BibleGateway

Last updated
BibleGateway
Bible Gateway logo.svg
Current logo for BibleGateway
BibleGateway Homepage.png
Screenshot of BibleGateway homescreen
Available in74 languages
Owner
Created byNick Hengeveld
URL biblegateway.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched1993;31 years ago (1993)
Current statusOnline

BibleGateway is an evangelical Christian website designed to allow easy reading, listening, studying, searching, and sharing of the Bible in many different versions and translations, including English, French, Spanish, and other languages. Its mission statement is "To honor Christ by equipping people to read and understand the Bible, wherever they are". The website is free to use, but also offers Bible Gateway Plus, a membership program with enhanced services. It is currently owned by Zondervan. [1]

Bible Gateway's engagement features include the ability to display a single Bible verse in many English Bible translations, the ability to display and compare up to five Bible translations side by side at once, its daily Blog, more than 60 email devotions, Bible reading plans and verses-of-the-day, a free mobile app, audio Bibles, video interviews, Bible reference books, shareable widgets, advanced search tools, Bible Gateway Blogger Grid, a retail store, and the Bible Gateway Deals discount program. Bible Gateway's online bookstore offers more than 500,000 Christian resources. It is an affiliate of Christianbook.com. [2]

History

Founded by Nick Hengeveld in 1993 [3] at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bible Gateway was initially planned as a static HTML presentation of the Bible. [4] In 1995, the site moved to the new Gospel Communications Network (a part of Gospel Communications International). The Bible Gateway website was originally written as a CGI script in Perl. Later versions were written in C++, PHP, and Ruby.

Bible Gateway gradually expanded its database by acquiring the rights to more English and foreign language translations, including translations published by International Bible Society, The Lockman Foundation, and Wycliffe Global Alliance.[ citation needed ]

In late 2008, Zondervan (the Evangelical Christian publisher of the NIV and TNIV Bible and a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins) acquired Bible Gateway from Gospel Communications. [5] The sale of the site came after two years of continued financial difficulties on the part of the donation-driven GospelCom ministry. [6]

In June 2009, Joseph Park was hired as president of BibleGateway.com. [7] Park was co-founder and former CEO of Kozmo.com, [8] which was the subject of the documentary film e-Dreams . He was also co-founder and former CEO of Askville, which was owned by Amazon and closed in 2013.

In May 2010, Rachel Barach replaced Park (who became Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at parent company HarperCollins Digital, Consumer) as General Manager of Bible Gateway. [9]

As of November 2021, Bible Gateway hosts 232 versions of the Bible, in 74 different languages. Its Alexa ranking was #744. [10]

Related Research Articles

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The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released in 1978 with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies on recently-published critical editions of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Today's New International Version</span> Updated translation of the Bible

Today's New International Version (TNIV) is an English translation of the Bible which was developed by the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). The CBT also developed the New International Version (NIV) in the 1970s. The TNIV is based on the NIV. It is explicitly Protestant like its predecessor; the deuterocanonical books are not part of this translation. The TNIV New Testament was published in March 2002. The complete Bible was published in February 2005. The rights to the text are owned by Biblica. Zondervan published the TNIV in North America. Hodder & Stoughton published the TNIV in the UK and European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiritual gift</span> In Christianity, an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit

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The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it includes Jesus's warning to his followers that they will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God. The Olivet discourse is the last of the Five Discourses of Matthew and occurs just before the narrative of Jesus's passion beginning with the anointing of Jesus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kozmo.com</span>

Kozmo.com was a venture-capital-funded online company that promised free one-hour delivery of "videos, games, DVDs, music, mags, books, food, basics & more" and Starbucks coffee in several major cities in the United States. It was founded in March 1998 by young investment bankers Joseph Park and Yong Kang in New York City, and was out of business by April 2001. The company is often cited as an example of the dot-com bubble. In January 2013, the brand was bought by Yummy.com and announced that they would relaunch soon. In March 2018, Kozmo was relaunched as a warehouse club. The Kozmo.com website is offline as of July 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New American Standard Bible</span> English translation of the Bible

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The New International Reader's Version (NIrV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Translated by the International Bible Society following a similar philosophy as the New International Version (NIV), but written in a simpler form of English, this version seeks to make the Bible more accessible for children and people who have difficulty reading English, such as non-native English speakers. The authors describe it as a special edition of the NIV written at a third grade reading level.

Gordon Donald Fee was an American-Canadian Christian theologian who was an ordained minister of the Assemblies of God (USA). He was professor of New Testament Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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Craig L. Blomberg is an American New Testament scholar. He is currently the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the New Testament at Denver Seminary in Colorado where he has been since 1986. His area of academic expertise is the New Testament,including subjects relating to parables, miracles, the historical Jesus, Luke-Acts, John, 1 Corinthians, James, the historical trustworthiness of Scripture, financial stewardship, gender roles, the Latter Day Saint movement, hermeneutics, New Testament theology, and exegetical methods. Blomberg has written and edited multiple books.

Donald Arthur Carson is a Canadian evangelical theologian. He is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and president and co-founder of the Gospel Coalition. He has written or edited about sixty books and served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society in 2022.

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Joseph Park is a Korean American investment banker who founded Kozmo.com in 1997. He was profiled in the documentary film e-Dreams. He was a co-founder of Askville, which was owned by Amazon.com and closed in 2013. In late June 2009, he left Amazon to work for Zondervan as president of biblegateway.com, which Zondervan acquired in November 2008 from Gospel Communications International.

Mark Lehman Strauss is an American biblical scholar and professor of the New Testament at Bethel Seminary San Diego, which is part of Bethel University, Minnesota. His areas of expertise include New Testament Gospels and Bible translation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua 16</span> Book of Joshua, chapter 16

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua 23</span> Book of Joshua, chapter 23

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References

  1. Weber, Jeremy (November 6, 2008). "Why Zondervan Bought BibleGateway". Christianity Today Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  2. "Christianbook Home Page - Christianbook.com" . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. "Newsgroups: comp.archives, "Anyone want to test a gateway?" (12/28/1993)" . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. About the Bible Gateway
  5. "Grand Rapids Press: Zondervan acquires religious site BibleGateway.com". MLive.com. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  6. "Muskegon Chronicle: Muskegon-based Christian media giant near close". 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. Engleman, Eric (October 19, 2009). "Q&A: Joseph Park on Amazon, Kozmo and his new career move". TechFlash. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  8. "Innovators - From the Web To Your Door". Time. 2000-09-09. Archived from the original on October 17, 2000.
  9. "Zondervan names Bible Gateway general manager". Christian Retailing. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  10. "biblegateway.com Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic". 2 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2009-10-12.