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Searching

The search bar finds words, finds passages by meaning, goes to references, and looks up Strong's numbers.

The search bar is at the top of every screen. Its placeholder reads "Go to passage or search (e.g. John 3:16, redemption)". Click it, or press /, Ctrl+K, or Ctrl+G (Cmd on a Mac). The keyboard shortcuts also select any text already in the box.

The button to the left of the box shows the current mode: a magnifying glass labeled Search, or a lightbulb labeled Ideas. Click it to choose Standard Search (exact words) or Ideas Search (meaning). The chosen mode is remembered.

The book icon at the right end of the box opens the Go to Passage dialog. See Reading the Bible.

The search mode menu open, showing Standard Search and Ideas Search

Standard Search finds verses containing the words you type, in the translation you are reading. For example, shepherd returns every verse that contains that word, including other forms of the word. Results open in a panel beside the text. Each result shows the reference, the translation, and a snippet with the search words highlighted.

Close spellings and related word forms are listed separately under Approximate matches, after the other results.

If nothing matches, the panel offers to run the search in another translation or as an Ideas search.

Standard Search results for a query, in the results panel beside the Bible text

Ideas Search finds passages by meaning. Describe what you are looking for in plain English. For example, a shepherd boy killed a giant with a sling finds David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, even though typing that as a keyword search would find no results. This can also help you find half-remembered verses, or passages you vaguely remember but for which you don't recall the specific wording. It doesn't always give accurate results, but often, it can help you find what you are looking for.

The first time you run an Ideas search, a dialog titled "Meaning-based search uses an online service" opens. It explains that your search words are sent to the site's search service, which uses an outside AI provider to work out what they mean, and that your Bible reading and other data are not sent.

  • Agree and search runs the search. The dialog does not appear again.
  • Not now shows keyword results instead. Later Ideas searches also show keyword results, with a note that meaning search is off.

To turn Ideas Search off or back on, use Use online meaning search on the Modules tab in Settings; see Personalizing Your Experience. After you turn it back on, the next Ideas search shows the dialog again.

If the search service is unavailable, or a daily limit for meaning search is reached, the panel shows keyword results with a note that says why.

When an Ideas search also has exact-word matches, a banner offers to show them.

In Ideas mode, a ? button in the search bar explains Ideas Search and gives example searches.

Ideas Search results for a paraphrased query

Jumping to a reference​

Type a reference (John 3:16, Romans 8, Gen 1:1-5, Ps 23) in either mode to go to it instead of searching. See Reading the Bible for other ways to navigate.

Type a Strong's number to find every verse that uses that Greek or Hebrew word. Greek numbers look like G25 and Hebrew like H7225. The form strongs:G25 also works.

The results show:

  • A header with the number, original word, transliteration, and a short gloss (explanation of the word's meaning from the translator).
  • The verses that contain the word.
  • Word family pills: related words built on the same root. Click one to search that word instead.
  • An Include related words toggle, which searches the whole family at once. For example, the verb agapao, the noun agape, and the adjective agapetos.

In Study mode, you can also click a Strong's number under an interlinear word and choose Search all occurrences. See Study Tools.

Strong's search results with the word header and word family pills

Working with results​

The heading of the results panel shows the search and the number of results, for example "(20 results)". Below it, a chart shows where the results are across the books of the Bible, split into Old Testament and New Testament. Click a book's bar to scroll the list to that book's first result. When more results remain to be loaded, the chart notes that only the results loaded so far are counted. For an Ideas search, the chart counts only the passages retrieved, not every match in the Bible.

  • Click a result to open it in the current tab. Ctrl+click (Cmd+click) opens it in a new Bible tab.
  • Long result lists load in batches. Show more results (or Show … more, with a count) loads the next batch; Load all loads the rest.
  • If you switch translations while results are open, the panel notes which translation the results came from.
  • The ✕ closes the results panel and returns to the study and commentary panels.
  • On a phone, results have their own screen in the bottom navigation bar. See Using on Your Phone.

Search requires the server and is unavailable offline. The panel shows a message when you are offline.