An Apocrypha Overview

Christianity is composed of three major branches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. Each branch has the same 66 books in their Bibles. In comparison with most Protestant Bibles, however, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles have additional books.

The LXX

The extra books come from the first major translation of the Bible called the Septuagint (LXX), completed around 100 B.C. According to tradition, 70 scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, thus the name “seventy” or LXX. In addition to the books of the Hebrew Bible, the LXX included other books, known as the Apocrypha. Apocryphal books were not placed in a separate section of the LXX; they were interspersed throughout the Old Testament. Since the events recorded in the Apocrypha occurred during the Intertestamental Period (the 400-year period before Christ), these books do not mention Christ.

The Jewish View of the LXX

How did the Jews view the additional books of the LXX? More than a century after the LXX was completed, a Jewish historian named Josephus (A.D. 37-100) boasted that the Hebrew Bible contained an established list of 22 books. He writes:

For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greeks have], but only twenty-two books, which contain all the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death… the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. (Antiquities of the Jews)

Since the current Jewish arrangement of the Hebrew Bible contains 24 books not 22, scholars debate whether Josephus’s list combined books which are now separated, such as 1 and 2 Kings. But in any case, Josephus’s statement shows a high degree of correspondence between what he believed were the books of the Hebrew Bible and the books of the Hebrew Bible as we know them today.

Why does the Protestant Old Testament contain 39 books, not 24 or 22? That is merely a difference in counting. Some books are grouped together in the Hebrew Bible, such as the Twelve Minor Prophets considered to be one book. The content, however, between the Hebrew Bible and the Protestant Old Testament is the same. (See the comparison chart.)

Since Josephus lived after the LXX was completed, his statement shows that neither he nor his contemporaries viewed the additional books of the LXX as part of the Hebrew canon. (Canon is the list of books considered to be Scripture.) To this day, the Hebrew Bible does not include the apocryphal books because Jewish Bibles are not based on the LXX, but rather on the Hebrew text called the Masoretic Text (MT).

So what is a translator to do? If you were translating the Hebrew Bible into another language, would you translate from the LXX and include the additional books or would you translate from the MT and exclude them?

The Latin Vulgate

About 500 years after the LXX was completed, a scholar named Jerome (AD 346-420) translated the Bible—Old Testament and New Testament—into Latin. Jerome’s translation, called the Vulgate, became the official Bible of the Catholic Church for a millennium. What did Jerome do with the additional books? He translated directly from the Hebrew Old Testament and included the additional books of the LXX. Since he knew that the Hebrew Old Testament lacked these books, he gave them a distinct label—”Apocrypha,” meaning “hidden.” We are not exactly sure why he labeled them “hidden,” but we know that he considered them to be non-canonical and expressed reluctance at having to translate them. (See http://www.bombaxo.com/prologues.html.) Like in the LXX, the apocryphal books were interspersed among the other biblical books in Jerome’s translation.

Luther’s Bible

In 1534, Martin Luther completed his German translation of the Bible. Like Jerome, Luther based his translation of the Old Testament on the Hebrew text and included the apocryphal books in his version. Luther’s Bible, however, was the first to place the apocryphal books in their own section—between the Old Testament and New Testament. He labeled this section: “Apocrypha: These Books Are Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read.” Until the 19th century, most Protestant Bibles, followed Luther’s lead and included the apocryphal books in a designated section. In the 1800s, Bible publishers discontinued printing the Apocrypha largely for economic reasons.

The Council of Trent

In 1546, at the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church officially accepted the apocryphal books into their canon. The Catholic Church refers to these books as Deuterocanonical, which in their usage means books that have been fully accepted into the canon after the other books. As a result, Catholics believe these books have the same status as any other biblical book.

The Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint as the basis for their Old Testament. Consequently, the Orthodox Church also includes the additional books in their canon. Although they too label these works Deuterocanonical, they mean something slightly different by the term. In the Eastern Orthodox view, the Deuterocanonical books are important, but have a lesser status than other biblical books. Eastern Orthodoxy calls these books anagignoskomena, meaning “worthy of reading” or “things to read.” The anagignoskomena include the Roman Catholic Deuterocanonical books and about five additional texts.

List of Books

Here are the names of the Deuterocanonical books in the Catholic Bible:

• Tobit
• Judith
• Additions to Esther
• Wisdom
• Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus)
• Baruch (including Letter of Jeremiah)
• Additions to Daniel
• Song of the Three Children
• Story of Susanna
• Bel and the Dragon
• 1 Maccabees
• 2 Maccabees

Eastern Orthodox Bibles add the following books to the list above:

• 3 & 4 Maccabees (4 Macc. in appendix)
• 1 Esdras
• Letter of Jeremiah (separate from Baruch)
• Psalm 151
• Prayer of Manasseh

Comparison

Comparing the different perspectives shows that Roman Catholics have the highest view of the apocryphal books, Protestants have the lowest view, and Eastern Orthodox have a mediating view. Having a low view, however, does not mean disdaining or discarding the apocryphal books. Each branch of Christianity sees something in these books that is at the very least worthy or useful.

While some Protestants may show disdain toward these books, it’s important to note that the founder of Protestantism included them in his German translation and said they were good and useful to read.

Summary

Although the Apocrypha can spark a firestorm of controversy, these two areas of historical agreement should be kept in mind:

• The apocryphal books are “useful and good to read.”
• All Bibles contain the same 39 books in the Old Testament and the same 27 books in the New Testament.