Customer Reviews

SwordSearcher Bible Software Version 6 For Windows With Theology,Maps,Commentary: King James, Wycliffe, Darby,Textus Receptus, Luther, Easton, Fausset, Hitchcock,Strong,Spurgeon,Albert Barnes,Burkitt Clarke, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown,Keil and Delitzsch,Newell,Poole,Scofield,Spurgeon,John Wesley,Larkin, Bullinger, and more

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In my personal categorization of Bible Software there are three main classes - First, you have the commerical "bigwigs" - Logos, QuickVerse, Bibleworks, etc. Some of these are good, some are bad. Most cost hundreds of dollars.

Second, you have "commercial but affordable software", usually written by one person or a small group of people. There are actually very few Bible software packages that fall into this class that I could find, though SwordSearcher is one of them.

Third, you have freeware and shareware packages, also usually written by a small group of people. Packages in this class range from awful to very good, with the best one being eSword.

In my experience, for the average lay person wanting to engage in a deeper study of Scripture, the quality of software in the latter two classes often rivals that of the big commercial hotshots. I found out the hard way. After spending $200 on one of the big packages I found myself continuously frustrated attempting to do even the basics - searching, cross referencing, storing of my own notes, etc. I held out longer than I should have simply because I spent so much money on the dumb thing. But in the end the pain won out and I sold it to some poor soul on eBay.

But now what to do? SwordSearcher to the rescue! For the money, SwordSearch is one of the best values out there. It's strengths are its clean and efficient interface and its search options. The effectiveness and ease of Swordsearcher's various search and indexing features simply wipes the floor with any other package I've used, freeware, shareware, or commercial. Its the only product I found that allows you to search for a specific word, topic, or verse reference across all Bibles, books, commentaries, and personal study notes with one fell swoop.

Another nice feature is it's Verse List, which consolidates all the verses from a search, or from a particular book entry, into its own pane. This allows you to actually do more with the verses without losing sight of the original list or having to work around a search results popup window.

It comes with a wide range of commentaries, dictionaries, and books, some more useful than others. However, the software is KJV-only, so if you're looking to compare various translations you won't find it here. This may or may not be a negative for you. The only other real negative that I could find is the included maps and images - they are old and archaic, and seem very out of place in such an otherwise fine product. This is easily remedied, however, by visting the swordsearcher_help yahoo group and downloading some updated maps and images. These are the only two reasons it did not garner a 5-star rating from me.

Even though I am not a "KJV-only" person, I have found SwordSearcher to be such a compelling product that I use it almost exclusively for my day-to-day study and collection of my personal commentary, notes, and illustrations. I usually only hop out of SwordSearcher to eSword when I want to do a translation comparison with some modern translations.

All in all, I highly recommend SwordSearcher.

I ordered this product via the Amazon.com site, but it was shipped from the retailer. I had it shipped at the slow 5 to 9 day rate, but it was still delivered two days after I ordered it. Apparently, the retailers, Study Lamp, provide excellent customer service.

The software itself is outstanding. There are a variety of Bibles and even Hebrew and Greek interpretation. Plus, there are numerous reputable concordances and commentaries on Biblical text. It makes doing Bible research both easy and enjoyable.

What I also liked about this software is that you can install it directly on your hard drive, and then store the CD away. I always hated having to hunt down the CD and pop it in the CD-Rom every time I wanted to access a program.

I would not hesitate to purchase from these vendors again. Thanks Study Lamp and thank you Amazon.com.

I have the older version of this program and I can recommend this highly. The program runs very well on my Dell computer and it is intutive and simple to use.

Really great features include the ability to analize the original Hebrew words, instant access to various commentaries and simple copying to Microsoft Word for ease of review. I have copied several texts over to Word and then spent my time reading them over and comparing. This is especially valuable with the various translations because it opens new insights.

If you have never used this kind of program (I had not) don't be concerned with complexity or a long learning curve. You will be up and running in very little time and searching Bible verses with ease in minutes. I have never consulted any instructions on how to use the program, yet I use it effectively and learned the program with a few minutes trying out the buttons.

A great program at a good price.

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SwordSearcher is a treasure trove of Bible and Bible study resources. I get a real blessing every time I use this product. I would recommend it to everyone. I DO recommend it to everyone! Easy and fun to use, it makes the perfect gift for yourself and the people you love.

SwordSearcher can be used by Bible scholars as well as the average Jane and Joe. Just want a quick dip? Try the Daily Devotional. Want to delve into the original Greek? It's there, too, along with commentaries, dictionaries, several languages... the list goes on and on. Want to take notes or write your own commentary? You can do that, too!

One of the neatest features in the program is that when you see a reference to a verse or passage of scripture, you can rest the cursor on the reference and the verse or passage will pop up so you can read it on the go.

Try it! You'll like it!

This is the best Bible study software I have ever used. I reference it frequently and am NEVER disappointed. I would like to see a couple more Bible versions but the creator updates this program often and current owners of the program are eligible for upgrades at a discounted price. I have purchased many programs and none come close to the quality of SWORD SEARCHER. Do yourself a favor and by this program.

I have been using SwordSearcher for a few years now and have found it to be a powerful tool for Bible study. I have encouraged others to purchase it and have given it as a gift to some missionaries and the adult Sunday school teacher where I fellowship. They love it also.

Novice, Bible student or teacher of the Word this is a great resource to have in your library. You will not regret it.

First I would like to thank the 4 people who wrote reviews for this software, it was based on this that I bought the tool. And the tool is more than I've dreamed of. I'm writing a book based upon my experiences with Christianity and now I've got an excellent companion reference than enables me to go as deeply into the Greek as I care to. I've only had Sword Search for a day but I feel like a kid on Christmas. In the past I've had to dive into the Greek alphabet in order to look up words in my Greek Dictionary. Now I can read my bible,work on the novel and if I have a question I get it quickly answered. Sometimes, there are things I've suspected in the NT such as things that were out place, or just didn't fit: I'm now able to easily reconcile these sorts of things. Anyway, I'm very pleased with this tool.

I've been using SwordSearcher for a few years now (I have another review on this list for SwordSearcher 4.8).

Fast searches, versatility, customization and great support are what you get with SwordSearcher 5! What a great Christmas present! Don't let the low price fool you - this is an A-1 quality program - a real joy to use!

*You can compare different Bible versions, side-by-side.
*It comes with a daily morning and evening devotional, daily Proverb and images galore!
*And if the 'bookcase' full of Bibles, Commentaries, Books and Dictionaries that comes with the program isn't enough, there are websites with more user modules available as free downloads.
*You can even create your own commentary or book.

SwordSearcher is a terrific program whether you're a serious Bible student or just a toe-dipper.

I highly recommend this program!

This is very easy software to use. It has many unique features that make Bible study fast and effective. All references from any resource to a verse are linked right next to the verse. Everything is indexed so the program is very fast. User material can be created and incorporated easily, and a wealth of user material is available on the web. See the list of features in a previous review.

The author is very responsive to suggestions through an interactive forum and an active community of users. This is the best Bible software available of the many that I have used.

We discovered this about a year ago, and ended up gifting a number of copies to friends and family who are avid in their Bible study.

This software is so packed with features and tools, I hardly know where to begin.

Want to see the original text (Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew) you can pull it up. Want a different version than the King James? It's in there. Want to see commentaries on various chapters or verses by luminaries such as Spurgeon? There is a commentary panel that pertains to the verse you are reading.

Multiple panels allow you to see reference information. The tabs are easy to navigate. The KJV is linked to Strong's Lexicon, a familiar tool to most who study the Bible.) There is an "ESI word-study tool that shows which Greek or Hebrew words from Strong's Lexicon that were translated into a given English word, which is similar to Young's Analytical Concordance. (When you dig down into the actual words of scripture that were translated into English.) There is a search function by topic, should you want to find, let's say, verses that pertain to any particular topic or person (Mary, King David, Samuel, etc.)

There are maps. There are illustrations and charts.

The author, Brandon Staggs, has made this his life's work, in part, to create a scholar's Bible tool that an average reader of the Bible can also benefit from. It's fabulous. And by the way, makes a great gift for your church or pastor or anyone who is big on Bible study.