The Apocrypha

The term “apocrypha” means “hidden” and is variously taken to indicate esoteric writings or heretical writings depending on the interpreter. “The Apocrypha” refers to texts that have been officially left out of the biblical canon, at least by Protestants. However, the books of the Apocrypha were not always “hidden” or looked on unfavorably as they are by many today. In fact, the Apocrypha was present in the LXX and part of it is in the Roman Catholic canon. In some Protestant collections the Apocrypha is placed between the Old Testament and the New Testament, being separated from both testaments, but in the Roman Catholic collection the books of the Apocrypha are arranged throughout the Old Testament though being considered “Deuterocanonical.”

Jerome was the first not to include these books in his translation simply because there were no Hebrew versions of the texts (though the Greek existed in the LXX). Afterward the Roman Catholic Church accepted the Apocrypha while the later Protestants rejected it as non-authoritative. The dates of the Apocryphal books range from about 300 B.C. to about A.D. 70 or even later in the first century A.D.

The significance of the Apocrypha, similar to the Pseudepigrapha and Dead Sea Scrolls, is that it gives modern readers a valuable insight into early Judaism and even Christianity because it was considered to be part of the Hebrew Scriptures. This is very interesting because in addition to containing apocryphal, poetic, and historical documents, the Apocrypha also contains fictional literature (Tobit, Judith, History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon). Though they cannot be definitely called part of “The Good Book” they can certainly be seen as “good books” by early Jews. Whether or not the Apocrypha is seen as canonical, it still needs to be read for insight into early Christianity.