When it rains it pours. The past couple weeks I have been doing my best to keep up with a flood of new Accordance modules which have come to me for final checks. Be looking for lots of new goodies to appear very soon. In the meantime, you can enjoy one of these new releases today: the Revised Edition of Expositor's Bible Commentary is now complete.

We released the New Testament volumes of the Revised EBC last October, with a promise to release the Old Testament volumes "in a few more weeks." As weeks stretched into months, we've received more and more "When?" questions via phone, email, and forums. If you've ever wondered why we are usually so reluctant to forecast release dates, now you know: it's just too easy for those dates to slip, and we are unwilling to sacrifice quality just for the sake of meeting a deadline.

On the other hand, I'm personally encouraged that we received so many requests for the release of the Old Testament volumes. It shows that many of you are preaching and teaching portions of the Hebrew Bible, rather than neglecting it in favor of the New Testament. Those of you who are should be very pleased with the addition of these new volumes, while those of you who are currently focused on the New Testament will also benefit from this update, which now includes extensive hyperlinking to other Accordance resources.

All in all, those of you who have already purchased the Revised EBC will find that your patience has been rewarded with an excellent commentary in a super-convenient form. Just choose Check for Content Updates… from the Accordance menu to download the completed commentary.

As for those of you who haven't yet picked up the new EBC, what are you waiting for?

We have three new modules available in Accordance from Zondervan’s “How to” series. These books are great resources for those interested in getting the most out of their Bible study.

How to Choose a Translation for all its Worth: $15

I was recently asked in an Accordance seminar about which Bible translations I recommend. My typical answer is that I recommend using at least two or three Bible translations that are based on different translation philosophies, meaning that you want at least one literal translation (word for word) and one dynamic translation (meaning for meaning). Literal translations attempt to use one English word for each original Greek or Hebrew word in the original manuscripts. These translations make it much easier to study the Bible using Strong’s numbers, since there is usually a word in the original language that lies behind each word in your English Bible. So why do some scholars believe a literal translation philosophy is the wrong approach? The challenge is that languages are not 1:1. Sometimes, the original Greek or Hebrew word used in a manuscript does not have an ideal corresponding English word that perfectly conveys the nuance of that word. This is when dynamic translators attempt to find a cluster of English words that more closely captures the meaning of the original text. This isn’t just the case for words, but also for phrases. When you add to this the challenge of translating documents that were written hundreds/thousands of years ago, you can see how the task of translating the Bible is quite challenging.

How to Choose a Translation for all its Worth takes the mystery and confusion out of this process and explains in everyday language the different translation philosophies. It also discusses some of the popular translations available today and highlights their potential strengths and weaknesses. If you want to know more about which modern translations are literal, which are dynamic, and why the translators made the choices they did, this book is right for you.

How to Read the Bible Book by Book: $24

Reading the Bible book by book always sounds like such a noble goal, doesn’t it? You start out with the best of intentions on January 1. You’ve failed in the past, but this time will be different. This time...you are determined. You start in Genesis and things couldn’t be going more smoothly. The exciting narratives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have captured your attention. Joseph keeps you on the edge of your seat with his incredible dream-decoding skills and his dazzling coat of many colors. Exodus starts out just as smooth with a burning bush that reminds you of that time you watched Prince of Egypt in IMAX. The law in Exodus 20 gets a little more challenging, but you are determined to stay focused. You are a rock. Then something happens. Somewhere between the detailed instructions for the tabernacle and Levitical law you start losing momentum, and by the time you come across the first list of kings’ names that you can’t pronounce, you decide to take a break, just for a couple of days. Before you know it, you’re totally off the wagon and trying to convince yourself that watching Mel Gibson’s The Passion basically gives you the gist of the New Testament.

Many of us have have tried reading through the whole Bible and many of us get stuck at some point. How to Read the Bible Book by Book is a guided tour through the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. While it's focus is not necessarily on reading the whole Bible chronologically or canonically, it will certainly aid those who wish to use it for this purpose. For each book of the Bible, the authors start with a quick snapshot, then expand to help you understand the deeper meaning and context behind the text. This will allow you to approach each book of the Bible on its own terms, understanding the unique purpose and intention of the authors. If you want to read through the whole Bible, or if you want to know more about the particular book you are currently studying, How to Read the Bible Book by Book is for you.

How to Read the Bible for all its Worth: $22

Have you ever wondered why some books of the Bible are written in a completely different style than others? When I was a young, this was particularly confusing for me because I thought the Bible was one big book. When I came to realize that the Bible is a compilation of books written over hundreds of years by different authors with a variety of goals, it seemed fairly obvious that they would be written in different styles and genres. However, it can be challenging to know how these stylistic differences should influence and inform the way we read the Bible. This is where How to Read the Bible for all its Worth comes in. Writing in a conversational tone, the authors explain how to read the Bible in way that takes into account the genre and style of the authors. If you’ve ever read a Psalm followed by a chapter in Proverbs followed by one of Paul’s letters, you know how valuable this information will be. How to Read the Bible for all its Worth will help you understand the Bible in a whole new light.

Each of these books stands on its own, but together this set is fantastic. If you're interested in all three we have great news, the entire set of How to books is on sale for a limited time for just $49. Be sure to pick up this informative and useful set at the best price possible.

Yesterday I showed how easy it is to create a custom group of modules using the beefed up library search capabilities of Accordance 9.4. In today's post, I want to show you a few things creating these groups enables you to do.

Open every module in the group: Yesterday I created a group of every module containing books published by Zondervan. Having found all these modules and put them together in a convenient place, I could now just double-click the folder for my Zodervan group in the Library window to open every single module in that group! Each module will be opened in a separate tab, and you can use command-} or command-{ to cycle forward and back through all of those tabs. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with all the modules in a group.

Amplify to a specific module in a group: Let's say I'm reading about the battle of Gibeon in Joshua 10 and I want to read about Gibeon in the Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible (ZEB). I can't remember which tool category it belongs to, but I know I put all my Zondervan resources together into a group. So I right- or control-click the word Gibeon in verse 1, then go to the My Groups submenu. As I drill down into the Zondervan group, I get a listing of all those modules. When I select ZEB, it opens right to the article on Gibeon.

Search all modules in a group: Let's say I want to see what all my Zondervan resources have to say about Gibeon. I can simply right- or control-click the word Gibeon, then choose my Zondervan group from the Search All submenu of the contextual menu. This will open up a Search All window and find every occurrence of Gibeon in every module in the group. The Search All window defaults to searching all English language fields, but if I wanted to search for images of Gibeon, I could change the language pop-up menu from English to Caption and re-run the search. That search finds maps and photos of Gibeon from ZIBBCOT, ZEB, Halley's Bible Handbook, and the Archaeological Study Bible.

These are just a few ways organizing your modules into groups can make an immediate difference in your studies.

Anyone who has ever tried to read through the entire Bible has inevitably found it to be an uneven experience. Some portions, like the Old Testament narratives or the Gospels and Acts are engaging, easy to read, and thoroughly entertaining. Other portions, like the New Testament epistles, Psalms, and Proverbs, are rich in theological discussion, inspirational poetry, and practical wisdom. But then there are those portions which are difficult to read and hard to get excited about: the genealogies in Genesis and Chronicles, the intricate plans for the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus, the censuses in Numbers, and the detailed instructions on how to perform various sacrifices in Leviticus. We dutifully try to read these passages, all the while thinking to ourselves, "Well, this is in the Bible, so I guess it must be important." Unfortunately, even when we do succeed in slogging through these passages, it's not always apparent what good they did us.

Still, the more we read the Bible, the more we begin to see how these tedious passages are the key to understanding many of the more interesting ones. For example, the books of Samuel speak a great deal about the tabernacle and priestly practices. Eli and his sons, and later Saul, are rejected because of religious failures which may not immediately strike us as that big a deal. And what about poor Uzzah, whose only sin seems to have been wanting to keep the ark of the covenant from falling to the ground? How can we understand these passages unless we have a firm grasp of the cultic background they address?

Artistic depiction of the death of Uzzah
from Carta's Encyclopedia of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem

Or what about New Testament books like the epistle to the Hebrews? That epistle discusses the Jewish temple, priesthood, and sacrifices in great detail, comparing them and contrasting them with Jesus Christ and the Christian church. The more you know of the former the better you can grasp what the author is saying about the latter.

When I was a kid, I loved watching old black-and-white episodes of Zorro, the swashbuckling hero of Spanish California. After foiling some plan of the corrupt Spanish governor or defeating outlaws of every conceivable stripe, Zorro would carve the letter Z into a nearby wall or tree or—most satisfying of all—into the clothing of his now disarmed and cowering enemy. The mark of Zorro struck fear into the heart of bullies and brigands while promising freedom and justice to the people.

In the (hopefully!) less violent world of Biblical studies, the letter Z stands not for Zorro, but for Zondervan, and while it may not promise liberation from tyranny, it does promise reference works and study aids of the highest quality. We are therefore very pleased to announce the release of three new Accordance modules bearing the mark of the Z: ZEB, ZIBBCOT, and ZIBBCNT.

The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible (ZEB) consists of five volumes, more than 5,000 pages, and more than 7,500 articles on every conceivable subject related to the Bible. ZEB has been a classic Bible study resource for more than thirty years, and this new edition has been thoroughly revised to provide up-to-date entries based on the latest scholarship. Not only is it packed with useful information; it's also packed with 1800 high-quality color photographs, maps, and illustrations—all of which can now easily be mined using Accordance 9's new Search All feature. Swish!

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the Old Testament (ZIBBCOT) is a five-volume commentary which focuses on explaining the historical and cultural background of the Hebrew Bible. Illustrated with lavish, full color photos and graphics, these commentaries walk you through the text verse by verse, offering fascinating and relevant information about each passage. For example, when ZIBBCOT discusses the ten plagues against Egypt, it explains that the ancient Egyptians believed that Pharaoh was responsible for maintaining order and holding back the forces of chaos. Understanding this makes it clear that the plagues were designed to show the superiority of the Hebrews' God to the supposedly divine pharoah. Swish! Swish!

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the New Testament (ZIBBCNT) is a four-volume commentary which focuses on explaining the historical and cultural background of the New Testament. It is likewise richly illustrated and gives helpful background information about each passage. For example, ZIBBCNT explains Jesus' discussion of divorce in light of the background and circumstances of certificates of divorce in Judaism. Understanding the specifics of Jewish practice provides the setting for a richer understanding of Jesus' teaching. Swish! Swish! Swish!

These three excellent Zondervan offerings can all be purchased at a significant introductory discount and downloaded right away through Accordance 9's Easy Install feature. Want to sleep sound tonight under the mark of the Z? All you need do is click, click, click!

We are delighted to post this new press release:

Today Zondervan announced that it is discontinuing its Pradis Bible Software for Windows and will be licensing its materials to other Windows Bible software developers. This is a major shift in policy and welcome news for Windows users who did not want to use a separate Bible program exclusively for Zondervan content. The first of Zondervan's new partners is naturally and excitedly publicizing this long-awaited change, and some people may be getting the mistaken impression that this product has somehow replaced Pradis as the exclusive platform for Zondervan content.

What many people don't realize is that Pradis has never been the exclusive software platform for Zondervan content. On the Macintosh platform, MacBible existed before Pradis was ever developed. Then, ten years ago, Zondervan discontinued MacBible and partnered with Accordance to deliver its award-winning Bible reference materials to Mac users.

Zondervan released its first Accordance-compatible CD-ROM in February of 1999, and since that time has released numerous titles such as the Expositor's Bible Commentary, NIDNTT and NIDOTTE, the Zondervan Pictorial Encylopedia of the Bible, the NIV Study Bible notes, and much more. What's more, our partnership with Zondervan remains strong, and there's a lot more Zondervan material in the pipeline.

So while Windows Bible software users are partying like its 1999 while they continue to wait for Zondervan materials to be released for other programs, Accordance users can quietly smile and keep using their Zondervan resources today.