Apocrypha
Many Bibles contain a collection of books that have been translated from Greek text that are not
included in the Hebrew or Protestant canon. These books are called apocryphal. The word
apocryphal suggests that there is something suspect or uncertain origins, that the authenticity of
authorship is questioned. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, these books are
included within the canon. They are treated like other books of the Bible for the purpose of
liturgy, but are generally not treated as authoritative for deciding matters of doctrine. There is an
additional collection of Jewish writings from the intertestamental period that scholars of the
Bible and Second Temple history regularly refer to called the Pseudepigrapha. The name means
literally false writings and refers to the fact that many claim to be written or narrated by such
people as Abraham and Daniel.
The following is a list of the books with a brief summary of their contents and an explanation of
their significance for contemporary readers of the Bible:
Tobit tells the story of the suffering and healing of a pious Israelite and his family under the
Assyrians, and, like the Book of Job, deals with the problem of Theodicy. Why do the righteous
suffer? In contrast to the book of Job, the story answers that the righteous will have their reward
in the future.
Judith conflates the military campaigns of the Assyrians and Babylonians, and tells the story of
the siege of a city called Bethulia by Holofernes, the general of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the
Assyrians. The leaders of the people are paralyzed with terror, but a beautiful woman by the
name of Judith takes action. Judith has been living a life of extreme piety and asceticism as a
widow. She chews out the leaders for their lack of courage, dolls herself up and marches to
Holofernes camp. She is captured outside the camp and every man who sees her beauty falls
under her spell and, upon her request, she is escorted to Holofernes tent. Judith bows at
Holofernes feet and flatters him with overblown praise. She then explains that her people have
begun to violate dietary laws in order to survive the siege and so she has come to request that
Nebuchadnezzar punish them as God's servant. Holofernes then lays out a feast for Judith, who
declines to eat because of dietary laws and says that she has brought her own things with her.
Holofernes leaves her alone for four days but then invites her to a banquet saying to his servants,
"It would be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without having intercourse with her. If we do
not seduce her, she will laugh at us." (12:12). Judith goes along with Holofernes plan and when
he stretches out dead drunk on his bed, she takes sword from his head and cuts off his head. She
then places it in her food bag and carries it back to Bethulia. The soldiers in the Assyrian camp
panic and retreat, and Judith returns to her life of chastity. Judith’s beheading of Holofernes was
a popular subject in Renaissance art. During the 1970’s, interest in stories related to women,
particularly stories about women as leaders, began to grow, and so Judith began to receive much
more attention.
Greek Esther: A version of the biblical story with a few additions.
Wisdom of Solomon is a long discourse encouraging its reader to seek wisdom (Sophia). This
book has received a great deal of attention by scholars of the Gospel of John who have
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recognized in it antecedents for the prologue to that Gospel that describes Jesus as the Word
(logos) of God. The depiction of God’s wisdom as a female agent that is in some ways separate
from God has also received attention by feminist scholars and scholars of the wisdom tradition.
Ecclesiasticus/Ben Sirach is a collection of wisdom from Jesus the son of Sirach. This book has
received attention for many of the same reasons as the Wisdom of Solomon.
Baruch is a letter sent by Baruch the friend and secretary of Jeremiah sent from Exile to the
priests and people of Jerusalem encouraging them to hope in God's promise of restoration and
not to dwell in sorrow.
Letter of Jeremiah is a letter from Jeremiah to the Jews deported to Babylon advising them to
expect a long stay and to avoid idolatry.
The Prayer of Azariah is an addition to the Book of Daniel containing the prayer of Azariah
(one of Daniel's three friends) from the furnace and the song of blessing to God that the friends
sing from the furnace.
Susanna is another addition to the Daniel story. Susana is the beautiful wife of a rich man named
Joakim. One day two elders find Susanna alone in the garden and demand that he have
intercourse with them and if she refuses, they threaten to tell her husband that they saw her with
a young man. She declines to give into their threat and they follow through. Susanna is found
guilty of adultery based upon their witness and is being lead of to execution when Daniel comes
up with the means of exonerating her. He has the two witnesses interviewed separating and when
their stories do not line up they are shown to be false witnesses and are condemned to death and
Susanna is found innocent.
Bel and the Dragon is another Daniel story. Daniel gets in trouble for not worshiping an idol
called Bel and he defends himself saying that he doesn't worship an idol made with hands but the
living God who created everything. The king believes that Bel does live because the idol appears
to eat the food set out for it. Daniel laughs and the king threatens to have him killed if he does
not prove that someone else is eating the food. After food has been placed before the idol, Daniel
scatters ashes over the floor and has the door to the room sealed. The priest and their wives and
children, who have been eating the food every night, enter through a trap door beneath a table. In
the morning, the king thinks that he has proven Daniel wrong but then Daniel points to all the
footprints on the floor. The king then puts the priests and their families to death. The king then
presents Daniel with the claim that a dragon that lives in the palace is undeniably a god to
worship. Daniel then asks permission to kill the dragon without a sword of club. Daniel feeds the
dragon cakes made of pitch, fat and hair and the dragon bursts open. The people get upset and
accuse the king of becoming a Jew. They then throw Daniel into the lion’s den, but the lions do
Daniel no harm. An angel brings the prophet Habakkuk to Babylon by his hair so that Habakkuk
can feed Daniel and meal and then returns him home. On the seventh day, the king comes to
mourn Daniel whom he supposes must be dead and finds Daniel alive. The king then confesses,
"You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!" He pulls Daniel
out of the den and those who put him there die instantly.
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1 Maccabees tells the story of the revolt against the Seleucid (Greek rulers of Judea). Alexander
the Great defeated the Persian Empire in 333 B.C.E. and Judea became part of a vast Hellenistic
(Greek) Empire. This empire split after Alexander’s death in 323 and Judea became part of
Egypt ruled by the Ptolemies, a Greek family. In 198 B.C.E. Judea fell under the control of
another Greek territory ruled by the Seleucids. The Jewish revolt began in 164 B.C.E. and was
led by a Jewish priest named Mattathias and his five sons, the Maccabees. The story is very proMaccabee and represents them as God’s instruments. The book is approving of the Maccabee
claim to the throne and control of the High Priesthood. This book was included in the Septuagint
(LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the secular state of modern Israel, the
Maccabees have become cultural heroes because of their military victory that brought national
independence.
2 Maccabees focuses on the story of the eldest Maccabee brother, Judas and tells the story
leading up to the Jewish revolt. Judas is portrayed as pious and observant of the Torah. Much of
the narrative recounts three attacks on the Temple in Jerusalem and the role of divine agents as
well as Judas in the preservation of its holiness. Of particular interest to modern readers is the
story of the martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother who do not fear death because they
look forward to resurrection. This book then provides the clearest early reference to the doctrine
of the resurrection.
The remaining books are included in the apocrypha in most study Bibles and are included in
Greek and Russian Orthodox Bibles but are not included in Roman Catholic Bibles.
1 Esdras includes a selection of stories that focus upon observation of the Torah beginning with
king Josiah’s celebration of the Passover after finding a book of the Torah during Temple
renovations and ending with Ezra’s reading of the law to the returned exiles and the
establishment of Torah piety in Jewish society.
Psalm 151 is a psalm only known in its Greek version until a scroll of biblical psalms including
it was found in Cave 11 at Qumran near the Dead Sea. The psalm is a poetic commentary on the
story of the anointing of David told in 1 Sam 16.
3 Maccabees doesn’t have anything to do with the Maccabees. It tells three stories from the
reign of Ptolemy IV, king of Egypt: an assassination attempt thwarted by Dositheus, a lapsed
Jew, a failed attempt by the king to enter the Temple in Jerusalem, and a the kings persecution of
Egyptian Jews. Scholarship is currently interested in the book because it provides a glimpse into
the attempts of Jews to define their identity as both good citizens in a pagan world and good
Jews.
2 Esdras contains a series of vision by a Jewish author set during the Roman occupation that
raise the question of God’s justice (also known as 4 Ezra in the Pseudepigrapha) and two
additions written by Christians. In one of the visions, the seer sees the heavenly Jerusalem. Given
that two Christian writers added to this book, it is clear that this work was important to the early
Christians. Recently scholars and the general public (witness the popularity of the Left Behind
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series) have become much more interested in apocalyptic literature and so this work has received
a great deal of attention along with apocalypses found in the Pseudepigrapha.
4 Maccabees draws people’s attention because it contains the belier in the immortality of the
soul and the notion of vicarious atoning self-sacrifice. Unlike 2 Maccabees, stories about the
sons of Mattatias do appear in this book.
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