Other study tools include a glossary, extensive concordance and several indexes to help you find articles relevant to your study.

The Bible Study App enhances this resource when articles reference other articles within the Archaeological Study Bible.  By tapping or clicking on the hyperlink, you can go directly to the related article, view in the Split Window, or view it in a Popup screen.

As you can see, you can spend hours learning the historical background of the Bible and the settings in which biblical events took place.  The articles and pictures will give you insights into the Bible and make you feel like you could have been there.

You can get the Archaeological Study Bible for 50% off the regular price now through April 29^th.  I hope you enjoy this resource as much as I am.

The winners were:

Monica for Best Presentation (Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cheesecake),

Cherylyn for Best Taste (Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake)

and Dave for Most Creative (Cheesecake-Stuffed, Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries).

Congratulations to our winners!

If you saw our last article on the Word Biblical Commentary (WBC) you will know that this is a hefty commentary series. Because of the vast information included in WBC, it presents some challenges for usage in a mobile platform. Each section of commentary in WBC (covering a range of verses) is further divided into a number of sub-sections which each approach the entire set of verses from different perspectives like “Bibliography”, “Translation” and more. As I mentioned before, each of these sub-sections covers the entire range of verses for the section.  If we were to attach a Bible verse location to all of them, there would be no way to distinguish in the verse chooser between the sub-sections and you’d be given multiple results for every location.

To avoid this problem, only the translation section is tied to a Bible verse location.  This means that if you select a verse in the verse chooser, you will be taken to that verse in the translation sub-section of the appropriate section in the commentary.

Why the Resource Guide Makes WBC Even More Awesome

The best way to use WBC in the Bible Study app is with the Resource Guide.  Each of the sub-sections has been individually tagged based on content, meaning that if you have a particular Bible passage open in the main window, the Resource Guide will display the commentary notes for that passage in the WBC for each of the subsections.

Using it with the Resource Guide like this makes it easy to drill down to one sub-section, then jump back up quickly and then back down to another sub-section on the same passage.

More Tips for Using WBC

When using WBC in your main window, you have the option to switch the Go To menu from grid view to list view. The list view will give you access to the full table of contents as outlined in the table of contents at the beginning of each printed volume. This is the recommended method of navigating from point to point in our version of WBC.

One more note on the WBC, if you have your main window and split window set up to track along with each other, moving the text in the other window will take you back to beginning of that section in the commentary.  You can turn off the setting that sets windows to follow one another, which is recommended when using the WBC alongside another text.

As you can see, the Word Biblical Commentary is a massive collection of great resources enhanced by The Bible Study App.  Right now, the entire 59 Volume set is on sale for $299.99. The sale price for the Word Biblical Commentary set is available now through the end of the day Monday, April 15.  Be sure to check it out!

Do you have any tips on using the Word Biblical Commentary?  How have you used it to enhance your Bible Study?

The great thing about Strong’s tagged Bibles in The Bible Study App is that you don’t need to be a scholar to use one, and yet, after a few uses, you’ll feel like a scholar. Here are some quick tips for using Strong’s tagged Bibles in The Bible Study App:

Strong’s Pop-Ups

Open the NKJV Bible with Strong’s and you’ll see that some words are a slightly different color. Tapping or clicking on those words will pop-up the Strong’s information for that word. These pop-ups contain a wealth of information, including:

1. The Strong’s number (beginning with either a “g” or an “h”) for that word.
2. A short definition for that word.
3. An outlined list of the different meanings for that word in the original language.
4. Often you will also find that another Strong’s number is included as a link. These can be similar words that you can compare or other words from which your current word selection derives its meaning.

You can also go to your settings in the The Bible Study App and turn on the setting to show Strong’s Numbers (Settings – Advanced Settings – Display and Copy Settings). The numbers for the words will appear in the Bible text. Tapping on the number will also bring up the Strong’s pop-up.

Look-Up Options

At the bottom of the Strong’s pop-up, there are two buttons that perform “look-ups” or searches based on the Strong’s number or the word in its original language.

Look-up by Strong’s Number

The first button contains the Strong’s number for your word. Clicking or tapping on this button will perform a search in your library for articles containing this Strong’s number.

Look-up by Original Language

The second button contains the word in its original language. Clicking or tapping on this word will perform a search in your library for articles about the word in its original language.

Using the Search Function

Strong’s tagged Bibles can quickly create a very accurate concordance. By entering the Strong’s number into the search bar at the top right of the The Bible Study App, you can easily find all of the places within the Bible where that specific word is used. This is different than searching for the word in its English form. In the original language, there is more than one word that can be translated as the word love, for example. Searching by the Strong’s number will find only the specific cases where the word agápē is translated as love, not one of the other forms of the word “love.” Secondly, when you have a Strong’s pop-up open, you can select the word as it appears in its original language form, like αγάπη, and copy and paste it into your search bar to find all of the places in the Greek text were this Greek word appears.

The NKJV with Strong’s is an excellent resource for diving deeper into the biblical text. It offers insight into the original languages of Scripture without requiring you to have any formal training in Greek or Hebrew.   This week the New King James Version with Strong’s Numbering is 50% Off through April 15.  Be sure to check out this great resource!