Hostage

The Bible Search supports a rich syntax to help you find verses quickly. Below are the operators and wildcards you can use:

Operator / Syntax	Description	Example Query & Result
`+` (or space)	Logical AND: Finds verses containing all terms. Note that searching words separated only by a space behaves as an exact phrase. Use `+` to find terms anywhere in the same verse.	`jesus + wept` Finds verses containing both "jesus" and "wept" in any order.
`-`	Logical NOT / Exclude: Excludes verses containing the term after the minus sign.	`jesus - wept` Finds verses containing "jesus" but NOT "wept".
`\|`	Logical OR: Finds verses containing either term.	`grace \| mercy` Finds verses containing "grace", "mercy", or both.
`%`	Multi-character Wildcard: Matches zero or more non-space characters.	`behav%` Matches "behave", "behaved", "behaveth", "behavior", etc.
`_`	Single-character Wildcard: Matches exactly one single alphabetical character.	`h_t` Matches "hat", "hot", "hit", etc.
`" "`	Exact Phrase: Wraps a search term in double quotes to find an exact match for the entire phrase.	`"in the beginning"` Finds verses containing exactly "in the beginning" with no variations.
`[Book]`	Search Scope: Restricts your search to a specific book, range of books, or chapter range.	`lord [Matt]` (Only Matthew) `faith [Heb - Jam]` (Hebrews to James) `spirit [Matt 4 - 8]` (Matthew Ch. 4 to 8) `love [John 1:1 - 3:16]` (Specific range)

Bible Dictionary · H

A person delivered into the hands of another as a security for the performance of some promise, etc. (2 Kgs 14:14; 2 Chr 25:24).

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.