INSTRUCTIONS

Introduction

The purpose of this post is to help you acquire the most benefit from this blog and its resources with the least effort.

Currently this includes:

General Web Information – Caution!
References – How to use Footnotes and Endnotes
Categories
e-Sword – Recommendations for people who are thinking about acquiring e-Sword

General Web Information – CAUTION!

Some of the best informational web sites I reference have been developed over a long period of time and have not kept up with Improved web site security. Yet, I use them a lot and do not enter any private information into them or give them permission to access my system, e.g. put cookies on my system. A few sites may ask you to sign up, online, to receive a service or a product. Anytime a web site asks you to enter personal information, your name, email, phone number, etc. or give them your permission to access your system be careful. Check the site’s name and security status in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. If you see “Not Secure", typing any private information into that web site or giving them permission to access your system is risky. Someone may be able to capture what you have typed and use it for their own purpose. This is not unique to this blog. This is a general principle you should keep in mind when using web sites.

References – How to use Footnotes and Endnotes

Most of the Bible Research I do is done with e-Sword and some of its resources. If I used these as the only references for my blog, it would have the same problems as using published books for references - it would be difficult for you to review these resources and use them as your own. Therefore, I try to make my references as web based as possible. As a result, you have access to these resources to answer some of your own questions. I may find an answer I am looking for in my e-Sword resources. But I will go looking for that same web-based solution to share with you as a reference if I can. For example, look at the following by clicking on each one of them; and after you have look at each one, click their tab to close them;

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Eusebius’ Church History
Josephus’ War of the Jews and Antiquities of the Jews

These are in both e-Sword and on the web and I will reference the web-based solutions to give you easier access to these resources.

Generally, there are two types of references, Footnotes and Endnotes. Footnotes are usually short, auxiliary information found on the bottom of a page in a book. In this blog environment, clicking on their number in a narrative, displays the Footnote. Endnotes are at the end of the post and there are pointers throughout the narrative that point to specific Endnotes.

There are three types of pointers for Footnotes and Endnotes. Footnotes use a bracketed [integer] to view them. Endnotes use a Bracketed [Roman Numeral] to open an Endnote web site and , if the Endnote does not have a web site it uses a curly bracketed {Roman Numeral} to indicate it has a source listing without a web site.

When you are reading a narrative and you come across a Footnote or Endnote with a web site and you place the cursor over the number, a small hand pointing at the number will appear. If you click on that, it will open the corresponding Footnote or Endnote web site. If the Endnote has more than one web address and/or some additional comments, these will not be included. I suggest when you plan to open a web site, scroll the narrative so the bracketed number is in one of the first two lines on the top of your display. This way, when you close the web site and it returns to where it left, it will be easy to locate where you stop reading and continue from there. I recommend during your learning process; you open and close several of these.

When you are reading the narrative and come to a curly bracketed number, this indicates there is a corresponding Endnote, but it does not have a web address. If you place your cursor over this number nothing will appear and if you click on it nothing will happen.

Most of the Endnotes in this blog have a web address and, sometimes, comments on how to use that web site. If you plan to go to this web address, you will need to note the comments before you click on the web address. When you click on a Foot note or Endnote with a web address, it will open this on a new tab. When you want to leave that display, close the tab. Do not click the close button on the far right. It will close the blog. This will not hurt anything. It is just a nuisance to have to restart the blog and get back to where you were.

Note: When I go to a web site, I am looking for a solution to a specific problem. While the web site may have other data, I may only take the data I was looking for..

e-Sword

Recommendations for people who are thinking about acquiring e-Sword

Here is the link to the “free” (small fee for Mac products and requests for donations), Bible study software (e-Sword): http://www.e-sword.net/, which enables you to learn more, about the Bible and the cultures behind it. e-Sword is highly functional, easy to use and, unlike Bible study software that uses proprietary resources, it interconnects resources from different publishers, which provides access to more resources. This software is available for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10; and Apple Mac, iPad, and iPhone. (I have only used e-Sword on a non-Mac computer. So, I cannot help you much on the other platforms.)

I suggest you visit this site and view “Features” Also, here are two reviews of e-Sword you might find useful:

The functionality described in these reviews is only a small part of the functionality available through e-Sword – some of which are within e-Sword itself and others that are available through free applications which can be downloaded. e-Sword has an astounding number of free resources.

If cost is a consideration, look at the initial cost of the engine, the cost of added modules, the annual cost, and the cost of upgrades. These are all free in e-Sword.

The basic e-Sword startup process is to download e-Sword to your system from the above web site. Then, once you have downloaded and opened it, you can go to the menu option Download and download additional Bibles, Commentaries, Dictionaries, Devotions, Graphics, and Reference Books – most of this is free. You can download multiple books from various categories at the same time. Since most of the books are text only, they neither take long to download nor require much space – if you have a reasonable internet speed. You might want to start by downloading just one or two books from different categories. You can always go back and download more. You need at least one in each category to see how they interact.

The Download list includes both free books and books for purchase. When a for-sale (Premium) book is available in both hard-copy and e-Sword format, the e-Sword format is generally less expensive - and is searchable and cross-referenceable with other books in your e-Sword library.

Here is a basic free set of books I recommend:

Bibles:

ASV (American Standard Version)
CEV (Contemporary English Version)
ESV (English Standard Version)
GNB (Good News TranslationISV (International Standard Version)
MKJV (Modern King James Version)

Commentaries:

Albert Barnes (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible)
Adam Clarke (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible)
John Gill (John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible)
Vincent’s Word Studies (Word Studies in the New Testament [M. R. Vincent])

Dictionaries:

ISBE (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
KJC (King James Concordance)
Torrey (Torrey’s New Topical Textbook)

Graphics

ABS (American Bible Society Maps)
Timelines (Bible Timelines)

References

Antiquities of the Jews - By Flavius Josephus

References

Fox’s Book of Martyrs - By John Fox
History of the Christian Church – by Philip Schaff
Sketches of Jewish Social Life – by Alfred Edersheim
The Christian Faith – by Dallas M. Roark
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah – by Alfred Edersheim
Wars of the Jews - By Flavius Josephus

I have a lot more than these on my PC. But you should build a library which is most useful and comfortable to you.

Another source for reference books to add to your e-Sword library is the e-Sword User Group web site. You can reach this by going: 1) to the e-Sword menu item Help > User Group or 2) directly to Free Bible Study Content (for e-Sword) . There are over 8,000 free e-Sword modules on this site and some of them are multivolume sets.. You will need to create a free account by clicking the Create Account button in the upper, right-hand corner of this site before you can download modules from this site. While all the modules on this site are free, the managers of this site want to be able to track who is downloading and what is being downloaded.

Be sure to look at the e-Sword Help file (the menu item Help > Contents …). It is searchable and extremely helpful!

e-Sword is constantly being improved and every so often a free update is made available. Therefore, periodically you need to look in your Help file to read your version number and look at the e-Sword site to see what version is current. If a newer version is available, you can upgrade, free of charge.

If you have any questions about e-Sword, please feel free to contact me using a blog Comment.

INSTRUCTIONS

Introduction

General Web Information – CAUTION!

References – How to use Footnotes and Endnotes

Categories

e-Sword