The Unbound Bible web site contains “searchable Bibles” in many different languages, including English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic. There is no home page as such, only a main search page, where the user can do a simple search, or input parallel versions (such as King James, New American Standard, etc.) or parallel languages up to a total of nine; they display side by side for easy comparison between texts. Help in doing the searches would be very useful on the main search page, but it is provided only under the drop‐down “Advanced Search: 9 parallel versions”. A certain amount of trial and error is needed to find your way around the site. For example, searching “apocrypha” under the drop‐down “Choose a Book in the New American Standard Version” yields no results, and no clues as to what one might try to get some, while the King James Version will give results for the same search. Links on the main search page include Bible in a Year, Bible Study Tools (includes links to a Bible dictionary and encyclopedia, a topical Bible, Matthew Henry's commentary, Read Through the Bible in a Year, Paul's Missionary Journeys), Know God, Downloads, Translate, Search Settings, Links (includes other Bible web sites), and Contact. Each Bible verse found by a search has a Commentary link, which takes the user to the relevant part of Matthew Henry's commentary, and a Context link, which shows the other verses of the book of the Bible where it was found.
The site seems trustworthy in terms of the information it provides. It contains no advertising. No information on the frequency of updating the site is provided. The site's data is sufficiently current for users. Unbound Bible is an ongoing project, in that the publishers are asking for translations of the site into different languages, and plan to add FAQs and Verse of the Day. The site loads quickly, and its graphics are plain and readily understandable. The text is easy to read, and the user can choose the font size and type desired, and a default version and language of the Bible. Navigation of the site could be simplified; one has to close the screen or use back arrows to return to the main searching page. One cannot scroll down through more than one book of the Bible, but must go back and alter the search. The search engine provides boxes so that users can do Boolean searching. It is possible to search truncated words.
The Unbound Bible is very good for searching words or phrases, and also for comparing different texts or versions of the Bible. The site would benefit from a statement of exactly what its purpose is, and how to use it. It is presumably primarily meant for serious Bible scholars, although the phrase searching feature is very useful for reference work or casual users. Recommended.
