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 - Indispensable.I was late to the game... I bought Logos my first year in seminary, and though I certainly don't regret doing so, I wish I'd purchased this alongside it. Those who know anything about Bibleworks and Logos know what the relative strengths and weaknesses of each product are, so I'll skip that discussion. Instead, I'll just repeat what others have said better: this program is essential for anyone in this modern age who intends to seriously study Biblical languages, or for anyone who just wants to explore those languages as they read their English Bibles. The interface is so intuitive that once you learn a few basic processes, you'll be moving among resources at turbo-speeds. In addition to all the things you'd expect from a heralded, high-end program designed around language study - plenty of grammars, lexicons, and other tools, and an interface that lets you quickly integrate them - there are tons of 'smaller' tools that meet an abundance of specific needs: - The flashcard module has rendered my big box of homemade flashcards obsolete. Not only can you filter the words any way imaginable (there are even databases tailored to most of the major grammars in use today, so you can be sure what you're reviewing is exactly what your text expects you to know), it tracks your progress statistically, and continually updates your flashcard sessions according to what you've already learned; - The sentence diagramming tools are an absolute godsend. Now in second-year Greek (and Hebrew), I'm finding myself diagramming all the time, and Bibleworks makes it easy (and even sort of fun); it even has MOST of the New Testament diagrammed already, so you can see instantly where you've gone wrong; - Depending on how deep you want to get with it, there are a host of coding and programming options for the code-savvy user. I've not explored much of this potential, but I've already learned how to link Bibleworks up with some online databases to instantly cull additional information on words and passages I study. I'm no Bibleworks expert, but I can tell you as an (I guess) intermediate-level user, this program will make your studies exponentially more efficient, and the limits of the software are dictated only by how much time you want to invest in mastering its subtleties. Essential for the scholar, highly advantageous for the layman. If you can afford it, you should get it. Rating: - Best Bible Software AvailableThere is a reason leading seminaries use BibleWorks: it's the best. As soon as you install this software, you recognize that you have not purchased a toy. It is FAST, it is EASY and nothing compares to the power of this software as a research tool. BibleWorks does not get in the way of the text. An additional perk are the all-day workshops which travel around the country. They help BibleWorks users of all varieties to use the software to its fullest capability. Rating: - Excellent Program for ScholarsI have been using Bibleworks since its beginning several years ago. It is not an easy program to learn, but it does have its own videos and teaching now which helps. If you take the time it really is a tremendous program for Bible scholars, seminary students, and those who are serious about learning. The program just keeps getting better with each version, and the latest Version 7 is a great asset with many improvements. Rating: - Invaluable for translation work and in-depth Bible studyBack in 1999, I believed God was leading me to produce my own translation of the NT. So I looked into several different Bible software programs to help with the translation work. I decided on BibleWorks, and it was a very good decision. This program was invaluable in translating my Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament: Third Edition (ALT), now in its Third Edition (ALT3). I believe the Byzantine Majority Text (Robinson and Pierpont's text) is the most accurate of the currently available Greek NT texts, as detailed in my book Differences Between Bible Versions. So I would naturally want my ALT to be based on this text. BibleWorks contains not just the Byzantine Majority Text, but full parsing details for every word. So this enabled me to be sure I was accurate in my parsing of Greek words. BibleWorks comes standard with four different Greek lexicons: Friberg, the UBS Dictionary, Louw-Nida, and Liddell-Scott, along with Robertson's Word Pictures. Of these, I've found Friberg's to be particular helpful. BibleWorks also comes with numerous different English translations of the NT. These can be arranged in parallel fashion. So I could easily compare how different versions rendered a particular word or verse. Having all of these resources in one place makes it very easy to do in-depth word studies. BibleWorks also makes it easy to do searches on Greek words. So once I studied a word, I could search for every occurrence of it in the NT. That way, I could then render the word in a consistent manner throughout the ALT. Along with the MT, BibleWorks also contains other Greek texts. I used Scrivener's 1894 Textus Receptus and Nestle-Aland's 27th edition for translating the list of textual variants found in my Companion Volume to the Analytical-Literal Translation: Third Edition. So for my translation work, I had my BibleWorks set to show in order: Byzantine MT, Scriveners TR, NA27, NAU (NASB 1995 edition), NKJV, ESV, KJV, NIV, NLT, NRSV, the Geneva Bible, and YLT. Many other versions are available as well. But the more literal of these were indispensable in helping with the main text of my ALT, and the less literal ones gave me ideas for the bracketed "figurative" renderings found in my ALT. BibleWorks also contains Fausset's and Easton's Bible dictionaries and the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. These were very helpful in producing some of the explanatory notes in the ALT, such as modern-day equivalents for measurement and momentary units. I have many other Bible resources in hardcopy format that I referred to in my translation work, but without BibleWorks, the whole process would have been much more difficult. As it was, with this program, I believe I was able to a produce a very accurate, literal NT. So I cannot recommend this program enough. Yes, it is pricy, but worth every penny. Rating: - No better language software available!!!Bibleworks 7.0 is hands down the best software available for Bible Study. Customizable satellite image maps of Israel, incredible number of original language texts, lexicons and numerous resource material galore!! Also, don't listen to the review about poor customer service!! Customer service is excellent. I've had nothing but a positive experience with customer support. I also personally attended a full day of conferences where they send out representatives to help you learn how to better utilize the powerfull program that you have (they have these in several locations accross the country, just check out their website for more info). However, if you are not going to study the original languages, you may want to look elswhere. Sure you could use the program and get a lot of help from it, but it really is language oriented. Also, Bibleworks has helped me to teach myself (with the Lord's help) Greek and Hebrew. It is well worth its price, if you spend alot of time studying God's Word.
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