GODSPEED – WITH GREEK & HEBREW & NAVES
By: Dave Krueger
I’m impressed! After reviewing a beta copy of GodSpeed’s new Greek and Hebrew Dictionary I am convinced it will quickly become an invaluable study aid for the minister committed to preaching the Word of God.
Those readers already familiar with GodSpeed know that it is an easy to use and an extremely fast Bible text search program. It is designed to quickly find words or a string of words, to count how many times
the word or words are used and in what verses they are found. Because of the extensive use of sub-routines, most word searched-even multiple word searches-take three seconds or less! Are you interested in
searching for the word “love”? You will discover that it appears 310 times in 280 verses. The first time it is found is in Genesis 27:4 “And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring [it] to me, the I may eat; that my soul may – bless thee before I die.” The last time the word is used is in Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” Thanks to GodSpeed’s ability to be memory resident you can easily import a verse or verses right into the text while you are using your Word Processor. You begin by loading GodSpeed first and then your Word Processing program (I use Professional Write). Then, simply hit “control/tab” to get back into GodSpeed, and scroll down until the verse you want is at the top of GodSpeed’s display. Next, hit “X” to exit back to your word processor and then press “control/tab.” The verse will flow onto your page wherever you have placed your cursor.
GodSpeed also gives contextual viewing of verses as they would be found on the printed page. The words of Jesus appear in red and GodSpeed highlights those words you are searching for. Are you unsure as to the spelling of a word? GodSpeed helps you out with its spelling check. Would you like references? One key stroke will call up to twenty other verses related to the one you are interested in. There are nearly 200,000 scripture references in all. (At present time, however, referencing only applies to the New Testament and the Book of Proverbs).
But enough about GodSpeed itself. What really makes GodSpeed one of the best Bible study software programs on the market today, is its new Hebrew and Greek Dictionary. Bryan Moore and Blaine Morgan have done pastors, ministers and serious students of the Bible a great service by making it possible for the Christian computerist to really study the Bible in-depth. They have combined Strong’s Concordance and the Naves Topical Bible with the speed and technology of the computer. Like most pastors, I have shelves full of books. My collection includes Greek and Hebrew word studies, topical Bibles, and concordances. I’ve often dreamed, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have much of this information all in one source?” But then who would “be able to lift such a book? GodSpeed’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary has come about as close as anything I’ve seen to making that dream come true!
Godspeeds Hebrew/Greek Dictionary gives you a variety of study options. Call up the dictionary menu and you will be confronted with four alternatives:
Verse hebrew/Greek Lexicon Naves exit.
Pressing “V” for verse lets you study a particular verse. Type John 3:16 for instance to preview John 3:16. GodSpeed will print the verse itself and then allow you to do a word study of each word in the sentence. For instance, when John 3:16 is displayed, the word “God” is highlighted. Underneath the verse GodSpeed will list the Strong’s Concordance number, the dictionary definition(s) of the word and a dictionary trace of the word.
John 3:16 {For God so loved the world, that he have his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.} 2316>theos, theh’-os; of uncert, affin.; a deity, espec. (with 3588) the supreme divinity; fig. a magistrate; by Heb. very:-X exceeding, God, god [-ly, -ward].
———–Dictionary Trace———–3588>ho, ho; includ. the fem. he, hay; and the neut. to, to, in all their inflections; the def. article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):-the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc. ho. See 3739.
Press the right arrow key and highlight the word “love.” GodSpeed will again search for the Greek equivalent of the word and give you its Strong’s number, the definition and trace.
If you are interested in tracing a particular Hebrew or Greek word simply press “G” for the dictionary itself- Type G1567 and GodSpeed will display:
G1567ekzeteo, ek-zay-teh’ -o; from 1537 and 2212; to search out, i.e. (fig.) investigate, crave, demand, (by Hebr.) worship: -en-(re) quire, seek after (carefully, diligently).
Underneath this definition, GodSpeed gives you the option of “tagging” the verses that contain the word or a form of it. At your command, GodSpeed will then display all the verses where the word is found. While you are in the Hebrew/Greek dictionary, GodSpeed also lets you type in the English spelling of a Greek word. Say, perhaps, you want to see the definition of the word “logos” and were it is found. At the prompt simply type “logos” and GodSpeed goes to work.
The Lexicon feature allows you to find the Hebrew/Greek equivalents of English words. Type the word “love” and GodSpeed will display eight Hebrew words we translate as “love.” Press the space bar, and a list
of ten Greek words will appear. GodSpeed gives you a Verse Count, that is, the number of verses the word is found in, and the Strong’s reference number. You can scroll down to choose the exact Hebrew or Greek word you would like to examine. As you do so, a brief definition will appear at the bottom of the page. Pressing “enter/return” will display the full definition, its trace and the option of displaying verses the word is used in.
GodSpeed’s Hebrew/Greek Dictionary also features two topical concordances. One is Nave’s Topical Bible. It lists themes from Ablution to Zeal and will index all biblical references to the topic. The second topical concordance is one produced from an article published by NCAN, National Citizens Action Network, and contains topics of current interest and scriptural references. Examples include, Abortion, Aids, a Balanced Budge/Debt, National Security and Voluntary Prayer.
There are few bad things and many good things I can say about GodSpeed’s Hebrew/Greek Dictionary. On the negative side, the size for such a program as this really eats up the hard drive. You need about 4.6 megabytes of storage in order to use GodSpeed and the Hebrew/Greek Dictionary. Also, while it is purely anesthetic matter, the beta test version I used did not offer the same options of color display to the Hebrew/Greek Dictionary as already found in GodSpeed itself. However, I am told that this is being addressed, and that color will be available in both programs soon.
On the positive side I can’t say enough. Even minus documentation (due to the version I reviewed being a pre- release beta test version) the Hebrew/Greek Dictionary is easy to use. Its menu line is self-explanatory. Simple key strokes (instead of a constant flipping of pages) put a wealth of information at your fingertips. I found it exciting to have a Bible Search program, a topical bible, current topical issues and a Hebrew/Greek dictionary all rolled up into one at my command. It has made my Bible study quicker, more relevant and much more in-depth. I am almost tempted to wean my library of a few books! It is a program that I am sure will keep getting better and better. Its first release was in December of 1986. Since that time it has gone through 11 revisions. Bryan Moore and Blaine Morgan seem committed to making GodSpeed the top computer Bible study aid available. While the cost of GodSpeed may vary from dealer to dealer, the price quoted to me was $100 for GodSpeed and $150 for the Hebrew/Greek Dictionary. Reasonable indeed!
Would I recommend that you purchase GodSpeed with its new Hebrew/Greek Dictionary? You bet! I found it an exciting and extremely beneficial addition to my Bible software library. If you would like more
information concerning the Bible program, or the Greek/Hebrew Lexicon addition, call (214) 539-7855.
(The above material is a reprint from an issue of the Christian Computing Magazine in Belton, MO.)
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