The SWORD Project
CrossWire Bible Society's free software project
The SWORD Project is the CrossWire Bible Society's free software project. Its purpose is to create cross-platform open-source tools—covered by the GNU General Public License—that allow programmers and Bible societies to write new Bible software more quickly and easily.
Overview
The core of The SWORD Project is a cross-platform library written in C++, providing access, search functions and other utilities to a growing collection of over 200 texts in over 50 languages. Any software based on their API can use this collection.
JSword is a separate implementation, written in Java, which reproduces most of the API features of the C++ API and supports most SWORD data content.
The project is one of the primary implementers of and contributors to the Open Scripture Information Standard (OSIS), a standardized XML language for the encoding of scripture. The software is also capable of utilizing certain resources encoded in using the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) format and maintains deprecated support for Theological Markup Language (ThML) and General Bible Format (GBF).
Bible study front-end applications
A variety of front ends based on The SWORD Project are available:
And Bible
And Bible, based on JSword, is an Android application.
Alkitab Bible Study
Alkitab Bible Study, based on JSword, is a multiplatform application with binaries available for Windows, Linux, and OS X. It has been described as "an improved Windows front-end for JSword".
The Bible Tool
The Bible Tool is a web front end to SWORD. One instance of the tool is hosted at CrossWire's own site.
“The SWORD Project” enters the record as crossWire Bible Society's free software project. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what SWORD, Project and CrossWire can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“The SWORD Project” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, SWORD, Project and CrossWire provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1413472. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The SWORD Project”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The SWORD Project primary sources, The SWORD Project archive and SWORD research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The SWORD Project”?
- Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The SWORD Project” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.