How to create a scripture index for your book

What a scripture index is

A scripture index lists every Bible passage a book cites, in Bible order from Genesis to Revelation, with the pages where each one appears.

It goes at the back of the book, usually next to the subject index. A subject index helps readers find topics. A scripture index helps them find passages: they look up the book of the Bible, then the chapter and verse, and turn to the pages listed.

Here is the scripture index for three pages of Grace in the Margins, the sample manuscript on our home page:

Genesis
  1:1 .......... 12
  1:27 ......... 12, 47
Psalms
  23:1–4 ....... 47
Isaiah
  53:6 ......... 47
Luke
  15:4–7 ....... 47
John
  1:1–3 ........ 12
  3:16 ......... 103
Romans
  3:23 ......... 47
  6:23 ......... 47
  8:28 ......... 103
  8:38–39 ...... 103
1 Corinthians
  13:4–7 ....... 103
Galatians
  5:22–23 ...... 103
Colossians
  1:16 ......... 103
  1:16–17 ...... 12
Revelation
  21:5 ......... 103
  22:1–2 ....... 103

Does your book need one?

If readers might want to find what your book says about a particular passage, it needs one. That covers most books that quote Scripture often, such as:

• commentaries and books on biblical theology
• systematic and pastoral theology
• sermon collections
• Bible study guides and small-group material
• theses and dissertations in biblical studies
• devotional and Christian living books that cite many passages

Academic publishers often expect one. For other books it's up to you, but readers notice when it's missing. Preachers in particular often turn to the scripture index first, to see what a book says about the passage they're preaching on.

How a scripture index is laid out

Style guides like The Chicago Manual of Style and The SBL Handbook of Style differ in the details, and your publisher may have its own house style. But most scripture indexes follow the same pattern:

• Books in Bible order, not alphabetical order. Genesis comes first and Revelation last, just as in the Bible. Some indexes add Old and New Testament headings.
• Book names in full as headings (1 Corinthians, not 1 Cor), even if the text uses abbreviations.
• Chapters and verses in number order, so 3:16 comes before 10:10.
• Ranges kept as they were written. A citation of 12:1–3 gets its own entry, separate from 12:1.
• All the pages for a passage on one line, in order and without repeats: 1:27 ...... 12, 47.
• Footnotes marked with the note number, often as 24n3 for note 3 on page 24.
• Whole chapters (Psalm 23) listed before the verses in that chapter.

Indexes are often set in two columns, with dots or a space between each passage and its page numbers. Agree the layout with your publisher or designer before you start.

Four ways to make one

1. By hand

This works for any book. Wait for the final page proofs, then read every page and write down each reference with its page number. Index cards work, or a spreadsheet with columns for book, chapter, verse and page. When you've finished, sort everything into Bible order, combine the duplicates and type it up. (In a spreadsheet, add a column with each book's place in the Bible and sort by that, then by chapter and verse.)

It's reliable but slow. A few hundred references can take many hours, and anything you miss while reading simply isn't there. If the page numbers change at a late proof, you have to start again.

2. In Word, InDesign or indexing software

Word, InDesign and LibreOffice can all build an index from entries you mark in the text, and they update the page numbers when the layout changes. The problem is the order. They sort entries alphabetically, which puts Acts before Genesis, and a simple text sort puts John 10:10 before John 3:16. There are workarounds, like hidden sort keys or scripts, but they mean editing hundreds of entries by hand. You also still have to mark every reference yourself.

Professional indexers use dedicated software such as Cindex or SKY Index, which can sort in any order you set up. It works well, but it's made for people who index for a living and takes time to learn.

3. Hire an indexer

A professional indexer will make a careful index to your publisher's style, often along with the subject index. Most charge by the page or by the entry; the Society of Indexers and ANZSI publish suggested rates. Book early, because indexers work from the final proofs, on the same tight deadline as everyone else.

4. Generate it from your PDF

Bible references follow a regular pattern (a book name, then chapter and verse), so software can find them for you. Scripture Index reads the PDF of your book and finds every reference. It checks each one against the real chapter and verse numbers of the Bible, then builds the index in Bible order with your printed page numbers. You check anything it isn't sure about, then copy the index into your book.

It's free, you don't need an account, and it runs in your browser. Your PDF stays on your computer and is never uploaded.

Step by step from a PDF

1. Save the final PDF. Use the finished layout, not a draft, so the page numbers match the printed book.
2. Open it in the indexer. Drop the PDF onto the indexer, or choose it from your computer. The index appears straight away, using the page numbers printed on your pages.
3. Check the page numbers. Open Pages and Page Numbers to leave out the front or back matter, or to renumber from a page if the numbering is off.
4. Review anything uncertain. The indexer holds back references it isn't sure about and shows you the sentence each came from. That might be a chapter that doesn't exist, a name that's also an everyday word, or a "v. 18" where it had to guess the passage. Choose Review one by one to decide on each, or Include all.
5. Choose the layout. Show footnote references as 24n3, as plain page numbers, or leave them out. Pick one to three columns, and dots or another character before the page numbers.
6. Copy it into your book. Copy pastes into Word or Google Docs with the page numbers lined up. Download saves it as plain text for your typesetter.

Checking the finished index

However you make your index, read it through once before it goes to print. Watch for these:

• Words that are also book names. "Mark 2 copies", "Job 3 starts Monday" or "Acts 5" in a list of steps aren't Bible references. Scripture Index holds these back for you to check, but they're easy to pick up by hand too.
• Short references. Authors often write "v. 18" or "(4:2)" after a full reference. These take their book and chapter from the reference before, which is easy to get wrong once a new paragraph or page has started.
• Typos in the text. "John 22:1" doesn't exist, because John has only 21 chapters. Making the index is a good chance to catch these.
• Running heads and captions. A reference in a running head gets indexed on every page it appears on. Leave those pages out, or remove the extra entries.
• Late changes. If the layout changes, the page numbers move. Make the index from the final proofs, and make it again if they change.

Common questions