Essential theWord Modules

Essential theWord Modules is a listing and explanation of which books I would consider as “essential tw modules” for the Christian lawman and/or for Christian ministers. There are lita

Let me define a little more what I consider “essential” to be. An essential book (I will use the terminology of theWord, an essential module) is one that you need in order to efficiently use theWord. There are only a few of these modules in reality. But they are foundational modules that your study of the Bible will be extremely crippled if you do not have these modules. Also, if you have them and do not under how to use them, then likewise your Bible study will not be what it could be.

King James Bible

Program Functionality

This module is included in the modules that you get when you first install the program. Even if you use other versions of the Bible, you need this one also. Why? I use the KJV because it is my preference, but this module pretty much has to “hang around.” theWord is a program that manipulates databases (its modules). If you run the program without any Bible, it will not load correctly nor work. You have to have a base Bible module which it will load in order to see that default Bible in the Bible view window. Bible searches are also going to be haywire if you do not have at least one Bible. I have run theWord with a Spanish Bible only and it has worked. But again, if you only have a Greek NT, any OT passages and opening a Bible View window with an OT passage are not going to work right. It is simply easier to keep it among your modules and not worry about any of this.

For more help, see these twtutorial.com articles

Within the theWord preferences, Bible Texts options, you switch off the Bible version so you don’t see it in the options. Do that instead of removing the KJV Bible. I believe (haven’t checked it out myself) that the program will pick up the KJV if say you only have available Greek NT Bibles, and you type in an OT text and try to go there in the Bible View Window.

Strong’s Numbers

A second reason to keep the KJV Bible in your Bibles options is because of the integration of the Strong’s numbers in this KJV Bible. I have never seen a third party KJV bible module for theWord, but it may exist. But the one included has Strong’s dictionary numbers (Hebrew and Greek) after the words that they represent. This is essential for most people.

  • You toggle Strong’s numbers on and off by clicking in the Bible Window (you could have 2+ BibleView Windows open at the same time) and then typing a simple s when that window is highlighted.

All of us get rusty in our Greek and Hebrew, even when we studied it in seminary. But this is a very simple and quick way to see the underlying Hebrew or Greek word in a passage.

Warning: The theWord KJV module has errors or inaccuracies in their implementation of the Strong’s Dictionary numbers in the KJV text. There are two things here. First, the number simply is not behind the right English word. It is one or more English words “off”. Secondly, the translation between English and Hebrew, and English and Greek are not that accurate because sometimes there are several words in one language to represent a single word in the other, and visa versa. So we need to give whomever created these Strongs’ numbers a pass because there is no right way in many cases. They did the best they could. As you build an accurate representation in English of the underlying grammar and vocabulary of the Greek or Hebrew, English uses helping verbs and those languages do not do the same thing always.

So you need the KJV module in your Bible modules lineup.

The Inaccuracy of Modern Bible Translations

Without getting into too complicated an explanation, most modern Bible translations take liberties in representing the Hebrew and Greek in their versions. Very simply put, there is no desire of modern Bible translators to represent every word in their English version for every word in the original language. You can make of that what you want, but for example, it is impossible for anybody to take the NIV and make a Strongs’ Bible module. The translators took too many liberties in expressing the original text in a flowing English text that reads easily. While that may be really good for some people, like a person who spoke some other language besides English and is now in a church with all services in English, it is horrible for Bible Study.

If you can pick any place in the Old Testament or the New Testament, and open your Hebrew or Greek Bible and immediately read easily the text without the use of Lexicons, I would say you do not need the KJV with Strongs. You have the talent to do so on your own. But if you simply do not know Greek or Hebrew, or you studied it, but you are “rusty” or unsure sometimes, it is better to fall back on this KJV with Strong’s module.

RMAC-en – Robinson’s Morphological Analysis Codes

As the Strong’s Dictionary is necessary to understand the Strong’s Dictionary Vocabulary codes, the Robinson’s Morphological Analysis Codes module is also necessary in order to unlock the part of speech a particular word is in the original language.

How to Use the RMAC?

Very simply. If you open these codes in the KJV BibleView Window (or any Bible module that also uses them) you can see a series of letters that represent the part of speech of that particular word. This is very useful in, for example, finding all imperatives, or finding all imperatives of a certain vocabulary word, “Go ye into all the world”.

TSK Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

If you have ever used a Bible with footnotes or sidenotes, you have seen how useful these kinds of Bibles are. The TSK is a composition of a single commentary tw module with the footnotes and sidenotes of hundreds of Annotated Bibles from England. In general, it is a unique work that you cannot do without once you learn its use and benefits.

You simply open a Bibleview Window and a Commentary window, and link the two, and then go in the Bibleview window to a passage, and a list of references appears in the Commentary window on that verse.

Let me say that as a preacher, it is THE MOST IMPORTANT REFERENCE WORK I have. Nothing compares to it. With a single verse to base a sermon on, you can look it up in TSK, then write down its verses on the verse and do the same with them, and you will have enough references to flesh out any sermon. It is extremely helpful.

Essential theWord Modules