 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Apocrypha |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the third century BC, fifteen (or fourteen, depending on the version. Two books are sometimes combined into one) books now called the Apocrypha were part of the authorized text. They continued to be accepted by most scholars, with a few reservations, until the fourth century AD, when St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. He originally translated the entire Bible from Greek. Later, he became dissatisfied with this and learned Hebrew. He then used Hebrew texts to check the accuracy of his translation. When he was unable to find any Hebrew texts for these books of the Old testament, he called them "Apocrypha." No-one is quite sure what he meant by that, since the word literally means hidden from view or unknown. The Apocrypha have never been hidden, unknown or in anyway esoteric or unusual in meaning. The word "apocryphal" has come to mean, possibly or probably untrue. |
|
|
|
St. Jerome was a cantankerous sort anyway, so there's little doubt he meant the term to be disparaging. He recommended that they be excluded from the authoritative version of the Latin Bible. The Church did not listen to his views, and the Roman and Orthodox churches include them to this day. The Church of England includes the Apocrypha in regular readings as part of worship, but they are not to be used as a source of doctrine. |
|
|
|
After the Reformation, most Protestant churches rejected the Apocrypha. Calvinists and those churches descended form Calvinism rejected them completely. Lutherans regarded them more highly, but did not consider them on the same level of acceptability and authority as the rest of the Bible. While the original King James Version of the Bible included them, pressure was put on the distributors of Bibles to exclude them form volumes meant for wide distribution. Since the early 19th century, most Bibles in common use have not included them. |
|
|
|
As it happens, texts found at Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls and others) in the mid-twentieth century included versions of parts of the Apocrypha, in Hebrew and Aramaic. |
|
|
|
All of the Apocrypha were used as sources of imagery for artists in the Middle Ages. Several of the books, notably Tobit and Judith, contain very appealing stories that make for wonderful illustrations. The Wisdom of Solomon, or Sirach, also contains some wonderful imagery that an illustrator can make use of. Certainly the story of Judith and Holofernes was commonly represented in medieval and Renaissance art. |
|
|
|
The Books of the Apocrypha are 1, 2 and 3 Esdras, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Judith, additions to the Book of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, the Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. There are other works (3 and 4 Maccabees, and 4 Esdras) accepted by some authorities but not by others. |
|
|
|
There are apocryphal Gospels as well, meaning they are not accepted as part of the authorized texts of the New Testament. But the term Apocrypha, capitalized, refers to these 14 or 15 books of the Old Testament accepted in whole or in part by the Roman and Orthodox churches. |
|
|
|
Bible Main Page |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
History of the Bible |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bible Translations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liturgy and Lectionary |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Symbolism Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Olwen's Home Page |
|
|
|