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I would like to clear things up on the issue of Books Mentioned But Not Found In The Bible. There are so many websites out there on this topic, and so many that claim that there are a whole lot of books that ARE MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE yet not in the Bible. There ARE a LOT of non-canonical scriptures that have been discovered, yet are disregarded by certain religions and therefore you will not find them in The Bible. Then again, it all depends on which Bible you are reading in regards to which Religion that Bible is written for. To clear things up, there are around 28 books that are mentioned within the Bible, yet they are kept out of the Bible. Many of these books were attributed to prophets and seers or their contents are described as prophecy. I would like to add that I find it somewhat odd that the Bible which is supposed to be inspired would recommend that the reader look up uninspired texts for more information . . .
yet these books are excluded from
the Bible. Hebrew Bible references: The Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh by Jews, and called the Old Testament by Christians, or the Protocanonical books.
Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: As he did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Arnon.
Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house
In regards to all those misinformed websites out there, I believe the definitions of canonical, noncanonical, apocrypha, deuterocanonical and pseudepigrapha needs to be explained. Deuterocanonical Books A term used to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are contained in the Hebrew Bible. This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early Church about whether they should be classified as canonical texts. The term is used as a matter of convenience by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and other Churches to refer to books of their Old Testament which are not part of the Masoretic Text. The Deuterocanonical books are considered canonical by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, but are considered non-canonical by most Protestants. The word deuterocanonical comes from the Greek meaning 'belonging to the second canon'. The original usage of the term distinguished these scriptures both from those considered non-canonical and from those considered protocanonical. However, some editions of the Bible include text from both deuterocanonical and non-canonical scriptures in a single section designated "Apocrypha". This arrangement can lead to conflation between the otherwise distinct terms "deuterocanonical" and "apocryphal".
Fragments of three
deuterocanonical books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls
found at Qumran, in addition to several partial copies of I Enoch and
Jubilees from the Ethiopic deuterocanon. Sirach, whose Hebrew text
was already known from the Cairo Geniza, has been found in two
scrolls (2QSir or 2Q18, 11QPs_a or 11Q5) in Hebrew. Another Hebrew
scroll of Sirach has been found in Masada (MasSir). The Book of Tobit
has been found in Qumran in four scrolls written in Aramaic and in
one written in Hebrew. The Letter of Jeremiah (or Baruch chapter 6)
has been found in cave 7 (7Q5) in Greek. It has been theorized by
recent scholars that the Qumran library was not entirely produced at
Qumran, but may have included part of the library of the Jerusalem
Temple, that may have been hidden in the caves for safekeeping at the
time the Temple was destroyed by Romans in 70 AD. In the canonical debate between Catholics and Protestants controversy remains as to the significance of Trent's omission of the Septuagint version of 1 Esdras which Carthage may have ratified. However, there is ambiguity over the naming of the books of Esdras. The Canon of Carthage lists two books of Esdras. This could mean 1 Esdras and Ezra-Nehemiah as in the Septuagint or Ezra and Nehemiah as in the Vulgate. The Catholic deuterocanonical scriptural texts are:
Pseudepigrapha Certain writings other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha professing to be Biblical in character. Falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is represented by a separate author, or a work "whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past". The word pseudepigrapha is from the Greek: pseudes, "false" and epigraphe-, "name" or "inscription" or "ascription"; thus when taken together it means "false superscription or title". Pseudepigraphy covers the false ascription of names of authors to works, even to authentic works that make no such claim within their text. Thus a widely accepted but incorrect attribution of authorship may make a completely authentic text pseudepigraphical. Assessing the actual writer of a text locates questions of pseudepigraphical attribution within the discipline of literary criticism. In Old Testament biblical studies, the term Pseudepigrapha typically refers to an assorted collection of Jewish religious works thought to be written c 300 BC to 300 AD. They are distinguished by Protestants from the Deuterocanonical (Catholic and Orthodox) or Apocrypha (Protestant), the books that appear in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible or in Protestant Bibles. Catholics distinguish only between the deuterocanonical and all the other books, that are called biblical Apocrypha, a name that is also used for the pseudepigrapha in the Catholic usage. In addition, two books considered canonical in the Tewahedo churches, viz. 1 Enoch and Jubilees, are categorized as "pseudepigrapha" from the point of view of the Chalcedonian churches. In biblical studies, pseudepigrapha refers particularly to works which purport to be written by noted authorities in either the Old and New Testaments or by persons involved in Jewish or Christian religious study or history. These works can also be written about biblical matters, often in such a way that they appear to be as authoritative as works which have been included in the many versions of the Judeo-Christian scriptures. Eusebius of Caesarea indicates this usage dates back at least to Serapion, bishop of Antioch whom Eusebius records as having said: "But those writings which are falsely inscribed with their name (ta pseudepigrapha), we as experienced persons reject...." Many such works were also referred to as Apocrypha, which originally connoted "secret writings", those that were rejected for liturgical public reading. An example of a text that is both apocryphal and pseudepigraphical is the Odes of Solomon. It is considered pseudepigraphical because it was not actually written by Solomon but instead is a collection of early Christian (first to second century) hymns and poems, originally written not in Hebrew, and apocryphal because they were not accepted in either the Tanakh or the New Testament. Protestants have also applied the word Apocrypha to texts found in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox scriptures which were not found in Hebrew manuscripts. Roman Catholics called those texts "deuterocanonical". Accordingly, there arose in some Protestant biblical scholarship an extended use of the term pseudepigrapha for works that appeared as though they ought to be part of the biblical canon, because of the authorship ascribed to them, but which stood outside both the biblical canons recognized by Protestants and Catholics. These works were also outside the particular set of books that Roman Catholics called deuterocanonical and to which Protestants had generally applied the term Apocryphal. Accordingly, the term pseudepigraphical, as now used often among both Protestants and Roman Catholics (allegedly for the clarity it brings to the discussion), may make it difficult to discuss questions of pseudepigraphical authorship of canonical books dispassionately with a lay audience. To confuse the matter even more, Eastern Orthodox Christians accept books as canonical that Roman Catholics and most Protestant denominations consider pseudepigraphical or at best of much less authority. There exist also churches that reject some of the books that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants accept. The same is true of some Jewish sects. Many works that are "apocryphal" are otherwise considered genuine. There is a tendency not to use the word pseudepigrapha when describing works later than about 300 AD when referring to biblical matters. But the late-appearing Gospel of Barnabas, Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, the Pseudo-Apuleius (author of a fifth-century herbal ascribed to Apuleius), and the author traditionally referred to as the "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite", are classic examples of pseudepigraphy. In the fifth century the moralist Salvian published Contra avaritiam ("Against avarice") under the name of Timothy; the letter in which he explained to his former pupil, Bishop Salonius, his motives for so doing survives. There is also a category of modern pseudepigrapha. Examples of books labeled Old Testament pseudepigrapha from the Protestant point of view are the Ethiopian Book of Enoch, Jubilees (both of which are canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the Beta Israel sect of Judaism); the Life of Adam and Eve and "Pseudo-Philo". The term Pseudepigrapha also commonly describes numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BC to 300 AD. Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical. It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is misrepresented. Such works include the following:
New Testament Studies of Pseudepigraphical Works Many scholars maintain that no letter actually known to be pseudepigraphical would ever have been admitted to the New Testament canon. Other scholars suggest that the church only developed its hard line against pseudepigraphy because the practice was being abused. Some works that were definite forgeries led to a rejection of any sort of pseudepigraphy.
Pseudepigrapha In contrast to most writings termed pseudepigraphical, all 13 of the letters attributed to Paul are still considered canonical. All of them are still part of the Holy Bible and are foundational for the Christian Church. Therefore, those letters thought to be pseudepigraphic are not considered any less valuable than the other letters. They are termed as "disputed" or "pseudepigraphical" letters because they are believed by most scholars to have come from followers writing in Paul's name, often using material from his surviving letters. Those followers may have had access to letters written by Paul that no longer survive. Due to lack of agreement regarding the authorship of certain letters, some theologians prefer to simply distinguish between "undisputed" and "disputed" letters, thus avoiding the term "pseudepigraphical". Authorship of six of the Apostle Paul's letters has been questioned by some scholars, according to E. P. Sanders. The six disputed epistles are Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. They internally claim to have been written by Paul, but that assertion has been questioned by most scholars. These letters are sometimes referred to as deutero-Pauline letters meaning "secondary letters of Paul". Mark Powell writes that the first-century church did not seem to have a problem with the now-disputed letters since their thought was compatible with Paul's doctrines. An established convention at the time—especially epistles written in the first two or three decades after Paul's probable martyrdom, may have been viewed as part of the legitimate Pauline tradition and included as such in the New Testament canon. However, that apparent attitude of "acceptable pseudepigraphy" was short lived and did not continue into the second century. Powell says that there is no record of anyone in the early church ever recognizing that a writing was pseudepigraphical in any sense of the word and still regarding it as authoritative. Other New Testament Pseudepigrapha Examples of other New Testament pseudepigrapha that were not included in the New Testament canon are the Gospel of Peter and the attribution of the Epistle to the Laodiceans to Paul. They are often referred to as New Testament Apocrypha. Further examples of New Testament pseudepigrapha include the aforementioned Gospel of Barnabas, and the Gospel of Judas which begins by presenting itself as "the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot". Apocrypha The biblical books included in the Septuagint and in Roman Catholic editions of the Bible but considered noncanonical by Protestants and Jews because they are not part of the Hebrew Scriptures. (Not found in Jewish or Protestant versions of the Old Testament) See Books of the Bible Books of the Old Testament included in the Vulgate (except for II Esdras) but omitted in Jewish and Protestant versions of the Bible; eastern Christian churches (except the Coptic Church) accept all these books as canonical; the Russian Orthodox Church accepts these texts as divinely inspired but does not grant them the same status. The apocrypha is a selection of books which were published in the original 1611 King James Bible. These apocryphal books were positioned between the Old and New Testament (it also contained maps and geneologies). The apocrypha was a part of the KJV for 274 years until being removed in 1885 A.D. A portion of these books were called deuterocanonical books by some entities, such as the Catholic church. Many claim the apocrypha should never have been included in the first place, raising doubt about its validity and believing it was not God-inspired (for instance, a reference about magic seems inconsistent with the rest of the Bible: Tobit chapter 6, verses 5-8). Others believe it is valid and that it should never have been removed- that it was considered part of the Bible for nearly 2,000 years before it was recently removed a little more than 100 years ago. Some say it was removed because of not finding the books in the original Hebrew manuscripts. Others claim it wasn't removed by the church, but by printers to cut costs in distributing Bibles in the United States. Both sides tend to cite the same verses that warn against adding or subtracting from the Bible: Revelation 22:18. The word 'apocrypha' means 'hidden.' Fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls dating back to before 70 A.D. contained parts of the apocrypha books in Hebrew, including Sirach and Tobit.
Although the term apocrypha had been in use since the 5th century, it was in Luther's Bible of 1534 that the Apocrypha was first published as a separate intertestamental section. Luther was making a polemical point about the canonicity of these books. As an authority for this division, he cited St. Jerome, who in the early 5th century distinguished the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments, stating that books not found in the Hebrew were not received as canonical. Although his statement was controversial in his day, Jerome was later titled a Doctor of the Church and his authority was also cited in the Anglican statement in 1571 of the Thirty-Nine Articles. There was agreement among the Reformers that the Apocrypha contained "books proceeding from godly men" and therefore recommended reading. The Geneva Bible said this in 1560: These bokes that follow in order unto the Newe testament, are called Apocrypha, that is, bokes, which were not received by a comune consent to be red and expounded publickely in the Church, neither yet served to prove any point of Christian religion, save inasmuche as they had the consent of the other Scriptures called Canonical to confirme the same, or rather whereon they were grounded : but as bokes proceding from godlie men, were received to be red for the advancement and furtherance of the knowledge of the historie, and for the instruction of godlie maners : which bokes declare that at all times God had an especial care of his Church and left them not utterly destitute of teachers and meanes to confirme them in the hope of the promised Messiah, and also witnesse that those calamities that God sent to his Church, were according to his providence, who had bothe so threatened by his Prophetes, and so broght it to passe for the destruction of their enemies, and for the tryal of his children. Later, during the English Civil War, the Westminster Confession of 1647 excluded the Apocrypha from the canon and made no recommendation of the Apocrypha above "other human writings", and, as the Catholic Encyclopedia says, ". . . . the name Apocrypha soon came to have an unfavourable signification which it still retains, comporting both want of genuineness and canonicity." This hostile attitude towards the Apocrypha (considered Catholic by some British Protestants) is represented by the refusal of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the early 19th century to print it (see below). Catholic and Orthodox Christians regard as fully canonical most of these books called Apocrypha, and their canonicity was explicitly affirmed at the Council of Trent in 1546 and Synod of Jerusalem (1672) respectively. They are called deuterocanonical by Catholics and anagignoskomena by the Orthodox.
Apocrypha Jerome completed his version of the Bible, the Latin Vulgate, in 405. In the Middle Ages the Vulgate became the de facto standard version of the Bible in the West. These Bibles were divided into Old and New Testaments only; there was no separate Apocrypha section. Nevertheless, the Vulgate manuscripts included prologues that clearly identified certain books of the Vulgate Old Testament as apocryphal or non-canonical. In the prologue to the books of Samuel and Kings, which is often called the Prologus Galeatus, Jerome described those books not translated from the Hebrew as apocrypha; he specifically mentions that Wisdom, the book of Jesus son of Sirach, Judith, Tobias, and the Shepherd "are not in the canon". In the prologue to Esdras he mentions 3 and 4 Esdras as being apocrypha. In his prologue to the books of Solomon, he mentioned "the book of Jesus son of Sirach and another pseudepigraphos, which is titled the Wisdom of Solomon". He says of them and Judith, Tobias, and the Books of the Maccabees, that the Church "has not received them among the canonical scriptures". He mentions the book of Baruch in his prologue to the Jeremias and does not explicitly refer to it as apocryphal, but he does mention that "it is neither read nor held among the Hebrews". In his prologue to the Judith he mentions that "among the Hebrews, the authority [of Judith] came into contention", but that it was "counted in the number of Sacred Scriptures" by the First Council of Nicaea. Although in his Apology against Rufinus, Book II he denied the authority of the canon of the Hebrews, this caveat does not appear in the prologues themselves, nor in his prologues does he specify the authorship of the canon he describes. Whatever its origin or authority, it was this canon, without qualification, that the prologues of the bibles of Western Europe described. Apocrypha in Editions of the Bible Apocrypha are well attested in surviving manuscripts of the Christian Bible. (See for example Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus, Vulgate, and Peshitta.) After the Lutheran and Catholic canons were defined by Luther (c. 1534) and Trent (8 April 1546) respectively, early Protestant editions of the Bible (notably the Luther Bible in German and 1611 King James Version in English) did not omit these books, but placed them in a separate Apocrypha section apart from the Old and New Testaments to indicate their status.
Apocrypha This famous edition of the Vulgate was published in 1455. Like the manuscripts it was based on, the Gutenberg Bible lacked a specific Apocrypha section; its Old Testament included the books that Jerome considered apocryphal, and those Pope, Clement VIII later moved to the appendix. The Prayer of Manasses was located after the Books of Chronicles, and 3 and 4 Esdras followed 2 Esdras (Nehemiah), and Prayer of Solomon followed Ecclesiasticus.
Apocrypha Martin Luther translated the Bible into German during the early part of the 16th century, first releasing a complete Bible in 1534. His Bible was the first major edition to have a separate section called Apocrypha. Books and portions of books not found in the Masoretic Text of Judaism were moved out of the body of the Old Testament to this section. Luther placed these books between the Old and New Testaments. For this reason, these works are sometimes known as inter-testamental books. See also Intertestamental period and Luther's canon. The books 1 and 2 Esdras were omitted entirely. Luther also expressed some doubts about the canonicity of four New Testament books, although he never called them apocrypha: the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistles of James and Jude, and the Revelation to John. He did not put them in a separate named section, but he did move them to the end of his New Testament.
Apocrypha In 1592, Pope Clement VIII published his revised edition of the Vulgate, referred to as the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate. He moved three books not found in the canon of the Council of Trent from the Old Testament into an appendix "lest they utterly perish" (ne prorsus interirent). The protocanonical and deuterocanonical books he placed in their traditional positions in the Old Testament.
Apocrypha The English-language King James Version (KJV) of 1611 followed the lead of the Luther Bible in using an inter-testamental section labelled "Books called Apocrypha", or just "Apocrypha" at the running page header. The KJV followed the Geneva Bible of 1560 almost exactly (variations are marked below). The section contains the following:
Included in this list are those books of the Clementine Vulgate that were not in Luther's canon. These are the books most frequently referred to by the casual appellation "the Apocrypha". These same books are also listed in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. Despite being placed in the Apocrypha, in the table of lessons at the front of some printings of the King James Bible, these books are included under the Old Testament.
Apocrypha The British Puritan revolution of the 1600s brought a change in the way many British publishers handled the apocryphal material associated with the Bible. The Puritans used the standard of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) to determine which books would be included in the canon. The Westminster Confession of Faith, composed during the British Civil Wars (1642–1651), excluded the Apocrypha from the canon. The Confession provided the rationale for the exclusion: 'The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore are of no authority in the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, or made use of, than other human writings' (1.3). Thus, Bibles printed by English Protestants who separated from the Church of England began to exclude these books.
Apocrypha All English translations of the Bible printed in the sixteenth century included a section or appendix for Apocryphal books. Matthew's Bible, published in 1537, contains all the Apocrypha of the later King James Version in an inter-testamental section. The 1538 Myles Coverdale Bible contained an Apocrypha that excluded Baruch and the Prayer of Manasseh. The 1560 Geneva Bible placed the Prayer of Manasseh after 2 Chronicles; the rest of the Apocrypha were placed in an inter-testamental section. The Douay-Rheims Bible (1582–1609) placed the Prayer of Manasseh and 3 and 4 Esdras into an Appendix of the second volume of the Old Testament. In the Zürich Bible (1529–30) they are placed in an Appendix. They include 3 Maccabees, along with 1 Esdras & 2 Esdras. The 1st edition omitted the Prayer of Manasseh and the Rest of Esther, although these were included in the 2nd edition. The French Bible (1535) of Pierre Robert Olivétan placed them between the Testaments, with the subtitle, "The volume of the apocryphal books contained in the Vulgate translation, which we have not found in the Hebrew or Chaldee".
In 1569 the Spanish Reina Bible,
following the example of the pre-Clementine Latin Vulgate, contained
the deuterocanonical books in its Old Testament. Following the other
Protestant translations of its day, Valera's 1602 revision of the
Reina Bible moved these books into an inter-testamental section.
Apocrypha All King James Bibles published before 1666 included the Apocrypha, though separately to denote them as not equal to Scripture proper, as noted by Jerome in the Vulgate, to which he gave the name, "The Apocrypha." In 1826, the National Bible Society of Scotland petitioned the British and Foreign Bible Society not to print the Apocrypha, resulting in a decision that no BFBS funds were to pay for printing any Apocryphal books anywhere. Since that time most modern editions of the Bible and reprintings of the King James Bible omit the Apocrypha section. In the 18th century, the Apocrypha section was omitted from the Challoner revision of the Douay-Rheims version. In the 1979 revision of the Vulgate, the section was dropped. Modern reprintings of the Clementine Vulgate commonly omit the Apocrypha section. Many reprintings of older versions of the Bible now omit the apocrypha and many newer translations and revisions have never included them at all. There are some exceptions to this trend, however. Some editions of the Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible include not only the Apocrypha listed above, but also the third and fourth books of Maccabees, and Psalm 151. The American Bible Society lifted restrictions on the publication of Bibles with the Apocrypha in 1964. The British and Foreign Bible Society followed in 1966. The Stuttgart edition of the Vulgate (the printed edition, not most of the on-line editions), which is published by the UBS, contains the Clementine Apocrypha as well as the Epistle to the Laodiceans and Psalm 151. Brenton's edition of the Septuagint includes all of the Apocrypha found in the King James Bible with the exception of 2 Esdras, which was not in the Septuagint and is no longer extant in Greek. He places them in a separate section at the end of his Old Testament, following English tradition.
In Greek circles, however, these
books are not traditionally called Apocrypha, but Anagignoskomena,
and are integrated into the Old Testament. The Orthodox Study Bible,
published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, includes the Anagignoskomena
in its Old Testament, with the exception of 4
Maccabees. This was translated by the Saint Athanasius Academy
of Orthodox Theology, from the Rahlfs Edition of the Septuagint using
Brenton's English translation and the RSV Expanded Apocrypha as
boilerplate. As such, they are included in the Old Testament with no
distinction between these books and the rest of the Old Testament.
This follows the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church where the
Septuagint is the received version of Old Testament scripture,
considered itself inspired in agreement with some of the Fathers,
such as St Augustine, rather than the Hebrew Masoretic text followed
by all other modern translations.
Apocrypha The Septuagint, the ancient and best known Greek version of the Old Testament, contains books and additions that are not present in the Hebrew Bible. These texts are not traditionally segregated into a separate section, nor are they usually called apocrypha. Rather, they are referred to as the Anagignoskomena ("things that are read" or "profitable reading"). The anagignoskomena are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (Sirach), Baruch, Epistle of Jeremy (in the Vulgate this is chapter 6 of Baruch), additions to Daniel (The Prayer of Azarias, Susanna and Bel and the Dragon), additions to Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, i.e. all of the Deuterocanonical books plus 3 Maccabees and 1 Esdras. Some editions add additional books, such as Psalm 151 or the Odes (including the Prayer of Manasses). 2 Esdras is added as an appendix in the Slavonic Bibles and 4 Maccabees as an appendix in Greek editions. The Apocrypha of the King James Bible constitutes the books of the Vulgate that are present neither in the Hebrew Old Testament nor the Greek New Testament. Since these are derived from the Septuagint, from which the old Latin version was translated, it follows that the difference between the KJV and the Roman Catholic Old Testaments is traceable to the difference between the Palestinian and the Alexandrian canons of the Old Testament. This is only true with certain reservations, as the Latin Vulgate was revised by Jerome according to the Hebrew, and, where Hebrew originals were not found, according to the Septuagint. Furthermore, the Vulgate omits 3 and 4 Maccabees, which generally appear in the Septuagint, while the Septuagint and Luther's Bible omit 2 Esdras, which is found in the Apocrypha of the Vulgate and the King James Bible. Luther's Bible, moreover, also omits 1 Esdras. It should further be observed that the Clementine Vulgate places the Prayer of Manasses and 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras in an appendix after the New Testament as apocryphal. It is hardly possible to form any classification not open to some objection. Scholars are still divided as to the original language, date, and place of composition of some of the books that come under this provisional attempt at order. (Thus some of the additions to Daniel and the Prayer of Manasseh are most probably derived from a Semitic original written in Palestine, yet in compliance with the prevailing opinion they are classed under Hellenistic Jewish literature. Again, the Slavonic Enoch goes back undoubtedly in parts to a Semitic original, though most of it may have been written by a Greek Jew in Egypt.) A distinction can be made between the Palestinian and the Hellenistic literature of the Old Testament, though even this is open to serious objections. The former literature was written in Hebrew or Aramaic, and seldom in Greek; the latter in Greek. Next, within these literatures there are three or four classes of subject material.
The Apocrypha proper then would be classified as follows:--
* Palestinian
Jewish Literature
* Hellenistic
Jewish Literature:-- Here is a list of the Different Books of Divergent Traditions:
Those accepted by the Church of Rome, the Greek and Slavonic Orthodox Book of Tobit - an Apocryphal book that was a popular novel for several centuries Book of Judith - an Apocryphal book telling how Judith saved her people Wisdom of Solomon or Wisdom - an Apocryphal book consisting mainly of a meditation on wisdom; although ascribed to Solomon it was probably written in the first century BC Ecclesiasticus - Also referred to as Ben Sira, Sirach or Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach - an Apocryphal book mainly of maxims (resembling Proverbs in that respect) Book of Baruch - an Apocryphal book ascribed to Baruch Epistle of Jeremiah or Letter of Jeremiah (in Catholic tradition, Baruch 6) - an Apocryphal book consisting of a letter ascribed to Jeremiah to the Jews in exile in Babylon warning them against idolatry 1 Maccabees - an Apocryphal book describing the life of Judas Maccabaeus 2 Maccabees - an Apocryphal book describing the life of Judas Maccabaeus Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Children - an Apocryphal book consisting of text added to the Book of Daniel History of Susanna - an Apocryphal book consisting of text added to the Book of Daniel History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon - an Apocryphal book consisting of text added to the Book of Daniel Additions to the Book of Esther - an Apocryphal book consisting of text added to the Book of Esther Those accepted by the all Orthodox Churches 1 Esdras (Ezra)* - an Apocryphal book consisting of a compilation from I Chronicles and II Chronicles and Ezra and Nehemiah Prayer of Manasseh*† - an Apocryphal book consisting of the 15-verse penitential prayer that is attributed to King Manasseh of Judah (698-642 BC), who restored pagan shrines after Hezekiah's reforms. An additional Psalm 151 The Slavonic Orthodox Church adds: 2 Esdras - an Apocryphal book of angelic revelations 4-6 Ezra or the Ezra Apocalypse (only found in Latin)* The Greek Orthodox adds in an appendix: 4 Maccabees (sometimes called On the Supremacy of Reason) In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, also where the other apocryphal/deuterocanonical books are found) there is another book not currently accepted among any church today: and
(Which were both rejected as
pseudoepigrapha in the Councile of Rome in 382 A.D. And is therefore
of course not to be found in ANY modern day Christian Bible.)
The New Testament apocrypha are a
number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of
Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God,
or the teachings of his apostles
and of their lives. These writings often have links with the books
generally regarded as "canonical"
but Christian denominations disagree on which writings should be
regarded as "canonical" and which are "apocryphal". Now let's discuss THE OTHER BOOKS NOT FOUND IN THE BIBLE As the books mentioned above were books mentioned in The Bible but they are not found in The Bible, I would like to add to the list a multitude of books not found in the Bible however, they are non-canonical scriptures that have been discovered, yet are disregarded. Most people are aware of the events that took place in the book of Genesis from the Bible, particularly of the Creation with Adam and Eve, the stories of Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark in the great Flood that destroyed mankind, and the narrative of three important patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Genesis is a narrative before the time of Moses; the Lawgiver who first appears in the 2nd book of the Old Testament - Exodus - and in the next 3 books (Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The book of Genesis formed one of the bases of Jewish Torah and the Christian Old Testament Bible. What most people are unaware of is that between mid-6th century BC and 4th century AD, a host of commentaries and non-canonical literature about the events in the book of Genesis were written down as well. These are more obscure texts that have been left out of the Jewish-Christian Bible. Most people have not heard of these such texts, or they heard of them and have just never read them or have read them and tend to ignore these alternative texts that were written by Jewish and Christian writers at that time in regarding to these earliest events of Jewish history or legend. These obscure texts that I am referring to are non-canonical scriptures and are sometimes known as apocryphal or pseudepigrapha writings. These writings are not exactly to replace what was in The Book of Genesis, but to supplement or to explain what was not written. When the origins of the Catholic Church began to emerge in the 4th Century AD, it was under the guidance of the Emperor Constantine. Constantine began a century's long effort to eliminate any book in the original Bible that was considered unacceptable to the new doctrine of the church. At that time, it is believed there were approximately 600 books that compromised the work we now know as the Bible. Through a series of decisions made by the early church leadership, all but 79 of those books, known as the King James Version, were purged from the work. For the faithful, who believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God, it is generally believed that King James received the entire Bible and simply translated it into the English language. Nothing could be further from the truth. The books he undertook to translate had been chosen centuries earlier by church leaders as the only books acceptable to what they had determined was to be the doctrine and practice of the church. In careful consideration of the fact that the church leaders have changed almost every doctrine and practice of the first church inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is doubtful this purging of hundreds of books was done by the inspiration of God. We claim no expertise concerning the authenticity of any the lost books and leave this judgment to the reader. We do, however, strongly reject the self-proclaimed authority of any dogmatically motivated and church-controlled mortals who think themselves qualified to make such decisions. One of the most logical and realistic concepts in the Bible is the caution that one should prove all things. We believe that proving the veracity of a given thing is an individual responsibility which must not, and should not, be the duty of those who think they are better judges. I would like to point out this time, that I am not coercing or inspiring anyone to read and believe what is written in these texts. Nevertheless, I do encourage that you read them, and make your own observations; Be a "good Berean" and study these things out for yourself to come to your own conclusions (Book of Acts 17:10-14). The rarity of information about the childhood of Jesus in the canonical gospels led to a hunger of early Christians for more detail about the early life of Jesus. This was supplied by a number of 2nd century and later texts, known as infancy gospels, none of which were accepted into the biblical canon, but the very number of their surviving manuscripts attests to their continued popularity.
Most of these were based on the
earliest infancy gospels, namely the
Passion Gospels A number of gospels are concerned specifically with the "Passion" (arrest, execution and resurrection) of Jesus:
Although three texts take Bartholomew's name, it may be that one of the Questions of Bartholomew or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is in fact the unknown Gospel of Bartholomew. Gnostic Texts In the modern era, many Gnostic texts have been uncovered, especially from the Nag Hammadi library. Some texts take the form of an expounding of the esoteric cosmology and ethics held by the Gnostics. Often this was in the form of dialogue in which Jesus expounds esoteric knowledge while his disciples raise questions concerning it. There is also a text, known as the Epistula Apostolorum, which is a polemic against Gnostic esoterica, but written in a similar style as the Gnostic texts. Dialogues with Jesus
General texts concerning Jesus Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (distinct from the Apocalypse of Paul) Gospel of Truth Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter (distinct from the Apocalypse of Peter) Pistis Sophia Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Sethian texts concerning Jesus
The Sethians were a gnostic group who originally worshipped the biblical Seth as a messianic figure, later treating Jesus as a re-incarnation of Seth. They produced numerous texts expounding their esoteric cosmology, usually in the form of visions: Apocryphon of John (also called the "Secret Gospel of John") Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians (distinct from the Greek Gospel of the Egyptians) Trimorphic Protennoia
Ritual diagrams Some of the Gnostic texts appear to consist of diagrams and instructions for use in religious rituals: Ophite Diagrams Books of Jeu
Acts
Several texts concern themselves with the subsequent lives of the apostles, usually with highly supernatural events. Almost half of these are said to have been written by Leucius Charinus (known as the Leucian Acts), a companion of John the apostle. The Acts of Thomas and the Acts of Peter and the Twelve are often considered Gnostic texts. While most of the texts are believed to have been written in the 2nd century, at least two, the Acts of Barnabas and the Acts of Peter and Paul are believed to have been written as late as the 5th century. Acts of Andrew Acts of Barnabas Acts of John Acts of the Martyrs Acts of Paul Acts of Paul and Thecla Acts of Peter Acts of Peter and Andrew Acts of Peter and Paul Acts of Peter and the Twelve Acts of Philip Acts of Pilate Acts of Thomas Acts of Timothy Acts of Xanthippe, Polyxena, and Rebecca
Epistles
There are also non-canonical epistles (or "letters") between individuals or to Christians in general. Some of them were regarded very highly by the early church: Epistle of Barnabas Epistles of Clement Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians Epistle to Diognetus Epistle to the Laodiceans (an epistle in the name of Paul) Epistle to Seneca the Younger (an epistle in the name of Paul) Third Epistle to the Corinthians - accepted in the past by some in the Armenian Orthodox church.
Apocalypses
Several works frame themselves as visions, often discussing the future, afterlife, or both: Apocalypse of Paul (distinct from the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul) Apocalypse of Peter (distinct from the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter) Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius Apocalypse of Thomas (also called the Revelation of Thomas) Apocalypse of Stephen (also called the Revelation of Stephen) First Apocalypse of James (also called the First Revelation of James) Second Apocalypse of James (also called the Second Revelation of James) The Shepherd of Hermas
Fate of Mary
Several texts (over 50) consist of descriptions of the events surrounding the varied fate of Mary (the mother of Jesus): The Home Going of Mary The Falling asleep of the Mother of God The Descent of Mary
Miscellany
These texts, due to their content or form, do not fit into the other categories: Apostolic Constitutions (church regulations supposedly asserted by the apostles) Book of Nepos Canons of the Apostles Cave of Treasures (also called The Treasure) Clementine literature Didache (possibly the first written catechism) Liturgy of St James Penitence of Origen Prayer of Paul Sentences of Sextus Physiologus Book of the Bee
Fragments
In addition to the known Apocryphal works, there are also small fragments of texts, parts of unknown (or uncertain) works. Some of the more significant fragments are: The Unknown Berlin Gospel (also called the Gospel of the Saviour) The Naassene Fragment The Fayyum Fragment The Secret Gospel of Mark The Oxyrhynchus Gospels The Egerton Gospel The Gospel of Jesus' Wife
Lost works
Several texts are mentioned in many ancient sources and would probably be considered part of the apocrypha, but no known text has survived: Gospel of Eve (a quotation from this gospel is given by Epiphanius (Haer. xxvi. 2, 3). It is possible that this is the Gospel of Perfection he alludes to in xxvi. 2. The quotation shows that this gospel was the expression of complete pantheism) Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms Gospel of Matthias (probably different from the Gospel of Matthew) Gospel of Perfection (used by the followers of Basilides and other Gnostics. See Epiphanius, Haer. xxvi. 2) Gospel of the Seventy Gospel of Thaddaeus (this may be a synonym for the Gospel of Judas, confusing Judas Iscariot for Judas Thaddaeus) Gospel of the Twelve Memoria Apostolorum
Close candidates for canonization
While many of the books listed here were considered heretical (especially those belonging to the gnostic tradition—as this sect was considered heretical by Proto-orthodox Christianity of the early centuries), others were not considered particularly heretical in content, but in fact were well accepted as significant spiritual works.
While some of the following works appear in complete Bibles from the fourth century, such as 1 Clement and The Shepherd of Hermas, showing their general popularity, they were not included when the canon was formally decided at the end of that century. 1 and 2 Clement Shepherd of Hermas Didache Epistle of Barnabas Apocalypse of Peter Third Epistle to the Corinthians
Other Books and Scriptures Aside from the above lists, there are many books and scriptures out there. Here are a few of literally thousands:
Life
of Adam and Eve
Gospel
of the Ebionites The Book of Enoch
Enoch (Ethiopic Apocalypse of Enoch)
Ephesians 2 Gospels of Infancy
Infancy I, Arabic Gospel of
Infancy of the Saviour
Ignatius of Antioch The Acts of John John, The Acts of, Excerpt from the Mystery of Cross The Apocryphon of John The Book of John, Concerning the Death of Mary John the Evangelist The Revelation of John the Theologian Joseph of Arimathaea and Aseneth The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathaea Gospel of Judas Iscariot Gospel of Jude The Third Book of Kings The Fourth Book of Kings Leucius, Acts of the Apostle Lentitus, Acts of the Apostle Leontius Acts of the Apostle Leuthon, Acts of the Apostle Lucianus, The False Gospels Magnesians Acts of the Apostles used by Manichees The Secret Gospel of Mark Excerpts From Gospel of Mary (also called the "Gospel of Mary Magdalene") The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary The Passing of Mary The Acts and Martyrdom of Matthew The Martyrdom of Matthew Book of Matthias Gospel of Matthias Traditions of Matthias Gospel of Merinthus Book of Moses The Revelation of Moses Gospel According to the Nazarenes The Gospel of Nicodemus (also known as Acts of Pontius Pilate) The Gospel of Acts of Pilate II Nicodemus The First Book of Paralipomenon The Second Book of Paralipomenon Acts of Paul Apocalypse of Paul The Prayer of the Apostle Paul The Revelation of Paul The Correspondence of Paul and Seneca Revelations of Paul The Vision of Paul Gospel of Perfection Additional Acts of Peter The Apocalypse of Peter Doctrine of Peter Judgement of Peter Lost Gospel of Peter The Acts of Peter and Paul Preachings of Peter and Paul The Last Gospel of Peter The Letter of Peter to Philip Preaching of Peter Revelation of Peter The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles Philadelphians The Acts of Philip Philippians 2 Letters of Pilate Herod to Pilate Pilate to Herod Pilate to Tiberius 1 Pilate to Tiberius 2 Pilate to Augustus Caesar The Trail and condemnation of Pilate The Death of Pilate The Giving Up of Pontius Pilate Excerpts from Pistis Sophia First Book of Pistis Sophia Polycarp Gospel referred to by the letter Q Quadratus Romans 2 The Avenging of the Saviour Gospel of Scythianus Seleucus, The Acts of the Apostles Seth, Revelation of Adam`s origin The Three Steles of Seth Smyrnaeans Odes of Solomon Testament of Solomon Revelation of Stephen The Acts of Thaddaeus The Gospel of Thaddaeus The Book of Thomas the Contender The Consummation of Thomas Secret Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Titan Trallians Gospel of Twelve Apostles Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs The Apocalypse of the Virgin Wars of the Jews
The work is mainly a compilation in Greek of biblical passages (II Chr. 35-35, the Book of Ezra, and Neh. 7:73-8:13) concerning for the most part the Return to Zion after the Babylonion Exile. I Esdras (III Esdras in the Vulgate). Book of the Apocrypha. The work is mainly a compilation in Greek of biblical passages (II Chr. 35-35, the Book of Ezra, and Neh. 7:73-8:13) concerning for the most part the Return to Zion after the Babylonion Exile. The introduction describes the period preceding the destruction of the First Temple, beginning with the Passover celebration of Josiah (1:1-55). The additional material that does not appear in the Scriptures, the most significant of which is the story of non-Jewish origin, concerning Zerubbabel (3:1-5:6), who wins a competition among the bodyguards of King Darius II by naming the strongest thing in the world. His answer is that "women are strongest but truth conquers all" (3:8-12). Darius rewards him by granting his request that the Jews be permitted to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the Temple vessels (4:43-46). The book was used by Josephus as a source for his account of the Return to Zion (Antiq. XI, 1-158) and may have served a didactic purpose, reiterating the lesson of the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah that Truth is supreme and God rewards those who serve Him. The work is a compilation from biblical passages (II Chr chaps. 35-36; the Book of Ezra and Neh 7:72-8:13) translated into Greek with some additional material that does not appear in the Scriptures, the most significant of which is the story of non-Jewish origin, concerning Zerubbabel. The Persian King Darius I gave a banquet at which three of his bodyguards engaged in a contest to name the strongest thing imaginable. The winner was Zerubbabel who answered that "women are the strongest, but truth is victorious over all" (I Esd 3:8-12). As the winner, Zerubbabel made the request that the Jews be permitted to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the Temple vessels (4:43-46) and this was granted by Darius (4:47-58). The Jewish author of I Esdras (Ezra) probably revised a Gentile story using it to depict one of the most crucial moments in Jewish history - the Return to Zion from the Babylonian Exile. The work describes the final years of the First Temple, from the Passover celebration of King Josiah to the destruction of the Temple (1:1-55). Chapter 2 relates the edict of Cyrus and the first return of Jews to Jerusalem, their work on the new Temple and the problems encountered (2:1-25). Then comes the legend of Zerubbabel, followed by the preparations for the return of the Babylonian exiles, their arrival in Jerusalem and the reconstruction of the Temple (3:1-7:15). The last chapters center around Ezra's activities and his reading of the Law in Jerusalem (8:1-9:55). I Esdras probably served didactic purposes: a Greek-reading public was taught the theological lesson of Ezra-Nehemiah that truth is all-powerful and that God watches over those who serve him.
1st Esdras The work is mainly a compilation in Greek of biblical passages (II Chr. 35-35, the Book of Ezra, and Neh. 7:73-8:13) concerning for the most part the Return to Zion after the Babylonion Exile. II Esdras (also known as the Apocalypse of Ezra, or IV Esdras in the Vulgate). Book of the Apocrypha. Ascribed to Ezra and written in Hebrew or Aramaic in the first century CE, the book consists of seven visions concerning the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. In the first three visions (1:1-3:19, 3:20-4:34, 4:35-7:25; or 3:1, etc., in the Vulgate) the angel Uriel replies to Ezra's entreaties concerning the misfortunes of the Children of Israel and the rise of Babylon that God's ways are unknowable and that the end of days is at hand, when the righteous will be blessed. The fourth vision (7:26-8:59) is of a woman mourning her dead son and transformed into a city, interpreted as meaning that her son represents earthly Jerusalem and the city heavely Zion. The fifth vision (9:1-10:54) is of a three-headed eagle (whence the dating to the Flavian period) destroyed by a lion, the former representing the fourth beast or kingdom of Daniel 7, the latter the Messiah. The sixth vision (11) is also of the Messiah, rising from the sea and gathering up the Ten Lost Tribes. In the seventh vision (12) Ezra is enjoined to transcribe the 24 canonical books of the Bible and 70 secret books. In the final vision (chap. 14) Ezra receives the Torah, the 24 books of the Bible and the 70 books with secret knowledge. Scholars are divided as to whether or not the work is a unity. Largely following traditional rabbinic thinking, it does not betray sectarian ideas. IV Esdras is among the outstanding works of Jewish apocalyptic literature, concerning itself with profound questions arising from the destruction of Jerusalem. Its basic structural unity points to a single author, perhaps using divergent sources.
Book of Tobit The Book of Tobit is a book of scripture that is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon, pronounced canonical by the Council of Carthage of 397 and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent (1546). It is listed as a book of the "Apocrypha" in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. Tobit is regarded by Protestants as apocryphal because it has never been included within the Tanakh and considered canonical by ancient Judaism. However, it is found in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), and Aramaic and Hebrew fragments of the book are in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in Cave IV at Qumran in 1952. These fragments are in agreement with the Greek text, which exists in three different recensions.
Book of Judith Book of the Apocrypha; it dates from Persian times, but was probably rewritten in the Hasmonean period. It was originally composed in Hebrew, but is extant only in four Greek versions. Judith is included in the Septuagint, the Bible canon of the Catholic and Greek churches, and in the Protestant Apocrypha. Although a prose work, it contains two poems of thanksgiving voiced by the heroine Judith. The story depicts the crisis confronting Israel after Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Arphaxad, his enemy to the east (1:13). Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief captain, Holofernes, to invade the west country, which had refused to join him in battle (2:6). The Israelites prepared for resistance, seeking divine help through fasting, prayer and mourning (chap. 4). But when the enemy appeared, they became greatly concerned (7:4), and in their panic cried to God (7:19). The turning point of the story is the appearance of Judith (chap. 8), a Jewish widow, described as wise, beautiful and of great faith. After praying to the Lord to prove that he, and not Nebuchadnezzar, is God (9:7-9), she laid her plan (10:1-5). By means of stealth, and helped by her beauty (chaps. 11-12), Judith seduced Holofernes. Plying him with liquor (12:16-13:2) she then beheaded the drunken general with his own sword (13:8-9). The book ends with Judith's song of thanksgiving which stresses the theme that, by the hand of a woman (16:6), God has won the battle (16:3) and that he is invincible (16:13). The book is of interest because it mentions numerous Jewish religious customs practiced at the time of its composition. Judith herself is described as a devout woman in a state of mourning (8:4-6), who prayed regularly (9:1), abstained from Gentile food (10:5; 12:2), and washed herself every evening in running water (12:7-9). Other important aspects in the book are the conversion of Achior (14:10), who as an Ammonite, was barred by the Torah from adherence to the Israelite nation (Deut 23:3); wisdom, a frequent theme in apocryphal literature, in this case ascribed to Judith; and the fact that the author chose a woman as the hero. The book dates from the Second Temple period. Some hold that it was written shortly after the return from the Babylonian Exile; others have placed it as late as the Hasmonean period. Some scholars believe the book of Judith was not included in the canon because the portrayal of Judith seducing and murdering a defenceless man (Holofernes) was not suited to her piety, and for that reason the book was relegated to the apocryphal writings.
Additional six chapters appear interspersed in Esther in the Septuagint, the Greek translation, which then was noted by Jerome in compiling the Latin Vulgate; additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. Jerome recognized them as additions not present in the Hebrew Text and placed them at the end of his Latin translation as chapters 10:4-16:24. More info on Esther here Read Addition to Esther
The Wisdom of Solomon Wisdom of Solomon or Wisdom, early Jewish book included in the Septuagint and the Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible. The book opens with an exhortation to seek wisdom, followed by a statement on worldly attitudes. Chapter 3 is an eloquent passage on the immortality of the just and the rewards of the wicked, amplified in the next chapters. Then follows another exhortation and a transition to a section praising wisdom, ending with a prayer for it. The remainder of the book is a history of God's care of the Jews from the beginning, with a long parenthesis on the natural origin of idolatry and its folly. The style and content of the book lend themselves to quotation; for example, St. Paul's letters allude to passages from Wisdom. The book is probably of Alexandrian Jewish authorship-most scholars place the date in the two centuries before Jesus. Some see in it a composite work of three parts: chapters 1-6, 7-9, and 10-19, of which the third is said to resemble a Passover Haggada. It is the paragon of what is called wisdom literature, a term for the Jewish philosophical writings of the pre-Christian era. The following books of the Hebrew Bible also represent this type: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Sirach.
Ecclesiasticus (or The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach) Not to be confused with Ecclesiastes An apocryphal work, belonging to the Wisdom Literature, written by Jesus, the son of Sirach (Ben Sira) from Jerusalem (50:27). The book, composed in Hebrew, has been mainly preserved in Greek, Latin and Syriac translations. The discovery of ancient fragments of text in the Karaite Synagogue in Cairo and at Masada has permitted restoration of much of the Hebrew original. The work dates from the 2nd century B.C. Frequently quoted in the rabbinic literature of the first centuries A.D., Ecclesiasticus must have been an accepted "exterior book" in Judaism. It was included in the Septuagint from which it was incorporated in the Christian Bible. The book is divided into eight sections, each prefaced with a poem in praise of wisdom. The author, Jesus son of Sirach, was a highly regarded person (39:4), who traveled widely (34:11; 39:4) and studied Torah intensively (39:1-3). The central theme of the whole book is that "All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him forever" (1:1). Wisdom cannot be obtained unless God grants it. The many facets of wisdom are praised as having been pre-existent (1:4; 24:8-9) and having dwelled on the whole earth wisdom is sent to settle in Israel (24:4-8). Other subjects, directly linked with the theme of wisdom, are the fear of the Lord (1:11-2:18), Torah as the expression of God's wisdom for the people (24:23), liturgy (chap. 50), history of the Jewish people (17:11-14; chap. 24) and social behavior. Of the 51 chapters, the final seven are devoted to eulogies of great figures of the Bible. The author seeks to teach man the love of wisdom and, consequently, of a virtuous life based upon God's Torah. Baruch, early Jewish book included in the Septuagint, but not included in the Hebrew Bible and placed in the Apocrypha in the Authorized Version. It is named for a Jewish prince Baruch (fl. 600 B.C.), friend and editor of Jeremiah the prophet (see Jeremiah, book of the Bible). Baruch comprises: a message from the exiled Jews to the Jews still at home, including a prayer for Palestinian Jews to use, confessing sin and asking divine mercy; a hymn in praise of wisdom, including a reference to the incarnation of Wisdom in the form of the Torah, i.e., the law of God, understood in the early Church as an allusion to the incarnation of Jesus; a consolation of Jerusalem containing a lament; finally chapter 6, which is a letter of Jeremiah warning the exiles against idolatry. While there exist versions of Baruch in Syriac, Ethiopic, Latin and other ancient languages, these are based on the Greek, which in turn probably derives from a Hebrew original. Critics disagree greatly over the dates of Baruch; some see it as a collection of works by several authors. For the Apocalypse of Baruch, or Syriac Baruch, see Pseudepigrapha.
Book of the Apocrypha. The Epistle of Jeremiah is a work of 72 verses exhorting the Jews in Babylonian captivity not to fear or worship idols. It states that idols are lifeless and powerless and thus more lowly than the lowliest of animals and that worshiping them is immoral. It was apparently written in the fourth century BC, probably in Hebrew though preserved in Greek, and inspired by Jeremiah 10:1-16 as well as various biblical passages, though the style is highly unpolished and repetitive.
The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Holy Children is a lengthy passage that appears after Daniel 3:23 in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, as well as in the ancient Greek Septuagint translation. Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England has it listed as non-canonical (but still, with the other Apocryphal texts, "the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners"). The passage is omitted from some Protestant Bibles as an apocryphal addition. The passage includes the penitential prayer of Azariah (Abednego in Babylonian; see Daniel 1:6-7) while the three youths were in the fiery furnace; a brief account of a figure who met them in the furnace and was unburned (an angel, or interpreted by Christians as a prefigurement or theophany of Jesus Christ, in the same vein as Melchisedek); and the hymn of praise they sang (with the refrain, "Praise and exalt Him above all forever . . . ", repeated many times, each naming a feature of the world) when they realized they were delivered. The "Song of the Three Holy Youths" is part of the hymn called a canon sung during the Matins and other services in Orthodoxy. It can be found in the Church of England Book of Common Prayer as the canticle called the "Benedicite" and is one of the traditional canticles that can follow the first scripture lesson in the Order of Morning Prayer. It is also an optional song for Matins in Lutheran liturgies, and either an abbreviated or full version of the Song is featured as the Old Testament Canticle in the Lauds liturgy for Sundays and Feasts in the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church.
An addition to Daniel written just before 100 BC in Hebrew or Aramaic but only known in the LXX version. It is regarded as deuterocanonical scripture by Catholics and attached to Daniel as ch. 13 (so NJB). By Protestants the book is placed in the Apocrypha. The story is of the virtuous Susanna who refuses the advances of two elders; they in revenge bring her to trial in court on a false charge. Susanna is condemned to death, but in response to her prayer, God sends the young Daniel to her aid. In separate cross-examinations, he shows that the elders’ evidence is contradictory and unreliable. So she is released; they are sentenced to death. The purpose of the story is to illustrate how God sends help to his own, and incidentally to expose the venality of a patriarchal judiciary.
The narrative of Bel and the Dragon incorporated as chapter 14 of the extended Book of Daniel exists only in Greek in the Septuagint. This chapter, along with chapter 13, is referred to as deuterocanonical, in that it is not universally accepted among Christians as belonging to the canonical works accepted as the Bible. The text is viewed as canonical by both Catholic and Orthodox Christians but as apocryphal by Protestants and typically not found in modern Protestant Bibles, though it was in the original 1611 edition of the King James Version. It is listed in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.
The Prayer of Manasses Penitential prayer, included in the Apocrypha and probably composed by a Jewish author. The date of writing is probably the 1st century B.C. and the original language was Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. The prayer is attributed to the wicked King Manasseh, who according to II Chronicles 33:12-13, "humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to him; and he received his entreaty, heard his supplication." This work gives the apocryphal words ascribed to Manasseh. The content is his repentance and his request for God's mercy. The Prayer of Manasses is included in the Odes appended to the Book of Psalms in the Septuagint, and in the Protestant Apocrypha (although in the Geneva Bible of 1560, much used by Puritans, it was placed among the canonical works).
Psalm 151 is the name given to a short psalm that is found in most copies of the Septuagint but not in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. The title given to this psalm in the Septuagint indicates that it is supernumerary, and no number is affixed to it: "This Psalm is ascribed to David and is outside the number. When he slew Goliath in single combat". It is included also in some manuscripts of the Peshitta. The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts Psalm 151 as canonical. Roman Catholics, Protestants, and most Jews consider it apocryphal. However, it is found in an appendix in some Catholic Bibles, such as certain editions of the Latin Vulgate, as well as in some ecumenical translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version. Although for many years scholars believed that Psalm 151 might have been an original Greek composition and that “there is no evidence that Psalm 151 ever existed in Hebrew”, we now know from the Dead Sea scrolls that this psalm did in fact exist in Hebrew and was a part of the psalter used by the Qumran community. Psalm 151 appears along with a number of canonical and non-canonical psalms in the Dead Sea scroll 11QPs(a) (named also 11Q5), a first-century AD scroll discovered in 1956. The editio princeps of this manuscript was first published in 1963 by J. A. Sanders. This scroll contains two short Hebrew psalms which scholars now agree served as the basis for Psalm 151. One of these Hebrew psalms, known as “Psalm 151a”, is reflected in verses 1–5 of the Greek Psalm 151, while verses 6 onward are derived from the other Hebrew psalm, known as “Psalm 151b” (which is only partially preserved). The composer has brought the two Hebrew psalms together in a manner that significantly changes their meaning and structure, but the influence of the Hebrew originals is still readily apparent. In some ways the Greek version of Psalm 151 does not seem to make good sense, and the Hebrew text provides a basis for a better understanding of what transpired in the creation of the Greek version. In comparison to the Hebrew text Sanders regards the Greek text of this psalm to be in places “desiccated”, “meaningless”, “truncated”, “ridiculous”, “absurd”, “jumbled”, and “disappointingly different”, all this the result of its having been “made from a truncated amalgamation of the two Hebrew psalms”. On details of translation, structure, and meaning of this psalm see especially the works of Skehan, Brownlee, Carmignac, Strugnell, Rabinowitz, Dupont-Sommer, and Flint. The title of the psalm claims that it was written by King David after his battle with Goliath. As it stands in the Greek text in this psalm, David rejoices that God favors him and hears his prayers and worship. David states that he was the least of his brothers, and yet God chose him to be anointed king (vv. 1–5). It goes on to commemorate how David cut off Goliath's head with the Philistine's own sword, and thereby removed Israel's disgrace (vv. 6–7). The psalm assumes familiarity with and draws ideas and phraseology from elsewhere in the Bible.
Psalms 152 to 155 are additional Psalms found in the Syriac Peshitta and, for two of them, in the Dead Sea scrolls. Together with Psalm 151 they are also called the 'Five Apocryphal Psalms of David'. Psalm 152 "Spoken by David when he was contending with the lion and the wolf which took a sheep from his flock . . . This text survived only in Syriac and the original language may be Hebrew. The tone is non-rabbinical and it was probably composed in Israel during the Hellenistic period. Psalm 153 "Spoken by David when returning thanks to God, who had delivered him from the lion and the wolf and he had slain both of them.". This text survived only in Syriac. Date and provenance are like psalm 152. Psalm 154 This Psalm survived in the Syriac Peshitta and also was found in Hebrew, in the Dead Sea scroll 11QPs(a)154 (also known as 11Q5), a first-century CE manuscript. The main theme is the request to "join yourselves to the good and to the perfect, to glorify the Most High". There is also a hint of common meals, typical of Essenes: "And in their eating shall be satisfying in truth, and in their drinking, when they share together"'. Psalm 155 This psalm is extant in Syriac and was also found in the Dead Sea scroll 11QPs(a)155 (also called 11Q5), a first-century CE Hebrew manuscript. The theme of this psalm is similar to Psalm 22, and due to the lack of peculiarities it is impossible to suggest date and origin.
The First Book of the Maccabees I Maccabees presents a historical account of political, military, and diplomatic events from the time of Judaea’s relationship with Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria (reigned 175–164/163 bc) to the death (135/134 bc) of Simon Maccabeus, high priest in Jerusalem. It describes the refusal of Mattathias to perform pagan religious rites, the ensuing Jewish revolt against Syrian hegemony, the political machinations whereby Demetrius II of Syria granted Judaea its independence, and the election of Simon as both high priest and secular ruler of the Judaean Jews. I Maccabees is the only contemporary source for the civil wars in Judaea, and the only surviving one for Judaean-Syrian relations after the reign of Antiochus IV. The historical integrity of the book, which was compiled from official written sources, oral tradition, and eyewitness reporting, is attested to by the absence of almost all of the conventions of the Hellenistic rhetorical school of historiography and by its uncritical use by the later Jewish historian Josephus. The author of I Maccabees, likely the Hasmonean court historian, wrote his history during the high priesthood (135/134–104 bc) of John Hyrcanus I, son and successor of Simon.
II Maccabees focuses on the
Jews’ revolt against Antiochus and concludes with the defeat of
the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 bc by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of
the work. In general, its chronology coheres with that of I
Maccabees. An unknown editor, the “Epitomist,” used the
factual notes of a historian, Jason of Cyrene, to write this
historical polemic. Its vocabulary and style indicate a Greek original. "The archives" referenced by 2 Maccabees 2:1
Memoirs of Nehemiah referenced by 2 Maccabees 2:13, could be the same as the book of Nehemiah. 'letters of the kings" referenced by 2 Maccabees 2:13
"five books by Jason of Cyrene" referenced by 2 Maccabees 2:23: the author of 2 Maccabees here tells us that the work is abridged from the history by Jason.
The book of the 3 Maccabees is found in most Orthodox Bibles as a part of the Anagignoskomena, while Protestants and Catholics consider it non-canonical, except the Moravian Brethren who included it in the Apocrypha of the Czech Kralicka Bible. It is also included in the Armenian Bible. The book 3 Maccabees actually has no relation to the other three books of Maccabees, all of which deal with the revolt of Judaea against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Instead it tells the story of persecution of the Jews under Ptolemy IV Philopator (222–205 BC), some decades before the Maccabee uprising. The name of the book apparently comes from the similarities between this book and the stories of the martyrdom of Eleazar and the Maccabeean youths in 2 Maccabees; the High Priest Shimon is also mentioned. Ptolemy supposedly threatened the Jews with loss of citizenship after Palestinian Jews refused to permit him to enter the sanctuary of the Temple of Jerusalem. He relented after angels intervened on behalf of the Jews. Authorship and historicity Critics agree that the author of this book was an Alexandrian Jew who wrote in Greek. In style, the author is prone to rhetorical constructs and a somewhat bombastic style, and the themes of the book are very similar to those of the Epistle of Aristeas. The work begins somewhat abruptly, leading many to think that it is actually a fragment of a (now-lost) longer work. Although some parts of the story, such as the names of the Jews taking up all the paper in Egypt, are clearly fictional, parts of the story cannot be definitively proven or disproven and many scholars are only willing to accept the first section (which tells of the actions of Ptolemy Philopator) as possibly having a historical basis. Josephus notes that many (but certainly not all) Jews were put to death in Alexandria under the reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon (146–117 BC) due to their support for Cleopatra II, and this execution was indeed carried out by intoxicated elephants. This may be the historical center of the relation in 3 Maccabees and the author has transferred it to an earlier time period and added an ahistorical connection to Jerusalem if this theory is correct. Another theory about the historical basis of the book was advanced by Adolf Büchler in 1899. He held that the book describes the persecution of the Jews in the Fayum region of Egypt. It is certain that the Jews abruptly changed allegiance from Egypt to Syria in 200 BC. This author presumes that the change must have been due to persecution in Egypt. The book was written at some point after 2 Maccabees, since that book is cited in the text. This sets the date of composition to the end of the 1st century BC and its use in the Orthodox Church also might suggest its composition being before the 1st century AD. It may be a product of very late Judaism or very early Christianity. One theory, advanced by Ewald and Willrich, holds that the relation is a polemic against Caligula, thus dating from around AD 40, but this theory has been rejected by more recent authors, because Ptolemy in the book does not claim divine honors as Caligula did. IV Maccabees has scanty historical information and belongs to the Maccabees series only because it deals with the beginning of the persecution of Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It possibly was written during the reign of the emperor Caligula (ad 37–41). Throughout the early Christian period, IV Maccabees was wrongly attributed to the 1st-century-ad Jewish historian Josephus. The work’s main religious theme is that the martyr’s sufferings vicariouly expiated the sins of the entire Jewish people. The Maccabees books were preserved only by the Christian church. Augustine wrote in The City of God that they were preserved for their accounts of the martyrs. This suggests that in antiquity, IV Maccabees, dealing almost exclusively with martyrdom, may have been the most highly regarded.
The Fifth book of the Maccabees is an ancient Jewish work relating the history in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. The book chronicles the events from Heliodorus' attempt to rob the Temple treasury in 186 BC to the death of Herod the Great's two sons about 6 BC. It is little more than a summary of the events in first and second book of the Maccabees and the relevant chapters in Flavius Josephus. Only chapter 12 is original but also "teems with errors of various kinds". Similar to other Books of the Maccabees, this work aims at consoling Jews in their sufferings and encouraging them to be steadfast "in their devotion to the Mosaic law". The book survives in Arabic, but was probably composed in Hebrew, judging from numerous Hebraisms. As no trace of a Hebrew text exists, some scholars (e.g. Zunz, Heinrich Graetz and Samuel Davidson) consider the work to have been in Arabic from Hebrew memoirs. The author probably was a Jew living some time after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The books bears some relationship to the history of Josippon. The book has never been recognized as canonical by either Jews or Christians. The designation 5 Maccabees was introduced in 1832 by Henry Cotton and perpetuated by Samuel Davidson and others. Alternative titles include Arabic 2 Maccabees and Arabic Maccabees. The name is also used to denote a text contained in the Translatio Syra Peshitto, edited by Ceriani, which however is nothing more than a Syriac version of 6th book of Josephus' Jewish War.
6 Maccabees, a Syriac poem which possibly shared a lost source with 4 Maccabees. 7 Maccabees, a Syriac work focusing on the speeches of the Maccabean Martyrs and their mother. 8 Maccabees, a brief account of the revolt drawing on Seleucid sources, preserved in the Chronicle of John Malalas
The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, also known as The Word and Revelation of Esdras, is a pseudepigraphal work written in the name of the biblical scribe Ezra. It survived in only two Greek copies and is dated between the 2nd century and the 9th century AD. According to R. H. Charles, the text of the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra was influenced by the book of 2 Esdras. The extant version of the Greek Apocalypse is thought to have undergone extensive reworking, if not having been totally written by, Christian editors, mentioning the Apostles Paul and John, King Herod, etc. Like much apocalyptic literature, the Apocalypse of Ezra portrays its author as being granted visions of heaven and of hell, where the punishments meted out to sinners are witnessed in detail. Ezra is first described as visiting heaven, where Ezra raises a question of theodicy - he asks God why humans were given the ability to sin. Unusually, although God argues that humans are to blame if they do sin, due to their having free will, the text has Ezra respond that ultimately the fall of man must be up to God, particularly since God created both Eve and the Serpent and the forbidden tree. Ezra goes on to accuse God of having an appalling idea of justice, to which God doesn't respond, even when Ezra petitions on behalf of sinners. After his petitions and argument with God, Ezra is shown a vision of the tortures in hell, as well as the Antichrist. Finally, when Ezra protests that no one is without sin and hence none will escape such torture, God reveals that he endured the cross in order to save mankind, forgive those who believe, and vanquish death.
One of the Pseudepigrapha, the Psalms of Solomon is a group of eighteen psalms (religious songs or poems) that are not part of any scriptural canon (they are, however, found in copies of the Peshitta and the Septuagint). The 17th of the 18 Psalms has a similarity to Psalm 72 from the Book of Psalms, which claims attribution to Solomon, and hence may be the reason that the Psalms of Solomon have their name. An alternate view is that the psalms were so highly regarded that Solomon's name was attached to it to keep them from being ignored or forgotten. The Psalms of Solomon were referenced in Early Christian writings, but lost to modern scholars until a Greek manuscript was rediscovered in the 17th century. There are currently eight known 11th- to 15th-century manuscripts of a Greek translation from a lost Hebrew or Aramaic original, probably dating from the 1st or 2nd century BC. However, though now a collection, they were originally separate, written by different people in different periods. Politically, the Psalms of Solomon are anti-Maccabee, and some psalms in the collection show a clear awareness of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem under Pompey in 63 BC, metaphorically treating him as a dragon who had been sent by God to punish the Maccabees. Some of the psalms are messianic, in the Jewish sense (clearly referring to a mortal that happens to be divinely assisted, much like Moses), but the majority are concerned less with the world at large, and more with individual behaviour, expressing a belief that repentance for unintended sins will return them to God's favour. There have been attempts to link the text both to the Essenes of Qumran, who separated themselves from what they saw as a wicked world, and alternately to the Pharisees in opposition to the Sadducees who generally supported the Maccabees.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of the Wars of the LORD is one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Bible which have now been completely lost.
The Book of the Wars of the Lord is one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Bible which have now been completely lost. It is mentioned in Numbers 21:14–15. Amongst academics, it is generally thought to be a collection of victory songs or poems, although some have suggested it may be a prose military history. It has been suggested by the theologian Joseph Barber Lightfoot that the book was one and the same as the mysterious biblical Book of Jasher. The Book of the Wars of the LORD is cited in the mediaeval Book of Jasher Chapter 90:48 as being a collaborative record written by Moses, Joshua, and the children of Israel.
Sefer haYashar Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible (Biblical references), the book mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18. The Book of Jasher (also, Jashar) or Book of the Just Man is an unknown book mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The translation "Book of the Just Man" is the traditional Greek and Latin translation, while the transliterated form "Jasher" is found in the King James Bible, 1611. A lost book of poetry, excerpts of which are preserved in Joshua's command to the sun and the moon not to set (Josh 10:12-13) and in David's lament over the death of Saul and Jonathan (II Sam 1:17-27). A third reference may be found in the Septuagint, (Greek) version, of Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, where the reader is directed to the "Book of Jashar". Several books have claimed to be this lost text, but are widely discounted as pseudepigrapha. The Book of Jasher, or Pseudo-Jasher, is an 18th-century literary forgery by Jacob Ilive. It purports to be an English translation by Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus of a lost Book of Jasher. It is sometimes called Pseudo-Jasher to distinguish it from the Sefer haYashar (midrash) (Naples, 1552) which incorporates genuine Jewish legend. Published in November 1751, the title page of the book says: "translated into English by Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus, of Britain, Abbot of Canterbury, who went on a pilgrimage into the Holy Land and Persia, where he discovered this volume in the city of Gazna." The book claims to be written by Jasher, son of Caleb, one of Moses' lieutenants, who later judged Israel at Shiloh. Jasher covers Biblical history from the creation down to Jasher's own day and was represented as being the Lost Book of Jasher mentioned in the Bible. In Alcuinus' supposed translation, the Law is not given to Moses on Mount Sinai by God, but near to the mountain by Moses' father-in-law Jethro as the basis for civil government. The Creation occurs in the first chapter by natural process out of the ether and God only appears in Eden after the plants and animals at the human stage of creation. Adam and Eve do not transgress, and later on Noah is credited only with the invention of shipping. The adjustments to the biblical narrative clearly promote Deist and Rationalist viewpoints from the 18th Century when the book was published, and the noble innocence of primitive humanity untarnished by original sin. Alcuin was indeed a famous 8th-century English abbot, but he would not have produced a translation in the English of the King James Bible, living as he did in the era of Anglo-Saxon and ecclesiastical Latin, so the provenance of the text was immediately suspect. There is an implausible introductory account by Alcuin of his discovery of the manuscript in Persia and its history since the time of Jasher, and an equally unlikely commendation by Wycliffe the pre-Reformation bible-translator. The supposed lost book was declared an obvious hoax by the Monthly Review in the December of the year of publication and the printer Jacob Ilive was sentenced in 1756 to three years in jail for this fraud and for his radical anti-religious pamphlets. In 1829, a slightly revised and enlarged edition was published in Bristol provoking attacks against it. A photographic reproduction of this 1829 edition was published in 1934 by the Rosicrucian Order in San Jose, California who declared it was an inspired work.
The Book of Jasher follows the biblical accounts in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. It reads like the Bible but includes interpolations and elaborations not found in the Bible. In addition, it sheds light on Bible stories from the time of Adam and Eve, the ministry of Enoch, and the account of the great Deluge during the days of Noah to the Tower of Babel, nefarious Nimrod, and faithful Abraham and his descendants. As Moredecai M. Noah wrote in his introduction to the 1840 English translation:
The Book of Jasher is
mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18.
The presence of this event in a book of poetry has been interpreted as a poetic description of the prolonged battle. Some think it was inserted because Joshua wanted to show non-believers of the event that even another person besides him recorded it. The Septuagint translation renders sefer hayashar in both cases as 'Book of the Just'. The reference to the bow is here missing so that the text reads: And he gave orders to teach it the sons of Iouda: behold it is written in the Book of the Just. According to the Medieval Jewish scholar, Rashi, Sefer HaYashar refers to the Pentateuch, as a fulfillment of Jacob's prophecy regarding Ephraim “His [Ephraim's] seed will fill the nations.” (Gen. 48:19) and that this refers to Joshua's renown after the miracle of the standing of the sun.
The Annals of King David Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Annals of King David (also Chronicles of King David) is a lost work mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Nathan, who was one of King David's contemporaries.
Of the
books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Israel than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical account were drawn. The book was likely compiled by or derived from the kings of Israel's own scribes, and is likely the source for the basic facts presented in the Bible, though the compiler(s) of the biblical text clearly made selective use of it and added commentaries and judgements. The book is referred to several times in the Hebrew Bible, but was either not included in the corpus of the biblical text or been removed from it at some stage. The book is counted as one of the Lost books of the Old Testament. This text is sometimes called The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel or The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. A complementary book detailing the reigns of the kings of ancient Judah is the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, a book which has also been lost. Another lost book dealing with the reigns of the kings of ancient Israel is the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. This book is referred to in 2 Chronicles and may be the same as the other two Chronicles named in Kings. References to the Chronicles References to the Chronicles appear in Kings and imply that the description of the reign of the kings of Israel presented in the Bible is only a brief summary, and that a fuller account is to be found in the Chronicles.
Also, 2 Kings 1:18 mentions the book
It is also mentioned in 2 Kings 14:28 in relation to Jeroboam II, then in 2 Kings 15:21 in relation to Menahem, king of Israel.
The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel Not to be confused with Books of Kings The similarly named Biblical books are located at Books of Kings. Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel is one of the lost books of the Old Testament. The book is described in 1Chronicles 9:1-2. The passage reads:
It is also referenced at 2 Chronicles 16:11. The passage reads:
It is also referenced at 2 Chronicles 24:27
It is referenced again at 2 Chronicles 27:7, which reads
Another reference is found at 2 Chronicles 32:32, which reads:
This name is sometimes written The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. The book may be identical with the Books of Kings in the Old Testament, or it may have been lost or removed from the earlier texts. The Book of the Kings, which is also called the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings, is referenced 45 times in the King James Bible, and the 46th reference to the Book appears at Ezra 4:15:
Book of the Kings of Israel Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The similarly named Biblical books are located at Books of Kings. The Book of the Kings of Israel is a non-canonical work described in 1Chronicles 9:1-2. The passage reads:
It is referenced again at 2Chronicles 20:34, which reads:
It is referenced again at 2Chronicles 27:7, which reads:
This name is sometimes written The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Acts of the Kings of Israel is a non-canonical work described in 2Chronicles 33:18. The passage reads:
This book is sometimes called The Acts and Prayers of Manasseh May be identical to The Book of the Kings of Israel, above. Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of Samuel the Seer is a lost text. Also called Samuel the Seer or The Acts of Samuel the Seer, which could be the same as 1 & 2 Samuel. A description within Books of Chronicles 29:29, the passage reads:
Sometimes called Samuel the Seer or The Acts of Samuel the Seer. It is possible that this book, along with the Book of Nathan the Prophet and the Book of Gad the Seer, were combined into 1st and 2nd Samuel, since Samuel dies mid-way and 2nd Samuel has nothing to do with Samuel.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of Nathan the Prophet is a lost text that claims authorship by the Biblical prophet Nathan. It is described at 1Chronicles 29:29. The passage reads:
It is referenced again at 2 Chronicles 9:29
These writings of Nathan and Gad may have been included in 1 and 2 Samuel. This text is sometimes called Nathan the Prophet or The Acts of Nathan the Prophet. This book is distinguished from what may be the identical manuscript, The History of Nathan the Prophet.
This text is sometimes called Gad the Seer or The Acts of Gad the Seer. There is also an unrelated Christian book of the same name. The book itself is a manuscript from the Black Jews of Cochin, India. Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of Gad the Seer is a lost text that purports to have been written by the Biblical prophet Gad. It is described at 1 Chronicles 29:29. The passage reads:
These writings of Nathan and Gad may have been included in 1 and 2 Samuel.
This text is sometimes called The Midrash of the Prophet Iddo or the Acts of Abijah. Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Story of the Prophet Iddo is a lost text that was probably written by the Biblical Prophet Iddo, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book "Iddo the Seer" is mentioned in the book of 2nd Chronicles. (II Chr 9:29, 12:15, 13:22). Iddo was a seer who lived during the reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. His deeds were recorded in this book, which has been completely lost to history, save for its title. However, it is interesting to note that Zechariah was the son of Iddo, but this was likely not the same Iddo. (Ezra 5:1, Zechariah 1:1)
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of Shemaiah the Prophet is one of the lost books of the Old Testament. It was probably written by the Biblical Prophet Shemaiah, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book is described at 2 Chronicles 12:15. The passage reads:
This text is sometimes called Shemaiah the Prophet or The Acts of Shemaiah the Prophet.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Acts of Uziah is a lost text that may have been written by Isaiah, who was one of King Uzziah's contemporaries. The book is described in 2 Chronicles 26:22 and 32:32 The passage reads:
This manuscript is sometimes called Second Isaiah or The Book by the prophet Isaiah - Perhaps the same as the Book of Isaiah.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Book of Jehu is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Jehu ben Hanani, who was one of King Baasha's contemporaries. The book is described in 2 Chronicles 20:34:
Could be a reference to 1 Kings 16:1-7. This manuscript is sometimes called The Book of Jehu ben Hanani.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible
Ahasuerus in the Septuagint; or Latin: Assuerus in the Vulgate; commonly transliterated Achashverosh is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible, as well as related legends and Apocrypha. This name (or title) is applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to three rulers. The same name is also applied uncertainly to a Babylonian official (or Median king) noted in the Book of Tobit.
Biblical references Book of Esther Ahasuerus is given as the name of the King of Persia in the Book of Esther. 19th century Bible commentaries generally identified him with Xerxes I of Persia. The Greek version (Septuagint) of the Book of Esther refers to him as Artaxerxes, and the historian Josephus relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks. Similarly, the Vulgate, the Midrash of Esther Rabba, I, 3 and the Josippon identify the King as Artaxerxes. The Ethiopic text calls him Arteksis, usually the Ethiopic equivalent of Artaxerxes. John of Ephesus and Bar-Hebraeus identified him as Artaxerxes II, a view strongly supported by the 20th century scholar Jacob Hoschander. Masudi recorded the Persian view of events which affirms the identification and al-Tabari similarly placed the events during the time of Artaxerxes II despite being confused by the Hebrew name for the king. Esther Rabba and the Vulgate present "Ahasuerus" as a different name for the king to "Artaxerxes" rather than an equivalent in different languages, and the Septuagint distinguished between the two names using a Greek transliteration of Ahasuerus for occurrences outside the Book of Esther. Indeed an inscription from the time of Ataxerxes II records that he was also known as Arshu understood to be a shortening of the Babylonian form Achshiyarshu derived from the Persian Khshayarsha (Xerxes). The Greek historians Ctesias and Deinon noted that Artaxerxes II was also called Arsicas or Oarses respectively similarly understood to be derived from Khshayarsha, the former as the shortened form together with the Persian suffix -ke applied to such shortened names. Book of Ezra Ahasuerus is also given as the name of a King of Persia in the Book of Ezra. Jewish tradition regards him as the same Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther; the Ethiopic text calls him Arteksis, as it does the above figure in Esther. Modern commentators associate him either with Cambyses II or with Bardiya (Greek Smerdis) who reigned (perhaps as an imposter) for seven months between Cambyses II and Darius I. Book of Daniel Ahasuerus is given as the name of the father of Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel. Josephus names Astyages as the father of Darius the Mede, and the description of the latter as uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus by mediaeval Jewish commentators matches that of Cyaxares II, who is said to be the son of Astyages by Xenophon. Thus this Ahasuerus is commonly identified with Astyages. He is alternatively identified, together with the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit, as Cyaxares I, said to be the father of Astyages. Views differ on how to reconcile the sources in this case. One view is that the description of Ahasuerus as the "father" of Darius the Mede should be understood in the broader sense of "forebear" or "ancestor." Another view notes that on the Behistun Inscription, "Cyaxares" is a family name, and thus considers the description as literal, viewing Astyages as an intermediate ruler wrongly placed in the family line in the Greek sources. Book of Tobit In some versions of the apocryphal or deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, Ahasuerus is given as the name of an associate of Nebuchadnezzar, who together with him, destroyed Nineveh just before Tobit's death. A traditional Catholic view is that he is identical to the Ahasuerus of Daniel 9:1 In the Codex Sinaiticus Greek (LXX) edition, the two names in this verse appear instead as one name, Ahikar (also the name of another character in the story of Tobit). Other Septuagint texts have the name Achiachar. Western scholars have proposed that Achiachar is a variant form of the name "Cyaxares I of Media", who historically did destroy Nineveh, in 612 BC. In legends In some versions of the legend of the Wandering Jew, his true name is held to be "Ahasuerus."
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible In Christianity and Judaism, the Book of Life is the book in which God records the names of every person who is destined for Heaven or the World to Come. According to the Talmud it is open on Rosh Hashanah, as is its analog for the wicked, the Book of the Dead. For this reason extra mention is made for the Book of Life during Amidah recitations during the Days of Awe, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement (the two High Holidays, particularly in the prayer Unetaneh Tokef).
Book of Life In the Old Testament, the Book of Life is the book or muster-roll of God, in which all the people who are considered righteous before God are recorded forever. God has such a book, and to be blotted out of it, signifies death. It is with reference to the Book of Life that the holy remnant is spoken of as being written unto life; in Jerusalem compare also Ezekiel ix. 4, where one of the six heavenly envoys "who had the scribe's inkhorn upon his loins" is told to mark the righteous for life, while the remainder of the inhabitants of Jerusalem are doomed. The Psalmist likewise speaks of the Book of Life in which only the names of the righteous are written "and from which the unrighteous are blotted out". Even the tears of men are recorded in this Book of God. "Every one that shall be found written in the book . . . shall awake to everlasting life". This book is probably identical with the "Book of Remembrance" in which are recorded the deeds of those that fear the Lord.
Book of Life The Book of Jubilees speaks of two heavenly tablets or books: a Book of Life for the righteous, and a Book of Death for those that walk in the paths of impurity and are written down on the heavenly tablets as adversaries (of God). Also, according to ib. xxxvi. 10, one who contrives evil against his neighbor will be blotted out of the Book of Remembrance of men, and will not be written in the Book of Life, but in the Book of Perdition. In Dan. vii. 10 and Enoch xlvii. 3 "the Ancient of Days" is described as seated upon His throne of glory with "the Book" or "the Books of Life" ("of the Living") opened before Him. So are, according to Enoch civ. 1, the righteous "written before the glory of the Great One," and, according to Enoch cviii. 3, the transgressors "blotted out of the Book of Life and out of the books of the holy ones." To this Book of Life reference is made also in Hermas (Vision i. 3; Mandate viii.; Similitude ii.); in Rev. iii. 5, xiii. 8, xvii. 8, xx. 12-15, where "two Books" are spoken of as being "opened before the throne, the Book of Life, and the Book of Death, in which latter the unrighteous are recorded together with their evil deeds, in order to be cast into the lake of fire." It is the Book of Life in which the apostles' names are "written in heaven" (Luke x. 20), or "the fellow-workers" of Paul (Phil. iv. 3), and "the assembly of the first-born" (Heb. xii. 23; compare I Clem. xlv.). To these Books of Records allusion is made also in Enoch lxxxi. 4, lxxxix. 61-77, xc. 17-20, xcviii. 76, civ. 7; Apoc. Baruch, xxiv. 1; Ascensio Isa. ix. 20.
Book of Life The Book of Life is referred to six times in the Book of Revelation, one of the books of the New Testament, attributed to John of Patmos. As described, only those whose names are written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, and have not been blotted out by the Lamb, are saved at the Last Judgment; all others are doomed. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15, King James Version).And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.(Rev. 20:12, King James Version)
Book of Life While the prevailing tendency among apocryphal writers of the Hasidean school was to give the Book of Life an eschatological meaning—and to this inclines also Targ. Jon. to Isa. iv. 3 and Ezek. xiii. 9 (compare Targ. Yer. to Ex. xxxii. 32)—the Jewish liturgy and the tradition relating to the New-Year's and Atonement days adhered to the ancient view which took the Book of Life in its natural meaning, preferring, from a sound practical point of view, the this-worldliness of Judaism to the heavenliness of the Essenes. Instead of transferring, as is done in the Book of Enoch, the Testament of Abraham, and elsewhere, the great Judgment Day to the hereafter, the Pharisaic school taught that on the first day of each year (Rosh ha-Shanah) God sits in judgment over His creatures and has the Books of Life together with the books containing the records of the righteous and the wicked. And out of the middle state of the future judgment (see Testament of Abraham, A, xiv.) there arose the idea of a third class of men who are no longer held in suspense. (Benonim, the middle), and of a corresponding third book for this all (R.H. 16b). In Tos. Sanh. xiii. 3, however, the annual (Rosh ha-Shanah) judgment (Yom ha-Din) is recognized (compare Tos. R. H. i. 13, R. Jose's opinion in opposition to that of R. Akiba and R. Meïr, which has become the universally accepted one). The origin of the heavenly Book of Life must be sought in Babylonia, whereas the idea of the annual Judgment Day seems to have been adopted by the Jews under Babylonian influence in post-exilic times. The Babylonian legends speak of the Tablets of Destiny; also of the tablets of the transgressions, sins, and wrongdoings, of the curses and execrations, of a person which should be "cast into the water"; that is, to be blotted out. As to the resemblance of the Babylonian Zagmuku or New-Year to the Jewish New-Year see the art. Rosh ha-Shanah. The living are the righteous (second half of the verse), who alone are admitted to citizenship in the theocracy. The wicked are denied membership therein: they are blotted out of God's book (Ex. xxxii. 32 et seq.). The figure is derived from the citizens' registers. The life which the righteous participate in is to be understood in a temporal sense. In Dan. xii. 1, however, those who are found written in the book and who shall escape the troubles preparatory to the coming of the Messianic kingdom are they who, together with the risen martyrs, are destined to share in the everlasting life referred to in verse 2. The eternal life is certainly meant in Enoch xlvii. 3, civ. 1, cviii. 3, and frequently in the New Testament (especially in Revelation). The Targum (Isa. iv. 3; Ezek. xiii. 9) speaks of the "Book of Eternal Life." Temporal life is apparently prayed for in the liturgical formula: "Inscribe us in the Book of Life" (see Atonement, Day of). The Mishnah tells us that the deeds of every human being are recorded in a book (Abot, ii. 1; see iii. 16). The Sefer Hasidim (xxxiii) pointedly adds that God is in no need of a book of records; "the Torah speaks the language of man"; i.e., figuratively. Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Acts of Solomon is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Iddo, who was the author of other lost texts. The book is described in 1 Kings 11:41, where it reads:
This text is sometimes called the Book of the Acts of Solomon or Book of the Chronicles of Solomon
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Prophecy of Ahijah is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Ahijah. The book is described in 2 Chronicles 9:29. The passage read:
- might be a reference to 1 Kings 14:2-18. This manuscript is also called The Prophesy of Ahijah the Shilonite or The Book of Ahijah the Shilonite.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Sayings of the Seers, (or Sayings of Hozai, in the Masoretic Text), is a lost text referred to in 2 Chronicles 33:19. The passage reads:
The Sayings of the Seers could be a source text, or else an indication to the reader of matter for "further reading".
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The book called the Visions of Iddo the Seer is a lost text that was probably written by the Biblical Prophet Iddo, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. The book is described at 2 Chronicles 9:29. The passage reads:
It is also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 12:15 relating to Rehoboam and 2 Chronicles 13:22 relating to Abijah. This text is sometimes called The Visions of Iddo.
Of the
books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Judah than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical account was drawn. The book was likely compiled by or derived from the kings of Judah's own scribes, and is likely the source for the basic facts presented in the Bible, though the compiler(s) of the biblical text clearly made selective use of it and added hostile commentaries and judgements. It is one of the Lost books of the Old Testament. The book is first referred to at 1 Kings 14:29.
This text is sometimes called The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah or The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah.
No copies of this book are likely
to still exist. The Story of the Book of Kings Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The Story of the Book of Kings is one of the Lost books of the Old Testament. The book is described in 2Chronicles 24:27. The passage reads:
This book is sometimes called Midrash on the Book of Kings. The book is found nowhere in the Old Testament, so it is presumed to have been lost or removed from the earlier texts.
Of the books mentioned in the Bible, yet are not found in the Bible The book Ascension of Isaiah is one of the Pseudepigrapha. Theories as to the date of its composition place it in a range from the late 1st century AD to the second half of the 2nd century AD. As for its authorship, it is believed almost universally to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe. The content is two-and-a-half fold: The first part of the book (chapters 1-5), generally referred to as the Martyrdom of Isaiah, recounts and expands on the events of 2 Kings chapter 21. Isaiah warns the dying Hezekiah that his heir, Manasseh, will not follow the same path. When Manasseh takes over, and Isaiah's warning proves true, Isaiah and a group of fellow prophets head into the desert, and a demon named Beliar inspires a false prophet named Belkira to accuse Isaiah of treason. The king consequently condemns Isaiah to death, and although Isaiah hides in a tree, he is found, and Belkira leads the execution. Into the middle of this (3:13-4:22) is a Christian apocalypse called the Testament of Hezekiah, describing a vision of the coming of Jesus, the subsequent corruption of the Christian church, the rule of Beliar, and the second coming. All of which is phrased in such a way that it is clearly a code for the persecution of the Church by Nero, and the belief that Nero was an Antichrist. The second part of the book (chapters 6-11) is referred to as the Vision of Isaiah and describes an angel-assisted journey, prior to the events of the first part of the book, by Isaiah through the Seven Heavens. In its surviving form it is clearly written from a Christian perspective, concentrating on Jesus' death and his resurrection, and especially the ascension of Jesus. The birth of Jesus is curiously described as being preceded by Jesus descending through each of the heavens, disguising himself as an angel appropriate to each as he goes. Elements of the Ascension of Isaiah are paralleled in other Jewish and Christian writings. The method of Isaiah's death (sawn in half by Manasseh) is agreed upon by both the Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud, and is probably alluded to by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:37). The demon Beliar appears in quite a number of apocryphal works, including the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Enoch, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the Sibylline Books. Finally, Isaiah's journey through the Seven Heavens parallels that of Enoch's in the Second Book of Enoch. The first section of the text is also notable for its hostility toward the Samaritans, a Jewish sect that claim to be Jews left behind during the Babylonian exile disowned by the remainder. Theories on The book Ascension of Isaiah According to the theory of R. H. Charles, the text incorporates three distinct sections, each once a separate work that is a single compilation here. Of these, one, the first, appears to have been written by a Jewish author, and the other two by Christians. According to this author, The Martyrdom consists of: i. 1-2a, 6b-13a; ii. 1-iii. 12; v. 1b-14. (2) Ch. iii. 13b-iv. 18 are to be counted as a separate work, added by the first editor of the entire work, probably before the "Greek Legend" and the Latin translation were written. (3) The Vision comprises ch. vi. 1-xi. 40, ch. xi. 2-22 being thus an integral part of this section. (4) Editorial additions are: ch. i. 2b-6a, 13b; ii. 9; iii. 13a; iv. 1a, 19-22; v. 1a, 15-16; xi. 41-43. E. Norelli suggests on the contrary that the whole text, even if written in different times, is the expression of a docetic Christian prophetic group related with the group attacked by Ignatius of Antioch in his letters to the Smyrnaeans and to the Trallians. According with this scholar chapters 6-11 (the Vision) are older than chapters 1-5 (which represent a later pessimistic introduction to the original Vision), the date of composition is the end of the 1st century AD, and the narrative of Mary's pregnancy (AI 11:2-5) is independent from the Gospel of Matthew. Manuscript tradition The book Ascension of Isaiah The text exists as a whole in three Ethiopic manuscripts of around the 15th-18th centuries, but fragments have also survived in Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Old Slavonic. All three component texts appear to have been in Greek, and it is possible that the "Martyrdom of Isaiah" derives from a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Comparison of the various translations suggests that two different recensions of the Greek original must have existed; one on which the Ethiopic and one of the Latin versions was based, and the other on which the Slavonic and the other Latin version was based. Fragments of both Greek versions have survived. The work's current title is derived from the title used in the Ethiopic manuscripts ('Ergata I-sa-yèya-s – "The Ascension of Isaiah"). In antiquity, Epiphanius also referred to it by this title, as did Jerome (in Latin: Ascensio Isaiæ).
The book Ascension of Isaiah is one of the Pseudepigrapha. Theories as to the date of its composition place it in a range from the late 1st century AD to the second half of the 2nd century AD. As for its authorship, it is believed almost universally to be a compilation of several texts completed by an unknown Christian scribe.
Also called Lamentations. Laments for Josiah is the term used in reference to 2 Chronicles 35:25. The passage reads:
This source, as described by the Chronicler, should not be confused with the canonical Book of Lamentations. The same event is retold in 1 Esdras 1:32, although it lacks any reference to writing, or the recording of the lamentation. Nevertheless, the dirges referred to in 2 Chronicles and 1 Esdras, as well as Lamentations may refer to a larger corpus of laments that once existed in the temple or palace archives of ancient Jerusalem.
Fourth Baruch is a pseudepigraphical text of the Old Testament. Paralipomena of Jeremiah appears as the title in several ancient Greek manuscripts of the work, meaning "things left out of (the Book of) Jeremiah.". It is part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Amharic Bible. Description of The Fourth Book of Baruch Fourth Baruch is regarded as pseudepigraphical by all Christian churches, except in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (see Rest of the Words of Baruch). The text is known in both full-length and reduced versions. The full-length versions came down to us in Greek (older manuscripts dated 10th-11th centuries and 15th century), in Ethiopic Ge'ez (titled Rest of the Words of Baruch, the older manuscript dated 15th century), in Armenian and in Slavic. The shorted versions have come down to us in Greek (named Meneo), Romanian and Slavic. 4 Baruch is usually dated in the first half of 2nd century AD. Abimelech's sleep of 66 years, instead of the usual 70 years of Babylonian captivity, makes think to the year AD 136, that is 66 years after the fall of the Second Temple in AD 70. This dating is coherent with the message of the text. 4 Baruch uses a simple and fable-like style with speech-making animals, fruit that never rot, and an eagle sent by the Lord that revives the dead. Some parts of 4 Baruch appear to have been added in the Christian era, such as the last chapter: due to these insertions some scholars consider 4 Baruch to have Christian origins. Like the greater prophets, it advocates the divorce of foreign wives and exile of those who will not. According to 4 Baruch, the Samaritans are the descendants of such mixed marriages. Content of The Fourth Book of Baruch The Lord reveals to Jeremiah that Jerusalem will be destroyed because of the impiety of the Israelites. Jeremiah informs Baruch and at night they see angels that open the door to the city. In that night Jeremiah is instructed by the Lord to hide miraculously in the earth the vestments of the high-priest of the Temple. The Chaldeans enter Jerusalem and Jeremiah follows the Israelites to be exiled, while Baruch remains in Jerusalem and Abimelech (= Ebedmelech the Ethiopian of Jeremiah 38:7) falls asleep for 66 years and awakens with the basket of figs preserved perfectly fresh. When he awakens, Abimelech understands that he slept miraculously for years because the figs are fresh out-of-season. After the re-union with Baruch, they want to communicate with Jeremiah, who is still in Babylon. Baruch prays to the Lord and the Lord sends him an eagle that brings a letter and some of the figs to Jeremiah. The eagle finds Jeremiah officiating at a funeral and alights on the corpse, bringing it back to life, and announcing the end of the exile. The Israelites return to Jerusalem, but only those men who have no foreign wives are allowed to pass the Jordan. History of the Babylonian Captivity This Jewish pseudepigraphical text belongs to the cycle of Baruch and is related to 4 Baruch. It is longer and probably older than 4 Baruch. It has very few and circumscribed Christian insertions and it hasn't the fable-like style of 4 Baruch. Abimelech's sleep is here of 70 years, the usual duration of the Babylonian captivity. The original Greek is lost, but we have Sahidic Coptic manuscripts and, even if less ancient, Arabic Garshuni manuscripts See also
Nothing from the Gospel of Basilides survives to us. The book is mentioned by Origen, Jerome, Ambrose, Philip of Side, and Venerable Bede. Basilides was a scholarly Gnostic who taught in Alexandria during the reign of Emperor Hadrian 117-138 CE. In the 130s he wrote the Exegetica, a considerable work comprising 24 books of which only a few fragments have been preserved in quotes from Clement, Origen, and Irenaeus. From these fragments some scholars have put forth conjectures on what this Gospel may be like, but all of them must remain uncertain. It was composed in Egypt around 120 to 140 AD. In all likelihood, this gospel was compiled of canonical gospels, the text being shortened and altered to suit Basilides's Gnostic tenets, a diatessaron. or harmony, on Gnostic (Docetic) lines. We don't know if Basilides actually had a Gospel, but Irenaeus does tell us of an episode from the life of Jesus from one of the writings used by Basilides, so it's completely plausible that this was found in a Gospel book available to him (alternatively, it could simply have been a tradition he passed along). It has to do with Jesus' crucifixion. And it's an amazing story. To understand Basilides' account of the crucifixion, it's important to realize (or remember) that many Gnostics did not believe that Christ, as a divine being, could actually suffer. If he seemed to suffer (he was crucified, after all), then it was in fact all an appearance.
The Gospel of Cerinthus is a lost gospel used by Cerinthus and by Carpocrates. According to Epiphanius, this is a Jewish Gospel identical to the Gospel of the Ebionites and, apparently, is a truncated version of Matthew's Gospel according to the Hebrews. Bardy calls it a "Judaizing rather than Gnostic gospel.
The First Epistle of Clement First Letter of Clement, originally titled Letter To The Church Of Corinth; also called I Clement, a letter to the Christian Church in Corinth from the church of Rome, traditionally ascribed to and almost certainly written by St. Clement I of Rome, c. ad 96. It is extant in a 2nd-century Latin translation, which is possibly the oldest surviving Latin Christian work. Regarded as scripture by many 3rd- and 4th-century Christians, it was transmitted in manuscripts with a sermon known as the Second Letter of Clement, written c. 125–140 by an unknown author. Concerned about a dispute in the Corinthian Church in which younger members had deposed older men from the ministry, the letter opposed the deposition and discussed the orders of the ministry, which it asserted were established by the Apostles and were the will of God. The First Letter of Clement was an important influence on the development in the church of the episcopal orders of the ministry (bishops, priests, deacons), and it has been used to support the doctrine of the apostolic succession, according to which bishops represent a direct, unbroken line of succession from the Apostles.
The Second Epistle of Clement, (Ancient Greek: "Clement to Corinth") often referred to as 2 Clement or Second Clement, is an early Christian writing. 2 Clement was not accepted in the canonical New Testament, but was included in the Apostolic Fathers collection.
Manual of Discipline, also called Rule Of The Community, one of the most important documents produced by the Essene community of Jews, who settled at Qumran in the Judaean desert in the early 2nd century bc. They did so to remove themselves from what they considered a corrupt religion symbolized by the religiopolitical high priests of the Hasmonean dynasty centred in Jerusalem. The major portion of the scroll was discovered in Cave I at Qumr?n in 1947, and fragments of 11 other versions of the Manual were found in Caves IV and V the same year. Modern scholars have suggested that, when the Qumran sect was forced to abandon its community life because of the great Jewish revolt against Rome in ad 66-70, its members hid their library in nearby caves. The large number of preserved manuscripts indicate the importance of the Manual to the Essene community. This scroll was probably intended for the Essene sect's leaders, including priests who supervised the sacrificial, liturgical, and possibly exegetical religious functions, and also guardians who controlled the admission and instruction of new members into the community. The document contains an explanation of the sect's religious and moral ideals, a description of its admission ceremony, a long catechetical discourse on its mystical doctrine of the primordial spirits of truth and perversity, organizational and disciplinary statutes, and a final hymn or psalm praising obedience and setting forth the sacred seasons. The first of two appendices, the Rule of the Congregation, or "Messianic Rule," contains additional statutes and instructions about a messianic feast. The second is a liturgical collection of benedictions: Blessings. Although this work cannot be dated with precision, it was probably compiled after the community had settled in Qumr?n. Some scholars have connected part of it to an enigmatic figure, the unknown Teacher of Righteousness, whose ministry within the community probably fell in the latter half of the 2nd century bc. See also Dead Sea Scrolls
Alternate title: The Hebrew Gospel c. 100-150 C.E. The only remaining fragments of the Gospel of the Ebionites are preserved in the form of citations by the church father Epiphanius in the latter part of the fourth century. Unfortunately, he is a rather hostile witness to the traditions contained therein, and his statements are at times confusing or contradictory. The Ebionites were Greek-speaking Jewish-Christians who lived east of the Jordan, though Epiphanius oddly refers to the work as the "Hebrew" gospel and considers it to be a modified version of Matthew. More accurately, it appears to be a harmony of all the synoptic gospels, with some subtle changes to reflect the writers' theology. Most importantly, the Ebionites believed in an "adoptionist" Christology-that Jesus was fully human, but was chosen as the son of God at his baptism. However, Epiphanius also states that they believed Jesus to have been "created like one of the archangels." The gospel also makes vegetarians of Jesus and John the Baptist by modifying Luke 22:15, and changing the Baptist's diet from locusts (Greek=akris) to cake (egkris). While Ebionites obviously postdates the canonical gospels, it was written prior to the late second century when it was referred to by Irenæus.
The document presents itself as written by James: "I, James, wrote this history in Jerusalem."Thus the purported author is James the Just, whom the text claims is a son of Joseph from a prior marriage, and thus a stepbrother of Jesus. Scholars have established that, based on the style of the language, and the fact that the author is apparently not aware of contemporary Jewish customs while James the Just certainly was, the work is pseudepigraphical (written by someone other than the person it claims to be written by). The echoes and parallels of the Old Testament appear to derive from its Greek translation, the Septuagint, as opposed to the Hebrew Masoretic Text, which is noticeable due to several peculiarities and variations present in the Septuagint. It apparently embellishes on what is told of events surrounding Mary, prior to and at the moment of, Jesus' birth, in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke. As for its estimated date, the consensus is that it was actually composed some time in the 2nd century AD. The first mention of it is by Origen of Alexandria in the early third century, who says the text, like that of a "Gospel of Peter", was of dubious, recent appearance and shared with that book the claim that the 'brethren of the Lord' were sons of Joseph by a former wife.
Also known as Arabic Infancy Gospel The Syriac Infancy Gospel is one of the texts among the New Testament apocryphal writings concerning the infancy of Jesus. It may have been compiled as early as the sixth century, and was based on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and Protevangelium of James. It consists of three parts:
It contains a number of embellishments on the earlier text, however, including a diaper (of Jesus) that heals people, sweat (of Jesus) that turns into balm, curing leprosy, and dyeing cloth varied colours using only indigo dye. It also claims earlier encounters for Jesus with Judas Iscariot, and with the thieves whom he is later crucified with, as well as being one of the earliest documents. The text was originally written in Syriac, possibly during the fifth-sixth century, but later became translated into an Arabic text, which has since been lost. Its earliest known mention was by Isho'dad of Merv, a ninth-century Syrian church father, in his biblical commentary concerning the Gospel of Matthew. The narrative of the Arabic Infancy Gospel, particularly the second part concerning the miracles in Egypt, can also be found in the Qur'an. According to some critical scholarship, its presence in the Qu'ran may be due to the influence the Gospel had amongst the Arabs. It is not known for certain that the Gospel was present in the Hejaz, but it can be seen as likely. However, Islamic Scholars claim that the Gospel was translated into Arabic in the post-Islamic period due the difficulty that 16th century Europeans would have in translating early Arabic's defective script into Latin as well as the extreme rarity of written texts in Pre-Islamic Arabia. The date of translation and literacy rate of Arabia, however, is irrelevant: people would have heard the stories orally from the numerous monks and Christian Arabs along the trade routes from Mecca to Syria along which Muhammad travelled. Quranic parallels with the Infancy Gospels One parallel story between an Infancy Gospel and the Qur'an is found in the Arabic Gospel Of The Infancy Of The Savior and Surah 19:29-34, where the story of Jesus speaking as a baby in the cradle in narrated. The Arabic Gospel Of The Infancy Of The Savior: v2 "He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary His mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world.". Abdullah Yusuf Ali The Quran Surah 19:29-34 "But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"! Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute. In both narratives Jesus is presented as a baby in the cradle giving a highly theological discourse in the presence of The Virgin Mary about his respective mission in both religions.
The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa The first writer who makes any mention of the Epistles that passed between Jesus Christ and Abgarus, is Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, in Palestine, who flourished in the early part of the fourth century. For their genuineness, he appeals to the public registers and records of the City of Edessa in Mesopotamia, where Abgarus reigned, affirms that he found them written, in the Syriac language. He published a Greek translation of them, in his Ecclesiastical History. The learned world have been much divided on this subject; but, notwithstanding that the erudite Grabe, with Archbishop Cave, Dr. Parker, and other divines, has strenuously contended for their admission into the canon of Scripture, they are deemed apocryphal. The Rev. Jeremiah Jones observes, that the common people in England have this Epistle in their houses, in many places, fixed in a frame, with the picture of Christ before it; and that they generally, with much honesty and devotion, regard it as the word of God, and the genuine Epistle of Christ. Read The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa here
Not to be confused with Gospel of Thomas. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a pseudepigraphical gospel about the childhood of Jesus that is believed to date to the 2nd century. It was part of a popular genre of biblical work, written to satisfy a hunger among early Christians for more miraculous and anecdotal stories of the childhood of Jesus than the Gospel of Luke provided. Later references by Hippolytus of Rome and Origen of Alexandria to a Gospel of Thomas are more likely to be referring to this Infancy Gospel than to the wholly different Gospel of Thomas with which it is sometimes confused. It would appear to be unrelated to the Canonical Gospels. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a work attributed to "Thomas the Israelite" (in a medieval Latin version). The biblical Thomas (or Judas Thomas, Didymos Judas Thomas, etc.) is very unlikely to have had anything to do with the text, though some scholars believe it was a gentile. Whoever its initial author was, he seems not to have known much of Jewish life besides what he could learn from the Gospel of Luke, which the text seems to refer to directly in ch. 19; Sabbath and Passover observances are mentioned. Dating of Infancy Gospel of Thomas The first known probable quotation of its text is from Irenaeus of Lyon, ca 185. The earliest possible date of authorship is in the 80s A.D., the approximate date of the Gospel of Luke, from which the author of the Infancy Gospel borrowed the story of Jesus in the temple at age twelve (see Infancy 19:1-12 and Luke 2:41-52). Scholars generally agree on a date in the mid- to late-2nd century A.D. There are two 2nd century documents, the Epistula Apostolorum and Irenaeus' Adversus haereses, which refer to a story of Jesus' tutor telling him, "Say beta," and him replying, "First tell me the meaning of alpha." It is generally agreed that there was at least some period of oral transmission of the text, either wholly or as several different stories before it was first redacted and transcribed, and it is thus entirely possible that both of these documents and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas all refer to the oral versions of this story. Manuscript Tradition of Infancy Gospel of Thomas Scholars disagree whether the original language of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was Greek or Syriac, based on the finding or lack of badly-translated Greek or Syriac vocabulary or idiom. The few surviving Greek manuscripts provide no clues in themselves, for none of them date before the 13th century (James), while the earliest authorities, according to the editor and translator, Montague Rhodes James, are a much abbreviated 6th century Syriac version, and a Latin palimpsest at Vienna of the 5th or 6th century, which has never been deciphered in full. There is such an unanalysed welter of manuscripts, translations, shortened versions, alternates and parallels, that James found that they have prevented an easy accounting of which text is which. This number of texts and versions reflect the work's widespread popularity into the High Middle Ages. Content of Infancy Gospel of Thomas The text describes the life of the child Jesus, with fanciful, and sometimes malevolent, supernatural events, comparable to the trickster nature of the god-child in many a Greek myth. One of the episodes involves Jesus making clay birds, which he then proceeds to bring to life, an act also attributed to Jesus in Quran 5:110, although Jesus's age at the time of the event is not specified in the Quran. In another episode, a child disperses water that Jesus has collected, Jesus then curses him, which causes the child's body to wither into a corpse. Another child dies when Jesus curses him when he apparently accidentally bumps into Jesus, throws a stone at Jesus, or punches Jesus (depending on the translation). When Joseph and Mary's neighbors complain, they are miraculously struck blind by Jesus. Jesus then starts receiving lessons, but arrogantly tries to teach the teacher instead, upsetting the teacher who suspects supernatural origins. Jesus is amused by this suspicion, which he confirms, and revokes all his earlier apparent cruelty. Subsequently he resurrects a friend who is killed when he falls from a roof, and heals another who cuts his foot with an axe. After various other demonstrations of supernatural ability, new teachers try to teach Jesus, but he proceeds to explain the law to them instead. There is another set of miracles in which Jesus heals his brother who is bitten by a snake, and two others who have died from different causes. Finally, the text recounts the episode in Luke in which Jesus, aged twelve, teaches in the temple.
Although the miracles seem quite
randomly inserted into the text, there are three miracles before, and
three after, each of the sets of lessons. The structure of the story
is essentially:
It is also seen in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas that from the age of five years old until the age of twelve, the young Jesus had killed at least three people, two children and one adult teacher. The children were not brought back to life and their parents remained blind. Only when Joseph's brother speaks to Jesus with respect does Jesus resurrect the teacher. Syriac Infancy Gospel The Syriac Infancy Gospel (Injilu 't Tufuliyyah), translated from a Coptic original, gives some parallels to the episodes "recorded in the book of Josephus the Chief Priest, who was in the time of Christ."
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
also called the The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is a part of the New Testament apocrypha, and sometimes goes by the name of The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, but the actual name of the text in antiquity was The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior. Pseudo-Matthew is one of a genre of "Infancy gospels" that seek to fill out the details of the life of Jesus of Nazareth up to the age of 12, which are briefly given in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In the West, it was the dominant source for pictorial cycles of the Life of Mary, especially before the late Middle Ages. According to the research of J. Gijsel / R. Beyers (1997) it was probably written between 600 and 625 AD. Contents of The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew: The narrative is prefaced by a series of letters between the early Church father Jerome and the Bishops Comatius and Heliodorus. In these letters the Bishops request that Jerome translate a "Hebrew volume, written by the hand of the most blessed Evangelist Matthew," concerning the birth of the virgin mother and the infancy of Jesus. Though the work is attributed to St. Jerome, it is unlikely that St. Jerome actually wrote or translated it: "no one who is acquainted with the style of Jerome's letters will think this one authentic." The author of the pseudo-Jerome letter claims he compiled and translated the work, taking care to "render it word for word, exactly as it is in the Hebrew, since it is asserted that it was composed by the holy Evangelist Matthew, and written at the head of his Gospel," though he expressed doubt as to their authenticity. The first half of the narrative tells the story of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of Mary; Joachim's sorrow and persecution on account of their lack of progeny, his exile and return to Anna with child, and the birth of Mary; her entering service as a temple virgin, her prayerful life and vow of chastity, and the choosing of Joseph as her husband and guardian upon her becoming too old to continue as a temple virgin; the Annunciation; Joseph's distress at finding her pregnant, and his eventual acceptance of her honesty; his and Mary's being tested in the temple, and the acceptance of the people in the temple of Mary's and Joseph's innocence. The content of the text is primarily an edited reproduction of the Protevangelium of James, followed by an account of the Flight into Egypt (it is not known on what this is based), and subsequently an edited reproduction of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Essentially, it is a (fairly successful) attempt to redact these texts into a single work. To its sources, the Gospel adds the first known mention of an ox and ass being present at the nativity of Jesus. It had a strong influence in mediaeval thought, partly due to its inclusion in the Golden Legend. One of the consequences of this is the creation of derivative works, such as the Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae ("book of the birth of Saint Mary"), which consists of just the early part of the text concerning the birth of Mary. Another text to be based on Pseudo Matthew is the Arabic Infancy Gospel, which includes many supernatural embellishments. Events described in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew inspired The Cherry-Tree Carol. History of Joseph the Carpenter The History of Joseph the Carpenter (Historia Josephi Fabri Lignari) is a compilation of traditions concerning Mary, mother of Jesus and the "holy family," probably composed in Byzantine Egypt in Greek in the late 6th or early 7th century, but surviving only in Arabic language translation. The text gives support to the doctrine of perpetual virginity of Mary. It is one of the texts within the New Testament apocrypha concerned with period of Jesus' life before he was 12. The text is framed as an explanation by Jesus on the Mount of Olives concerning the life of Joseph, his stepfather. Agreeing with Mary's continued virginity, the text proclaims that Joseph had four sons (Judas, Justus, James, and Simon) and two daughters (Assia and Lydia) by a previous marriage. After this basic background, the text proceeds to paraphrase the Gospel of James, stopping at the point of Jesus' birth. The text states that Joseph was miraculously blessed with mental and physical youth, dying at the age of 111. His oldest sons (Justus and Simon) get married and have children, and likewise his two daughters get married and live in their own houses. Joseph's death takes up a substantial portion of the text. He first lets out a significant prayer, including in his last words a series of lamentations about his carnal sins. Approximately 50% of the work is an extension of the death scene, in which the angel of death, as well as the archangels Michael and Gabriel, appear to him. At the conclusion of the text, Jesus affirms that Mary remained a virgin throughout her days by addressing her as "my mother, virgin undefiled." The text says "And the holy apostles have preserved this conversation, and have left it written down in the library at Jerusalem." There are indications that the text was written in Egypt in the 5th century. Two versions survive, one in Coptic, the other in Arabic, with the Coptic version likely being the original. Much of the text is based on material in the Gospel of James. The apocryphal Nag Hammadi codex "The First Revelation of James" states: Jesus speaking to James "I called you my brother, though you are not physically my brother." This adds an additional record of Mary's relationship to Jesus' brothers, allowing the explanation of her perpetual virginity. The GOSPEL of NICODEMUS, formerly called the ACTS of PONTIUS PILATE. Although this Gospel is, by some among the learned, supposed to have been really written by Nicodemus, who became a disciple of Jesus Christ, and conversed with him; others conjecture that it was a forgery towards the close of the third century by some zealous believer, who observing that there had been appeals made by the Christians of the former age, to the Acts of Pilate, but that such Acts could not be produced, imagined it would be of service to Christianity to fabricate and publish this Gospel; as it would both confirm the Christians under persecution, and convince the Heathens of the truth of the Christian religion. The Rev. Jeremiah Jones says, that such pious frauds were very common among Christians even in the first three centuries; and that a forgery of this nature, with the view above mentioned, seems natural and probable. The same author, in noticing that Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical history, charges the Pagans with having forged and published a book, called "The Acts of Pilate," takes occasion to observe, that the internal evidence of this Gospel shows it was not the work of any Heathen; but that if in the latter end of the third century we find it in use among Christians (as it was then certainly in some churches) and about the same time find a forgery of the Heathens under the same title, it seems exceedingly probable that some Christians, at that time, should publish such a piece as this, in order partly to confront the spurious one of the Pagans, and partly to support those appeals which had been made by former Christians to the Acts of Pilate; and Mr. Jones says, he thinks so more particularly as we have innumerable instances of forgeries by the faithful in the primitive ages, grounded on less plausible reasons. Whether it be canonical or not, it is of very great antiquity, and is appealed to by several of the ancient Christians.
The Apostles' Creed sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol". It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists. The Apostles' Creed was based on Christian theological understanding of the Canonical gospels, the letters of the New Testament and to a lesser extent the Old Testament. Its basis appears to be the old Roman Creed. Because of the early origin of its original form, it does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene and other Christian Creeds. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or of the Holy Spirit. This makes it acceptable to many Arians and Unitarians. Nor does it address many other theological questions that became objects of dispute centuries later. The first mention of the expression "Apostles' Creed" occurs in a letter of 390 from a synod in Milan and may have been associated with the belief, widely accepted in the 4th century, that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, each of the Twelve Apostles contributed an article of a creed. The title, Symbolum Apostolicum (Symbol or Creed of the Apostles), appears for the first time in a letter, probably written by Ambrose, from a Council in Milan to Pope Siricius in about 390: "Let them give credit to the Creed of the Apostles, which the Roman Church has always kept and preserved undefiled". But what existed at that time was not what is now known as the Apostles' Creed but a shorter statement of belief that, for instance, did not include the phrase "maker of heaven and earth", a phrase that may have been inserted only in the 7th century. The account of the origin of this creed, the forerunner and principal source of the Apostles' Creed, as having been jointly created by the Apostles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, with each of the twelve contributing one of the articles, was already current at that time. The earlier text evolved from simpler texts based on Matthew 28:19, part of the Great Commission, and it has been argued that it was already in written form by the late 2nd century (c. 180). While the individual statements of belief that are included in the Apostles' Creed - even those not found in the Old Roman Symbol - are found in various writings by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Novatian, Marcellus, Rufinus, Ambrose, Augustine, Nicetus, and Eusebius Gallus, the earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus ("Excerpt from Individual Canonical Books") of St. Pirminius (Migne, Patrologia Latina 89, 1029 ff.), written between 710 and 714. Bettenson and Maunder state that it is first from Dicta Abbatis Pirminii de singulis libris canonicis scarapsus (idem quod excarpsus, excerpt), c.750. This longer Creed seems to have arisen in what is now France and Spain. Charlemagne imposed it throughout his dominions, and it was finally accepted in Rome, where the old Roman Creed or similar formulas had survived for centuries. It has been argued nonetheless that it dates from the second half of the 5th century, though no earlier. Some have suggested that the Apostles' Creed was spliced together with phrases from the New Testament. For instance, the phrase "descendit ad inferos" ("he descended into hell") echoes Ephesians 4:9, ("he descended into the lower, earthly regions"). This phrase and that on the communion of saints are articles found in the Apostles' Creed, but not in the old Roman Creed nor in the Nicene Creed.
The Acts of Paul and Thecla is an apocryphal story— Goodspeed called it a "religious romance"— of St Paul's influence on a young virgin named Thecla. It is one of the writings of the New Testament apocrypha. Epistula Apostolorum
The Epistula Apostolorum (Latin for Letter of the Apostles) is a work from the New Testament apocrypha. The work was lost to the West until a complete version in Ethiopic translation was discovered and published in the early 20th century. The text was used regularly by the relatively isolated Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and was evidently not considered heretical by that church. A fragmentary Coptic manuscript of the fifth or 4th century, believed to be translated directly from the original Greek, and one leaf of a Latin palimpsest, dating to the 5th century, were then identified as deriving from the same text. The text is commonly dated to the 2nd century, perhaps towards the middle of it. Although the text is framed as a letter, and the first 20% (10 chapters) begins in this manner, describing the nativity, resurrection, and miracles of Jesus, this framing is only done extremely superficially. In fact, the remainder of the text recounts a vision and dialogue between Jesus and the apostles, consisting of about sixty questions, and 41 short chapters. The text is by far the largest epistle in either the New Testament or Apocrypha. The whole text seems to have been intended as a refutation of the teachings of Cerinthus, although "Simon" (probably Simon Magus) is also mentioned. The text itself appears to be based on parts of the New Testament, in particular the Gospel of John, as well as the Apocalypse of Peter, Epistle of Barnabas, and Shepherd of Hermas, all of which were considered inspired by various groups or individuals during periods of the early church. The content heavily criticises Gnosticism, although it does so not so much as a polemic against it, as an attempt to shore up the faith of non-Gnostics against conversion to Gnosticism. In particular the text uses the style of a discourse and series of questions with a vision of Jesus that was popular amongst Gnostic groups, so as to appeal to the same readers. However, the text is at pains to point out that it is not a secret teaching, that the content applies universally rather than to one group, and that everyone can easily come to learn its content, strongly differing with the esoteric mysteries inherent in Gnosticism. One of the most important parts in this respect is the parable of foolish virgins:
Other polemical features include emphasising the physical nature of the resurrection, to counter docetism, by having the apostles place their fingers in the print of the nails, in the spear wound in his side, and checking for footprints (like similar imagery in the Gospel of John, having the appearance of design to specifically counter docetism rather than to reflect history). Fully 20% of the text is devoted to confirming the doctrine of resurrection of the flesh, in direct conflict with the Gospel of Truth's criticism of this stance; it states that the resurrection of the flesh happens before death, which is to be understood esoterically. When Jesus is questioned further on this point, he becomes quite angry, suggesting that the pseudonymous author of the epistle found the Gnostics' stance both offensive and infuriating. Since the text is ostensibly written in name of the apostles from the period immediately after Jesus' resurrection, it necessarily excludes Paul of Tarsus from the category "apostle." However, given the importance of Paul and his writings to the mainstream church, it is not surprising that the author of the text chose to put in a prediction of Paul's future coming. The description of the healing of Paul's blindness in Acts by Ananias is changed to healing by the hands of one of the apostles, so that Paul is thus subordinate to them. It also quotes an ancient prophecy about a new Jerusalem arising from Syria and the old Jerusalem being captured and destroyed (as happened in 70). This latter prophecy is likely to have been invented, as it is unknown in any previous texts. One of the reasons that the text probably fell into disuse by the mainstream churches is that its claim that the Second Coming shall be 150 years after the time of the vision to the apostles obviously failed to occur. Whether the text was ever considered heretical by the Catholic churches is unknown, as there are no clear references to it in the extant ancient Christian literature. However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church evidently accepted it basic orthodoxy.
The Epistle to the Laodiceans is a possible lost letter of Paul, the original existence of which is inferred from an instruction to the church in Colossae to send their letter to the church in Laodicea, and likewise obtain a copy of the letter "from Laodicea" And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the [epistle] from Laodicea. — Colossians 4:16 KJV Several ancient texts purporting to be the missing "Epistle to the Laodiceans" have been known to have existed, most of which are now lost. These were generally considered, both at the time and by modern scholarship, to be attempts to supply a forged copy of a lost document. The exception is a Latin "Epistle to the Laodiceans", which is actually a short compilation of verses from other Pauline epistles, principally Philippians, and on which scholarly opinion is divided as to whether it is the lost Marcionite forgery or alternatively an orthodox replacement of the Marcionite text. In either case it is generally considered a "clumsy forgery" and an attempt to seek to fill the "gap" suggested by Colossians 4:16. Some ancient sources, such as Hippolytus, and some modern scholars consider that the epistle "from Laodicea" was never a lost epistle, but simply Paul recycling one of his other letters (the most common candidate is the contemporary Letter to the Ephesians), just as he asks for the copying and forwarding of the Letter to Colossians to Laodicea.
The Book of Abraham is an 1835 work produced by Joseph Smith that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records . . . purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus". Smith's translation of the papyri describes a story of Abraham's early life, including a vision of the cosmos. The work was canonized in 1880 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as part of its Pearl of Great Price. Thus, it forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalist denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is not considered to be a religious text by the Community of Christ. Other groups in the Latter Day Saint movement have various opinions regarding the Book of Abraham, with some rejecting and some accepting the text as inspired scripture. The book contains several doctrines that are unique to Mormonism, such as the concept of God organizing eternal, pre-existing elements to create the universe instead of creating it ex nihilo. The Book of Abraham papyri were thought lost in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. However, in 1966 several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in the LDS Church archives. They are now referred to as the Joseph Smith Papyri. Upon examination by professional Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists, these fragments were found to bear no resemblance to Joseph Smith's interpretation, and were common Egyptian funerary texts, dating to about the first century BC. As a result, the Book of Abraham has been the source of significant controversy, with Mormon apologists having presented a number of theories in defense of the authenticity of the Book of Abraham. Several papyri and eleven mummies were discovered near the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes by Antonio Lebolo between 1818 and 1822. Sometime between 1822 and his death on February 19, 1830, Lebolo arranged to have them sold. The mummies were shipped to New York and collected by Michael Chandler, who made the unsubstantiated claim of being Lebolo's nephew, in 1833. Over the next two years Chandler toured the eastern United States, displaying and selling some of the mummies. In July 1835, Chandler brought the remaining four mummies and associated papyri to Kirtland, Ohio, then home of the Latter-Day Saints. Although the Rosetta Stone had been discovered in 1799, the ability to read Egyptian wasn't well developed until the 1850s. Chandler asked Joseph Smith to look at the scrolls and give some insight into what was written on them, due to Smith's notoriety and claim to have translated the golden plates of the Book of Mormon. After examining the scrolls, Smith, Joseph Coe and Simeon Andrews purchased the four mummies and at least five papyrus documents for $2,400. Smith stated: . . . with W.W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery as scribes, I commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc. - a more full account of which will appear in its place, as I proceed to examine or unfold them. Joseph Smith ostensibly translated the majority of the Book of Abraham text in July and a few days in November 1835 and did some minor revisions in March 1842. By October, he had also begun ". . . translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients." Smith's journal entry for Thursday, October 1, 1835, reads: "This afternoon labored on the Egyptan alphabet, in company with brsr. O. Cowdery, and W.W.Phelps . . . " The documents associated with this effort are referred to as the Kirtland Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar (EAG) or the Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP). The complete work was first published serially in the Latter Day Saint movement newspaper Times and Seasons in 1842. and later canonized in 1880 by the LDS Church as part of their Pearl of Great Price.
The Book of Abraham tells a story of Abraham's life, travels to Canaan and Egypt and a vision he received concerning the universe, the premortal existence, and the creation of the world. The book has five chapters; chapters 1 and 2 address Abraham's early life and his fight against the idolatry in his family and society. It recounts how pagan priests tried to sacrifice Abraham and that an angel came to his rescue. Chapter 2 includes information about God's covenant with Abraham and how it would be fulfilled. Chapters 3 through 5 contain the vision about astronomy and the premortal existence, the creation of the world, and the creation of man.
Mid-to-late 2nd century; a further edited version of Marcion's edited version of Luke.
The Testament of Abraham is a Jewish work, probably of Egyptian origin, which is generally dated to the latter part of the first century ad. It is most closely related to the Testaments of Isaac and Jacob, both of which are dependent on it. It has many themes in common with several other works, most notably 2En and 3Bar. It should not be confused with the Apocalypse of Abraham, even though the latter work also describes a heavenly tour (chapters 15–29).
The Letter of Aristeas or Letter to Philocrates is a Hellenistic work of the 2nd century BC, assigned by Biblical scholars to the Pseudepigrapha. Josephus who paraphrases about two-fifths of the letter, ascribes it to Aristeas and to have been written to a certain Philocrates, describing the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law by seventy-two interpreters sent into Egypt from Jerusalem at the request of the librarian of Alexandria, resulting in the Septuagint translation. Though some have argued that its story of the creation of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible is fictitious, it is the earliest text to mention the Library of Alexandria. The letter of Aristeas, called so because it was a letter addressed from Aristeas to his brother Philocrates, deals primarily with the reason the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law, also called the Septuagint, was created, as well as the people and processes involved. Over twenty manuscripts of this letter are preserved. The letter is often mentioned and quoted in other texts, most notably Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews (c. 93 AD), Aristobolus writing in a passage preserved by Eusebius, and by Philo of Alexandria. The letter's author alleges to be a courtier of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (reigned 281-246 BC). In detail, the work relates how the king of Egypt, presumably Ptolemy II Philadelphus, is urged by his chief librarian Demetrios of Phaleron to have the Hebrew Law translated into Greek, and so add the knowledge of the Hebrews to the vast collection of books the empire had already collected. The king responds favorably, including giving freedom to Jews who had been taken into captivity by his predecessors, and sending lavish gifts (which are described in great detail) to the Temple in Jerusalem along with his envoys. The high priest chooses exactly six men from each of the twelve tribes, giving 72 in all; he gives a long sermon in praise of the Law. When the translators arrive in Alexandria the king weeps for joy and for the next seven days puts philosophical questions to the translators, the wise answers to which are related in full. The 72 translators then complete their task in exactly 72 days. The Jews of Alexandria, on hearing the Law read in Greek, request copies and lay a curse on anyone who would change the translation. The king then rewards the translators lavishly and they return home. A main goal of the 2nd-century author seems to be to establish the superiority of the Greek Septuagint text over any other version of the Hebrew Bible. The author is noticeably pro-Greek, portraying Zeus as simply another name for the god of Israel, and while criticism is lodged against idolatry and Greek sexual ethics, the argument is phrased in such a way as to attempt to persuade the reader to change, rather than as a hostile attack. The manner in which the author concentrates on describing Judaism, and particularly its temple in Jerusalem could be viewed as an attempt to proselytise.
The text of the pseudepigraphical Acts of Barnabas claims to identify its author as "John Mark," the companion of Paul, as if writing an account of Barnabas, the Cypriot Jew who was a member of the earliest church at Jerusalem; through the services of Barnabas the convert Saul was welcomed into the apostolic community. Three pseudepigraphical works are linked with the name of Barnabas: the Epistle of Barnabas, written between AD 70 and 135, this Acts and the medieval text Gospel of Barnabas. None of them were accepted into the Biblical canon. The language and the ecclesiastical politics of Acts of Barnabas reveal it to be a work of the 5th century, designed to strengthen the claims of the church of Cyprus to apostolic foundation as the site of Barnabas' grave, and therefore of its bishops' independence from the patriarch of Antioch. These are 5th century concerns, the independence of the Church of Cyprus having been declared by the First Council of Ephesus in 431 and confirmed by Emperor Zeno in 488. It was translated and edited by M. R. James; his version has remained a standard in English. Some have mistakenly assumed that the reference to a gospel used by Barnabas referred to in the Acts of Barnabas was the medieval document, the Gospel of Barnabas. However, this is clearly false, as the quotation reveals: Barnabas, having unrolled the Gospel, which we have received from Matthew his fellow-labourer, began to teach the Jews. By omitting this emphasized phrase in quoting this passage, the impression may be given that there is a Gospel of Barnabas earlier than the so-called "Decretum Gelasianum", an agenda for those who would maintain the late Gospel's authenticity.
The Epistle of Barnabas is a Greek epistle containing twenty-one chapters, preserved complete in the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus where it appears at the end of the New Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to Barnabas who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, although some ascribe it to another Apostolic Father of the same name, "Barnabas of Alexandria", or simply attribute it to an unknown early Christian teacher. A form of the Epistle 850 lines long is noted in the Latin list of canonical works in the 6th century Codex Claromontanus. It is not to be confused with the Gospel of Barnabas. The most complete text is in the Codex Sinaiticus (=S; 4th century) and the Codex Hierosolymitanus (=H; 11th century), which are usually in agreement on variant readings. A truncated form of the text in which Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians 1.1–9.2 continues with Barnabas 5.7a and following, without any indication of the transition, survives in nine Greek manuscripts (=G; from 11th century onward) and often agrees with the old Latin translation (=L) against S and H. Until 1843 eight manuscripts, all derived from a common source (G), were known in Western European libraries: none of them contained chapters 1 to chapter 5.7a. The 4th century Codex Sinaiticus, in which the Epistle and the Shepherd of Hermas follow the canonical books of the New Testament, contains a more complete manuscript of the text, which is independent of the preceding group of texts. The 11th century Codex Hierosolymitanus ("Jerusalem Codex" – relocated from Constantinople), which includes the Didache, is another witness to the full text. This Greek manuscript was discovered by Philotheos Bryennios at Constantinople in 1873, and Adolf Hilgenfeld used it for his edition in 1877. There is also an old Latin version of the first seventeen chapters (the Two Ways section in chapters 18 to 21 is not present) which dates, perhaps, to no later than the end of the 4th century and is preserved in a single 9th-century manuscript (St Petersburg, Q.v.I.39). This is a fairly literal rendering in general (but sometimes significantly shorter than the Greek as well), often agreeing with the family G manuscripts. There are also brief citations from the Epistle in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, and a few fragments of the Two Ways material in Syriac and elsewhere. Early citations Toward the end of the 2nd century Clement of Alexandria cites the Epistle. It is also appealed to by Origen of Alexandria. Eusebius, the first major church historian, however, recorded objection to it (see Antilegomena), and ultimately the epistle disappeared from the appendix to the New Testament, or rather the appendix disappeared with the epistle. In the West the epistle never enjoyed canonical authority (though it stands beside the Epistle of James in the Latin manuscripts). In the East, the Stichometry of Nicephorus, the list appended by the 9th century Patriarch of Jerusalem to his Chronography, lists the Epistle of Barnabas in a secondary list, of books that are antilegomena— "disputed"— along with the Revelation of John, the Revelation of Peter and the Gospel of the Hebrews. Origin The first editor of the epistle, Hugo Menardus (1645) advocated the genuineness of its ascription to Barnabas, but the opinion today is that Barnabas was not the author. It was probably written between the years 70 – 131 and addressed to Christian Gentiles. In 16.3–4, the Epistle reads: "Furthermore he says again, 'Behold, those who tore down this temple will themselves build it.' It is happening. For because of their fighting it was torn down by the enemies. And now the very servants of the enemies will themselves rebuild it." This passage clearly places Barnabas after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. But it also places Barnabas before the Bar Kochba Revolt of AD 132, after which there could have been no hope that the Romans would help to rebuild the temple. The document must come from the period between the two revolts. The place of origin remains an open question, although the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean appears most probable (Treat). Contents Although the work is not gnostic in a theological sense, the author, who considers himself to be a teacher to the unidentified audience to which he writes, intends to impart to his readers the perfect gnosis (knowledge), that they may perceive that the Christians are the only true covenant people, and that the Jewish people had never been in a covenant with God. His polemics are, above all, directed against Judaizing Christians. In no other writing of that early time is the separation of the Gentile Christians from observant Jews so clearly insisted upon. The covenant promises, he maintains, belong only to the Christians (e.g. 4.6–8), and circumcision, and the entire Jewish sacrificial and ceremonial system are, according to him, due to misunderstanding. According to the author's conception, Jewish scriptures, rightly understood, contain no such injunctions (chapters 9–10). He is a thorough opponent to Jewish legalism, but by no means an antinomist. At some points the Epistle seems quite Pauline, as with its concept of atonement. The Epistle reinterprets many of the laws of the Torah. For example, the prohibition on eating pork is not to be taken literally, but rather forbids the people to live like swine, who supposedly grunt when hungry but are silent when full: likewise, the people are not to pray to God when they are in need but ignore him when they are satisfied. Similarly, the prohibition on eating rabbit means that the people are not to behave in a promiscuous manner, and the prohibition on eating weasel is actually to be interpreted as a prohibition of oral sex, based on the mistaken belief that weasels copulate via the mouth. It is likely that, due to the resurgence of Judaism in the early 2nd century, and the tolerance of the emperor Hadrian, Christians, such as the text's author, felt a need to resist Jewish influences polemically. In this case, the author seems to aim to demonstrate that Jewish understanding of the Mosaic legislation (Torah) is completely incorrect and can now be considered superseded, since in the author's view the Jewish scriptures foreshadowed Jesus and Christianity when rightly understood. The author quotes liberally from the Old Testament, including the apocryphal books. He quotes from the New Testament gospels twice (4:14, 5:9), and is in general agreement with the New Testament presentation of salvation-history. He quotes material resembling 4 Esdras (12.1) and 1 Enoch (4.3; 16.5), which did not become part of the Biblical canon except in some traditions (e.g. 1 Enoch is considered scriptural in the Ethiopian church). The closing Two Ways section (chapters 18–21), also Didache, which contains a series of moral injunctions, presents "another gnosis and teaching" (18.1) in relation to the body of the epistle, and its connection to the latter has given rise to much discussion.
The Gospel of Barnabas is a book depicting the life of Jesus, and claiming to be by Jesus' disciple Barnabas, who in this work is one of the twelve apostles. Two manuscripts are known to have existed, both dated to the late 16th century and written respectively in Italian and in Spanish—although the Spanish manuscript is now lost, its text surviving only in a partial 18th-century transcript. Barnabas is about the same length as the four Canonical gospels put together, with the bulk being devoted to an account of Jesus' ministry, much of it harmonized from accounts also found in the canonical gospels. In some key respects, it conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins and contradicts the New Testament teachings of Christianity. This Gospel is considered by the majority of academics, including Christians and some Muslims (such as Abbas el-Akkad) to be late and pseudepigraphical; however, some academics suggest that it may contain some remnants of an earlier apocryphal work (perhaps Gnostic, Ebionite or Diatessaronic), redacted to bring it more in line with Islamic doctrine. Some Muslims consider the surviving versions as transmitting a suppressed apostolic original. Some Islamic organizations cite it in support of the Islamic view of Jesus. This work should not be confused with the surviving Epistle of Barnabas, nor with the surviving Acts of Barnabas.
The Gospel of Bartholomew is a missing text amongst the New Testament apocrypha, mentioned in several early sources. It may be identical to either the Questions of Bartholomew, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (by Bartholomew), or neither. Early source references to the Gospel of Bartholomew: In the prologue to his commentary on Matthew, Jerome mentions a "Gospel of Bartholomew" among several other apocryphal gospels. The author of the Decretum Gelasianum includes "the Gospels in the name of Bartholomew" in a list of condemned or unacceptable scriptures. In Christianity, apocryphal gospel of which the definite, final text has never been identified. The actual existence of a gospel of this kind is attested by Jerome. There exists at least two main theories to what represents the gospel, but most scholars agree that the Questions of Bartholomew is the actual text. The other, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is by some considered the entire gospel, or possibly a fragment of it, alone or together with the Questions of Bartholomew. Certain elements of this gospel suggest that it dates to a much later period than most other gospels, perhaps as late as 6th century. Other elements perfectly fit a dating as early as the 2nd century. One way of interpreting this, is to consider elements of the gospel as dating to different times, either as a result of editing or as additions. Extant versions of this gospel exist in Greek, Latin and Slavonic versions. There are clear variations between these. The gospel has been identified as most likely originating in Egypt. Scholars disagree to what impact the texts actually had. Some suggest they were only used with small groups, other that they must have been widely distributed. Authorship In the canonical gospels, Bartholomew is among the least visible disciples, mentioned only by name. In his gospel, however, he stands out among the disciples as the most active in asking questions. Usually, in apocryphal gospels, the name-giving disciple is usually promoted as the foremost among them. In Bartholomew this has a unique twist, as Mary explicitly defines Peter as the foremost among them. Still, towards the end of this gospel Bartholomew is given a prominent position. Content The gospels passes through 3 narrative stages, in which first Jesus, then Mary and finally Satan inform the disciples about central secrets. Central to Jesus' part is his descent into Hell, where he has as his assignment to release the patriarchs, among them Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This descent happened during Jesus' crucifixion. After his descent, he returned to complete his time on the cross. Mary tells about the immaculate conception, and about the many signs and the promise she received long before the pregnancy. The gospel moves into the third part with Satan when Jesus shows Satan to the disciples upon the request of Bartholomew. Seeing Satan kills them, and they have to be brought back to life by the miraculous powers of Jesus. Jesus then puts Bartholomew in control over Satan. Bartholomew uses this power to ask Satan about his secrets. Satan begins with narrating about how he came to be. He was the first angel created by God, made from a handful of fire. His original name, Satanael, means 'Angel of God', but this was changed into Satanas, as he no longer wanted to be associated with God. Satan goes on to tell that for always he is confined to Hell, having dedicated servants to trap human souls on earth to his evil ways. Among the many details in his narrative is that he actually seduced Eve. The information of the gospel is, as Jesus instructs, not to be shared with those unworthy. As there is no surviving text of this gospel, we have, however, a writing attributed to Bartholomew which attained some popularity; the manuscripts do not call it a Gospel, but the Questions of Bartholomew.
The Testament of Abraham exists in two major recensions, and the original text is not recoverable. The longer recension (TAb a) is attested by a great number of Greek manuscripts and supported on the whole by a Rumanian version. The shorter recension (TAb b) is attested by several Greek manuscripts and supported on the whole by the Slavonic version, another Rumanian version, and by the Coptic, the Arabic and the Ethiopic versions. The fullest available list is that given in A.-M. Denis, Introduction aux Pseudépigraphes grecs d'Ancien Testament, pp. 32–4. The oldest extant witness is a fifth-century fragmentary Coptic text (unfortunately still unpublished). There is considerable disagreement with regard to the earliest form of the work and the relationship between the two major recensions. It seems most likely that the longer recension better reflects the contents of the original work, although the shorter recension may in some cases preserve the earlier wording.
The Apocalypse of Adam discovered in 1946 as part of the Nag Hammadi library (codex V.5) is a Gnostic work written in Coptic. It has no necessary references to Christianity and it is accordingly debated whether it is a Christian Gnostic work or an example of Jewish Gnosticism. It proclaims one form of Sethian Gnosticism. Adam in his 700th year tells Seth how he learned a word of knowledge of the eternal God from Eve and that he and Eve were indeed more powerful than their supposed creator. But that knowledge was lost in the fall when the subcreator - the demiurge - separated Adam and Eve. Adam relates how three mysterious strangers brought about Seth's begetting and so a preservation of this knowledge. Adam then prophecies at length attempts of the subcreator god to destroy mankind, including the prophecy of the great Deluge and of attempted destruction by fire but an Illuminator will come in the end. When the Illuminator comes, thirteen kingdoms proclaim thirteen different standard but conflicting birth legends about the Illuminator, but only the "generation without a king" proclaims the truth. Non-Gnostic last words of Adam to Seth are found in Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, the Life of Adam and Eve and the Testament of Adam.
The text of the Apocalypse of Abraham has been preserved only in Slavonic; it occurs in the Tolkovaja Paleja (or Explanatory Paleja, a Medieval compendium of various Old Testament texts and comments that also preserved the Ladder of Jacob). The original language of this text was almost surely Hebrew: it was translated into Slavonic either directly from Hebrew or from a lost intermediate Greek translation. The whole text survives in six manuscripts usually gathered in two families: the main manuscript of the first family is referred to as S edited by Tixonravov in 1863, while the main manuscripts of the other family, which preserve the text integrated in other material of the Tolkovaja Paleja, are referred to as A, B and K. The first English translation appeared in 1898 in the LDS magazine Improvement Era, and another notable English translation was produced by G.H. Box and J.I. Landsman some twenty years later. Date of The Apocalypse of Abraham The relative age of these works can be determined by comparing the legend of Abraham as contained in the Apocalypse with those in the Talmud and in the Book of Jubilees. The legend of the raven in Jubilees (11:18) and the account of the conversion of Abraham in his boyhood are still unknown to the Apocalypse, while the legend of the fire of the Chaldees is found there still in its incipient stage. The mockery of the idol Barisat is more extended in the Midrash than in the Apocalypse; also the condemnation of Terah as an idolater, as related in the Apocalypse, discloses the older Haggadah (Genesis Rashi 39:7), whereas the Book of Jubilees presents the later one (compare Genesis Rashi 30:4, 39:7, where Terah is treated quite mildly). As the Book of Jubilees can not have been written later than 70 (it treats the Temple as still existing, and is unaware of its destruction in 70AD), it can be dated prior to this. The Apocalypse of Abraham narrates the Destruction of the Temple so it was written after 70 AD. The text is usually considered to be written before the half of the 2nd century AD. Within the usually accepted range of 70-150 AD, the date of 79-81 AD has been speculated. Like all the apocalyptic literature preserved only in Slavonic, there is the problem of possible textual alterations made by the Bogomils, who were interested in this kind of literature, which contains some traces of the Dualistic principle typical of their beliefs. However the dualistic principle was also a feature of Gnosticism, which was contemporaneous with the original writing of this text. The main suspected Bogomils' interpolations are 20:5.7, 22:5, 9:7, 23:4-10: as suggested by Rubinkiewicz, but disputed by Sacchi. Scholars suspect that some other interpolations are present: including the whole of chapter 7, and some additions, difficultly determinable in extension, in 29:3-13. Content of The Apocalypse of Abraham Its title does not fully explain its contents, for about one-third of it might more appropriately be called The Legend of Abraham, as this contains an account of Abraham's conversion from polytheism to henotheism quite apart from the apocalypse which follows. The work is notable for its presentation of Judaism and non-Judaism as being diametrically opposed, and its strong iconoclasm.
The apocalyptic section begins with Abraham's sacrifice to God, expanding and modifying the Biblical narrative of Genesis 15:8-17:
The third part of the Apocalypse of Abraham narrates the ascension of Abraham to heaven:
Characters in The Apocalypse of Abraham Yahoel Yahoel (or Iaoel) in the Apocalypse of Abraham is the mighty angel sent to guide Abraham. Yahoel introduces himself as a being possessed of the power of the Ineffable Name "whose name is like unto that of God Himself". As the angel nearer to God, or perhaps as a manifestation of the power of God himself, Yahoel is said to be also the heavenly choirmaster, the one who teaches the angels their hymn, who has the control over "the threats and attacks of the reptiles", the angel with the chief task of protecting and watching over Israel. These functions were traditionally ascribed to Michael and mark the gradual transformation of Michael, originally the guardian angel of Israel, into Met.at.ron. Yahoel's body is depict like sapphire, his face like chrysolite, his hair like snow, his turban like the appearance of the rainbow, his garments like purple and a golden sceptre is in his right hand. Iaoel and Yahoel have been used also as alternate names for Metatron. Azazel In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Azazel is portrayed as an unclean bird which came down upon the sacrifice which Abraham, the Biblical patriarch, prepared. This is in reference to Genesis 15:11 Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, 'What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats or drinks, nor is there upon them food for men. But these all will be consumed by fire and ascend to the height, they will destroy you.' And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel: 'What is this, my lord?' And he said, 'This is disgrace, this is Azazel!' And he said to him, 'Shame on you Azazel! For Abraham's portion is in heaven, and yours is on earth, for you have selected here, (and) become enamored of the dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has given you a dwelling on earth. Through you the all-evil spirit [is] a liar, and through you (are) wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously. — Apocalypse of Abraham 13:4-9 The Apocalypse of Abraham also associates Azazel with Hell. Abraham says to him "May you be the firebrand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth. For your heritage is over those who are with you" (14:5-6) There is also the idea that God's heritage (the created world) is largely under the dominion of evil. It is "shared with Azazel" (20:5) Azazel is also identified with the serpent which tempted Eve. His form is described as a dragon with "hands and feet like a man's, on his back six wings on the right and six on the left." (23:7) "A man" in chapter 29 The Apocalypse of Abraham is concerned with the future of the Jewish nation, Israel. In chapter 29 an ambiguous character known simply as “a man” appears. The text tells us that some worship this man, while others revile him. He is worshiped even by Azazel. Apparently, the man has the task of offering some kind of remission for the heathens in the end of days. According to Jacob Licht (Professor of Biblical Studies, Tel-Aviv University,) this work is a Jewish text, although not one that represents mainstream rabbinic Jewish thought. Licht writes: The most obvious and perhaps the correct explanation of this passage is to declare it a late Christian interpolation, yet “the man” does not fit the medieval Christian concept of Jesus. His function is not clearly messianic. This problematic passage therefore may have originated in some Judeo-Christian sect, which saw Jesus as precursor of the Messiah, or it may be Jewish, badly rewritten by an early Christian editor Perhaps it reflects a Jewish view of Jesus as an apostle to the heathen, an explanation which would make it unique, and indeed startling.
The First Book of Adam and Eve details the life and times of Adam and Eve after they were expelled from the garden to the time that Cain kills his brother Abel. It tells of Adam and Eve's first dwelling - the Cave of Treasures; their trials and temptations; Satan's many apparitions to them; the birth of Cain, Abel, and their twin sisters; and Cain's love for his beautiful twin sister, Luluwa, whom Adam and Eve wished to join to Abel. This book is considered by many scholars to be part of the "Pseudepigrapha" (soo-duh-pig-ruh-fuh). The "Pseudepigrapha" is a collection of historical biblical works that are considered to be fiction. Because of that stigma, this book was not included in the compilation of the Holy Bible. This book is a written history of what happened in the days of Adam and Eve after they were cast out of the garden. Although considered to be pseudepigraphic by some, it carries significant meaning and insight into events of that time. It is doubtful that these writings could have survived all the many centuries if there were no substance to them. This book is simply a version of an account handed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation, linking the time that the first human life was created to the time when somebody finally decided to write it down. This particular version is the work of unknown Egyptians. The lack of historical allusion makes it difficult to precisely date the writing, however, using other pseudepigraphical works as a reference, it was probably written a few hundred years before the birth of Christ. Parts of this version are found in the Jewish Talmud, and the Islamic Koran, showing what a vital role it played in the original literature of human wisdom. The Egyptian author wrote in Arabic, but later translations were found written in Ethiopic. The present English translation was translated in the late 1800's by Dr. S. C. Malan and Dr. E. Trumpp. They translated into King James English from both the Arabic version and the Ethiopic version which was then published in The Forgotten Books of Eden in 1927 by The World Publishing Company. In 1995, the text was extracted from a copy of The Forgotten Books of Eden and converted to electronic form by Dennis Hawkins. It was then translated into more modern English by simply exchanging 'Thou' s for 'You's, 'Art's for 'Are's, and so forth. The text was then carefully re-read to ensure its integrity.
The Second Book of Adam and Eve details the life and times from Cain and his twin Sister Luluwa when they went away to the time that Enoch was taken by God. This book is considered by many scholars to be part of the "Pseudepigrapha". The "Pseudepigrapha" is a collection of historical biblical works that are considered to be fiction. Because of that stigma, this book was not included in the compilation of the Holy Bible. This book is a written history of what happened in the days of Adam and Eve after they were cast out of the garden. Although considered to be Pseudepigrapha by some, it carries significant meaning and insight into events of that time. It is doubtful that these writings could have survived all the many centuries if there were no substance to them. This book is simply a version of an account handed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation, linking the time that the first human life was created to the time when somebody finally decided to write it down. This particular version is the work of unknown Egyptians. The lack of historical allusion makes it difficult to precisely date the writing, however, using other Pseudepigrapha works as a reference, it was probably written a few hundred years before the birth of Christ. Parts of this version are found in the Jewish Talmud, and the Islamic Koran, showing what a vital role it played in the original literature of human wisdom. The Egyptian author wrote in Arabic, but later translations were found written in Ethiopic. The present English translation was translated in the late 1800's by Dr. S. C. Malan and Dr. E. Trumpp. They translated into King James English from both the Arabic version and the Ethiopic version which was then published in The Forgotten Books of Eden in 1927 by The World Publishing Company. In 1995, the text was extracted from a copy of The Forgotten Books of Eden and converted to electronic form by Dennis Hawkins. It was then translated into more modern English by simply exchanging 'Thou' s for 'You's, 'Art's for 'Are's, and so forth. The text was then carefully re-read to ensure its integrity. The banned from the Bible Second book of Adam and Eve; aka, Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, opens with the couple mourning the death of their younger son, their burial of him and their subsequent retirement to the cave. Cain then marries his sister Luluwa, a match to which their parents, owing to their heavy hearts, cannot object. They have children together, whereas their parents remain apart for seven years, after which they reunite and pray to God that the resulting child be a goodly one, so they can give him in marriage to Abel’s sister. The child is Seth, and he is the fifth and last offspring of Adam and Eve.
Life of Adam and Eve - The Latin Translation (Vita Adae et Evae) Life of Adam and Eve - The Slavonic Translation (Slavonic Vita Adae et Evae)
Life
of Adam and Eve - The Greek Translation (Apocalypse of Moses)
The Books of Adam and Eve The Life of Adam and Eve, also known, in its Greek version, as the Apocalypse of Moses, is a Jewish pseudepigraphical group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to bow down to Adam. After Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection. The ancient versions of the Life of Adam and Eve are: the Greek Apocalypse of Moses, the Latin Life of Adam and Eve, the Slavonic Life of Adam and Eve, the Armenian Penitence of Adam, the Georgian Book of Adam, and one or two fragmentary Coptic versions. These texts are usually named as Primary Adam Literature to distinguish them from subsequent related texts, such as the Cave of Treasures that includes what appears to be extracts. They differ greatly in length and wording, but for the most part are derived from a single source that has not survived,:251 and contain (except for some obvious insertions) no undeniably Christian teaching. Each version contains some unique material, as well as variations and omissions. While the versions were composed from the early 3rd to the 5th century,:252 the literary units in the work are considered to be older and predominantly of Jewish origin. There is wide agreement that the original was composed in a Semitic language:251 in the 1st century AD/CE.:252 The Apocalypse of Moses (literally, the Revelation of Moses) is the usual name for the Greek version of the Life of Adam and Eve. This title was given to it by Tischendorf, its first editor, and taken up by others. In the text, Moses is referred to only in the first sentence as the prophet to whom the story was revealed. The Greek Apocalypse of Moses (not to be confused with the Assumption of Moses) is usually considered to predate the Latin Life of Adam and Eve. Tischendorf used four manuscripts for his edition: A the heavily Christian-interpolated B, manuscript C, and manuscript D, which has probably the best text. During the 20th century many other manuscripts have been found, of which E1 and E2, which are similar to the Armenian version, merit special mention. Content After being banished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve go to the East and live there for eighteen years and two months. Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel. Eve dreams that Cain drinks the blood of Abel, but that it then came out of his mouth. Cain kills Abel. Michael promises to Adam a new son, and Seth is born in place of Abel. (chapters 1-4) Adam begets 30 other sons and 30 daughters. As Adam falls sick and is in pain, all his sons and daughters came to him, and he briefly recounts to them the story of the Fall. Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden to beg for some oil of the tree of mercy (i.e. the Tree of Life). On the way Seth is attacked and bitten by a wild beast, which goes away when ordered by Seth. Michael refuses to give them the oil at that time, but promises to give it at the end of time, when all flesh will be raised up, the delights of paradise will be given to the holy people and God will be in their midst. On their return, Adam says to Eve: "What hast thou done? Thou hast brought upon us great wrath which is death." (chapters 5-14) Eve recounts to her sons and daughters the story of the Fall from her point of view: In the Garden, she is separated from Adam: she stays with the female animals and Adam with the male ones. The devil persuades the male snake to rebel against Adam and his wife: at the hour the angels go up to worship the Lord, Satan disguises himself as an angel and speaks to Eve using the mouth of the serpent. The serpent seduces Eve, who swears to give the fruit to eat to Adam too. The serpent places in the fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust. When Eve eats it, she discovers that she is naked. All the trees of the Garden lose their leaves. Only a fig tree, the plant she ate of, still has leaves, and she hides her shame with its leaves. Eve looks for Adam and deceives him: he also eats the forbidden fruit. (chapters 15-21) Michael sounds a trumpet, and God enters the Garden mounted on the chariot of his Cherubim and preceded by the angels. His throne is set where the Tree of Life is, and all the trees break out in blossoms. He calls Adam, who hid because he was naked, and reproaches Adam, Eve and the serpent (the order of the reproaches is the opposite to that of Genesis). When the angels are casting Adam out of paradise, he asks to be allowed to implore God, saying: "For I alone have sinned." He begs God to be allowed to eat of the Tree of Life. God refuses to give him the fruit of immortality, but promises, if Adam will keep from all evil, to raise him up in the last day and give him the fruit. Before being cast out, Adam is allowed to take sweet spices (to offer sacrifices) and seeds for his food. (chapters 22-30) Adam lies sick and foretells that Eve will die shortly after. He asks Eve to pray, because they do not know whether God is angry with them or merciful. While Eve is praying on bended knee, the angel of humanity (probably Michael) comes and shows her the spirit of Adam gone from his body and ascending to God. (chapters 31-32) Chapters 33-41 narrate, with great richness of liturgical detail, the funeral of Adam. A chariot of light, borne by four bright eagles with Seraphim and angels, arrives where Adam's body lies. The seven heavens are opened and Seth explains to his mother who are the two fearful figures in mourning: the sun and the moon, deprived of their light, because God is present. God has mercy on Adam, who is cleansed three times in water before being carried before God. God stretches out his arm, and hands Adam over to Michael to be carried to the third heaven until the last day. (chapters 33-37) The chariot and all the angels bear Adam's body to the Garden and lay him on the earth. Only Seth can see the scene. The body is covered with linen clothes and fragrant oil is poured on it. The body of Abel also, which until then the earth had refused to receive, is taken to the same place. Both bodies are buried in the place from which God took the clay to create Adam. God calls Adam, whose body answers from the earth. God promises Adam that he and everyone of his seed will rise again. (chapters 38-41) Six days later, Eve asks to be buried near Adam and dies praying to the Lord. Three angels bury Eve near Adam, and Michael tells Seth never to mourn on the Sabbath. (chapters 42-43)
Life of Adam and Eve - Latin version The main edition of this Latin version (in Latin Vita Adami et Evae) is that of W. Meyer in 1878 based on manuscripts S, T, M of the 9th, 10th, and 12th centuries. Later, a new and extended edition was prepared by Mozley based mainly on manuscripts kept in England, of which the most important is manuscript A. Content The story begins immediately after Adam and Eve's banishment from the Garden of Eden and continues to their deaths. After being banished from the Garden of Eden, they go to the West and after six days they become hungry, but the only food they find is that for animals. They decide to do penance in order to ask mercy to the Lord and to return in the Garden. Adam explains to Eve how to do penance: he will stay forty-seven days immersed in the Jordan and Eve forty days in the icy Tigris. Adam enters in the Jordan and prays the Lord together with all the creatures of the river. (chapters 1-8) Satan disguises himself as a bright angel and talks her out of it. Eve returns to Adam, who reproaches her. Eve lies prostrate with grief. Adam complains about Satan persecuting them, and Satan explains that he and his followers refused God's command to worship both Adam, the image of the God, and God himself. Thus Satan with his angels were expelled from heaven, deprived of their glory and began to envy men. Adam, unaffected by the story, serves forty days of penance in the Jordan. (chapters 9-17) Eve is so grief-stricken that she leaves Adam and goes alone toward the West, lamenting and crying. When it is the time for her to give birth, she is alone. Adam reaches her and prays the Lord: because of his prayer many angels arrive to help her in the delivery: Cain is born and immediately is able to run. They return east. Michael is sent by the Lord to teach Adam agriculture. (chapters 18-22) Abel is born. Eve dreams that Cain drinks the blood of Abel. Adam and Eve make Cain a husbandman and Abel a shepherd in order to separate them from each other. But Cain murders Abel (there is no trace of the common story found elsewhere that Cain and Abel had twin sisters, and Cain's killing of Abel is passed over quickly). Seth is born in place of Abel, along with 30 other sons and 30 (or 32) daughters. (chapters 23-24) Adam recounts to Seth that, after the Fall, he was caught up into the Paradise of righteousness and saw a chariot with the Lord seated on it among angels (a merkabah). Adam worshipped the Lord, who promised him that knowledge will not be taken away from Adam's seed for ever. Adam continues to recount briefly to Seth the history of the world up to last judgment (the Second Temple period is marked as a time of iniquity but the destruction of the Temple is not recounted). (chapters 25-29) As Adam is dying, sick and in pain, he wants to bless all his sons and daughters, who do not know what illness and pain are. Adam recounts to them the story of the Fall. Seth and Eve travel to the gates of the Garden to beg for some oil of the Tree of Life. On the way Seth is attacked and bitten by the Serpent, which goes away when ordered by Seth. At the gates of the Garden Michael refuses to give them the oil. On their return, Adam says to Eve: "What hast thou done? A great plague hast thou brought upon us, transgression and sin for all our generations." (chapters 30-44) Adam dies at the age of 930 and the sun, the moon and the stars are darkened for seven days. Adam's soul is consigned to Michael till the day of Judgment, when his sorrow will be converted into joy. God and some angels bury his body and Abel's. (chapters 45-49) Eve perceives that she will die and assembles all her sons and daughters for her testament, predicting a double judgment of water (probably the deluge) and fire. Seth is charged to write on two tablets the life of his parents. (chapters 49-50) Six days later, Eve dies, and Michael tells Seth never to mourn on the Sabbath. (chapters 51) Chapters 52-57 include various additional traditions: the tablets written by Seth about the lives of his parents are put in the place where Adam used to pray, that is Temple Mount. Only Salomon could read them. The entry of Adam into the Garden only forty days after his creation (eighty for Eve). The explanation of the eight parts of Adam's body and the origin of the name Adam. Only the plot of chapters 23-24, 30-49, 51 is in common with that of the Apocalypse of Moses, though with great differences in details. Chapters 15-30 (Eve's Tale) of the Apocalypse of Mose have no parallel in the Latin Life of Adam and Eve. The penance of Adam and Eve in the water can be found also in the later Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan. Read The Life of Adam and Eve - The Latin version (Vita Adae et Evae)
The Slavonic Adam book was published by Jagic along with a Latin translation in 1893. This version agrees for the most part with the Greek Apocalypse of Moses. It has, moreover, a section, 28-39, which, though not found in the Greek text, is found in the Latin Life of Adam and Eve. It includes also some unique material. Read The Life of Adam and Eve - The Slavonic Translation here
The History of Nathan the Prophet is one of the lost books of the Tanakh. It may have been written by the Biblical prophet Nathan, who may have been the author of other lost texts. The book is described in 2Chronicles 9:29. The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?" This text is sometimes distinguished from what may be the identical manuscript, The Book of Nathan the Prophet. The book is found nowhere in the Tanakh, so it is presumed to have been lost or removed from the earlier texts.
Irenaeus wrote a number of books, but the most important that survives is the Against Heresies (or, in its Latin title, Adversus Haereses). In Book I, Irenaeus talks about the Valentinian Gnostics and their predecessors, who go as far back as the magician Simon Magus. In Book II he attempts to provide proof that Valentinianism contains no merit in terms of its doctrines. In Book III Irenaeus purports to show that these doctrines are false, by providing counter-evidence gleaned from the Gospels. Book IV consists of Jesus' sayings, and here Irenaeus also stresses the unity of the Old Testament and the Gospel. In the final volume, Book V, Irenaeus focuses on more sayings of Jesus plus the letters of Paul the Apostle. The purpose of "Against Heresies" was to refute the teachings of various Gnostic groups; apparently, several Greek merchants had begun an oratorial campaign in Irenaeus' bishopric, teaching that the material world was the accidental creation of an evil god, from which we are to escape by the pursuit of gnosis. Irenaeus argued that the true gnosis is in fact knowledge of Christ, which redeems rather than escapes from bodily existence. Until the discovery of the Library of Nag Hammadi in 1945, Against Heresies was the best-surviving description of Gnosticism. According to some biblical scholars, the findings at Nag Hammadi have shown Irenaeus' description of Gnosticism to be largely inaccurate and polemic in nature. Though correct in some details about the belief systems of various groups, Irenaeus' main purpose was to warn Christians against Gnosticism, rather than catalog those beliefs. He described Gnostic groups as sexual libertines, for example, when some of their own writings advocated chastity more strongly than did orthodox texts—yet the gnostic texts cannot be taken as guides to their actual practices, about which almost nothing is reliably known today. However, at least one scholar, Rodney Stark, claims that it is the same Nag Hammadi library that proves Ireneaus right. It seemed that Irenaeus's critiques against the gnostics were exaggerated, which led to his scholarly dismissal for a long time. For example, he wrote: "They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no other did, accomplished the mystery of betrayal; by him all things were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas." These claims turned out to be truly mentioned in the Gospel of Judas where Jesus asked Judas to betray him. In any case the gnostics were not a single group, but a wide array of sects. Some groups were indeed libertine because they considered bodily existence meaningless; others praise chastity, and strongly prohibited any sexual activity, even within marriage. Irenaeus also wrote The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching (also known as Proof of the Apostolic Preaching), an Armenian copy of which was discovered in 1904. This work seems to have been an instruction for recent Christian converts. Eusebius attests to other works by Irenaeus, today lost, including On the Ogdoad, an untitled letter to Blastus regarding schism, On the Subject of Knowledge, On the Monarchy or How God is not the Cause of Evil. Irenaeus exercised wide influence on the generation which followed. Both Hippolytus and Tertullian freely drew on his writings. However, none of his works aside from Against Heresies and The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching survive today, perhaps because his literal hope of an earthly millennium may have made him uncongenial reading in the Greek East. Even though no complete version of Against Heresies in its original Greek exists, we possess the full ancient Latin version, probably of the third century, as well as thirty-three fragments of a Syrian version and a complete Armenian version of books 4 and 5. Irenaeus' works were first translated into English by John Keble and published in 1872 as part of the Library of the Fathers series. Read:
Ahiqar or Ahikar was an Assyrian sage known in the ancient Near East for his outstanding wisdom. The Story of Ahikar, also known as the Words of Ahikar, has been found in an Aramaic papyrus of 500 B.C. among the ruins of Elephantine. The narrative of the initial part of the story is expanded greatly by the presence of a large number of wise sayings and proverbs that Ahikar is portrayed as speaking to his nephew. It is suspected by most scholars that these sayings and proverbs were originally a separate document, as they do not mention Ahikar. Some of the sayings are similar to parts of the Biblical Book of Proverbs, others to the deuterocanonical Wisdom of Sirach, and others still to Babylonian and Persian proverbs. The collection of sayings is in essence a selection from those common in the Middle East at the time. Achiacharus is the name occurring in the Book of Tobit as that of a nephew of Tobit (Tobias) and an official at the court of Esarhaddon at Nineveh. There are references in Romanian, Slavonic, Armenian, Arabic and Syriac literature to a legend, of which the hero is Ahikar for Armenian, Arabic and Syriac. It was pointed out by scholar George Hoffmann in 1880 that this Ahikar and the Achiacharus of Tobit are identical. It has been contended that there are traces of the legend even in the New Testament, and there is a striking similarity between it and the Life of Aesop by Maximus Planudes (ch. xxiii-xxxii). An eastern sage Achaicarus is mentioned by Strabo. It would seem, therefore, that the legend was undoubtedly oriental in origin, though the relationship of the various versions can scarcely be recovered. In the story, Ahikar was chancellor to the Assyrian kings Sennacherib and Esarhaddon. Having no child of his own, he adopted his nephew Nadab/Nadin, and raised him to be his successor. Nadab/Nadin ungratefully plotted to have his elderly uncle murdered, and persuades Esarhaddon that Ahikar has committed treason. Esarhaddon orders Ahikar be executed in response, and so Ahikar is arrested and imprisoned to await punishment. However, Ahikar reminds the executioner that the executioner had been saved by Ahikar from a similar fate under Sennacherib, and so the executioner kills a prisoner instead, and pretends to Esarhaddon that it is the body of Ahikar. The remainder of the early texts do not survive beyond this point, but it is thought probably that the original ending had Nadab/Nadin being executed while Ahikar is rehabilitated. Later texts portray Ahikar coming out of hiding to counsel the Egyptian king on behalf of Esarhaddon, and then returning in triumph to Esarhaddon. In the later texts, after Ahikar's return, he meets Nadab/Nadin and is very angry with him, and Nadab/Nadin then dies. British classicist Stephanie West has argued that the story of Croesus in Herodotus as an adviser to Cyrus I is another manifestation of the Ahiqar story.
WE HAVE in The Story of Ahikar one of the most ancient sources of human thought and wisdom. Its influence can be traced through the legends of many people, including the Koran, and the Old and New Testaments. A mosaic found in Treves, Germany, pictured among the wise men of the world the character of Ahikar. Here is his colorful tale. The date of this story has been a subject of lively discussion. Scholars finally put it down about the First Century when they were proved in error by the original story turning up in an Aramaic papyrus of 500 B. C. among the ruins of Elephantine. The story is obviously fiction and not history. In fact the reader can make its acquaintance in the supplementary pages of The Arabian Nights. It is brilliantly written, and the narrative which is full of action, intrigue, and narrow escape holds the attention to the last. The liberty of imagination is the most precious possession of the writer. The writing divides itself into four phases:
(1) The Narrative.
The Acts of Andrew. Most scholars are comfortable assigning a date between 150 and 200 CE, but some think it could even have been written earlier; others claim it was written much later! Such discussions are derived from the text itself. Reasons suggesting an earlier date are derived from the fact that there is no sense of organizational or ecclesiastical structure. Nor is there concern that some of its teachings might be unorthodox, or that it was the subject of polemical attacks. These Acts appear to have been written before the Church decided upon a particular Christology, and there is not much information about the life and times of Jesus. These texts involve post-resurrection experiences. Other scholars have noticed many similarities with the Acts of John (see last month's entry), and assume that the author of Andrew used them for source material, which suggests a much later date. There is another text known as the Acts of Andrew and Matthias, which scholars originally thought was part of these Acts. Most modern scholars have now rejected that theory. Acts of Andrew From "The Apocryphal New Testament" M.R. James-Translation and Notes Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924 Introduction We have no ancient record of the length of this book, as we had in the cases of John, Paul, and Peter (but I suspect it was the most prolix of all the five), and we have fewer relics of the original text than for those. We have, however, a kind of abstract of the whole, written in Latin by Gregory of Tours: and there are Greek Encomia of the apostle which also help to the reconstruction of the story. The Martyrdom (as in other cases) exists separately, in many texts. Max Bonnet has established the relations of these to each other: and J. Flamion has made a most careful study of all the fragments. The best specimen of the original text which we have is a fragment preserved in a Vatican MS., tenth-eleventh centuries, containing discourses of Andrew shortly before his passion. There are also a few ancient quotations. These Acts may be the latest of the five leading apostolic romances. They belong to the third century: C. A. D. 260? It was formerly thought that the Acts of Andrew and Matthias (Matthew) were an episode of the original romance: but this view has ceased to be held. That legend is akin to the later Egyptian romances about the apostles of which an immense number were produced in the fifth and later centuries. An abstract of them will be given in due course. The epitome by Gregory of Tours is considered by Flamion to give on the whole the best idea of the contents of the original Acts. The latest edition of it is that by M. Bonnet in the Monumenta Germaniac Historica (Greg. Turon. II. 821-47). The greater part appears as Lib. III of the Historia Apostolica of (Pseudo-)Abdias, in a text much altered, it seems, in the sixteenth century by Wolfgang Lazius: reprinted in Fabricius' Cod. Apocr. N. T. Gregory's prologue is as follows: The famous triumphs of the apostles are, I believe, not unknown to any of the faithful, for some of them are taught us in the pages of the gospel, others are related in the Acts of the Apostles, and about some of them books exist in which the actions of each apostle are recorded; yet of the more part we have nothing but their Passions in writing. Now I have come upon a book on the miracles (virtues, great deeds) of St. Andrew the apostle, which, because of its excessive verbosity, was called by some apocryphal. And of this I thought good to extract and set out the 'virtues' only, omitting all that bred weariness, and so include the wonderful miracles within the compass of one small volume, which might both please the reader and ward off the spite of the adverse critic: for it is not the multitude of words, but the soundness of reason and the purity of mind that produce unblemished faith. Read the full abstract, not a version, of Gregory's text here
The Gospel of Andrew is a gospel mentioned by Pope Innocent I and Augustine of Hippo. There is no text to be found on the Gospel of Andrew as it is perhaps identical with the Acts of Andrew.
Acta Andreae et Matthiae apud Anthropophagos "The Acts of Andrew and Matthias among the Anthropophagi" which exists in several Latin manuscript traditions, is the dramatic romance featuring the Apostles Andrew and Matthias among the cannibals, a thriller featuring gory details that was written for a Christian audience in the 2nd century CE. Constantin von Tischendorf published an edited text following Johann Karl Thilo, 1846. Acta Andreae et Matthiae in urbe anthropophagarum, according to Richard Adelbert Lipsius, belonged to the middle of the 2nd century. This apocryphal text relates that Matthias went among the cannibals and, being cast into prison, was delivered by Andrew. The narrative is considered to be a Romance and is understood to have no historical value. Heinz Hofmann classes it "secondary apocrypha", that is, one derived from apocryphal sources; the ghoulish man-eaters remind Hofmann of the killing of Socrates by the witch Meroë in Apuleius' Metamorphoses, better known as The Golden Ass Among the Latin texts of the Acta Andreae et Mattiae, F. Blatt notes how the mss in Codex Casanatensis particularly expands upon the horror to describe the instruments and vessels the cannibals use for the slaughter. The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Vercelli manuscript, under the title Actus Petri cum Simone. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, and as the first record of the tradition that St. Peter was crucified head-down. The Acts of Peter was originally composed in Greek during the second half of the 2nd century, probably in Asia Minor. Consensus among academics points to it being based on the Acts of John, and traditionally both works were said to be written by Leucius Charinus, whom Epiphanius identifies as the companion of John. In the text Peter performs miracles such as resurrecting smoked fish, and making dogs talk. Some versions give accounts of stories on the theme of a woman/women who prefer paralysis to sex; sometimes, including in a version from the Berlin Codex, the woman is the daughter of Peter. The text condemns Simon Magus, a figure associated with gnosticism, who appears to have concerned the writer of the text greatly. Peter preaches that Simon is performing magic in order to convert followers through deception. In Peter's outrage, he challenges Simon to a contest in order to prove whose works are from a divine source and whose are merely trickery. It is said that Simon Magus takes flight and Peter strikes him down with the power of God and prays that Simon be not killed but that he be badly injured. When the Magus falls from the sky he suffers a broken leg in three places, then the converted believers of Peter stone him from the city. The Acts then continue to say that he was taken to Terracina to one Castor "And there he was sorely cut (Lat. by two physicians), and so Simon the angel of Satan came to his end.". Following this incident, Peter is going to flee the city; however, he sees an apparition of Jesus and takes it as a message that he must stay and be crucified to see Jesus again in Heaven. Peter requests to be crucified upside-down because he does not believe that a man is worthy to be killed in the same manner as Jesus Christ. These concluding chapters describing Peter's crucifixion are preserved separately as the "Martyrdom of Peter" in three Greek manuscripts and in Coptic (fragmentary), Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian, and Slavonic versions. Because of this, it is sometimes proposed that the martyrdom account was the original text to which the preceding chapters were affixed.
The text appears to have been aimed to be a continuation of the Acts of Andrew and Matthias (which was a portion of the Acts of Andrew that was sometimes found as a separate work). The Acts of Peter and Andrew is a short 3rd-century text from the New Testament apocrypha, not to be confused with either the Acts of Andrew or the Acts of Peter. The text is unusual in apparently containing no attempt at espousing doctrine, and is likely simply to have been a work of literature rather than theology. The text consists of a series of extremely long tales of miracles, such as Andrew riding a cloud to where Peter is, and Peter literally putting a camel through the eye of the needle, turning the traditional metaphor (it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven) on its head.
referenced by Tobit 1:22, Tobit 2:10, Tobit 11:18, Tobit 14,10
Gospel of Philip The Gospel of Philip is one of the Gnostic Gospels, a text of New Testament apocrypha, dating back to around the 3rd century but lost to modern researchers until an Egyptian peasant rediscovered it by accident, buried in a cave near Nag Hammadi, in 1945. The text is not related to the Canonical Gospels. Although this gospel may seem similar to the Gospel of Thomas, it is not a sayings gospel, but a collection of gnostic teachings and reflections, a "gnostic anthology," so called by Marvin Meyer and Esther A. De Boer, who consider it to be a Valentinian text. Sacraments, in particular the sacrament of marriage, are a major theme. The text is perhaps most famous as an early source for the popular theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. The Ancient Greek manuscript describes Jesus as Mary's "koinonos," or "companion," which may imply an intimate sexual relationship. Although the original text is missing from the papyrus scriptures discovered, some translations "fill in the gap" by suggesting that “Jesus loved Mary Magdalene more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth.” Date of Gospel of Philip The gospel's title appears at the end of the Coptic manuscript in a colophon; the only connection with Philip the Apostle within the text is that he is the only apostle mentioned (at 73,8). The text proper makes no claim to be from Philip, though, similarly, the four New Testament gospels make no explicit claim to be written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. The Gospel of Philip was written between 150 AD and 350 AD, while Philip himself lived in the first century, making it extremely unlikely to be his writing. Most scholars hold a 3rd-century date of composition. Gospel of Philip concerning Mary Magdalene The Gospel of Philip has been cited for the theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. Much of the Gospel of Philip is dedicated to a discussion of marriage as a sacred mystery, and two passages directly refer to Mary Magdalene and her close relationship with Jesus: There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary. In different places in the Gospel of Philip, Mary Magdalene is called Jesus's companion, partner or consort, using Coptic variants of the word koinônos, of Greek origin, or the word hôtre, of Egyptian origin. In this passage koinônos is used. Koinônos has a range of possible meanings: at root, it denotes a “person engaged in fellowship or sharing with someone or in something,” but what exactly a koinônos “can share with his or her partner can take many forms, ranging from a common enterprise or experience to a shared business.” In the Bible, koinônos is sometimes used to refer to a spouse (Mal 2:14; cf. 3 Macc 4:6), but is also used to refer to a "companion" in faith (Phlm 17), a co-worker in proclaiming the Gospel (2 Cor 8:23), or a business associate (Luke 5:10). The Gospel of Philip uses cognates of koinônos and Coptic equivalents to refer to the literal pairing of men and women in marriage and sexual intercourse, but also metaphorically, referring to a spiritual partnership, and the reunification of the Gnostic Christian with the divine realm. And importantly, there are occasions in the Gospel of Philip when the regular Coptic word for wife is used directly in reference to people who are clearly spouses, suggesting that the term koinônos is “reserved for a more specific usage" in the Gospel of Philip. That passage is also interesting for its mention of Jesus's sister (Jesus's unnamed sisters are mentioned in the New Testament at Mark 6:3), although the text is confusing on that point: she appears to be described first as the sister of Jesus's mother Mary, then as the sister of Jesus, although this may be a translation problem. The other passage, referring to Jesus kissing Mary Magdalene, is incomplete because of damage to the original manuscript. Several words are missing. The best guesses as to what they were are shown below in brackets. Most notably there is a hole in the manuscript after the phrase "and used to kiss her often on her . . ." But the passage appears to describe Jesus kissing Magdalene, apparently described as "barren" and "the mother of the angels" at the beginning of the relevant paragraph and using a parable to explain to the disciples why he loved her more than he loved them: As for the Wisdom who is called 'the barren', she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of [the saviour was Mar]y Ma[gda]lene. [Christ loved] M[ary] more than [all] the disci[ples, and used to] kiss her [softly] on her [hand]. The rest of [the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Saviour answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness. However, "hand" is not necessarily the word after "kiss her . . . on her". It may have been cheek, forehead or feet to simply show respect. But the presentation of a 4th-century papyrus fragment (probably copy of another one dating back to the 2nd century) called the Gospel of Jesus' wife at the International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome on September 18, 2012 by Karen L. King may fuel the idea that some early Christians believed that Jesus was married.
The Gospel According to Thomas, also known as The Gospel of Thomas, is a New Testament-era apocryphon, nearly completely preserved in a Coptic papyrus manuscript discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt. The text is in the form of a codex, bound in a method now called Coptic binding. It was written for a school of early Christians who claimed Thomas the Apostle as their founder. Unlike the four canonical gospels, Thomas is not a narrative account of the life of Jesus and is not worked into any overt philosophical or rhetorical context. Rather, it is logia, or gospel sayings, with short dialogues and sayings attributed to Jesus. In the incipit, the writer is styled Didymus Judas Thomas. Didymus (Greek) and Thomas (Hebrew) both mean twin, and the name Judas, also Jude or Judah, is the anglicized Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Yehudah. The work comprises 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Some of these sayings resemble those found in the four canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), while others were not known until its discovery. No major Christian group accepts this gospel as canonical or authoritative. When this Coptic version of the complete text of Thomas was found, scholars realized that three separate portions of a Greek version of it had already been discovered in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, in 1897. In 1903 two more different fragments were discovered in Oxyrhynchus, seemingly originating from the same collection of sayings bearing the Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas (P. Oxy. I 1; IV 654; IV 655) dating from between AD 200 to AD 250, with another Greek fragment discovered in 1905 predating AD 200; the manuscript of the Coptic version dates to about 340. Although the Coptic version is not quite identical to any of the Greek fragments, it is believed that the Coptic version was translated from an earlier Greek version, itself recorded from an earlier oral version. The original text was published in photographic facsimile in 1975. The James M. Robinson translation was first published in 1977, as part of The Nag Hammadi Library in English, (E.J. Brill and Harper & Row). The Gospel of Thomas has been translated and annotated in several languages. The original manuscript is the property of Egypt's Department of Antiquities. The first photographic edition was published in 1956, and its first critical analysis appeared in 1959. Read The Gospel of Thomas here
Those who believe Jesus to have died on the cross are said to believe in "a doctrine of a dead man." All those without gnosis - including those who had what would become orthodox beliefs, as well as the figures of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, the prophets, and Moses - are all referred to as a "laughingstock." The text shows the derision which the gnostics felt towards those who did not realize the truth; that the biblical text was false (in at least certain important respects) and that the God of the Jews was not the true God. Only the gnostics have access to the truth. Some Gnostics believed Christ was not a man but a docetistic spirit, and therefore could not die. From the translation by Roger A. Bullard and Joseph A. Gibbons: "For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death...It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. I[t] was another upon Whom they placed the crown of thorns...And I was laughing at their ignorance." (Christ as purported narrator) The Treatise of the Great Seth is written from the first person perspective of Christ. At the beginning of the book, Christ states: "I visited a bodily dwelling. I cast out the one who was in it previously, and I went in." This statement indicates that the Christ inhabited a human body that had previously belonged to someone else, which meant the body was not his own. The Christ also explains that the being that created the world is not the One True God. Christ instead proclaims: "Though we mastered his doctrine in this way, he lives in conceit, and he does not agree with our Father. And thus through our friendship we prevailed over his doctrine, since he is arrogant in conceit and does not agree with our Father. For he was a laughingstock with (his) judgment and false prophesy." This demonstrates the gnostic view that the God of the Hebrew Bible was not the One True God, but rather an inferior being called the Demiurge, which was created by Sophia. The Christ also makes statements claiming that Adam, Moses, and John the Baptist were all also "laughingstocks". He says: "Neither he nor those before him, from Adam to Moses and John the Baptist, none of them knew me or my brethren. For a doctrine of angels is what arose from them, to keep dietary rules and bitter slavery. They never knew truth nor will they know it, for there is a great deception upon their soul . . . " The Christ says these prominent figures were "laughingstocks" because they believed the Demiurge was the One True God and did not know the Truth.
Apocryphon of John The Secret Book of John (Apocryphon of John) is a 2nd-century AD Sethian Gnostic Christian text of secret teachings. Since it was known to the church father Irenaeus, it must have been written before around AD 180. It describes Jesus Christ appearing and giving secret knowledge (gnosis) to the apostle John. The author describes this having occurred after Jesus "has gone back to the place from which he came". This book is reputed to bear this revelation. Many Christians in the 2nd century CE hoped to receive a transcendent personal revelation such as Paul was able to report to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 12:1-4) or that John experienced on the isle of Patmos, which inspired his Revelation. As Acts narrates what happened after the time Jesus ascended to heaven, so the Apocryphon of John begins at the same point but relates how Christ reappeared to John. The opening words of the Secret Book of John are "The teaching of the saviour, and the revelation of the mysteries and the things hidden in silence, even these things which he taught John, his disciple." The author John is immediately specified as "John, the brother of James — who are the sons of Zebedee." The remainder of the book is a vision of spiritual realms and of the prior history of spiritual humanity. There are four separate surviving manuscripts of "The Secret Book of John". Three of these were found in the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, while the fourth was found independently 50 years earlier from another site in Egypt. All four versions date to the 4th century. Three of these appear to be independently produced Coptic translations of an original Greek text. Two of the four are similar enough that they probably represent copies of a single source. Although the different versions of the texts have minor variants (The Berlin Codex has many minor differences with the Nag Hammadi II and IV), all texts generally agree that the main revealing entity was Jesus Christ.
The early 3rd-century text called Acts of Thomas is one of the New Testament apocrypha, portraying Christ as the "Heavenly Redeemer", independent of and beyond creation, who can free souls from the darkness of the world. References to the work by Epiphanius of Salamis show that it was in circulation in the 4th century. The complete versions that survive are Syriac and Greek. There are many surviving fragments of the text. Scholars detect from the Greek that its original was written in Syriac, which places the Acts of Thomas in Syria. The surviving Syriac manuscripts, however, have been edited to purge them of the most unorthodox overtly gnostic passages, so that the Greek versions reflect the earlier tradition. Fragments of four other cycles of romances around the figure of the apostle Thomas survive, but this is the only complete one. It should not be confused with the early "sayings" Gospel of Thomas. "Like other apocryphal acts combining popular legend and religious propaganda, the work attempts to entertain and instruct. In addition to narratives of Thomas' adventures, its poetic and liturgical elements provide important evidence for early Syrian Christian traditions," according to the Anchor Bible Dictionary. Acts of Thomas is a series of episodic Acts (Latin passio) that occurred during the evangelistic mission of Judas Thomas ("Judas the Twin") to India. It ends with his martyrdom: he dies pierced with spears, having earned the ire of the monarch Misdaeus (Vasudeva I) because of his conversion of Misdaeus' wives and a relative, Charisius. He was imprisoned while converting Indian followers won through the performing of miracles. Embedded in the Acts of Thomas at different places according to differing manuscript traditions is a Syriac hymn, The Hymn of the Pearl, (or Hymn of the Soul), a poem that gained a great deal of popularity in mainstream Christian circles. The Hymn is older than the Acts into which it has been inserted, and is worth appreciating on its own. The text is interrupted with the poetry of another hymn, the one that begins "Come, thou holy name of the Christ that is above every name" (2.27), a theme that was taken up in Catholic Christianity in the 13th century as the Holy Name. Though Gregory of Tours made a version, mainstream Christian tradition rejects the Acts of Thomas as pseudepigraphical and apocryphal, and for its part, the Roman Catholic Church finally confirmed the Acts as heretical at the Council of Trent. See also Leucius Charinus. Thomas is often referred to by his name Judas (his full name is Thomas Judas Didymus), since both Thomas and Didymus just mean twin, and several scholars believe that twin is just a description, and not intended as a name. The manuscripts end "The acts of Judas Thomas the apostle are completed, which he did in India, fulfilling the commandment of him that sent him. Unto whom be glory, world without end. Amen.". Acts of Thomas - Content The text is broken by headings:
The story clearly has the gnostic themes of death and resurrection, death not being a bad thing but a result of the pursuit of gnostic teaching, and the resurrection into greater life (and they lived happily ever after) once gnostic teaching is understood.
Acts of Thomas - View of Jesus The view of Jesus in the book could be inferred to be docetic. Thomas is not just Jesus' twin, he is Jesus' identical twin. As such, it is possible that Thomas is meant to represent the earthly, human side of Jesus, while Jesus is entirely spiritual in his being. In this way, Jesus directs Thomas' quest from heaven, while Thomas does the work on earth. For example, when the apostles are casting lots to choose where they will mission, Thomas initially refuses to go to India. However, Jesus appears in human form to sell Thomas as a slave to a merchant going to India, after which Jesus disappears. Also in line with docetic thinking is Jesus' stance on sex. In one scene a couple is married, and Jesus miraculously appears to the bride in the bridal chamber. He speaks against having intercourse, even if it is for the purpose of procreation. This indicates that the spiritual world is more important than the earthly one, and as such, Christians should not be concerned with procreation.
The Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira, commonly called the Wisdom of Sirach or simply Sirach, and also known as Ecclesiasticus or Siracides, is a work from the early 2nd century B.C. (approximately 200-175 B.C.) written by the Jewish scribe Jesus ben Sirach of Jerusalem. The book was not accepted into the Hebrew Bible and as a result the original Hebrew text was not preserved in the Jewish canon. However, various original Hebrew versions have since been recovered. (verse numbers vary slightly between versions) Aesop's fable of The Two Pots referenced at Sirach 13:2-3
The Egyptian Satire of
the Trades
This Book is so called from a Greek word that signifies a preacher: because, like an excellent preacher, it gives admirable lessons of all virtues. The author was Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem, who flourished about two hundred years before Christ. As it was written after the time of Esdras, it is not in the Jewish canon; but is received as canonical and divine by the Catholic Church, instructed by apostolical tradition, and directed by the spirit of God. It was first written in the Hebrew, but afterwards translated into Greek, by another Jesus, the grandson of the author.
The Odes date from the second century, and were probably written in Greek or Aramaic. At least one scholar has suggested they may have an origin in Valentinian Gnosticism, though this is of course speculative. The Church Father Lactantius (third century) quoted from them, and the Pistis Sophia mentions about five complete Odes. In 1909 the English Scholar J. Rendel Harris discovered an old Syriac manuscript with contained all but the second of the 42 Odes. These texts evidence the close inter-relationship of Christian and Gnostic church piety. Translation below is by James H. Charlesworth. (Another more poetic translation of several odes -- from an unknown source -- follows the Charlesworth translation.) In his commentary on the Odes, Charlesworth notes : The date of the Odes has caused considerable interest. H. J. Drijvers contends that they are as late as the 3d century. L. Abramowski places them in the latter half of the 2d century. B. McNeil argued that they are contemporaneous with 4 Ezra, the Shepherd of Hermas, Polycarp, and Valentinus (ca. 100 C.E.). Most scholars date them sometime around the middle of the 2d century, but if they are heavily influenced by Jewish apocalyptic thought and especially the ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a date long after 100 is unlikely . . . The 11th ode was found among the Bodmer Papyri in a 3d-century Gk manuscript (no. 11). Five were translated into Coptic in the 4th century and used to illustrate the Pistis Sophia (Odes Sol. 1, 5, 6, 22, and 25). Also in the 4th century Ode 19 was quoted by Lactantius (Div. Inst. 4.12.3). In the 10th century a scribe copied the Odes in Syriac, but only Odes Sol. 17:7-42:20 are preserved (British Museum ms. Add. 14538). In the 15th century another scribe copied them into Syriac, but again the beginning is lost (John Rylands Library Cod. Syr. 9 contains only Odes Sol. 3.1b-42:20). [--The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 6, p. 114]
Joseph and Aseneth (alternatively spelled Asenath) is an ancient apocryphal expansion of the Book of Genesis's account of the patriarch Joseph's marriage to Aseneth. According to Genesis 41:45, Pharaoh gives Aseneth, the daughter of Potipherah (Pentephres in the Septuagint) priest of On to Joseph as a wife. Genesis 41:50-52 narrates that Aseneth bore Joseph two sons Manasseh and Ephraim. No more is said of her. Like many narratives in Genesis, the biblical story is tantalizingly brief, and raises questions that were to fascinate later interpreters. Why would an upstanding descendant of Jacob (Israel) marry the daughter of a pagan priest, and how could it be justifiable? How could two of the eponymous tribes be descended from union with an outsider, otherwise prohibited by the Mosaic Law? The story of Joseph and Aseneth sets out to answer some of those questions. The twenty-nine chapters of Joseph and Aseneth narrate the conversion of Aseneth, from idolatry to monotheism and the worship of Adonai. Aseneth, a virgin who has rejected numerous worthy suitors, falls in love with Joseph when he, as vizier of Egypt, visits her father. Joseph, however, rejects her as an unworthy idol worshipper. Aseneth then secludes herself in her tower, repents of her idolatry, confesses her sin, and embraces Joseph's God. Begging for God's acceptance, she then receives an angelic visitor (looking like Joseph), who assures her that her prayers are answered and that she is now a new creation. There follows a strange and extended ritual, where in order to confer on her immortality, the angel shares with Aseneth a magical honeycomb, and is told of her heavenly counterpart Metanoia (Repentance). The honeycomb, which the angel marks with a cross, causes a swarm of bees to surround her, and some return to heaven though others die. The meaning and significance of this episode of the bees is uncertain, and appears to have some sort of connection to initiation rites of mystery religions. There may also be a connection with the otherwise mysterious name of the prophetess Deborah, literally bee, from one of the oldest parts of the Book of Judges. It is uncertain whether the involvement of a cross indicates a Christian influence or not. Aseneth, promising to love, honour, and obey Joseph, is now seen as a potential wife by him, and the two marry and she bears him Ephraim and Manasseh. Then in the final chapters of the book, Pharaoh's son, in love with Aseneth himself, attempts to seize her, persuading Dan and Gad to assist him and kill Joseph. However, Benjamin, Joseph's loyal brother, foils the attempt, and Pharaoh's son receives fatal wounds. Aseneth forgives Dan and Gad, and Joseph and she go on to rule over Egypt. Enmity between Joseph and Dan and Gad is not recounted elsewhere, and nor is any between the tribes of which they are eponyms, so it is uncertain why they are mentioned in this manner by the author, unless it was due to a personal grudge. Provenance and manuscripts - Joseph and Asenath The work is anonymous and its author unknown. The dating is contentious, and it is not even clear whether this is a Jewish or a Christian work (or neither). The earliest version is in Syriac and dates from the sixth century AD. Most modern scholarship treats it as a Jewish work dating some time from first century BC to the second AD. Batiffol (who produced the first critical edition) and, more recently, Kraemer have argued that it was originally a Christian work, dating from the fourth or fifth centuries. Kraemer suggests connections with works like Acts of Thomas. Early versions exist today in Syriac, Slavonic, Armenian and Latin - but there is general consensus that it was originally composed in Greek. In the manuscripts, the work is variously titled: The History of Joseph the Just and Aseneth his Wife; The Confession and Prayer of Aseneth, the daughter of Pentephres, the Priest; and The Wholesome Narrative Concerning the Corn-Giving of Joseph, the All-Fair, and Concerning Aseneth, and How God United Them. The extant manuscripts give us two versions of the work, a short recension and a long recension. There has been much scholarly debate as to which is earlier.
Nestle's Greek New Testament lists some 132 New Testament passages that appear to be verbal allusions to paracanonical books.
Pagan authors quoted or alluded to: Menander, Thais 218 (1 Cor. 15:33)
Epimenides (and later Aratus, Phaenomena 5), (Acts 17:28).
Paul introduced another quotation from Epimenides (de Oraculis) by calling him a prophet of the Cretans (Titus 1:12-13).
Euripides,The Bacchae (Acts 12; 26:14)
Non canonical books quoted or alluded to:
The Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Jubilees is considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Bete Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is known as the Book of Division (Ge'ez: Mets'hafe Kufale). It was well known to Early Christians, as evidenced by the writings of Epiphanius, Justin Martyr, Origen, Diodorus of Tarsus, Isidore of Alexandria, Isidore of Seville, Eutychius of Alexandria, John Malalas, George Syncellus, and George Kedrenos. It was so thoroughly suppressed in the 4th century that no complete Hebrew, Greek or Latin version has survived. There is conjecture among western biblical scholars that Jubilees may be a rework of material found in the canonical books of Genesis and Exodus. The Book of Jubilees claims to present "the history of the division of the days of the Law, of the events of the years, the year-weeks, and the jubilees of the world" as revealed to Moses (in addition to the Torah or "Instruction") by Angels while he was on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights. The chronology given in Jubilees is based on multiples of seven; the jubilees are periods of 49 years, seven 'year-weeks', into which all of time has been divided. According to the author of Jubilees, all proper customs that mankind should follow are determined by God's decree. Jubilees covers much of the same ground as Genesis, but often with additional detail, and addressing Moses in the second person as the entire history of creation, and of Israel up to that point, is recounted in divisions of 49 years each, or "Jubilees". The elapsed time from the creation, up to Moses receiving the scriptures upon Sinai during the Exodus, is calculated as fifty Jubilees, less the 40 years still to be spent wandering in the desert before entering Canaan - or 2,410 years. Four classes of angels are mentioned: angels of the presence, angels of sanctifications, guardian angels over individuals, and angels presiding over the phenomena of nature. Enoch was the first man initiated by the angels in the art of writing, and wrote down, accordingly, all the secrets of astronomy, of chronology, and of the world's epochs. As regards demonology, the writer's position is largely that of the deuterocanonical writings from both New and Old Testament times. The Book of Jubilees narrates the genesis of angels on the first day of Creation and the story of how a group of fallen angels mated with mortal females, giving rise to a race of giants known as the Nephilim, and then to their descendants, the Elioud. The Ethiopian version states that the "angels" were in fact the disobedient offspring of Seth (Deqiqa Set), while the "mortal females" were daughters of Cain. This is also the view held by Simeon bar Yochai, Clementine literature, Sextus Julius Africanus, Ephrem the Syrian, Augustine of Hippo, and John Chrysostom among many other early authorities. Their hybrid children, the Nephilim in existence during the time of Noah, were wiped out by the great flood. However, Jubilees also states that God granted ten percent of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to try to lead mankind astray after the flood. Jubilees makes an incestuous reference regarding the son of Adam and Eve, Cain and his wife. In chapter iv (1-12) (Cain and Abel), it mentions that Cain took his sister Awan to be his wife and Enoch was their child. Also, it mentions that Seth (another son of Adam and Eve) married his sister Azura. According to this book, Hebrew is the language of Heaven, and was originally spoken by all creatures in the Garden, animals and man, however the animals lost their power of speech when Adam and Eve were expelled. Some time following the Deluge, the earth is apportioned into three divisions for the three sons of Noah, and his sixteen grandsons. After the destruction of the tower of Babel, their families were scattered to their respective allotments, and Hebrew was forgotten, until Abraham was taught it by the angels. Jubilees also contains a few scattered allusions to the Messianic kingdom. RH Charles in 1913 wrote: "This kingdom was to be ruled over by a Messiah sprung, not from Levi - that is, from the Maccabean family - as some of his contemporaries expected - but from Judah. This kingdom would be gradually realized on earth, and the transformation of physical nature would go hand in hand with the ethical transformation of man until there was a new heaven and a new earth. Thus, finally, all sin and pain would disappear and men would live to the age of 1,000 years in happiness and peace, and after death enjoy a blessed immortality in the spirit world." Jubilees 7:20-29 is possibly an early reference to the Noahide laws.
The Epic of Gilgamesh Did Genesis according to the Bible really happen or is it simply creation myths of a tribal group, passed (and changed) orally for at least a thousand years before anyone wrote them down (largely because this tribal group had no writing). Other than Genesis documented in The Bible in regards to Creation, there is another documented story of Creation which was written between 2700 b.c. and around 600 b.c. in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). This is over a thousand years before the Old Testament and the Odyssey, an unknown author composed the first enduring story in the history of mankind. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written on clay tablets in the cuneiform writing style of ancient Sumer (modern Iraq) over four thousand years ago. There have been numerous flood stories identified from ancient sources scattered around the world. The stories that were discovered on cuneiform tablets, which comprise some of the earliest surviving writing, have obvious similarities. Cuneiform writing was invented by the Sumerians and carried on by the Akkadians. Babylonian and Assyrian are two dialects of the Akkadian, and both contain a flood account. While there are differences between the original Sumerian and later Babylonian and Assyrian flood accounts, many of the similarities are strikingly close to the Genesis flood account. The Babylonian account is the most intact, with only seven of 205 lines missing. It was also the first discovered, making it the most studied of the early flood accounts. The Epic of Gilgamesh is contained on twelve large tablets, and since the original discovery, it has been found on others, as well as having been translated into other early languages. The actual tablets date back to around 650 B.C. and are obviously not originals since fragments of the flood story have been found on tablets dated around 2,000 B.C. Linguistic experts believe that the story was composed well before 2,000 B.C. compiled from material that was much older than that date. The Sumerian cuneiform writing has been estimated to go as far back as 3,300 B.C. The table below presents a comparison of the main aspects of the two accounts of the flood as presented in the Book of Genesis and in the Epic of Gilgamesh. COMPARISON OF GENESIS AND GILGAMESH
Comparative study of these two flood accounts, it is agreed that there is an obvious relationship. The widespread nature of flood traditions throughout the entire human race is excellent evidence for the existence of a great flood from a legal/historical point of view. Dating of the oldest fragments of the Gilgamesh account originally indicated that it was older than the assumed dating of Genesis. However, the probability exists that the Biblical account had been preserved either as an oral tradition, or in written form handed down from Noah, through the patriarchs and eventually to Moses, thereby making it actually older than the Sumerian accounts which were restatements (with alterations) to the original. A popular theory, proposed by liberal "scholars," said that the Hebrews "borrowed" from the Babylonians, but no conclusive proof has ever been offered. The differences, including religious, ethical, and sheer quantity of details, make it unlikely that the Biblical account was dependent on any extant source from the Sumerian traditions. This still does not stop these liberal and secular scholars from advocating such a theory. The most accepted theory among evangelicals is that both have one common source, predating all the Sumerian forms. The divine inspiration of the Bible would demand that the Genesis account is the correct version. Indeed the Hebrews were known for handing down their records and tradition. The Book of Genesis is viewed for the most part as an historical work, even by many liberal scholars, while the Epic of Gilgamesh is viewed as mythological. The One-source Theory must, therefore, lead back to the historical event of the Flood and Noah's Ark. To those who believe in the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, it should not be a surprise that God would preserve the true account of the Flood in the traditions of His people. The Genesis account was kept pure and accurate throughout the centuries by the providence of God until it was finally compiled, edited, and written down by Moses. The Epic of Gilgamesh, then, contains the corrupted account as preserved and embellished by peoples who did not follow the God of the Hebrews. Most bible readers do not notice two contradictory versions of creation in the first three chapters of Genesis. If you read Gilgamesh, the world's oldest myth which we know of, from 3rd millenium BC clay tablets, you'll find the exact same story as appears in the 1st millenium BC Genesis. Gilgamesh's ark captain Utanapishtim has become Noah in the ensuing two thousand years. I personally believe Genesis found in The Bible is simply a passing of the Epic of Gilgamesh over the years. In turn; as we all have played "The Secret Game", the first story told does not get repeated the same when you get to the last person.
The Gospel of Truth is one of the Gnostic texts from the New Testament apocrypha found in the Nag Hammadi codices ("NHC"). It exists in two Coptic translations, a Subakhmimic rendition surviving almost in full in the first codex (the "Jung Codex") and a Sahidic in fragments in the twelfth. The Gospel of Truth was probably written in Greek between 140 and 180 by Valentinian Gnostics (or, as some posit, by Valentinus himself). It was known to Irenaeus of Lyons, who objected to its Gnostic content and declared it heresy. Irenaeus declares it one of the works of the disciples of "Valentinius", and the similarity of the work to others thought to be by Valentinus and his followers has made many scholars agree with Irenaeus on this point. But the followers of Valentinus, putting away all fear, bring forward their own compositions and boast that they have more Gospels than really exist. Indeed their audacity has gone so far that they entitle their recent composition the Gospel of Truth, though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the apostles, and so no Gospel of theirs is free from blasphemy. For if what they produce is the Gospel of Truth, and is different from those the apostles handed down to us, those who care to can learn how it can be show from the Scriptures themselves that [then] what is handed down from the apostles is not the Gospel of Truth. After its Coptic translations and their burial at Nag Hammadi, the text had been lost until the Nag Hammadi discovery. The text is written with strong poetic skill (notable even in translation), and includes a heavily cyclical presentation of themes. It is not a "gospel" in the sense of an account of the works of Jesus of Nazareth, but is better understood as a homily. The text is generally considered by scholars one of the best written texts in the whole Nag Hammadi collection, considering its worth highly as both a great literary work and a gnostic exegesis on several gospels, canonical and otherwise. Not all scholars, however, agree that the text is to be considered Gnostic. Paterson Brown has argued forcefully that the three Nag Hammadi Coptic Gospels of Thomas, Philip and Truth are demonstrably not Gnostic in content, since each explicitly affirms the basic reality and sanctity of incarnate life, which Gnosticism by definition considers illusory or evil: 'Are the Coptic Gospels Gnostic?'. The writing is thought to cite or allude to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and John, as well as 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, 1 John and the Book of Revelation--John's Gospel the most often. It is also influenced by Thomas; for instance at one point (22:13-19) it cites John 3:8 alongside Thomas 28. The Gospel of Truth Contents The text describes a theory of the rise of Error in personified form. The ignorance and yearning to see the Father bred fear, which coalesced into a fog by which Error gained power. It then describes Jesus as having been sent down by God to remove ignorance. Jesus was a teacher confounding the other scribes and teachers, and asserted they were foolish since they tried to understand the world by analyzing the law. But Error grew angry at this, and nailed Jesus to a tree. It also proceeds to describe how it is knowledge that grants salvation, which constitutes eternal rest, describing ignorance as a nightmare. Having next described the parable of the good shepherd, in an esoteric manner, it then describes how feeding the hungry and giving rest to the weary is to be understood as feeding spiritual hunger, and resting the world weary. This is followed by a parable about anointing, the meaning of which is obscure, but may be connected with the way in which a sealed amphora meant it was full, a metaphor for knowledge - having the final "seal" in the jigsaw and you understand, but without it, the scraps of understanding you have put together can still be easily undone: But those whom he has anointed are the ones who have become perfect. For full jars are the ones that are usually anointed. But when the anointing of one (jar) is dissolved, it is emptied, and the reason for there being a deficiency is the thing by which its ointment goes. For at that time a breath draws it, a thing in the power of that which is with it. But from him who has no deficiency, no seal is removed, nor is anything emptied, but what he lacks, the perfect Father fills again. Aside from a final description of achieving rest by gnosis, the remainder of the text concerns a treatise on the connection between the relationship between the Son and the Father, and the relationship of a name to its owner. The prime example of this is the phrase it uses that the name of the Father is the Son, which is to be understood in the esoteric manner that the Son is the name, rather than as meaning that Son was a name for the Father. Unlike the canonical gospels, this gospel does not contain an account of Jesus' life or teaching. This gospel, like some other gnostic texts, can be interpreted as proclaiming predestination. One section states: Those whose name he knew in advance were called at the end, so that one who has knowledge is the one whose name the Father has uttered. For he whose name has not been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, how is one to hear, if his name has not been called?
Having knowledge, he does the
will of the one who called him, he wishes to be pleasing to him, he
receives rest. Each one's name comes to him. He who is to have
knowledge in this manner knows where he comes from and where he is going. The Gospel of Marcion, called by its adherents the Gospel of the Lord, was a text used by the mid-2nd century Christian teacher Marcion of Sinope to the exclusion of the other gospels. Its reconstructed fragments now appear among the New Testament apocrypha. Marcion's teaching was condemned as heresy in the year 144. So many Catholic Christian apologists wrote treatises against Marcion after his death, in addition to the noted work of Tertullian, that it has been possible to reconstruct almost the whole of Marcion's Gospel of the Lord from their quotations. Marcion, then, is known only through his critics, who considered his doctrines a deviation from proto-orthodox Christianity. The Gospel of Marcion and its Relationship to the Gospel of Luke There are two possible relationships between Marcion's gospel and the Gospel of Luke; either Marcion revised a previously existing Gospel of Luke to fit his own agenda or else his "Gospel of the Lord" pre-dated the Gospel of Luke as we have it today and was in fact the basis for it. Marcion's gospel as a revision of Luke's Church Fathers wrote, and the majority of modern scholars agree, that Marcion edited Luke to fit his own theology, Marcionism. The late 2nd -century writer Tertullian noted that Marcion, "expunged [from the Gospel of Luke] all the things that oppose his view . . . but retained those things that accord with his opinion". According to this view, Marcion eliminated the first two chapters of Luke concerning the nativity, and began his gospel at Capernaum making modifications to the remainder suitable to Marcionism. The differences in the texts below highlight the Marcionite view that, first, Jesus did not follow the Prophets and, second, the earth is evil.
Marcion's gospel as pre-dating Luke's In 1881 Charles B. Waite suggested that Marcion's Gospel may have preceded Luke's Gospel. John Knox (not the same as the Scottish reformer John Knox) in Marcion and the New Testament (1942) also defends this hypothesis. In the 2006 book Marcion and Luke-Acts: a defining struggle, Joseph B Tyson makes a case for not only Luke but also Acts (see Luke-Acts) being responses to Marcion rather than Marcion's gospel being a rewrite of Luke. The Gospel of Marcion Justification Theologian Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930), in agreement with the traditional account of Marcion as revisionist, discussed the reasons for his alterations to Luke. According to Harnack, Marcion believed there could be only one true gospel, all others being fabrications by pro-Jewish elements, determined to sustain worship of Yahweh. Furthermore, he believed that the true gospel was given directly to Paul by Christ himself, but was later corrupted by those same elements who also corrupted the Pauline epistles. Marcion saw the attribution of this gospel to "Luke" as another fabrication. He therefore began what he saw as a restoration of the original gospel as given to Paul. Von Harnack wrote that: For this task he did not appeal to a divine revelation, any special instruction, nor to a pneumatic assistance [...] From this it immediately follows that for his purifications of the text - and this is usually overlooked - he neither could claim nor did claim absolute certainty.
Anomalies In The Lost Books The Introduction The reprehensible and unquestioned removal books from the Bible beginning in the 4th century with the Emperor Constantine was the beginning of the cover-up of anomalous references and unwanted doctrine from this ancient work. Through secret conferences, and with hidden agendas, the leaders of the early church purged hundreds of books from what was once a massive work. Fortunately many of these books have been found and we have begun an exhaustive project to uncover those anomalous references. Many of these references present a broader knowledge of Bible characters and events. Many add to the already overwhelming evidence of ancient technology contained in the Authorized King James Bible. Many of the books were eliminated by the church leaders due to glaring and embarrassing contradictions of the manmade doctrine forced upon the faithful by the church leadership. Though some 600 books have been rumored to be the original number less than half are known and fewer are accessible. Presented here are verses that support the evidence of flying vehicles and advanced technology found in the pages of the King James Bible. Also presented are verses that show more contradictions in mainstream church doctrine or connect those books to the King James Bible Where possible direct cross reference with the Authorized King James Bible have been included.
The Letters and Writings of Pontius Pilate The Report of Pontius Pilate to Tiberius The Report of Pontius Pilate to Tiberus was regarded as genuine by the early church fathers. It consists of a letter written by Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Judea, to Tiberius Caesar, the Emperor of Rome. The letter goes into great detail about the circumstances of the crucifixion of Christ and events immediately following Christ's death. In this letter, Pontius Pilate, an eyewitness to these events, relates many of the miracles performed by Christ. But, most importantly, it describes in detail the supernatural happenings at the time Christ was crucified. Presented below is evidence of the anomalies that were seen and witnessed by Pontius Pilate as related to Tiberius. Miraculous Cures by Jesus And that man wrought many cures, in addition to good works. He made the blind see; he cleansed lepers; he raised the dead; he healed paralytics who could not move at all, except that they only had their voice, and the joining of their bones; and he gave them the power of walking about and running, commanding them by a single word. Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead And another mightier work he did, which was strange even with our gods: he raised up a dead man, Lazarus, who had been dead four days, by a single word ordering the dead man to be raised, although his body was already corrupted by the worms that grow in wounds; and that ill-smelling body lying in the tomb he ordered to run; and as a bridegroom from the bridal chamber, so he came forth out of the tomb, filled with exceeding fragrance. Jesus Expels Demons And some that were cruelly vexed by demons, and had their dwellings in deserts, and ate the flesh of their own limbs, and lived along with reptiles and wild beasts, he made to be dwellers in cities in their own houses, and by a word he rendered them sound-minded; and he made those that were troubled by unclean spirits to be intelligent and reputable; and sending away the demons in them into a herd of swine, he suffocated them in the sea.
Jesus Heals A Withered Hand Another man, again, who had a withered hand, and lived in sorrow, and had not even the half of his body sound, he rendered sound by a single word. Jesus Cures A Woman Of A Flow Of Blood And a woman that had a flow of blood for many years, so that, in consequence of the flowing of her blood, all the joinings of her bones appeared, and were transparent like glass; and assuredly all the physicians had left her without hope, and had not cleansed her, for there was not in her a single hope of health: once, then, as Jesus was passing by, she took hold of the fringe of his clothes behind, and that same hour the power of her body was completely restored, and she became whole, as if nothing were the matter with her, and she began to run swiftly to her own city Paneas. Darkness Covers the Whole Earth When Jesus was Crucified And when he had been crucified, there was darkness over the whole earth, the sun having been completely hidden, and the heaven appearing dark though it was day, so that the stars appeared, but had at the same time their brightness darkened, The Moon Appears as Blood And the moon, being like blood, did not shine the whole night, and yet she happened to be at the full. The Stars and Orion Lament about the Jews And the stars also, and Orion, made a lament about the Jews, on account of the wickedness that had been done by them. The Heavens Light Up At Night And on the first of the week, about the third hour of the night, the sun was seen such as it had never at any time shone, and all the heaven was lighted up. Majestic Men Appear In the Air Along With Angels And as lightnings come on in winter, so majestic men of indescribable splendour of dress and of glory appeared in the air, and an innumerable multitude of angels crying out, and saying: Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace, among men goodwill: come up out of Hades, ye who have been kept in slavery in the underground regions of Hades. Mountains and Hills Shaken and Great Chasms Open Up And at their voice all the mountains and hills were shaken, and the rocks were burst asunder; and great chasms were made in the earth, so that also what was in the abyss appeared. Dead Men Are Raised Up And there were seen in that terror dead men raised up, as the Jews that saw them said: We have seen Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, that died two thousand five hundred years ago; and we have seen Noah manifestly in the body. The Dead Walk About Singing Praises to God And all the multitude walked about, and sang praises to God with a loud voice, saying: The Lord our God that has risen from the dead has brought to life all the dead, and has plundered Hades, and put him to death. ( Matthew 27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.) All Night the Light Did Not Cease All that night therefore, my lord, O king, the light ceased not. Many Jews Who Spoke Against Jesus Died And many of the Jews died, and were engulphed and swallowed up in the chasms in that night, so that not even their bodies appeared. Those, I say, of the Jews suffered that had spoken against Jesus. Synagogues That Were Against Jesus Destroyed And one synagogue was left in Jerusalem, since all those synagogues that had been against Jesus were engulphed. Letter of Pilate To Herod The following letter written by Pilate the Governor of Judea is in response to the letter written by Herod in which Herod describes all the ills that have befallen him and his household since the crucifixion of Christ. Pilate speaks of the many supernatural occurrences he himself had confirmed concerning the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus. Pilate Speaks Of The Resurrection Of Christ 1. Know and see, that in the day when you delivered Jesus to me, I took pity on myself and testified by washing my hands that I was innocent concerning him who rose from the grave after three days, and had performed your pleasure in him, for you wanted me to be associated with you in his crucifixion. 2. But I now learn from the executioners and from the soldiers who watched his sepulchre that he rose from the dead. And I have especially confirmed what was told me: that he appeared bodily in Galilee, in the same form, and with the same voice, and with the same doctrine, and with the same disciples, not having changed in anything, but preaching with boldness his resurrection and an everlasting kingdom.
Procla, The Wife of Pilate, Has Visions And Goes To See Christ For Herself 3. And behold, heaven and earth rejoice; and behold, Procla my wife is believing in the visions which appeared unto her when you sent that I should deliver Jesus to the people of Israel, because of the ill-will they had. 4 . Now when Procla, my wife, heard that Jesus was risen and had appeared in Galilee, she took with her Longinus the centurion and twelve soldiers, the same who had watched at the sepulchre, and went to greet the face of Christ, as if to a great spectacle, and saw him with his disciples. Jesus Speaks to Procla 5. Now while they were standing and wondering, and gazing at him, he looked at them and said to them, What is it? Do you believe in me? Procla, know that in the covenant God gave to the fathers, it is said that everybody who had perished should live by means of my death, which you have seen. And now you see that I live, whom you crucified. And I suffered many things, till I was laid in the sepulchre. But now, hear me and believe in my Father -- God who is in me. For I loosed the cords of death and broke the gates of Hades, and my coming shall be in the future. Herod Hears A Great Voice From Heaven And A Dreadful Thunder. The Earth Trembles 8. And when we drew near to him, O Herod, a great voice was heard from heaven, and dreadful thunder, and the earth trembled and gave forth a sweet smell, like to which was never perceived even in the temple of Jerusalem. The Post-Resurrection Body Of Jesus Bore The Scars Of The Crucifixion 12. Now our Lord drew near and raised up me and my wife, and the Romans. I looked at him and saw there were on him the scars of his cross. Jesus Is Glorified On High By All He Created 13 . And he said, That which all the righteous fathers hoped to receive, and saw not -- in your time the Lord of Time, the Son of Man, the Son of the Most High, who is forever, arose from the dead and is glorified on high by all that he created, and established for ever and ever. Letter of Herod To Pilate The Governor The letters of Herod and Pilate definitely connect the death of Christ to Roman History. Three of these letters can be found in the British Museum in a Syriac MS written in the sixth or seventh century. The letter of Herod to Pilate The Governor gives us a detailed overview of what befell Herod after the crucifixion of Christ. The following excerpts from the letter show how the divine judgments of a supernatural God are carried out. The Death Of Herod's Daughter 1. I am in great anxiety. I write these things to you, that when you have heard them you may be grieved for me. For as my daughter Herodias, who is dear to me, was playing upon a pool of water that had ice upon it, it broke under her and all her body went down, and her head was cut off and remained on the surface of the ice. And behold, her mother is holding her head upon her knees in her lap, and my whole house is in great sorrow. Herod Speaks Of The Evil Done To John The Baptist 3 . And it is certain that because of the many evil things which were done by me to John the Baptist, and because I mocked the Christ, behold I receive the reward of unrighteousness, for I have shed much blood of others' children upon the earth. Herod's Son Dies 4. My son Azbonius also is in the agony of the hour of death. Herod Himself if Afflicted To The Point Of Death 5. And I too am in affliction and great trial, because I have the dropsy and am in great distress, because I persecuted the introducer of baptism by water, which was John. Therefore, my brother, the judgments of God are righteous. 12. I send you the earrings of my daughter and my own ring, that they may be for you a memorial of my decease. For already do worms begin to issue from my body, and lo, I am receiving temporal judgment, and I am afraid of the judgment to come. Herod's Wife Is Blinded 6 . And my wife, again, through all her grief for her daughter, is become blind in her left eye, because we desired to blind the Eye of righteousness. Afflictions On Priest And Writers Of The Law 7 . There is no peace to the doers of evil, says the Lord. For already great affliction comes upon the priests and upon the writers of the law because they delivered unto you the Just One. The Death Of Pilate, Who Condemned Jesus In this account of the death of Pilate, it is related that Tiberius Caesar, being very ill and not knowing that Jesus had been put to death, sends an attendant to Pilate to tell him to send the physician, Jesus, to him as quickly as possible. When Caesar hears of the crucifixion of Christ, he commands Pilate be brought to him and Pilate is condemned to death. The supernatural incidences at the death of Pilate are related here. A Canvas That Heals 8 . Veronica said to him, When my Lord went about preaching, and I was very unwillingly deprived of his presence, at least the figure of his likeness might give me consolation. 9. And when I was taking the canvas to the painter to be painted,
my Lord met me and asked where I was going. And when I had made known to him the cause of my journey, he asked me for the canvas, and gave it back to me printed with the likeness of his venerable face. 10. Therefore, if your lord will devoutly look upon the sight of this, he will immediately enjoy the benefit of health. The Likeness Of Jesus Heals Caesar 13 . So Volusianus came with Veronica to Rome, and said to Tiberius the emperor, Jesus, whom you have long desired, Pilate and the Jews have surrendered to an unjust death, and through envy fastened to the wood of the cross. 14 . Therefore, a certain matron has come with me bringing the likeness of the same Jesus, and if you will devoutly gaze upon it, you will presently obtain the benefit of your health. 15 . So Caesar caused the way to be spread with cloths of silk, and ordered the portrait to be presented to him; and as soon as he had looked upon it, he regained his original health. Jesus' Coat Soothes The Wrath Of Caesar 17 . Now Pilate brought with him the seamless coat of Jesus, and wore it when before the emperor. 18 . As soon as the emperor saw him he laid aside all his wrath and rose to him, and was unable to speak harshly to him in anything, for he who in his absence seemed so terrible and fierce now in his presence was found comparatively gentle. 19 . And when he had dismissed him, he soon became terribly inflamed against him, declaring himself wretched because he had not expressed to him the anger of his bosom. 20 . And immediately he had him recalled, swearing and protesting that he was a child of death and unfit to live upon earth. But when he saw him he instantly greeted him, and laid aside all the fury of his mind. 21 . All were astonished, and he was astonished himself that he was so enraged against Pilate while absent but could say nothing sharply to him while he was present. Caesar Has The Coat Of Jesus Stripped From Pilate 22 . At length, by divine suggestion, or perhaps by the persuasion of some Christian, he had him stripped of the coat, and soon resumed against him his original fury of mind. And when the emperor was wondering very much about this, they told him it had been the coat of the Lord Jesus. Then the emperor commanded him to be kept in prison till he should take counsel with the wise men what ought to be done with him. Pilate's Body Is Sunk In The River, Wicked Spirits Cause A Great Tempest 26 . He was therefore fastened to a great block of stone and sunk in the river Tiber. But wicked and unclean spirits, rejoicing in his wicked and unclean body, all moved about in the water, and caused in the air dreadful lightning and tempests, thunder and hail, so that all were seized with horrible fear. 27 . On which account the Romans dragged him out of the river Tiber, bore him away in derision to Vienne, and sunk him in the river Rhone. For Vienne means, as it
A Hebrew apocryphal book. It was originally written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew and hence was not included in the canon of the Hebrew Bible or in the Christian Old Testament. It was included in the collection of other materials generally called pseudepigrapha (various pseudonymous or anonymous Jewish religious writings of the period 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.). The original version was lost about the end of the fourth century, and only fragments remained, but James Bruce, the Scottish explorer, brought back a copy in Ethiopian from Abyssinia in 1773, which was probably made from the version known to the early Greek fathers. In this work the spiritual world is minutely described, as is the region of Sheol, the place of the wicked. The book also deals with the history of the fallen angels, their relations with the human species, and the foundations of magic. The book says that: "There were angels who consented to fall from heaven that they might have intercourse with the daughters of Earth. For in those days the sons of men having multiplied, there were born to them daughters of great beauty. And when the angels, or sons of heaven, beheld them, they were filled with desire; wherefore they said to one another: 'Come let us choose wives from among the race of man, and let us beget children.' "Their leader Samyasa, answered thereupon and said: 'Per-chance you will be wanting in the courage needed to fulfil this resolution, and then I alone shall be answerable for your fall.' But they swore that they would in no wise repent and that they would achieve their whole design. "Now there were two hundred who descended on Mount Armon, and it was from this time that the mountain received its designation, which signifies Mount of the Oath. Hereinafter follow the names of those angelic leaders who descended with this object: Samyasa, chief among all, Urakabarameel, Azibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Azkeel, Sarakuyal, Asael, Armers, Batraal, Anane, Zavebe, Sameveel, Ertrael, Turel, Jomiael, Arizial. They took wives with whom they had intercourse, to whom also they taught Magic, the art of enchantment and the diverse properties of roots and trees. Amazarac gave instruction in all secrets of sorcerers; Barkaial was the master of those who study the stars; Akibeel manifested signs; and Azaradel taught the motions of the moon." In this account, which harkens back to several biblical passages (Genesis 6:4; Isaiah 14:12), there is a description of the profanation of mysteries. The fallen angels exposed their occult and heaven-born wisdom to earthly women, whereby it was profaned, and brute force, taking advantage of the profanation of divine law, reigned supreme. Only a deluge could wipe out the stain of the enormity and pave the way for a restitution of the balance between the human and the divine, which had been disturbed by these unlawful revelations. According to tradition, Enoch did not die, but was carried up to heaven (Genesis 5:18-24), from where he will return at the end of time. He has also been identified with Thoth of the Egyptians, Cadulus of the Phoenicians, and Palamedes of the Greeks. According to some occultists, he inspired the Kabala and the symbols of the tarot. The Book of Enoch is one of the most important works of the pseudepigrapha and is actually a set of books. The first book of Enoch was known from a surviving Ethiopian translation, parts of which were found in the caves of Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1892, however, R. H. Charles found a second manuscript of the Book of Enoch, which existed in a Slavonic text. Upon seeing the book, he also discovered that it was an entirely different Book of Enoch, and he soon translated and published it. Finally, a third Book of Enoch, which has circulated among the Babylonian Jews, was discovered and published in 1928 by Hugo Odeburg.
Enoch was a figure of great interest in the period of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in part because of the mysterious way the Bible refers to him in Genesis 5:24; ‘Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him’. Apparently, therefore, Enoch did not die, and was taken alive into heaven. A ‘substantial literature grew up around this figure, of which part was gathered into the book known as First (or, Ethiopic) Enoch. The Book of Giants was another literary work concerned with Enoch, widely read (after Translation into the appropriate languages) in the Roman empire. Among the Qumran texts are at least six, and perhaps as many as eleven, copies of the Book of Giants. The following portion seems to belong to the Book of Giants. The ‘giants’ were believed to be the offspring of fallen angels (the Nephilim; also called Watchers) and human women. The story of the giants derives from Genesis 6. Book of Giants From The Dead Sea Scrolls 1Q23 Frag. 9 + 14 + 15 2[ . . . ] they knew the secrets of [ . . . ] 3[ . . . si]n was great in the earth [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] and they killed manY [ . . ] 5[ . . . they begat] giants [ . . . ] The angels exploit the fruifulness of the earth. 4Q531 Frag. 3 2[ . . . everything that the] earth produced [ . . . ] [ . . . ] the great fish [ . . . ] 14[ . . . ] the sky with all that grew [ . . . ] 15[ . . . fruit of] the earth and all kinds of grain and al1 the trees [ . . . ] 16[ . . . ] beasts and reptiles . . . [al]l creeping things of the earth and they observed all [ . . . ] |8[ . . . eve]ry harsh deed and [ . . . ] utterance [ . . . ] l9[ . . . ] male and female, and among humans [ . . . ] The two hundred angels choose animals on which to perform unnatural acts, including, presumably, humans. 1Q23 Frag. 1 + 6 [ . . . two hundred] 2donkeys, two hundred asses, two hundred . . . rams of the] 3flock, two hundred goats, two hundred [ . . . beast of the] 4field from every animal, from every [bird . . . ] 5[ . . . ] for miscegenation [ . . . ] The outcome of the demonic corruption was violence, perversion, and a brood of monstrous beings. Compare Genesis 6:4. 4Q531 Frag. 2 [ . . . ] they defiled [ . . . ] 2[ . . . they begot] giants and monsters [ . . . ] 3[ . . . ] they begot, and, behold, all [the earth was corrupted . . . ] 4[ . . . ] with its blood and by the hand of [ . . . ] 5[giant's] which did not suffice for them and [ . . . ] 6[ . . . ] and they were seeking to devour many [ . . . ] 7[ . . . ] 8[ . . . ] the monsters attacked it. 4Q532 Col. 2 Frags. 1 - 6 2[ . . . ] flesh [ . . . ] 3al[l . . . ] monsters [ . . . ] will be [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] they would arise [ . . . ] lacking in true knowledge [ . . . ] because [ . . . ] 5[ . . . ] the earth [grew corrupt . . . ] mighty [ . . . ] 6[ . . . ] they were considering [ . . . ] 7[ . . . ] from the angels upon [ . . . ] 8[ . . . ] in the end it will perish and die [ . . . ] 9[ . . . ] they caused great corruption in the [earth . . . ] [ . . . this did not] suffice to [ . . . ] "they will be [ . . . ] The giants begin to be troubled by a series of dreams and visions. Mahway, the titan son of the angel Barakel, reports the first of these dreams to his fellow giants. He sees a tablet being immersed in water. When it emerges, all but three names have been washed away. The dream evidently symbolizes the destruction of all but Noah and his sons by the Flood. 2Q26 [ . . . ] they drenched the tablet in the wa[ter . . . ] 2[ . . . ] the waters went up over the [tablet . . . ] 3[ . . . ] they lifted out the tablet from the water of [ . . . ] The giant goes to the others and they discuss the dream. 4Q530 Frag.7 [ . . . this vision] is for cursing and sorrow. I am the one who confessed 2[ . . . ] the whole group of the castaways that I shall go to [ . . . ] 3[ . . . the spirits of the sl]ain complaining about their killers and crying out 4[ . . . ] that we shall die together and be made an end of [ . . . ] much and I will be sleeping, and bread 6[ . . . ] for my dwelling; the vision and also [ . . . ] entered into the gathering of the giants 8[ . . . ] 6Q8 [ . . . ] Ohya and he said to Mahway [ . . . ] 2[ . . . ] without trembling. Who showed you all this vision, [my] brother? 3[ . . . ] Barakel, my father, was with me. 4[ . . . ] Before Mahway had finished telling what [he had seen . . . ] 5[ . . . said] to him, Now I have heard wonders! If a barren woman gives birth [ . . . ] 4Q530 Frag. 4 3[There]upon Ohya said to Ha[hya . . . ] 4[ . . . to be destroyed] from upon the earth and [ . . . ] 5[ . . . the ea]rth. When 6[ . . . ] they wept before [the giants . . . ] 4Q530 Frag. 7 3[ . . . ] your strength [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] 5Thereupon Ohya [said] to Hahya [ . . . ] Then he answered, It is not for 6us, but for Azaiel, for he did [ . . . the children of] angels 7are the giants, and they would not let all their poved ones] be neglected [. . . we have] not been cast down; you have strength [ . . . ] The giants realize the futility of fighting against the forces of heaven. The first speaker may be Gilgamesh. 4Q531 Frag. 1 3[ . . . I am a] giant, and by the mighty strength of my arm and my own great strength 4[ . . . any]one mortal, and I have made war against them; but I am not [ . . . ] able to stand against them, for my opponents 6[ . . . ] reside in [Heav]en, and they dwell in the holy places. And not 7[ . . . they] are stronger than I. 8[ . . . ] of the wild beast has come, and the wild man they call [me]. 9[ . . . ] Then Ohya said to him, I have been forced to have a dream [ . . . ] the sleep of my eyes [vanished], to let me see a vision. Now I know that on [ . . . ] 11-12[ . . . ] Gilgamesh [ . . . ] Ohya's dream vision is of a tree that is uprooted except for three of its roots; the vision's import is the same as that of the first dream. 6Q8 Frag. 2 1three of its roots [ . . . ] [while] I was [watching,] there came [ . . . they moved the roots into] 3this garden, all of them, and not [ . . . ] Ohya tries to avoid the implications of the visions. Above he stated that it referred only to the demon Azazel; here he suggests that the destruction isfor the earthly rulers alone. 4Q530 Col. 2 1concerns the death of our souls [ . . . ] and all his comrades, [and Oh]ya told them what Gilgamesh said to him 2[ . . . ] and it was said [ . . . ] "concerning [ . . . ] the leader has cursed the potentates" 3and the giants were glad at his words. Then he turned and left [ . . . ] More dreams afflict the giants. The details of this vision are obscure, but it bodes ill for the giants. The dreamers speak first to the monsters, then to the giants. Thereupon two of them had dreams 4and the sleep of their eye, fled from them, and they arose and came to [ . . . and told] their dreams, and said in the assembly of [their comrades] the monsters 6[ . . . In] my dream I was watching this very night 7[and there was a garden . . . ] gardeners and they were watering 8[ . . . two hundred trees and] large shoots came out of their root 9[ . . . ] all the water, and the fire burned all 10[the garden . . . ] They found the giants to tell them 11[the dream . . . ] Someone suggests that Enoch be found to interpret the vision. [ . . . to Enoch] the noted scribe, and he will interpret for us 12the dream. Thereupon his fellow Ohya declared and said to the giants, 13I too had a dream this night, O giants, and, behold, the Ruler of Heaven came down to earth 14[ . . . ] and such is the end of the dream. [Thereupon] all th e giants [and monsters! grew afraid 15and called Mahway. He came to them and the giants pleaded with him and sent him to Enoch 16[the noted scribe]. They said to him, Go [ . . . ] to you that 17[ . . . ] you have heard his voice. And he said to him, He wil1 [ . . . and] interpret the dreams [ . . . ] Col. 3 3[ . . . ] how long the giants have to live. [ . . . ] After a cosmic journey Mahway comes to Enoch and makes his request. [ . . . he mounted up in the air] 41ike strong winds, and flew with his hands like ea[gles . . . he left behind] 5the inhabited world and passed over Desolation, the great desert [ . . . ] 6and Enoch saw him and hailed him, and Mahway said to him [ . . . ] 7hither and thither a second time to Mahway [ . . . The giants awaig 8your words, and all the monsters of the earth. If [ . . . ] has been carried [ . . . ] 9from the days of [ . . . ] their [ . . . ] and they will be added [ . . . ] 10[ . . . ] we would know from you their meaning [ . . . ] 11[ . . . two hundred tr]ees that from heaven [came down . . . ] Enoch sends back a tablet with its grim message of judgment, but with hope for repentance. 4Q530 Frag. 2 The scribe [Enoch . . . ] 2[ . . . ] 3a copy of the second tablet that [Epoch] se[nt . . . ] 4in the very handwriting of Enoch the noted scribe [ . . . In the name of God the great] 5and holy one, to Shemihaza and all [his companions . . . ] 61et it be known to you that not [ . . . ] 7and the things you have done, and that your wives [ . . . ] 8they and their sons and the wives of [their sons . . . ] 9by your licentiousness on the earth, and there has been upon you [ . . . and the land is crying out] 10and complaining about you and the deeds of your children [ . . . ] 11the harm that you have done to it. [ . . . ] 12until Raphael arrives, behold, destruction [is coming, a great flood, and it will destroy all living things] 13and whatever is in the deserts and the seas. And the meaning of the matter [ . . . ] 14upon you for evil. But now, loosen the bonds bi[nding you to evil . . . ] l5and pray. A fragment apparently detailing a vision that Enoch saw. 4Q531 Frag. 7 3[ . . . great fear] seized me and I fell on my face; I heard his voice [ . . . ] 4[ . . . ] he dwelt among human beings but he did not learn from them [ . . . ]
But the Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. Exodus 32:33
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