NEW: Smart Bible Search, ready for beta testing on Desktop
This functionality requires a license to access it. Please join this Faithlife group if you'd like to participate in testing smart Bible search.
Smart Bible search gives you the ability to easily search individual Bibles for whatever you are looking for, without needing to know special syntax. Now you can use natural language to search your Bible in a brand new way, using this new mode to run searches like courageous women or care for the needy.
Smart Bible search typically finds more relevant verses faster than using Precise search and results will be shown in order of relevance rather than canonical or resource order. This search mode will also use the Smart search engine by default, unless you enter Precise search syntax (such as using an exact phrase/in quotes, query contains special syntax, or the entire query is in Greek or Hebrew).
With the release of smart Bible search, we will introduce the ability for users without a subscription to try it out. In order to receive beta testing on that, we will remove the license for smart Bible search from beta testing earlier than normal to allow for adequate time to test trying it without a license.
This new search mode is available on the desktop app, web app, and mobile app. Let us know what you think about smart Bible search in the comments below!
Comments
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Don't get me wrong - I see the need for it in the questions asked in the forums. But after my first test crashed, here is my second try:
For my personal use, I don't see extraneous answers as a good motivation for giving up counts and alternative display formats. I promise to play with it more to find bugs … but I don't promise to use it heavily in real life - occasionally it will be useful but I generally know precisely what I am looking for.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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But after my first test crashed
Thanks for the quick report, @MJ. Smith. The team is looking into it now.
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Smart Search tends to err on the side of including more verses, but it usually does a pretty good job of putting the most useful verses first.
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I searched the phrase: suffering in 1 Peter. The verses in the result are not all in verse order. The results are not in verses but in what look like pericopes. Also when I click more at the bottom of the results it starts to show verses that do not contain suffering or related words. As I continued to click more the results started to contain verses in other bible books.
As with M.J. I tried the same search in precise search, by specifying 1 Peter as the search parameter and suffering as the search term, and the results showed only verses containing the word suffering and its variations, all in verse order containing only the verses and not pericopes. which is what I expected to see. The results are longer than a screen shot can contain so I didn't make one.
I can't see any way to copy the verses except by Command A (CTRL A). I tried to make a passage list in the panel menu but to no avail. The way the results were in what looked like pericopes instead of individual verses wasn't a useful thing to copy. A copy button would be good, or the ability to make a Passage List.
[Edit] Eventually I found I could make a passage list by opening the passage list tool from the resource panel menu, then choose ADD then ADD FROM CLIPBOARD in the tool. Would be good if it just fit it from the panel menu selection.
When I changed the bible version from LEB to NKJV and hit return it kept searching and did not finish. I had to crash out of it by switching to ALL and come back to Bible then it worked when I tried again.
I am really interested in seeing what searched others try.
it doesn't seem to use significant AI tokens like a Smart Search Synopsis, which is a bonus.
👁️ 👁️
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I like it so far in limited use. The first one I tried was 'followed from behind' (no quotes), and it nailed the synoptic gospel verses of Jesus being followed by Peter when he was arrested. It followed it with other verses of people following. It was rather interesting to just browse the other verses (I was looking for the Peter verses)!
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The suggestions to improve the functionality of "Save as passage list" in Smart Bible Search are excellent.
I like how the verse results in Smart Bible Search are in order of relevance rather than in verse order. I do not mind seeing additional verses, as long as the most relevant ones are listed first. I like how I can type questions in an entirely different way and Smart Search will give me results that correspond to the meaning of my question without getting hung up on the words of my question (e.g. verses that I can share with a grieving friend).
I do not expect Smart Bible Search to replace Precise Bible Search. They serve different purposes and will both be useful in their own right.
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Just tried this in the web app and I really like it. Save as Passage List would be a great addition to get the result out of the search box. I ran several "Jesus talking about…. " searches that were very accurate and on point. Great start!!
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I searched "every time jesus quotes from deuteronomy" and not only got relevant quotes from Jesus, but ALSO the citation itself. Incredible!
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The suggestions to improve the functionality of "Save as passage list" in Smart Bible Search are excellent.
We agree that this functionality is important! We have already begun work in this area, along with Print/Export, but just couldn't quite get it into v40.
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I like this new Bible Smart Search, and the ability to save as passage list would make a good feature even better—thank you Logos.
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The verses in the result are not all in verse order.
Thanks for beta testing, @Antony Brennan! Correct. They are not expected to be in verse order, but instead are ordered by relevancy.
When I changed the bible version from LEB to NKJV and hit return it kept searching and did not finish. I had to crash out of it by switching to ALL and come back to Bible then it worked when I tried again.
I wasn't able to reproduce this and would appreciate more details, if possible. Was your query still "suffering in 1 Peter"? Did you have any additional versions displayed, or just LEB?
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[Edit] Eventually I found I could make a passage list by opening the passage list tool from the resource panel menu, then choose ADD then ADD FROM CLIPBOARD in the tool.
@Antony Brennan This is a helpful workaround, thanks!
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Okay, I asked some questions that got impressive results:
- aforti arguments in Paul
- inclusio in Ephesians
- antimetabole in the Gospels
- beatitudes in Revelation
- beatitudes in the wisdom literature
- type scene woman at the well
- scripture plus tradition
- personal names given folk etymologies
- passages frequently read with Gen 1:1-2:3
- angels in 1Enoch
- colophon to Job
However, I also realized that there are a few issues in terms of using the results:
- without counts, I have no indication if I need to narrow my search
- "chreia in apocrypha" and "cheria in apocrypha" both give results, actually different results with no indication of the spelling error, how it was corrected, etc. leaving me vulnerable to continuing on not knowing my results may be crap.
- requests such as "passages frequently read with Gen 1:1-2:3" require that I know more about how the routine works to know whether the data is actually meaningful.
- As a matter of habit, I distrust Logos tagging (a stance Logos has duly earned) so I always try to confirm the results by running a second search which should duplicate the results. However, I have already discovered that looking for the institution of Lord's supper, communion, Eucharist produces different results, including differences in the boundaries of the selected passages. However, it is not obvious why.
In short, it works well for casual use where definitions and completeness are without consequence but lacks the checks and balances necessary for use in academic and teaching positions.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Hi Anna
I was using suffering in 1 Peter. I cannot duplicate it myself 😀. I didn’t realise it was in relevance order that makes sense to me now. Thanks
👁️ 👁️
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Is it intentional that the smart search is limited to a single Bible?
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Yes. (You can add additional versions to the results display, of course.)
How would you envision it being used to search multiple Bibles at once?
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Most obvious: Searches for things like the colophon to Job … I always remember I need to look in LXX resources but don't remember which LXX. The same issue arises in all text that is omitted/added to particular version.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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I have plenty of AI credits and it is telling me that I have used up my limit. This is only true for Bible Smart Search. Other AI features work fine. I am on Version 40.0 Beta 1. Apple Silicon Mac.
I also went through the process of uninstalling the app completely. Reinstalling it, updating to beta. And I still get the same issue.
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Looks like I needed to join the early beta tester group again. Seems to be fixed.
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