Bible Word Search
Drag across the grid — or tap the first and last letter — to mark a word. Every puzzle is generated fresh from a Scripture theme.
Leaderboard
The twenty highest scores for this game, by day, week, month and all time.
About Bible Word Search
Each puzzle is built from the vocabulary of one biblical theme — creation, the exodus, the psalms, the parables, Easter and a dozen others — so the word list itself is a short index of the passage it comes from.
Vocabulary is a real part of Bible literacy. Words like covenant, atonement, remnant, gospel, apostle, tabernacle and grace carry specific weight, and a reader who has never had to think about them will read straight past them. Grouping words by theme is a way of noticing that each part of Scripture has its own working vocabulary.
A creation puzzle and an Easter puzzle draw on completely different word sets, and the difference is instructive. The vocabulary of Genesis 1-2 is one of forming, filling, naming and resting; the vocabulary of the passion narratives is one of trial, betrayal, crucifixion, tomb and resurrection. Each theme in this game carries a short note and a passage so the words point back somewhere.
How to play
- 1.Choose a theme and a difficulty. Grids run from nine to sixteen squares across.
- 2.Drag across letters to select a word. Easier tiers hide words horizontally and vertically only; harder tiers add diagonals and reversals.
- 3.Use a hint if a word will not surface. The timer keeps running.
- 4.Finish the grid to see the theme note and its passage, or print the grid to work on paper.
What it reinforces
- The working vocabulary of a specific biblical theme.
- Spelling of names and terms that are easy to get slightly wrong.
- Sustained visual attention, which transfers surprisingly well to careful reading.
- Recognition of which words belong to which part of Scripture.
What to notice while you play
- Words in the list you could not define. Those are the ones worth looking up afterwards.
- Names that recur across several themes and the different roles they play.
- How the word list summarises the passage — most lists are a rough outline of the story.
- Terms that have a general English meaning and a narrower biblical one.
Taking it into your Bible reading
When you finish a grid, read the passage attached to the theme and mark each word from the list as you meet it. Two or three of them will usually be doing more work in the text than you expected. A concordance or a study Bible's glossary will fill in the rest in a few minutes.
This is a puzzle, not a study method on its own. Its usefulness is that it leaves you with a handful of terms and one passage to go and read.
Passages to read
- Genesis 1-2 — The vocabulary of creation: forming, filling, naming, resting.
- Psalm 23 — A short psalm whose every word repays attention.
- Luke 15 — Three parables with a shared vocabulary of losing and finding.
- Luke 24 — The resurrection accounts and the language they use.
Read these in full rather than as single lines. A game can only point at a passage; the passage itself is the thing worth your time.
Keep learning
- Daily Bible Crossword — the same vocabulary, defined by clue rather than found in a grid.
- Verse Builder — move from single words to whole verses.
- Bible Timeline Challenge — place the themes in historical order.
Keep going with Verse Builder or test your chronology in the Bible Timeline Challenge.