Help Manual

Search guide

OpenScripture uses one search box. What you type decides how results are matched — you do not pick a separate search mode. Use Search Sources and Search Range to control where the search looks.

Where search appears

Search lives in the same selector flow used for books and chapters. Open it from the selector header, or from the verse drawer by selecting a word or phrase and tapping Search. The in-app panel also links here for the full reference.

Search sources

Choose one or more sources before you search:

  • Bibles — Published translation text and AI translation text. When Bibles is on, you can narrow results to specific published translations and AI translation combinations.
  • My Notes — Highlights with saved notes on this device or account. My Notes is searched on-device with a simple text match.
  • Commentaries & Footnotes — Explanatory notes and footnotes tied to verses.
  • Articles & Appendices — Study articles, guides, and supplementary material.

Bible search defaults to the translation you are currently reading so the same verse is not repeated across every enabled version. You can add or remove translations before running a search.

How matching works

The app picks the matching engine from your query automatically:

  • By meaning (default) — Plain natural-language queries such as God is always with us use concept-aware matching. Results blend lexical similarity with semantic ranking so verses you half-remember can still surface even when the wording differs.
  • Precise matching — Quotes, wildcards (*, ?), or boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) switch to exact lexical matching. Use this when you want strict word, phrase, or boolean control.
  • Passage jumps — Short references such as jn1, rev 6 4, or ps23 open the passage directly instead of returning search hits. If a shorthand could mean more than one book, the app asks you to choose.
  • Strong's numbers — Queries like G3056 or H3068 find occurrences of that original-language word across the text.

Bible results are grouped by translation. Commentary, article, and note results are grouped by source.

Search ranges

Ranges limit which books are included. Built-in ranges are grouped as follows:

General & Testaments

Entire Bible, Old and New Testament, Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament, and Custom Range.

Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)

Torah, Nevi'im, Kethuvim, Former Prophets, and Latter Prophets.

Christian theological groupings

Poetic Writings, Wisdom Literature, Major Prophets, Minor Prophets, Gospels, Synoptics, Luke-Acts, Pauline Epistles, Pastoral Epistles, General Epistles, Petrine Epistles, Johannine Literature, and Johannine Epistles.

Custom ranges let you pick individual books, name the range, and save it for reuse. Saved custom ranges appear alongside the built-in list.

Syntax reference

Goal Example
Search by meaning God is always with us
Exact phrase "son of man"
All words (anywhere in the verse) faith AND works
Either word Christ OR Messiah
Exclude a word faith NOT works
Wildcard (many characters) bapti*
Wildcard (single character) s?n
Strong's number G3056, H3068
Go to a passage jn1, rev 6 4, ps23

Boolean operators must be uppercase: AND, OR, and NOT. Quoted phrases, wildcards, and boolean syntax all use precise matching. Plain language without those operators uses meaning-based matching.

Tips

  • Recent searches restore your query, sources, range, and translation filters.
  • If a meaning-based search returns nothing, try a shorter phrase, a Strong's number, or widen sources to include My Notes and commentaries.
  • Commentaries and articles require a network connection unless that content has been downloaded for offline use.

Ongoing updates

This article is maintained as search evolves. If behavior changes in-app, this guide is updated so that available operators, sources, and filters stay accurate.