The Apocrypha is the name commonly given to a set of Jewish writings from the years between the Old and New Testaments.
These books include histories, wisdom, prayers, and stories that some churches read for instruction and that others do not receive as Holy Scripture.
They are not the same as the Gnostic gospels.
The question they raise is canon: which books belong to the Word of God, and which are valuable only as background.
After the last of the Old Testament prophets, Jewish communities produced other books. Among them are
- 1 and 2 Maccabees,
- Tobit,
- Judith,
- Wisdom of Solomon,
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus),
- Baruch,
- and additions to
Greek-speaking Jews included several of these in copies of the Septuagint. The early church knew them. Some fathers quoted them. When the church later listed the books of Scripture, the churches of the Reformation generally received the Hebrew canon of thirty-nine Old Testament books and called the extra books Apocrypha—useful for history and example, not for establishing doctrine.
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches receive most of them as deuterocanonical, that is, as a second list within the canon. Jesus and the apostles quote the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms as Scripture. They do not introduce these later books with “it is written” as they do Moses and the prophets.
The Apocrypha can help a reader understand the world between Malachi and Matthew. It must not be set beside the Law and the Testimony as the rule of faith.
- Apocrypha means hidden or reserved; in common use it names the extra books attached to some Old Testaments.
- These writings come from the intertestamental period, not from the apostles and not from Moses.
- Protestant Bibles usually print them separately or omit them; Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include most of them as Scripture.
- They are not Gnostic gospels and not New Testament forgeries; they are Jewish works of history, wisdom, and devotion.
- Jesus and the apostles treat the Hebrew Scriptures as the written Word of God.
- Historical value is not the same as canonical authority.
- Doctrine is to be built on what God has breathed out, not on what later ages found edifying.
- Intertestamental Books – Written after the prophetic voice of the Old Testament and before the New.
- Mixed Contents – History of the Maccabees, wisdom sayings, tales, prayers, and additions to older books.
- Septuagint Setting – Several circulated with the Greek Old Testament used by many Jews and early Christians.
- Two Church Judgments – Received as Scripture in some traditions; refused as canon in others.
- Not Apostolic – They do not belong to the New Testament witness of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
- Useful Background – They shed light on Pharisees, Sadducees, feast hopes, and the world Jesus entered.
- Not the Rule of Faith – They must not overrule Moses, the prophets, or the gospel of Christ.
- Luke 24:44-45 – “Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
- Matthew 5:17-18 – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
- John 10:35 – “If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—”
- Romans 3:1-2 – “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.”
- 2 Timothy 3:15-17 – “…from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
- Isaiah 8:20 – “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”
- Deuteronomy 4:2 – “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
- Deuteronomy 12:32 – “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.”
- Luke 11:51 – “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah…”—a span that matches the Hebrew order from Genesis to Chronicles.
- Matthew 23:35 – The same range of martyrs, from Abel to Zechariah.
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 – “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
- Acts 17:11 – “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
- Revelation 22:18-19 – A warning not to add to or take from the words of the prophecy of this book.
- Psalm 19:7 – “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”
- John 5:39 – “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.”
- Galatians 1:8 – “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
- Jude 1:3 – “Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
The Apocrypha is not a second Bible and not a secret gospel. It is a collection of later Jewish books that some churches read as Scripture and others do not. Read them, if you read them, with open eyes. Let them teach you the years between the Testaments. Do not let them settle doctrine against Moses, the prophets, or the apostles. Jesus pointed to the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. The sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. To the teaching and to the testimony. If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.