There are many great Bible software packages available today. There are numerous free apps that have considerable power and resources available.
There are also some tremendous Bible software packages that are designed for more in-depth and serious Bible study. Accordance for Mac is such a program. I purchased Accordance at a deep discount while in preaching school and its been some of the best money I've spent. If you are not familiar with Accordance, check out their website: http://www.accordancebible.com/
This is not an in-depth review of the value of Accordance (I think I could literally write a book on how much Accordance has helped me and the power of the software). One feature of which I'd like to draw attention is a particular search feature.
The real power of Accordance lies in its search capabilities, especially in the original languages. I learned a search feature today that is of great value. Ever wondered which Greek words appeared the most in a given book you are studying? For instance, in the book of Philippians, which Greek words appear the most? Usually when you determine which words crop up the most, you get an accurate indication of the main idea of the author.
In Accordance, with a few clicks, you can obtain a detailed report of which words appear the most in a given book, group of books, or the whole Bible!
1. Search the Greek text and enter "*" into the search bar, which will show every word in the book. You can limit the range by selecting which books you would like to search:
2. Run the analytic report:
3. Select "Analysis", which brings you to this report:
4. You can then sort it by which words appear the most, in descending or ascending order:
5. You can then scroll down past the pronouns, articles, etc. that are obviously going to be the most voluminous in frequency and find key verbs and nouns:
You can see the obvious value in this type of analysis.
You can also always sort by "Count up" to find all of the "hapax legomena" (words that only occur once) throughout the entire Greek New Testament.
Accordance allows for very flexible searches that are limited only by your creativity. If you are a preacher or Bible student I would highly recommend Accordance. They have reasonable packages and allow you to add modules as you go.
If you are already an Accordance owner, make sure you download their free podcast, Lighting the Lamp, which is packed with dozens of helpful tutorials. Also, I would recommend getting on their e-mail list to receive updates when modules go on sale and various tips on how to maximize Accordance's potential (that's where I got the idea for this post).
What has been your experience with Accordance?
There are also some tremendous Bible software packages that are designed for more in-depth and serious Bible study. Accordance for Mac is such a program. I purchased Accordance at a deep discount while in preaching school and its been some of the best money I've spent. If you are not familiar with Accordance, check out their website: http://www.accordancebible.com/
This is not an in-depth review of the value of Accordance (I think I could literally write a book on how much Accordance has helped me and the power of the software). One feature of which I'd like to draw attention is a particular search feature.
The real power of Accordance lies in its search capabilities, especially in the original languages. I learned a search feature today that is of great value. Ever wondered which Greek words appeared the most in a given book you are studying? For instance, in the book of Philippians, which Greek words appear the most? Usually when you determine which words crop up the most, you get an accurate indication of the main idea of the author.
In Accordance, with a few clicks, you can obtain a detailed report of which words appear the most in a given book, group of books, or the whole Bible!
1. Search the Greek text and enter "*" into the search bar, which will show every word in the book. You can limit the range by selecting which books you would like to search:
2. Run the analytic report:
3. Select "Analysis", which brings you to this report:
4. You can then sort it by which words appear the most, in descending or ascending order:
5. You can then scroll down past the pronouns, articles, etc. that are obviously going to be the most voluminous in frequency and find key verbs and nouns:
You can see the obvious value in this type of analysis.
You can also always sort by "Count up" to find all of the "hapax legomena" (words that only occur once) throughout the entire Greek New Testament.
Accordance allows for very flexible searches that are limited only by your creativity. If you are a preacher or Bible student I would highly recommend Accordance. They have reasonable packages and allow you to add modules as you go.
If you are already an Accordance owner, make sure you download their free podcast, Lighting the Lamp, which is packed with dozens of helpful tutorials. Also, I would recommend getting on their e-mail list to receive updates when modules go on sale and various tips on how to maximize Accordance's potential (that's where I got the idea for this post).
What has been your experience with Accordance?
