베들레헴 성경 - Bethlehem Bible

Review by eFreeware

If you read the Bible with more than one text open at a time, Bethlehem Bible is the sort of app that fits that habit. It is a paid Android app from developer Lee Eui Tae, listed at $5.99, and it puts Bible text, commentaries, original-language codes and translation comparisons in one place rather than sending you between separate apps.

The people I would expect to get the most from it are those who study rather than simply read: someone preparing a lesson, working through a passage in the original languages, or comparing how different translations handle the same verse. It is also built to accept material you supply yourself, which matters if the translations or commentaries you rely on are not among the ones that ship with it.

It appeared on the Play Store in June 2023 and has been updated since, most recently in April 2026 with a fix for data errors. The install figure sits at over 5,000, and no rating is shown, so there is not much of a crowd to judge it by.

Reading, comparing and looking up the text

The core of the app is a reading view with two navigation strips: a menu bar along the top and a toolbar along the bottom. Both scroll sideways, so if your screen is too narrow to show everything, you swipe from right to left to reach the rest. Tapping an item in the top menu turns that text red and loads the content on the main screen; tapping the red text again opens a selection menu where you pick what you want to see.

Four kinds of material sit behind that menu. You can read a Bible translation, read a commentary, look at original-language code translations, or set translations side by side for comparison. Moving between passages works like a browser, with back and forward navigation, which suits the way study tends to jump around rather than run straight through.

Search covers two separate needs. You can search for a verse, and you can search by original-language code, which is the Strong's numbering the app uses. For anyone who traces a word through its occurrences, that second search is the part that turns a reading app into a study tool.

Built-in help sits in the bottom toolbar, so the instructions stay inside the app itself. There is an English interface, and a dark mode for reading in low light.

Notes, bookmarks and sharing what you find

Study usually leaves a trail, and the app provides a few ways to keep one. There is a bookmark function for marking passages you want to return to, and a note function for writing your own material alongside the text. The developer notes that Bible text can be inserted into a note easily, which saves retyping a verse you want to comment on.

Text can also be copied or shared. A long press on the text brings up the menu for that, so a passage can leave the app and go into a message, a document or wherever else you need it.

None of this is unusual on its own. What holds it together is that the notes and bookmarks sit in the same app as the commentaries and language tools, so a passage, your comment on it and the reference material behind it are not scattered across three places.

Adding your own translations and commentaries

You can also add translations and commentaries of your own. The developer also lets you change the order of the translations shown in the selection window, which is a small thing that matters once you are regularly switching between three or four of them.

Adding material is a manual process, and it is the part of the app that asks the most of you. You install the app, find the additional data through a web search, download the version built for Bethlehem 2.0.5 or higher on Android, unzip it, and copy the files into the app's folder in internal storage. Then you launch the app, swipe the bottom toolbar from right to left, and press the register button at the far right to bring the new data in.

The developer gives two workarounds: connect the phone to a computer and copy the files from there, or install a file explorer such as CX File Explorer or Total Commander and use that instead. If neither explorer works, the computer route is the one that remains.

I would weigh that against how much you value custom material. For a reader who stays with the built-in texts, the setup never comes up. For someone who wants a particular commentary or translation in the app, it is a one-time job that involves a computer or an extra app, and it is worth knowing about before you pay.

What the app costs and what that covers

Bethlehem Bible is a one-time purchase of $5.99. There are no ads, and there are no in-app purchases, so nothing inside the app asks you for more money once you have bought it.

That is a straightforward arrangement. The extra translations and commentaries are not sold inside the app; they are separate data files you find and install yourself.

The app requires Android 6.0 or higher, which covers a wide range of phones.

How it compares with other ways to study

The obvious alternative is a free Bible app. They tend to center on reading with a set of translations chosen for you. Bethlehem's pitch is different: you pay once, and the app is built around comparison, commentaries and original-language codes rather than around a reading plan.

A second alternative is a full Bible study program for a computer, but it ties your study to a desk. Bethlehem is a phone app, and its browser-style navigation and horizontal toolbars are designed for a small screen.

Which of these suits you depends on whether you want one paid app that holds the study together or a set of free tools you assemble yourself.

A considered purchase for readers who compare texts

Bethlehem Bible is worth the $5.99 if you study rather than skim. The combination of translation comparison, commentary, original-language code search and notes in a single paid app is the reason to choose it, and the absence of ads and in-app purchases keeps the reading view free of interruptions.

The manual data installation is the part to think about first. If you want translations or commentaries beyond what the app includes, you will be copying files into the app folder, and on Android 11 or higher that means a computer or a file explorer app rather than the file manager your phone came with. Readers who are content with the built-in material will never meet that step.

With over 5,000 installs and no rating shown, there is not much of a public track record to lean on, so the decision rests on whether the feature set matches how you work. If you keep several translations open, look up words by their original-language codes and write notes as you go, this is built for you.

What's new in version 2.3.1

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