e‑Sword X

Getting Started

Some commonly used tasks as illustrated below:

User Preferences

You may want to adjust the display settings, such as Font Family and Font Size, so select "e-Sword X, Preferences" from the e-Sword X menu to accomplish that.

Downloading Modules

You will want to download some modules to study with, so select "File, Resources, Download" (Command+D) from the e-Sword X menu to do so.

The "locked" modules (indicated by ) must be purchased from their publisher. The publisher will then provide the "product key" for installation. Modules previously purchased for use with any of the other e-Sword apps are also available for use in e-Sword X at no additional cost. When installing locked modules you will be prompted for your credentials (email and product key) to verify your license for the module. If you do not have that information, just click on the "Recover Product Key" button on the dialog that prompts for this information.

General Use Tips

All of the content views interact with you in the same way so we will focus primarily on the Bible view, but remember what works in this view will work in the others as well.

Gestures

The content of the view will scroll up/down, so scroll accordingly.

Swipe left with 1 finger on the magic mouse (or two fingers on the trackpad) to move to the next content. Swipe right with 1 finger on the magic mouse (or two fingers on the trackpad) to move to the previous content. What constitutes "content" is specific to each view.

With the Bible view in either Bible or Parallel modes content means "chapter", while in the Compare mode content means "verse", in the Harmony mode content means "section".

With the Commentary view in Book, Chapter, and Verse modes content means the comments of that type.

With both the Dictionary and Lexicon views content means "definition".

Click (or tap on the trackpad) on "links" to see popover tooltips, or perform various actions depending upon the view and context.

Right-click or Control+click (or two-finger tap on the trackpad) to display the popup menu. The popup menu changes based upon the selection and view. The following features may be available:

Bookmark will quickly bookmark the verse and place it in the main toolbar for easy access.

Copy will place the selection onto the Pasteboard for pasting in the Editor, or any other program you wish.

Define will display the definition in the Dictionary or Lexicon view, whichever is appropriate.

Highlight will display a palette of colors for you to highlight the selection with.

Locate will display the Locate popover and pin the place on the map. You can zoom in and out and pan as needed.

Lookup will display the definition using the Apple dictionary built into your Mac.

Note will quickly synchronize the Editor with the verse and place the Editor in Study mode

Search will display the Search popover and return the results immediately. If more than one word was selected it will run the search in Phrase mode.

Tag will display the Categories popover for you to choose one or more categories to tag the verse with.

Tooltips

Throughout the resources you will encounter Scripture reference links, as well as Strong's number links. Simply clicking on these links will display a popover tooltip of that information:

Scripture tooltips will display in the currently selected Bible in the Bible view. Strong's tooltips will display in the currently selected Lexicon in the Lexicon view.

At the top of each tooltip is a link to take you to that location if you desire. Simply click the link and you are there!

Navigating the Bible

All of the content views interact with you in the same way so we will focus primarily on the Bible view, but remember what works in this view will work in the others as well.

Go to a Bible Verse

Basic navigation is accomplished from the main toolbar's "Reference" search field (Command+L will activate that field), or the Bible Navigator button next to it:

The Reference search field will accept many forms of Bible book abbreviations and chapter/verse notations. Some examples are:

2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Cor. 5:17

2Co 5.17 (Notice that the "dot" character can be used in place of the "colon" in separating the chapter from the verse, thus simplifying typing the entry.)

After navigating to a Bible verse you will notice that its background is highlighted with a pale blue coloring. This highlighting denotes that verse as the "active" Bible verse, and synchronizes the Commentary view with it.

To make a different verse the "active" verse within the current chapter, just click on that verse's reference link.

Searching for a Word or Phrase

You can quickly search for a word or phrase by right-clicking on a word (extend the selection as needed) and choosing the "Search..." menu item from the popup menu.

You can also click on the "Search" segment to enter the search terms manually into the "Search Words" field. To refine how the search is performed adjust the search settings as described below:

Search Type

All Words will perform a Boolean "AND" search, thus all of the words entered into the Search field will need to be found for a result to be returned.

Any Words will perform a Boolean "OR" search, thus any of the words entered into the Search field can be found for a result to be returned.

Phrase will perform an exact phrase search on the words entered into the Search field.

Search Range

Bible will perform the search throughout the entire Bible.

OT will limit the search to only the Old Testament.

NT will limit the search to only the New Testament.

Book will limit the search to only the current Bible book. This choice name will change as the active Bible book changes.

Case-sensitive

Turn this option ON to match the exact spelling of the search terms. For example, a search for LORD would only return results for "LORD", and ignore "Lord" and "lord".

Partial Match

Turn this option ON to match words that contain even a part of each word specified in the search terms. For example, a search for love would return results for "love" as well as "loved", "loves", "lovely", "beloved", etc.

Using the Editors

The editors are full-featured, auto save, and will save you a lot of time developing your Bible studies, lessons, or sermons! Most menu items have hotkeys (Command+R will toggle the display of the editor's "ruler".) Right-clicking the mouse gets you to a lot of functionality as well.

Topic

The Topic Notes editor is typically the most used editor as this is specifically designed for the creation of Bible studies, lessons, sermons, or whatever else you wish to write.

To set up the Topic Notes editor for writing notes on a particular subject, click the "New Topic" button: .

To edit an existing Topic Note, just select it from the Topic Notes combo box.

To edit an existing Topic Note's "title", hold down the "Option" key and click the "New Topic" button.

To completely delete an existing Topic Note, first select all of the note's contents (Command+A), next press the Delete key, then "Save" the changes (Command+S).

Study

The Study Notes editor is used for creating your own personal commentary on the Bible. This is where you will write down your discoveries pertaining to a particular Bible verse.

To set up the Study Notes editor for writing notes on a particular Bible verse, first you must make it the "active" Bible verse, then click the "Synchronize Notes" button: . This will create a new entry in the database, or select it from the database if you already have notes on it.

You can also quickly add a Study Note to any Bible verse with a right-click (Control+click) on the verse's reference link and choosing "Note" from the popup menu.

To edit an existing Study Note, just select it from the Study Notes combo box.

When you Save changes to the note (Command+S) you will see a "Note" icon in the Bible view after the verse's reference link: . You can click on this icon to see your notes in a popover tooltip!

To completely delete an existing Study Note, first select all of the note's contents (Command+A), next press the Delete key, then "Save" the changes (Command+S).

Journal

The Journal Notes editor is used for creating your own personal diary.

By default the Journal Notes editor will be set up for writing notes on the current date. To set up the Journal Notes editor for writing notes on a particular date, click the "Calendar Date" button: . This will create a new entry in the database, or select it from the database if you already have notes on it.

To edit an existing Journal Note, just select it from the Journal Notes combo box.

To completely delete an existing Journal Note, first select all of the note's contents (Command+A), next press the Delete key, then "Save" the changes (Command+S).

Release Notes

Version 9.2

Adaptations for Sonoma changes.

Version 9.1

New hotkeys to accommodate navigating through the Bible verse History.

Version 9.0

All e-Sword user files can now be shared between Apple and Android versions of e-Sword!

New "Backup User Files" menu item to accommodate sharing user files.

Regular Expressions have been extended to all resource types! Just wrap the expression in the REGEX() command, for example:

REGEX(\b[Aa]fter\W+(?:\w+\W+){1,6}days\b)

The History is now saved between sessions! The listing is automatically trimmed as needed, but you can always clear the listing whenever you want to.

Main toolbar includes Previous and Next buttons to move through the Bible, as well as an Awesome button to instantly go to a random encouraging verse!

Version 8.0

New Navigation Sidebar for easy access to Bible chapters!

Editor enhancements, including a background matching the other views.

Copy Verses improvements, including additional formats.

Version 7.5

New Analyze Verses feature! Determine word use counts for any range of Scripture, and visualize it for easy identification of the themes.

Bible searches can now use Regular Expressions! Just wrap the expression in the REGEX() command, for example:

REGEX(\b[Aa]fter\W+(?:\w+\W+){1,6}days\b)

Bible searches can now be diacritic insensitive; thus, searching a Spanish Bible for Jesus will find verses with either Jesus or Jesús. Also, searching a Greek Bible for Κυριος will find verses with either Κυριος, Κύριος, or Κύριός!

Design updates for Big Sur and a new icon.

Native support for Apple Silicon Macs.

Version 7.0

Pop-Up Buttons have replaced the Combo Boxes throughout the app making resource selection much easier and intuitive!

Dig deeper and follow the links in Tooltips now!

Study Mode (Command+W) has much more functionality!

Listen to a number of popular Christian radio and Internet stations!

Printing improvements, including Header/Footer option and Margin choices!

New greenish background color which may ease eye strain for some people.

Version 6.5

Compare now has Bible links to take you directly to the verse in that translation.

Printing of Editor notes are now properly scaled, thus using much less paper.

Version 6.2

Search results are now added to the main toolbar for viewing the results in context, or with other translations using Compare and Parallel! New hotkeys have also been added to assist in browsing the results.

Version 6.0

An alternate view layout collection is now available! This layout collection swaps the Editors with the Dictionary/Lexicon views. Use the Preferences dialog to make this change.

Support for Dark Mode in Mohave, such a pleasant view!

New Bible split views! Command+W will place a Strong's view under the Bible, and Command+Shift+W will split the view locking the currently active chapter in the lower half.

Highlight Labels! You can now name the Highlight labels using any description you prefer. Use the Preferences dialog to make this change.

The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon is now available, including support for the specialized pictographic script!

Copying and pasting content into the Editor has many improvements, especially from the Bible and other views within the app.

Version 5.1

Strong's tooltips can now display from one to all of your installed lexicons in comparative format. Studying with Strong's numbers has just gotten way easier!

You can now insert file links into your notes. Clicking these links will open those files in the appropriate app. Link to documents, images, songs, whatever!

Version 5.0

New audio Bibles feature! Listen to the Bible being read to you in dramatic fashion. Audio Bibles are courtesy of Bible.is, a ministry of Faith Comes By Hearing. Audio is available for King James, English Standard, Contemporary English and World English Bibles.

Bible Search enhancements! Searches are now diacritic insensitive, and you can exclude words from a search.

Copy Verses not just for ranges anymore! The Copy Verses feature will now accept numerous Scripture references at once for formatting. For example, entering the following list is now valid:

Mat. 10:42; 2 Sam 9:1, 7; Prov. 14:31; 19:17; Mark 9:41; John 19:26-27; 21:15-17; 1 Cor 16:21-22; 2 Cor 4:5; 5:14-15; 8:7-9; Gal. 5:6, 13, 22; 1 Thess 4:9-10; 1 Pe 1:22; 1 John 3:14-19; 4:7-12, 20-21; 5:1-2

Version 4.5

Custom Reading Plans! If the pre-installed Bible reading plans do not meet your needs, then you can now create your own custom Bible reading plans.

Table support! Add and edit tables in the note Editors.

Version 4.0

Numerous usability and performance enhancements, in addition to bug fixes. Such improvements include direct access to the Bible Search settings, and complete implementation of the Share functionality.

New feature for tagging your favorite Bible verses with your own unique labels.

Direct import of third-party e-Sword resources.

Version 3.2

You can now search through all your notes in the Editors. Right-click (Control+click) on a word or selected phrase and choose "Search" from the popup menu to do so.

You can quickly add a Study Note to any Bible verse with a right-click (Control+click) on the verse's reference link and choosing "Note" from the popup menu.

You can now quickly replace any Scripture reference in the Editor with the complete Scripture text. To do so, select the reference and press Command+Shift+J, or select "Format, Expand Reference" from the e-Sword X menu. The formatting applied to the Scripture text is set through the "Copy Verses" dialog.

The "Lookup Reference" search field on the main toolbar now displays the active verse at all times.

Version 3.0

Bible highlighting has been expanded from complete verse highlighting to now include highlighting any portion of a verse! Verse highlighting still applies to every Bible, while word highlighting is Bible specific.

The "Define" popup menu item has now been expanded to include a submenu of all installed dictionaries that have definitions for the selected term if the currently active dictionary does not have a definition.

Bible "Compare" and "History" now include translation links to load the verse into the Bible view in the specified translation!

The Commentary view can now be unlinked from the active Bible verse so you can visit other Bible references without the comments changing as well.

Full-screen mode now supported!

Version 2.5

Editors now support popover tooltips for Scripture references and Strong's numbers! Links are automatically converted for content pasted from Bibles, commentaries, etc. Also, Command+J will convert selected Scripture reference or Strong's number into a popover tooltip.

Screen layout configuration is now saved between sessions.

New Dictionary Index dialog to locate specific topics.

Bible Navigator now includes pericope (section headings) for selection.

Parallel Bible header floats above text at all times to assist in identifying columns.

SermonAudio.com sermon listings can now be sorted by speaker, date, etc. Just click on column header to do so.

Version 2.0

New Super Search feature! Quickly search your entire library.

New SermonAudio.com feature! Listen to sermons on any passage of the Bible from SermonAudio.com's library of almost one million sermons from conservative churches worldwide.

New window layout manager on main toolbar.

New information indicator for quickly identifying which resources have relevant content.

New Airdrop feature for easily sharing your user files with your other devices.

New Import features for adding custom resources and user files.

Version 1.1

Initial release.