OliveTreeBlog.com

OK, I admit it…I’m a total geek when it comes to study Bibles. I love them! The more features, the better. That’s why I’m so excited that Olive Tree will be releasing the ESV Study Bible from Crossway, due in December. I got to see a demonstration of the beta product on the iPhone and am very impressed!

There is an incredible wealth of information in this Bible. In addition to the ESV Bible there are over 20,000 text notes, 50 articles, 80,000 cross references, more than 200 charts, and a wealth of illustrations. The publishers say that it is the equivalent to a 20-volume research library, and I believe them! In addition to all the cross references and notes, the book introductions are thorough and cover every topic I need to bring me up to speed about the author, the text, the themes, the arrangement, the text’s significance, and the timeframe of its writing.  The thing that impressed me most in the BibleReader version of the ESV Study Bible was the ability to drill down through the table of contents. The very complexity of the book introductions is one of the features of this Bible, but translating that information to your mobile device means that those introductions can run to many, many screens of information. While all of that information is great, it may not be relevant to what you need at the moment. Now, instead of having to scroll through everything to get to, say, the illustrated timeline for a book, you can drill down through the table of contents and in just a few short clicks the BibleReader takes you straight there! Another feature of this Bible is the study notes located throughout the text. These have been made available in commentary format, which means they can be easily accessed from wherever you are in the Bible.

I’m told that the Olive Tree BibleReader ESV Study Bible will be available on the iPhone, Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic (Pocket PC) Platforms. Be sure to watch for it soon.  

I have a lot of the Olive Tree products, but one thing that makes all these products work so well together is the BibleReader itself. The more I’ve used the BibleReader, the more I’ve discovered and began exploiting its robust features: text highlighting, searching (we’ve all had those “where is that verse again?” moments), making notes, and daily readings. As I discovered more and more of the built in features, I got so excited about it that I would get it for all my friends that had PDAs. I felt so strongly that they would find it worthwhile that I was willing to invest in the products for them.

I had used the daily reading feature of the Bible Reader off and on for years, but it wasn’t until the year I commuted daily from San Jose to San Francisco that I really appreciated its value. On my daily 60-minute train ride (which was followed by a 15 minute bus ride once I arrived in San Francisco) I had my Clie UX-50 in hand, reading the Word, and faithfully checking off the boxes in the daily reader as I went. I was transformed, held in intimate communication with my creator right there in the midst of the crowd. It transformed time that could have been wasted, and brought me closer to God. More recently, even though the I no longer commuted, it became an important part of my courtship. I and my fiancé (now my husband) read the daily reading each evening over the phone, he in Washington and me in California, he on his IPAQ and me on my LifeDrive. It was a great way to draw us closer together spiritually as we struggled with the hardships of a long-distance relationship. The daily readings served as a springboard for us to discuss all kinds of topics, including marriage and family.Another feature of the BibleReader that became important to me over time was the ability to make notes on my reading. When I put a note in, the Bible Reader would place an asterisk in the Bible text where the note was inserted. Now, when my Bible reading brings me to a certain verse, and I see that asterisk, I know that opening that note will bring me a piece of my own history. Have you ever read a journal that you wrote years before? It can be an odd experience to glimpse into the trials and triumphs of your younger self. I experience the same feeling when I open a Bible Reader note; it is kind of like reading an old journal. Only it is spiritual younger me that speaks back, not just a chronological younger me. I’m reminded of how far I’ve come, what I’ve learned, and how the Lord has changed me. The great thing is that even though I change devices, I am able to take my notes with me!And there is still more. Windowing… Linking… Verse Syncing… Searching… Bookmarking… Olive Tree has provided some great information on how to use the BibleReader on your device. You can head to the learning center for both video tutorials and user manuals at this link: Learning Center