Apocrypha (əpŏk`rĭfə) [Gr.,=hidden things], term signifying a collection of early Jewish writings excluded from the canon of the Hebrew scriptures. It is not clear why the term was chosen. The Apocrypha include the following books and parts of books: First and Second Esdras Esdras (ĕz`drəs) [Gr. from Heb. Ezra ], name of several books found in the Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha .
..... Click the link for more information. ; Tobit Tobit (tō`bĭt) [Gr. from Heb.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Judith Judith [Heb.,=Jewess], early Jewish book included in the Septuagint, but not included in the Hebrew Bible, and placed in the Apocrypha of Protestant Bibles. It recounts an attack on the Jews by an army led by Holofernes, Nebuchadnezzar's general.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Additions to Esther; 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.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Sirach Sirach (sī`rək) or Ecclesiasticus
..... Click the link for more information. (also called Ecclesiasticus); Baruch 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.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Letter of Jeremiah (in Baruch); parts of Daniel (the Prayer of Azariah 1 Chief officer under Solomon.

2 Chief officer under Solomon.

3 Father of Seraiah (2.)

4 Prophet who stirred King Asa to reform.

5 King of Judah: see Uzziah (1.)

6 Same as Ahaziah (2.
..... Click the link for more information. and the Song of the Three Young Men Three Young Men, in the Book of Daniel , the three men cast by Nebuchadnezzar into the fiery furnace and delivered by an angel. Their names are Abed-nego, Shadrach, and Meshach, in Babylonian; Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael, in Hebrew; and Azarias, Ananias, and
..... Click the link for more information. ; see also Bel and the Dragon Bel and the Dragon, customary name for chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel, a passage included in the Septuagint and the Apocrypha . It was written possibly in the 1st cent. B.C. as a response to Gentile threat to the Jewish culture and state.
..... Click the link for more information. and Susanna Susanna.

1 Heroine of a story told in the Book of Daniel, in a chapter (13) placed in the Apocrypha in the Authorized Version (see Daniel ). Two elders attempt to seduce Susanna and are repulsed; they accuse her of illicit relations with a young man,
..... Click the link for more information. (1)); First and Second Maccabees Maccabees, two books included in the Septuagint and placed as the last two books in the Old Testament of the Vulgate; they are not included in the Hebrew Bible and are placed in the Apocrypha in Protestant Bibles.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Prayer of Manasses (see Manasseh 1 First son of Joseph by his Egyptian wife, Asenath, and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Manasseh received land on both sides of the Jordan River. In Palestine his tribe occupied the land just S of the Vale of Jezreel; on the other side, Manasseh received land
..... Click the link for more information. ). All are included in the Septuagint Septuagint (sĕp`ty

əjĭnt) [Lat.
..... Click the link for more information. , with the exception of 2 Esdras=4 Ezra. However, they were not included in the Hebrew canon (ratified c.A.D. 100). In 1566 the collection was deemed "deutero-canonical" by the Roman Catholic Church, meaning that their canonicity was recognized only after a period of time. Protestants follow Jewish tradition in regarding all these books as non-canonical. Jewish and Christian works resembling biblical books, but not included among the Apocrypha, are collected in the Pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (s

'dĭpĭ`grəfə) [Gr.
..... Click the link for more information. . The term Apocrypha is sometimes applied to early Christian writings that were once considered canonical by some but are not in the New Testament.

Bibliography

See The Oxford Annotated Apocrypha (1977); G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mishnah (1981).

Apocrypha

In biblical literature, works outside an accepted canon of scripture. In modern usage the Apocrypha refers to ancient Jewish books that are not part of the Hebrew Bible but are considered canonical in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Among the various books included are Tobit, Judith, Baruch, and the Maccabees as well as Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon. Protestant churches follow Jewish tradition in judging these works apocryphal or noncanonical. The term deuterocanonical is used to refer to works accepted in one canon but not all. Pseudepigrapha are spurious works for which biblical authorship is claimed.

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Bibliography

Apocrypha

Apocrypha
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