Picking the Right Upgrade
Hello,
I am just a lay person who studies for my own understanding as I walk out my own salvation. Until now, I have purchased individual Bibles and various other books to assist me in my quest to understand God's Word. I do have Vines, the Strong's and NASB Concordances, and Logos / Libronix 3g. I am very interested in Word Studies. What I would like to do is click on a word in one of my unlocked Bibles and see the Ancient Language definitions in English. Since I have not attended a Seminary, I do not know the proper term to for what I would like to see. I do know about the lexicons (dictionaries) but I am unsure as to their function within the software. I have not studied any of the ancient languages so the English translation is a must. I would like to upgrade to a package but I am not sure as to the best one for what I am looking to do.
My concentrated study is Bible Prophecy and has been for years. I believe that the Bible is to be taken literally except where it is obvious that the passage is symbolic. Thus, to truly understand God's Word, one needs to understand the ancient language word meaning behind the English word used when translated. The Bible I use most often is the NASB '95. I am on a limited budget and cannot afford more than 1 package nor can I afford the upper end packages.
Based on the above, what would you suggest I purchase?
Thank you in advance for your guidance.
Comments
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Welcome to the Logos forums, by the way, which I neglected to mention in my answer to you on that other thread.
I'm
glad to hear you're thinking of upgrading to Logos 4. You will probably
find the ability to do Bible Word Study in Logos 4 a great boon to your
study of Scripture. I would recommend that before you invest in any
base package, you get used to Logos 4 using the minimal crossgrade
which gives you access to all the databases and features of Logos 4
like reverse interlinears, and comes with a few maps and timelines and
basic reference resources. If you already have the NASB 95 Bible,
getting the crossgrade will open it up to you in new ways you'd never
imagined possible because it will enable reverse interlinear
functionality on it. The minimal crossgrade costs $69.95. (You can
actually get the Logos 4 engine for free, but it comes with none of the
databases that are required to get the most use out of it; so it would
just be a learning step if you want to slowly move your way up into the
Logos 4 world.) Double check with Logos Sales before you go this route,
but because the minimal crossgrade is entirely contained within all the
base packages, I think that if you buy it first and then later
upgrade to one of the base packages, you can apply the cost of the
minimal crossgrade to the cost of your package (or at least mostly) and
pay just the difference, minus perhaps a small percentage. Also it would
be best to check if there's a time limit on how long you can wait to
upgrade before losing this opportunity.Since you said you
like Word Studies, I might recommend you hold off on a base package (the
minimum of which costs $149.95 and probably contains a bunch of
resources you wouldn't care about for now: see here
and click on the All Contents link to see what's in it). Instead you
might want to get in on the pre-pub pricing for the video training
series Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software
which is under development. Once it ships, the price will go up 25%.
There are a couple of sample videos from it on that product description
page.The function of lexicons in Logos 4 is that you can easily
look up words from the Bible in them, especially now with reverse
interlinears. If you have more than one lexicon in your Library, you can
prioritize them so that Logos opens your preferred one to the entry for
a particular word when you double-click on that word in your Bible. Or
if you want to choose one of the other ones, you can right click and
open it from the right-click menu. You can set up a Layout with all your
lexicons open and linked together so that when you look up a word in
your favorite lexicon, all the others scroll in sync with it to the same
word (assuming that word is found in them as well; not all words are in
all lexicons). Different ones have different strengths. There are links
to user reviews (including sample pages) of some of the better lexicons
here: http://wiki.logos.com/Resource_Review#LexiconsWhen you do come to the point of wanting a base package, I'd probably go for Bible Study Library
if I were you. It has the Dictionary of Biblical Languages with
Semantic Domains (all three volumes) which will be of more use to you
than the two original language dictionaries included in the Christian
Home Library (which are also in Bible Study Library).Or...something else you might consider would be the AMG Bible Essentials (aka Word Study Bible Essentials),
which is not a base package (so it wouldn't include the stuff that's in
the minimal crossgrade which all the base packages do include) but
rather a bundle. The word study tools in that bundle are a step up from
what you've got already with Vine's, I should think.0 -
Hello Connie,
welcome to the forums. Rosie already gave you a ton of helpful advice - reverse interlinears and maybe the real greek NT text may be the things you are looking for. The AMG bundle Rosie referred you to will contain the NA27 text. Maybe you will be able to get this discounted from Logos sales people, or it may be on sale someplace.
I would advise you to install the free engine and take a look at http://wiki.logos.com/Free_Logos_Books to see whether there are free resources available. The minmal crossgrade surely is the next step. Also don't miss out on the helpful wiki pages that explain Logos 4 features, especially the free video lectures that may show you how to do word studies.
Mick
Have joy in the Lord!
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I would really suggest the highest possible Scholar's Library Bundle that you can possibly work into your budget. Logos offers a payment plan that allows you to spread your payments out over up to 12 months if that is helpful to you. It is offered during the check-out process, or you could contact sales and order over the phone.
No matter which package you choose, I am sure you will be blessed as you study the Word.
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Rosie Perera said:
Instead you
might want to get in on the pre-pub pricing for the video training
series Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software
which is under development. Once it ships, the price will go up 25%.
There are a couple of sample videos from it on that product description
page.Noticed recommendation on Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software page: "Bible Study Library is the minimum requirement for Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software. For the best experience, however, we recommend that you own Scholar's Library or higher and Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words."
More expensive upgrade to Scholar's Gold includes United Bible Societies (UBS) Handbooks, which have wiki page reviews => UBS New Testament Handbook Series and UBS Old Testament Handbook Series that express in English important concepts (including cross cultural diversity).
If Logos sales history repeats, base package purchase and upgrade discounts could appear in December. Also, Logos has a payment plan so can spread payments over time (albeit $ 5 per payment charge, but no interest).
Another English Bible to consider is the Amplified Bible, which is part of the NAS Electronic Bible Library
Observation: Greek and Hebrew are not English. Blog article offers Lexicon insights and some Word Study tips => http://blog.logos.com/2010/06/you_are_smarter_than_a_lexicon/
Keep Smiling [:)]
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Rosie Perera said:
Instead you
might want to get in on the pre-pub pricing for the video training
series Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software
which is under development. Once it ships, the price will go up 25%.
There are a couple of sample videos from it on that product description
page.Noticed recommendation on Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software page: "Bible Study Library is the minimum requirement for Learn to Do Word Studies with Logos Bible Software. For the best experience, however, we recommend that you own Scholar's Library or higher and Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words."
Yes, I do own the Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Word. It was one of my first purchases.
More expensive upgrade to Scholar's Gold includes United Bible Societies (UBS) Handbooks, which have wiki page reviews => UBS New Testament Handbook Series and UBS Old Testament Handbook Series that express in English important concepts (including cross cultural diversity).
If Logos sales history repeats, base package purchase and upgrade discounts could appear in December. Also, Logos has a payment plan so can spread payments over time (albeit $ 5 per payment charge, but no interest).
Another English Bible to consider is the Amplified Bible, which is part of the NAS Electronic Bible Library
This is the first package that I did purchase. I did also purchase the NASB package and the Nelson's complete works when it was on sale.
Observation: Greek and Hebrew are not English. Blog article offers Lexicon insights and some Word Study tips => http://blog.logos.com/2010/06/you_are_smarter_than_a_lexicon/
Keep Smiling
I really appreciate all of you taking the time to share your wisdom with me. Since I have never really purchased a complete package from Logos, I was unsure as to which one I should actually purchase. My collection has been built one book at a time, so to speak. I have used Logos since it first came out and have upgraded the books I own each time. This is the first time that I have found that I will need to purchase a package from Logos to continue to upgrade the software and databases. I fully understand why this has become the case. I love the software and want to continue to stay up to date. I will review the information that all of you have provided, pray about this to see if this is what The Father wants me to do, and discuss with my husband. It all comes down to a simple question: Is this a want or a need? If The Father guides me to not purchase the Scholar's Library, then I will know that it was just a human want and not something that I need at this point in my walk.[:)]
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Connie,
I'll simply add that word studies are not that hard to do in Logos, and you can learn a great deal about what a word means and how it is best translated by doing searches on the underlying Greek or Hebrew lemmas and looking at every place a word occurs and what it seems to mean in that place. This is easy to do with a Reverse Interlinear and the Logos 4 search engine (which you'll have with the minimal crossgrade). The Word Study tool adds some information to that but actually observing the word in context is perhaps the most helpful way to learn the meaning of a word.
The suggestions for Greek-English and Hebrew-English dictionaries (Vine's and the Complete Word Study set by Zodhiates) will help you as well.
You might see what you can do with the minimal cross-grade or the Bible Study Library before going to Scholars. Logos will give you a refund in 30 days if you are not satisfied, or they will credit all or a major portion of your purchase to upgrade to Scholar's.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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Mark,
Thank you for your reply and guidance. Since what I need is in the Minimal Crossgrade, I will go that route and look at purchasing the Complete Word Study set by Zodhiates to add to my collection.
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Thank you to all who assisted. I also spoke with a Logos sales rep and ended up with the Original Languages Base package. I look forward to learning how to use Logos 4 when my new computer arrives and I can install it. The sales rep sent me several video links to assist me, so I will be busy for a while. Again, thank you for your assistance.
Connie G.
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Libronix 3 and Logos 4 can peacefully coexist on a computer. Also, Logos 4 can automatically scan Libronix 3 resources (for all users on computer), and copy resource file(s) to your Logos 4 folder, then download updated Logos 4 files.
Wiki page Getting Started with Logos includes links to excellent unofficial Logos 4 video tutorials.
Thankful for Libronix 3 peaceful coexistence since some Libronix 3 features are not yet in Logos 4 => Features Coming Soon to Logos 4
Keep Smiling [:)]
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Always buy what you need when you need it while avoiding long term payment plans. Everything is bad enough without more expense for a "needed" piece of bible technology software imo.
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