Why I like e-sword

There is a lot of great Bible study software out there ... or so I'm told.  Most of it costs money -- some quite a bit -- and since I have the spiritual gift of being a cheapskate, I can't actually speak to how good any of it is.  I can talk about why I like a really nice free program, e-sword.

A typical screen for me:  Bible and commentaries open.

E-sword is, for me, essentially a huge library of resources.  It provides search functions and other tools for moving around the biblical text, but it also allows you to take notes, compare parallel passages or different versions, and probably a lot more that I haven't even figured out how to do yet.  The best part, as far as I'm concerned, is the immense quantity (and quality) of other resources there are.

There are hundred of dictionaries and commentaries available; pretty much every major publication that's in the public domain has been converted to an e-sword module.  This includes huge multi-volume sets like Calvin's Commentaries and the Pulpit Commentary as well as smaller, more obscure books.  Quality necessarily varies, both due to the books' natures themselves and to the skill and dedication of the various compilers.

There are also thousands of public domain Christian works that aren't keyed to the Scriptures, but are presented as fairly basic text files.  I find these less useful, but it's still nice to be able to have them on hand if you need them.

This huge library of resources is due to the open nature of the software and the large community of users producing and using modules.  While there are some modules that must be bought -- usually newer publications and Bible translations -- most of them are completely free.  BibleSupport.com is the semi-official site for users to collect and download modules, and it's well worth looking around to see what's there.

Finally, I like that my favorite Bible translation, the English Standard Version, is one of the initial free downloads offered.  I could fill another whole post with how much I love Crossway Books for making the ESV available for free on virtually every digital platform, but suffice to say that finding it on e-sword was one reason I settled on it as my go-to translation.

So e-sword is free, it's easy to use, and there's a ton of good material ... what's not to like?