eBible: Review and Invite Giveaway
I’ve had the pleasure of scoping out one of the next cool web 2.0 apps, eBible, which offers a simple way of studying the Bible online. I love that the developers did not look for a complicated solution to Bible study, but rather chose a simple, easy to grasp interface with large type and subtle functionality. There are lots of things going on behind the scenes, producing the nice effects, but up front you get just what you came for—the Word.
If, however, you are looking for a bit more to help you study, there are lots of tools right at your fingertips. eBible features five translations:
- King James Version
- New King James Version
- New Century Version
- New American Standard Bible
- The Message
You may also glean from Nelson’s New Illustrated Commentary available conveniently in the sidebar or within the context of the scripture by an obscure, grey C icon. You may also wish to compare texts between Bible versions. No problem. Open the split pane view and choose your second version. In an instant, you are viewing the same passage of scripture in two panes.
The core function of eBible is search. In fact, the index page of the site features a rather Google-esque search window warmly inviting you to query to your heart’s content. Likewise, while your search results are being displayed, a top-mount search box gives quick access to a new search or cross-reference. Topical searches are also welcome.
The revenue model for eBible is advertising, though I didn’t know this until after about 30 minutes of using the site. That’s not to say that the ads are unobtrusive, but if you use eBible at its most basic level, scripture reading and commentary research, you aren’t likely to see an ad. But as you dig deeper into topical research and into the Answers or Resources section, you will likely see text ads appearing for related products. (I even saw CrossConnector advertising there—a fantastic Christian web 2.0 product.)
There are only a couple things I might change or want to see improved, but nothing that really inhibits this great product. (I had to nitpick. :)) First, while scrolling through passages side-by-side, the verses occasionally slide further on one of the translations forcing verses to “split” rather than stay mirrored. This just means if you really want to compare verse-to-verse, you might have to scroll just a bit.
Second, the scripture headings (titles for certain passages) seem a bit large. I think it’s more of a line-height issue than a font-size issue. It breaks up the text too much in my opinion, especially when the heading is only for a scripture or two and then another appears. Subtle issue in design which is very much to taste. (I may be the only one who cares. :))
After it’s all said and done, eBible is an excellent web application. It’s a welcome tool in my arsenal and I’m proud to see this level of excellence in a Christian product.
Also, I happen to have one invite to give away. Because the project is still in beta, eBible is not open to the public. But you can get in! Just be the first to comment here requesting the invite and that’s it, you’re in. One condition, every invite recipient receives one invite to give away. I would love it if the winner gave the next invite to the next commenter, so that we could roll along and get as many folks in as possible. That would be nice. :)
[tags]Bible, God, web 2.0, Christianity, study, research, beta, review, invite[/tags]
Thanks to the kind folks in the Godbit forums for my invitation to the eBible club, namely Robert Adams.
Addendum: I totally missed the Godbit review of eBible. Worth a look. (And frighteningly, Jeremy and I both used the word Google-esque, dash and all..) Thanks for the radar blip, Jim.
Dolan
2006-05-25 1304hrs
I would love an invite.
David
2006-05-25 1305hrs
Dolan, congrats. Sent it your way. :)
Dolan
2006-05-25 1320hrs
Thanks, David. I will give my invite to the next person to leave a comment with their email address.
JohnWHope.com
2006-05-25 1322hrs
That is very, very cool. Thanks David. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Dolan
2006-05-25 1331hrs
John, it is on it’s way!
JohnWHope.com
2006-05-25 1333hrs
Thanks Dolan. I will give my invite to the next person to leave a comment with their email address.
Seth
2006-05-25 1343hrs
I would love the invite to use this.
Blair
2006-05-25 1344hrs
John - send it my way, bro!
Blair
2006-05-25 1345hrs
btw…. in case you don’t have the email addy: blairDOTandressYOURSOCKSgmailDOTcom
to email, substitute the obvious, and don’t forget to remove your socks. :)
JohnWHope.com
2006-05-25 1347hrs
Seth,
David gave me your email address. It’s on the way. Blair is next. :)
Blair
2006-05-25 1350hrs
Thanks, John…. and of course, I will continue the trend. Once Seth sends it my way, I will forward it along….
Tim Elzea
2006-05-25 1351hrs
I’m pumped about this new program. If you all get a chance send me an invite.
David
2006-05-25 1447hrs
Blair, I sent my backup invite to you. No word from Seth. Glad I have a plan B. :)
Let the good times roll.
Darrell Jordan
2006-05-25 1452hrs
I’m up for one if one is left anywhere. jordaneku at REMOVEME gmail REMOVEME. com
DJ
Jim Walton
2006-05-25 1455hrs
I wanna jump in here, if there’s any available
churchtech AT gmail DOT com
Blair
2006-05-25 1503hrs
Got the invite and responded…. and I have already sent the invite to you, Tim.
Grady
2006-05-25 1506hrs
Sign me up, guys!
Sounds like a great product.
Dad
Seth
2006-05-25 1515hrs
I was out at lunch. Sorry about the delay. Who is next in line?
David
2006-05-25 1518hrs
Thanks, Seth. Darrell Jordan (jordaneku at REMOVEME gmail REMOVEME. com)
Tim: Send yours to Jim Walton (churchtech AT gmail DOT com)
Now there are TWO in play. :) Plan A and B in action.
Darrell Jordan
2006-05-25 1519hrs
Tim maybe??
dj
Tim Elzea
2006-05-25 1521hrs
Sorry guys…I had to step away for a bit. I just sent mine to churchtech.
Seth
2006-05-25 1524hrs
Darrell, just shot you the invite.
David
2006-05-25 1524hrs
Darrell: Once you get your invite from Seth, send it on to my dad. (gradyr AT aol DOT com)
Jim: Go ahead and give yours away on ChurchTechMatters. :)
Darrell Jordan
2006-05-25 1529hrs
Ok. got it. Will send on to your dad. Thanks David and Seth.
dj
Jim Walton
2006-05-25 1531hrs
Thank you, David, Tim and Seth.
As David suggested, I’ll offer my invite on my blog.
Grady
2006-05-25 1605hrs
Thanks Darrell for my invite. I have one to offer. To the next person, leave an email here and I’ll forward the invite on.
Grady Russell
travis johnson
2006-05-25 1623hrs
hook a brother up.
shaun
2006-05-25 1724hrs
j sebass @ gmaildotcom
i would like to participate
David
2006-05-25 1824hrs
Shaun: Tried to email Travis but haven’t heard back yet.
If for some reason I don’t hear back from him, we can probably find someone at Godbit who has one. :) For now, let’s wait it out. I think Trav will come through, unless he already gave it away.
Dolan
2006-05-25 2313hrs
Looks like this was a pretty successful way of spreading the love. Thanks again David.
shaun
2006-05-26 1316hrs
come on travis
(fingers crossed )
Grady
2006-05-26 1323hrs
Travis,
Did you get the email?
David
2006-05-26 1619hrs
Shaun: I posted on Godbit looking for a little eBible love. I posted your email address there and hopefully you should have something soon.
shaun
2006-05-26 1709hrs
got it…thanks david!
David
2006-05-26 1711hrs
Excellent! I think that accounts for everyone as well. Hang on to your invite a bit and we’ll see if we get any new takers. If not, I’ll shut ‘er down. :)
Mike
2006-05-26 1717hrs
Hi.
I don’t know anyone here but I got this link by doing the google blog search on the eBible website.
If someone would give me an invite I would continue the chain of sending them along to the next comment poster.
Thanks,
Mike
Mike
2006-05-26 1734hrs
Oh yeah my email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
DUH! :)
David
2006-05-26 1746hrs
Thanks-a-million, Mike. :) Shaun should be sending one over. Stick around for the next…
shaun
2006-05-26 1750hrs
i’m sure zack rippy would want one…..i haven’t seen or heard him online in the last day or so….
zackrippy @ Gmail.com
David
2006-05-26 1754hrs
Good call, Shaun. I was wondering about ol’ Zack. :) Mike, if you could forward your invite on (from the eBible interface, top-right) that would be great!
Wow, who knew you could have so much fun with invites. :)
brandon
2006-05-26 1954hrs
like mike, i too fiund this website through the eBible website. i feel like a mooch, but if there are any invites floating around, i’d love one, and of course i’d keep it the circle going and offer my invite to the next person who requests one. my email is ballen [at] drury [dot] edu.
travis johnson
2006-05-26 2013hrs
sorry guys….been in the weeds. Going through my email to shoot the invite to Shaun.
travis johnson
2006-05-26 2020hrs
Shaun and David,
I see that Shaun got the hook up. Anyway, my invite is now expired. Help a brother out with another!
David
2006-05-27 0057hrs
Brandon: Trying to figure out where the last one landed. We’ll get you hooked up asap. It was either Mike or my buddy Zack.
Travis: We’ll have Brandon forward his invite to you. (Just redeem it this time. :))
Mom Russell
2006-05-27 0107hrs
IS THIS a HOAX? Have any of you guys gone to hoaxbusters.com and CHECKED this OUT????? . . . . . . . . . . just asking the question!
Mom :) :) :)
David
2006-05-27 0133hrs
Thanks for keeping us all up to speed, mom. :)
Darrell
2006-05-27 1014hrs
This looks like an awesome tool and I’d sure like an invite!
Darrell
2006-05-27 1015hrs
This looks like an awesome tool and I’d sure like an invite! Sorry, I hit the button before I got my email in. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Bill Kinley
2006-05-27 1146hrs
Hey, I would love an e-vite. I have been looking for a good online bible.
Thanks,
Bill
Bill Kinley
2006-05-27 1147hrs
Forgot to type in my web address….....been one of those days and it is only 10am….lol
OutreachRev at gmail dot com
Zack
2006-05-27 1247hrs
Thanks Mike, David and Shaun. :)
Looking forward to checking this out! Looks great.
Brandon,
Tag, man. You’re it. Just sent you the invite.
Zack
David
2006-05-27 1344hrs
The order is now:
Brandon (ballen [at] drury [dot] edu)
to
Travis (tjohnson at life-pointe dot com)
to
Darrell (dawg8880 at insightbb dot com)
to
Bill (OutreachRev at gmail dot com)
Joe
2006-05-27 1359hrs
also check out people 2 pray. it’s an awesome app connecting people for prayer. it’s like a giant prayer chain. you remember how churches used to do it.
call ms. mary with your prayer request. she calls 5 people those 5 people call 5 people and so on and so forth.
http://www.people2pray.com
Zack
2006-05-27 1647hrs
Hey David,
I sent my invite to Brandon this morning, so he should be good to go! :)
David
2006-05-27 1742hrs
Joe: Thanks for the link. Enjoying your progress in Moustache May.
Zack: Thanks, bro. I heard from Brandon.
Travis: Sent you an email. The invite bounced back to Brandon. Check your email inbox.
Darrell: You’re up. :) You should get something from Brandon soon. And send your invite to Bill.
Bill: You’re on deck. :)
brandon
2006-05-27 1806hrs
Zack and David: Thanks for getting me an invite!
Travis: Sorry man :( I tried.
Darrell: The invite has been sent. It’s all you.
Kirk Longhofer
2006-05-27 2050hrs
Would love one! Thanks.
Kirk Longhofer
Kirk Longhofer
2006-05-27 2051hrs
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
travis johnson
2006-05-27 2159hrs
David,
Its ok, bro. No worries. I may boycott buzz next year though.
Alex M.
2006-05-27 2159hrs
I was wondering if you could seen me an invite to eBible. I’m
interested in this service not only because I’m a Catholic, but
because it looks promising. Please send the invite to: AlexMorganis(at)gmail(dot)(com).
aunt gloria
2006-05-27 2218hrs
Hey David, this has nothing to do with your blog…tee tee…How would you and Missy like to have dinner in the burbs tomorrow night? that would be Sunday May 28th.
Aunt Gloria
David
2006-05-28 0041hrs
Kirk: You’re next, after Bill. My brother, check out some of the resources at Godbit.com. And shoot me an email, david -at- davidblog -dot- com. I’d love to give you a hand up on your web communications.
Travis: Dang, man. Don’t do me like that. *grin*
Alex: You’re after Kirk. I dig your blog content. Looks like you put in a lot of work.
Aunt Gloria: I sent over an email to ya! Sorry, I thought you had my address. :) Good to hear from you.
David
2006-05-28 0119hrs
Hey folks: I’m out of pocket until Tuesday, so I’m going to leave it up to you to communicate with each other on this and keep the invite love alive. (No more email nudges from me for a time.) The comments will stay open since I have a great spam filter in place, but keep it civilized and orderly.
This is fun though, innit? :)
Larry Epling
2006-05-29 1757hrs
I am doing research for VBS that I have to teach again this year and would love an invite to use Ebible to help in making my reaseach a whole lot easier.
Larry Epling
99redsilverado @ gmail .com
David
2006-05-30 1145hrs
Larry: :) My ubernyms plugin converted V.B.S. to Visual Basic Script. Too funny. :)
Sent an email to Alex, so you should have something floating your way soon.
EricIsDeliriou5
2006-05-31 1056hrs
Hey Guys. If there are any invites floating around, I’d love to give it a try.
EricIsDeliriou5 (at) gmail (dot) com
TIA!
Eric
Tony McCollum
2006-05-31 1414hrs
I’d love to check out eBible. Please hook a brother up! Thanks!
David
2006-05-31 2127hrs
Eric and Tony: Will try to catch up on where we left off. Haven’t heard from Larry.
Jesse
2006-05-31 2357hrs
Looking for an invite. I promise to pass mine to the next person here. Mahalo (thank you)!
jbarrosplusebibleatgmaildotcom (replace plus, at, and dot with the appropriate characters)
David
2006-06-01 1453hrs
Thanks, Jesse. Working on it.
Tony McCollum
2006-06-01 1742hrs
David, thank you. BTW, my email is tonymc at gmail dot com.
Larry Epling
2006-06-01 2145hrs
got mine today thanks guys.. who’s next
David
2006-06-02 0146hrs
Larry, Eric is next: ericisdeliriou5 at gmail dot com. (Note that’s a five and not an s.)
David
2006-06-03 1631hrs
Anyone else?? I’ve got a few more now. I bet they’re getting ready to go live with this thing. They added a search-by-tag feature as well.
rich.crossroads
2006-06-04 0910hrs
Sounds like an awesome idea - can I get an invite?
rich.crossroads at gmail dot com
David
2006-06-04 1350hrs
Rich: Sent. :)
David Copeland
2006-06-05 1834hrs
sorry it took so long…can I get an invite?
David
2006-06-06 1147hrs
On the way, Pops. :)
David Copeland
2006-06-06 1329hrs
Now what do I need to do to keep the thread going?
Jason Britt
2006-06-08 0114hrs
hey, i would love an invite to ebible. This is one loooooong comment thread bro. You might be up for a world record on this one. my email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). talk to you soon!
David Russell
2006-06-10 0053hrs
Jason: I’ll have my father-in-law forward you one. :)
Ed Schmidgall
2006-06-10 1121hrs
Any left? Would love an invite to eBible. Thanks.
Jason Britt
2006-06-11 1341hrs
Hey Ed… leave your email address in the next comment post and I will be happy to forward one to you!
Pretty cool little set-up dave. I am used to searching through the niv-online bible, but the e-bible tag feature might open up some more application for me. The tags help jog your creative side a lot better than staring at a blank search box.
Hope you are having a blast… I will email you soon!
David Russell
2006-06-12 0130hrs
Jason: Sent you Ed’s email.
Uncle Ed: You should have something soon. Hope all is well there!
Chris Marsden
2006-06-27 1441hrs
Any more invites available?
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
David
2006-06-27 1539hrs
Chris: Sent it.
Neb Milbourn
2006-08-12 2036hrs
I too would appreciate an invite if you have any left.
neb(AT)nebs(DOT)net
David
2006-08-13 2319hrs
On the way Neb. Let me know if you don’t see it.
Andy Rowell
2006-09-06 1446hrs
My list of great Bible study tools on the web is at The Best Bible Study Tools on the Web
Your readers should know that Biblegateway.com is better than ever. They now have the TNIV (2005), ESV (2001), NLT (2004), NASB (1995), HCSB (2003), The Message (2002), CEV (1995), and the NIrV (1998). You can look up five versions of a passage at a time and view them side by side.
Andy Rowell
Department of Biblical Studies and Christian Educational Ministries
Taylor University
My Blog: Church Leadership Conversations