A friend first introduced me to Accordance back in the early 1990s. That was, if I’m correct, version 1.4. Ever since then, I’ve been periodically updating and tinkering around with the program.
In November of 2015, I decided I wanted to outline the entire Bible. (No small task, right?) Back in 1975 I started such a project, but because of various circumstances, I dropped it. Now, in 2019, I have accomplished about 45% of my goal. I’ve finished Job—which was very challenging to understand, much less outline – and am about 1/3 of the way through the Psalms. I’m convinced that because of Accordance, this time I’ll be able to see this project through to completion.
As I read a text, I use multiple panes: one Hebrew text (Biblia Hebraica tagged), one English text (New American Standard Bible, 1995), one LXX text (Rahifs tagged), and the Instant Details pane. Because the BH & NASB are mutually tagged, when I put my cursor on an English word in the NASB, the Hebrew text is highlighted at the appropriate point. This feature is immensely helpful for increasing both my familiarity with the Hebrew vocabulary and for checking the parsing of the words in the original language.
If I didn’t have Accordance as a study tool, I know I wouldn’t be able to see this project through to the end. Note that I do this outlining as my “quiet time,” and I can assure you it has been more rewarding than I ever would have imagined. I can heartily recommend outlining for every serious Bible student.
Lee O’Kelley is the proprietor of Lee O’Kelley Photography. Check out a selection of his portfolio on Facebook!
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