Bizarre Bible Search Results
I'm doing a search in the search window in the NKJV. The search is:
rich man lazarus
It returns no results in the regular search and the Luke 16:28 etc in the fuzzy search results. My question is why is it not returning Luke 16 22-23 in the regular search results?
rich man died = shows Luke 16 in results
rich man torments = does not show anything
Does the regular search only search multiple words/phrases within a single verse? If so, is there a way to search multiple words across all verses?
"rich man" WITHIN 15 WORDS torments = no results
abraham WITHIN 15 WORDS mercy = Luke 16:24
bosom WITHIN 20 WORDS "being in torments" = Luke 16:23 but not Luke 16:22-23
If I do a search for two or three words shouldn't this search anywhere in the selected Bible those words occur, not just within the same verse?
Comments
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If I do a search for two or three words shouldn't this search anywhere in the selected Bible those words occur, not just within the same verse?
No - when doing a Bible search the results are constrained by verse boundaries
There is a Faithlife feedbear request relating to this at https://logos.feedbear.com/boards/logos-desktop-app/posts/add-multiple-search-scopes-for-bible-search which shows that it is in progress
One current option, if you do a Basic Search the results are within an article - which in the case of a Bible is a chapter
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No - when doing a Bible search the results are constrained by verse boundaries. One current option, if you do a Basic Search the results are within an article - which in the case of a Bible is a chapter
I thought I heard someone in a tutorial video mention this awhile back but I didn't think much of it until I noticed several of my Bible searches were not bringing back results when I know they should have. The Basic Search worked perfectly and brings up results across verses.
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Over the years, I've wondered why they do that. In my Bible software, chapters and verses are position inserts; the search argument universe is what the user (me) selects.
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I'm doing a search in the search window in the NKJV. The search is:
rich man lazarus
It returns no results in the regular search and the Luke 16:28 etc in the fuzzy search results. My question is why is it not returning Luke 16 22-23 in the regular search results?
Because you are search for the literal words "rich" "man" and "lazarus", and that text does not show up in Luke 16:28 in NKJV.
If you want to search for places where the person "rich man" and the person "Lazarus" are tagged in the text (including in pronoun form), then you need to use different search syntax. Here's how you can do that if you don't want to try and remember the syntax:
Find an example in your Bible of each person you want to search for. Right click on that person and select them on the left side of the menu. The click on the "Search" option on the right side of the menu next to "Copy reference". Then paste that into your search.
You can do this in Luke 16:28 by right clicking on "I" and on "he". This will give you a query like the following, which should give you the results you are looking for: <Person ~ Rich Man> <Person Lazarus (beggar)>
You can also type "rich man" in the search panel and select the option in the autocompleter suggestion with the person icon next to it. Same for "lazarus" (making sure to select the correct person). This will give the you same result.
This approach lets you do advanced searches without having to know or understand the syntax.
Your other example searches work this way too:
- <Person ~ Rich Man> died
- <Person ~ Rich Man> torments
- <Person Abraham> mercy
As Graham indicated, do these searching in Basic using WITHIN if you want to search for things that don't fall in the same verse.
Andrew Batishko | Logos software developer
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I don't need to do this if I use Basic search, limiting to NKJV. The search: rich man lazarus comes up with the correct verses, regardless of where they fall in verses or across multiple verses. Not sure why Logos has handicapped Bible search in this way. But as long as the workaround actually works.
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The search: rich man lazarus comes up with the correct verses, regardless of where they fall in verses or across multiple verses
I think Andrew's point was (among other things) that if you want to find every place those people are mentioned - including pronouns - then the additional syntax is helpful
It would, for example, return the result in verse 27 where him is used to refer to Lazarus which the "plain text" search does not.
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Hello Steven,
If your main goal is to use a phrase (ie "rich man torments") to locate a passage, you could use the go box.
Just type the phrase in the go box, then wait a second while Logos lists options for you to choose from, then choose the option "Search for 'rich man torments' in ESV." (Logos will list your preferred Bible where I typed "ESV", which may or may not be the ESV, of course.)
When I used the go box this way, the correct passage came up (either 1st or 3rd in the list) for each of the searches you suggested ("rich man died", "rich man torments", "rich man lazarus").
Here's a link explaining it:
I learned about this feature from this post:
https://community.logos.com/forums/t/207793.aspx
Maria
Testing
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Hi Maria,
Thanks for the info, but it doesn't work for me. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I try "rich man torments" with quotes and without quotes from the command box. It comes up with the option to search this in the NKJV. I select that, and it goes to the search box and returns no results.
Rich man died returns Luke 16:22 but not any results crossing over multiple verses. I'll read through the links you provided, though. Maybe I'm missing something.
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Hi Steven
Thanks for the info, but it doesn't work for me. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I try "rich man torments" with quotes and without quotes from the command box. It comes up with the option to search this in the NKJV. I select that, and it goes to the search box and returns no results.
Maria's suggestion didn't work for me either
Maria - are you able to post screenshots showing the steps you are taking? (If not familiar with uploading screenshots, please use the paperclip icon)
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Hello Graham,
Will this video from TechSmith Capture work here? I'll post the link and see. (I also changed my preferred Bible to NKJV to match Steven's.)
https://www.screencast.com/t/sgr3BlIXjh
Maria
Testing
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Hi Maria
Will this video from TechSmith Capture work here? I'll post the link and see. (I also changed my preferred Bible to NKJV to match Steven's.)
Thanks for responding so quickly - and the link worked fine.
I see the difference - you are showing results from the Fuzzy Search section which Steven also noted. He was hoping to get results from the "main" section of the Search panel. And it is there the verse boundary issue prevents any results showing
Appreciated, Graham
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Oh, I see! Thanks for figuring that out, Graham.
I didn't read Steven's first post carefully enough.
Sorry about that Steven!
Maria
Testing
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I see the difference - you are showing results from the Fuzzy Search section which Steven also noted. He was hoping to get results from the "main" section of the Search panel. And it is there the verse boundary issue prevents any results showing
Yes, Fuzzy Search would work great and often does, except that it requires internet to work and I'm away from an internet connection quite a bit during the week. Before I switched to Logos I used google alot (but internet limitation still a problem). I occasionally have to use google if I can't find it in Logos. But, Logos tends to be finicky, taking four or five tries before I find the reference sometimes. I guess it's better than the old way of looking up the words I remember in a 5 lbs exhaustive concordance!
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