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Biblical Studies (Divinity): BibleWorks

Your virtual reference room.

BibleWorks Search Interface

1. Search Entry Area (Left panel), search for a verse or for a word or phase from the search panel. You can choose your search version (e.g. NIV).

2. Browse Area (Middle panel), results from your search appear in the Browse panel.  The little computer with a check mark icon will let you choose your display versions. Recommend choosing several English translations, the BGT (BW combined Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament/Septuagint), and WTT (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS)). The footprints will let you toggle between seeing the selected verse, and all the verses.

3. Analysis Area (Right panel), displays any dictionary, lexicon, or other research context for the word that your mouse is on in the Browse panel. To freeze the pane, hold down shift. You can change the default reference/lexical tools that display here. 

Note: This screenshot is from BW 7 and may be slightly different from BW 8.

Hebrew & Greek Searches

HEBREW

  • Make sure you select a Hebrew Text (WTT) as your search version
  • BibleWorks uses a BibleWorks Hebrew font with right-to-left entry in the search entry box
  • Search entry may consist of inflected, lexical, or root forms, wildcards, grammatical tags, a phrase consisting of these elements, and combinations of these expressions with the search commands.
  • Entering Hebrew Characters

GREEK

  • Make sure you select a Greek Text (BGT: BW's combined Nestle-Aland and LXX) as your search version
  • BibleWorks uses a BibleWorks Greek font 
  • Entering Greek Characters

Place your cursor on a Greek or Hebrew word, right-click, and search on: 

  • Lemma: results returned on all occurences of the word regardless of inflection (endings)
  • Inflected: results returned only on the occurence of the exact spelling of the word or phrase
  • Root: results returned of all the words that share the root of the word you've highlighted
  • Tag: results returned on the tag associated with your highlighted selection.

Sample Searches

Simple Verse Search
Enter the range of verses using the full book name or the proper abbreviation for the biblical book
Ex. 2 timothy 1:1-5 | Ex. gen 3:2

Simple Word Search
Put a period before the word and a space between a 2-word search
Ex. .love | Ex. .love faith

Searching for synonyms with "OR"
Put a slash before the search words
Ex. /man rib (verse contains man or rib)

Searching for a Phrase
Put a single apostrophe before the search terms
Ex. 'god is love

About BibleWorks

BibleWorks is a popular bible software program and is installed on all of the Divinity library's computers. This page highlights some useful resources to help you get started in using BibleWorks. 

Helpful Links & Reviews

BibleWorks is available for individual purchase from their website: http://www.bibleworks.com

Special Note: BibleWorks 8 is installed on all of the computers in the Duke Divinity School Library. 

Helpful Reviews & Links:

Texts and Tools in BW

Texts: BibleWorks comes with many major English translations: NRSV, NIV, RSV, KJV, ESV, and many more. BW comes with Greek NT texts, LXX texts, and the Hebrew OT (BHT).

Lexicons and Dictionaries: Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon (HEBREW), Greek Grammar: Beyond Basics (Wallace), Louw-Nida, Liddell-Scott (GREEK); TWOT (HEBREW). BDAG and HALOT must be purchased separately. 

Bible Abbreviations

gen psa mat 2ti
exo pro mar tit
lev isa luk phm
num jer joh heb
deu lam act jam
jos eze rom 1pe
jdg dan 1co 2pe
rut hos 2co 1jo
1sa joe gal 2jo
2sa amo eph 3jo
1ki oba phi jud
2ki jon col rev
1ch mic 1th
2ch nah 2th
ezr hab 1ti
neh zep
est hag
job zec
mal