navigation
The index icon allows for convenient navigation to other books and chapters.
browsing
The browse icon, an alternative way of moving through the text, presents the user with a more book-like way of navigation. One can “flip pages”, and browse up and down the current page with the finger/mouse pointer.
bibliomancy
The browsing interface affords an additional mode of interaction - that of thumbing through the pages of a book at random, eyes closed, reading whatever is found.
This practice is known as bibliomancy. Its significance varies - some readers might use it as a way of "discovering" or "exploring" a sacred text. Others might interpret the randomly found pages as personal messages from God, or even as a form of divination.
Computer-generated randomness does not feel random in the same way flipping the pages of a physical book do. The browse icon allows for random movement around the text through movements of the hand. Emotionally, it brings the e.bible closer to the physical book.