2012 July Archive - Laridian Bible Software

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Archive for July, 2012

New for PocketBible: Zondervan Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

Posted on: July 31st, 2012 by Michelle Stramel 2 Comments

Why should you take the time to learn more about the culture and land of the biblical world? The answer is simple: doing so will revolutionize what you see when reading your Bible. The Zondervan Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, now available for PocketBible, offers a fascinating and inspiring portal to the biblical world.

As the Holy Spirit led the inspired authors of the Bible to write, He also led them to fill the pages of the Bible with vibrant images drawn from the culture, natural history, and landscape around them. Using such vivid imagery as looms, donkeys, water cisterns, grapes, sackcloth, and shepherds makes what they say both more beautiful and more memorable. These images stimulate our imagination, animate our interest, and make the abstract clearer.

Today we live in a world of smartphones, grocery stores and airplanes, and these illustrations are unlikely to relate to our everyday life. As students of the Bible, we need someone to explain both the meaning and significance of the imagery found in the biblical text which is exactly what the Zondervan Dictionary of Biblical Imagery does.

Entries explain images that correspond to a cultural artifact from the biblical world (such as arrow or sandal), a component of natural history (such as fox or fig tree), a named place (such as Mount Sinai or Nazareth), or a component of the Promised Land’s physical geography (such as mountain or wilderness). Each entry contains a description of the element or image, examples of how the image is used in the biblical text, and appropriate black and white photographs and maps that further illustrate the ideas presented.

Zondervan Dictionary of Biblical Imagery sells for $23.99 and can be used with PocketBible for iOS, Android, Windows PC and Windows Mobile. It is also available for use with MyBible for Palm OS.

PocketBible Bookmark Basics

Posted on: July 25th, 2012 by Michelle Stramel 5 Comments

The bookmark feature in PocketBible is meant to be used the same way you would use a bookmark in your printed Bibles or books. To provide a method for easily returning to a place that you think you might want to go back.

Put a bookmark on a Bible verse and it will be shared between all Bibles.

Put a bookmark in a book other than the Bible and it will take you back to the start of the table of contents entry for the section of text you’re reading. So don’t be surprised when you return to a bookmark in a reference book and you find it is a few paragraphs earlier than what you remember setting it at.

How do you set a bookmark in the different versions of PocketBible?

iOS – Hold down your finger on a verse and you’ll get a context menu. Choose Menu and then “Bookmark Verse #”. With the iPad version, use the B’Marks button on the toolbox to easily view your bookmarked verses. If you turn your iPod touch or iPhone to landscape, we use the extra room on the toolbar for a “Bookmarks” button which serves the same purpose.
Windows PC – use your right-click menu to set a bookmark. You can delete it from the personalization window.
Windows Mobile - press and hold your stylus on the reference you want to add or choose Bookmarks from the Edit menu.
Palm OS – from the menu choose Edit | Bookmarks.
Android OS – bookmarks are planned but not yet available.

How do you delete a bookmark? The same way you added it! If you try to set a bookmark on a verse or place you’ve already bookmarked, instead of an “add” option, you’ll get a “delete” option.

Do you like things organized? Use categories when you store your bookmarks. For example, you might want to organize your bookmarks by topics such as “salvation” and “repentance.”

Of course, you don’t have to use categories – you can keep your bookmarks “uncategorized.” Conversely, you can place a verse in more than one category if you’d like. Keep in mind that if you delete a bookmark from a category, it is only deleted from that specific category. When you delete an entire category, you’re only deleting the category. Any remaining bookmarks in the category will show up as being uncategorized.

If you’ve already whole-heartedly embraced this feature and have tons of bookmarks, make sure you are backing them up or synchronizing with our server. There are instructions for this in the help for each version of PocketBible.

How are you using bookmarks? Let us know in the comments.

New for PocketBible: Halley’s Bible Handbook

Posted on: July 24th, 2012 by Michelle Stramel 2 Comments

Halley’s Bible Handbook is a world-renowned Bible handbook that has been treasured by generations of Bible readers for its clarity, insight, and usefulness. The 25th edition of this classic title is now available for use with PocketBible.

Halley’s Bible Handbook makes the Bible’s wisdom and message accessible. Whether you are new to the Bible or have read it many times, you will find insights that can give you a firm grasp of God’s Word. It will help you develop an appreciation for the cultural, religious, and geographic settings in which the story of the Bible unfolds. You will see how its different themes fit together in a remarkable way. And you will see the heart of God and the person of Jesus Christ revealed from Genesis to Revelation.

In addition to its section by section commentary, the PocketBible edition of this handbook includes the full color pictures, maps and charts.

The handbook was born out of Henry H. Halley’s conviction that everyone ought to be a devoted reader of the Bible. His interesting story (links to PDF) is a testimony to a man who lived his beliefs.

Halley’s Bible Handbook sells for $19.99 and can be used with PocketBible for iOS, Android, Windows PC and Windows Mobile. It is also available for use with MyBible for Palm OS.

Shortcuts for turning on/off Strong’s Numbers in PocketBible Bibles

Posted on: July 5th, 2012 by Michelle Stramel 3 Comments

Do you own a PocketBible Bible that features Strong’s Numbers? The possibilities include:

While you probably chose these Bibles because of the Strong’s numbers and links they provide to included and related dictionaries, it is sometimes nice to turn them off! Especially when you are simply reading the Bible text. Here’s the quickest way to do that in each version of PocketBible:

Windows PC – Use the keys CTRL + U. This keyboard combination quickly toggles the Strong’s numbers on and off. You can also go to the menu and choose View and click the option on and off there. The toggle will work for viewing the text in a Bible window or in “hover” mode when you are hovering over a verse link.
iPad – tap on the Settings icon (looks like a gear) on the toolbar and tap on the menu item “Strong’s Numbers.” You can also find the option via the pop-up menu when you tap and hold on a book and the menu button on the toolbar (Menu | Settings).
iPhone/iPod touch – tap and hold any place in an open book to get a pop-up menu. Choose Menu and tap on “Strong’s Numbers” to turn the numbers on and off. The menu button on the toolbar (Menu | Settings) will also provide this option.
Android OS – Bibles with Strong’s numbers cannot yet be viewed with PocketBible for Android but it is at the top of our list.
Windows Mobile – tap View, Options, and Show Strong’s Numbers.
Palm OS – tap Options, and Strong’s Numbers.

Related article: Accomplishing Word Studies in PocketBible.

PocketBible for iOS users: Have you discovered Autostudy?

Posted on: July 1st, 2012 by Michelle Stramel 9 Comments

Sometimes a verse hits you right in the heart and you want to know everything about it. That is what Autostudy does for you. It tells you everything there is to know about any one verse (or word) in your PocketBible library…in just a few seconds.

What do you need to accomplish an Autostudy?

Currently this feature is available exclusively for those who have downloaded the free version of PocketBible 2 for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) and purchased the Advanced Feature Set ($4.99 at our website). We hope to roll it into other versions of PocketBible as we go along because it is such a useful tool.

How do you produce an Autostudy?

It couldn’t be simpler. With PocketBible open and a Bible translation onscreen, hold down your finger on a verse and a menu will pop-up. Choose menu and then Autostudy verse. You can do the same with any word in the Bible.

What does Autostudy give you?

As mentioned previously, Autostudy tells you everything there is to know about a verse or word based on your personal PocketBible library. When you pick a verse to Autostudy, PocketBible will provide information regarding that verse based on other Bibles, commentary, dictionaries, etc. that you have installed. You can choose to see everything in your library or just items of a specific category (i.e. Other Translations, Exhaustive Concordances, Commentary). Under the Settings you can choose to exclude specific Bibles or books from results.

For example, if you chose to Autostudy John 3:16 and chose Other Translations in the options, you would see how John 3:16 reads in all your Bible translations.

Your results will vary with a word or verse Autostudy. The word Autostudy is going to offer information from word-based resources such as dictionaries. The verse Autostudy will offer information from verse-based resources such as Bibles and commentary.

You can take your Autostudy results and copy them to another program, save as HTML or plain text or print with or without the formatting (printing requires a printer with AirPrint support). If you don’t like the formatting, you can change this on the Autostudy menu by choosing to Customize CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). If you need a primer on CSS, check out this Guide to Cascading Style Sheets.

Questions about this PocketBible feature, let us know in the comments.