Deuterocanonical/apocryphal books

Abstract

The terminology “Deuterocanonical/apocryphal” refers to Jewish literature of the Second Temple period found outside of the twenty-four books of the biblical canon of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is not clear what the connotations of the word “apocrypha” (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφα, “hidden things”) may have been in its earliest usages. Perhaps it was used pejoratively – the books were considered hidden owing to their deficient or problematic nature. Alternatively, the connotations may have been mystical; the books were hidden because one needed special knowledge or revelation to understand them. Because the canon of Scripture is distinct for Jews, Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Protestants, the contents of each community's Apocrypha are unique, as is its usage of the term. For Jews, none of the apocryphal books are considered canonical. Catholics refer to this collection as “Deuterocanonical books” (second canon) and the Orthodox Church as “Anagignoskomena” (that which is read). In Catholic and Orthodox Christian Bibles, these books are interspersed among the Old Testament books or are found as additional chapters of canonical books. Because the Apocrypha are not canonical for Protestants, they are either omitted in their printed Bibles or are placed in a separate section. LISTING OF THE APOCRYPHA IN THE NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (NRSV) In 1991, the NRSV included the following books and additions to canonical books in its Apocrypha, printed in between the Old and New Testaments: 1. Books included in the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Slavonic Bibles, namely, Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther (the entire Greek Esther is included), Wisdom (or the Wisdom of Solomon), Sirach (or Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, the Additions to Daniel (namely, the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men [or Song of the Three Jews]; Susanna; and Bel and the Dragon), 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees 2. Books included in the Greek and Slavonic Bibles, namely, 1 Esdras, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, and 3 Maccabees 3. One book included in the Slavonic Bible and in an appendix to the Vulgate, namely, 2 Esdras 4. One book included in an appendix to the Greek Bible, namely, 4 Maccabees Considered as a whole, the apocryphal books date to the period of the third century BCE–first century CE and have their roots in the land of Israel, Antioch (Syria), Alexandria (Egypt), and perhaps Persia.