The Apocrypha is a term or description that has been given to a group of fourteen books that was written from about the second century before Christ to about the second century after Christ. The name or term “Apocrypha” which means “hidden,” was given to this group of books by Jerome who translated the original scriptures into Latin about 404 AD. By assigning this term to these books, Jerome was classifying them as being non-canonical, meaning that they should not be used as a source for Christian doctrine, but as supplementary reading of an uplifting or inspirational nature.
Even though there were many writings and books that were classified as Apocrypha, we will only address the fourteen that have been a part of the Bible since before the time of Christ.
Those books are:
1. I Esdras
2. II Esdras
3. Tobit
4. Judith
5. The additions to Esther
6. The Wisdom of Solomon
7. Ecclesiasticus
8. Baruch
9. Susanna
10. The Song of the Three Children
11. Bel and the Dragon
12. The Prayer of Manasseh
13. I Maccabees
14. II Maccabees
These fourteen books formed a part of almost every Bible that has been translated into different languages down through the years. It was found in the Matthew Bible of 1537, the Taverner Bible of 1539, the Great Bible of 1539, the Geneva Bible of 1560 that was produced by the Puritans, the Bishop’s Bible of 1568, the Catholic Bible of 1610, and the Authorized King James Version of 1611. Virtually all of the renowned Bible scholars including Jerome, Wyclif, Martin Luther and Coverdale, realizing the value of these books, included them in the translations they produced.
Yes, you read right in the preceding paragraph, the original Authorized King James Version of the Bible contained these books called the Apocrypha and being a part of that translation, were placed in between the Old and New Testaments.
Were the books, called the Apocrypha, important to the early church leaders? Yes, indeed they were. Why else would the translators of the Authorized King James Version have assigned seven of the forty-seven men assigned to translate the whole Bible, to those books called the Apocrypha? These seven men worked on the translation of the Apocrypha for three to four years to include it in the Authorized King James Version.
Not only did the original Authorized King James version contain the books called the Apocrypha, but so did the English revision of the King James Bible that was published at the end of the nineteenth century.
If the original Authorized King James Version of the Bible contained those books called the Apocrypha, and it did, then why are these books missing from the present publications? If today’s publication of the King James Bible does not contain the books called the Apocrypha is it accurate to publish them as the King James Version or is it a deception?
George Abbot, who was one of the men selected to produce the King James translation, believed that it was important enough for the Apocrypha to be a part of the Bible, that, when he became the Archbishop of Canterbury, made it against the law for anyone to publish a Bible without it containing the books of the Apocrypha—punishment being one year in prison.
THE ROLE OF THE PURITANS
IN FUTURE
BIBLE PUBLICATIONS
The group of people known as the Puritans, who were responsible for the production of the Geneva Bible in 1560, began to take a stand against the books of the Apocrypha being a part of their Bible about the year of 1599. They felt that the writings in the Apocrypha were too sensational in character and on so low a moral and religious level, that they should be excluded from their Bibles.
Then later on, because of the strong Puritan influence in the growing denominational movement, the British and American Bible societies declined to authorize the funds to continue to publish the Apocrypha in future copies of the Authorized King James Bible—even though, to this day, the Apocrypha is still a part of many other versions of the Bible. But since the year of 1827, it began to disappear from newer published versions of the King James Bible.
The Puritans were a group of people who fled from Europe and came to the new world to escape religious persecution. They were a very pious people who were very strict in their religious beliefs and extremely judgmental towards the members of their church. Unless a person was a member of their church, they were prevented from living in their community and a person could not be a member of their church unless they proved they had experienced a real spiritual encounter with God.
There was absolutely no liberality with the Puritans as far as their understanding of the Bible was concerned. They lived their religion in a very conservative manner and insisted that every member of their congregation lined up with their interpretation of the scriptural way of life, as they saw it.
The Puritans, like so many other groups, fled their homeland to pursue a freedom to practice their own religious beliefs. In doing this they imposed upon the members of their church, many of the same kinds of harsh rules that were common in their former churches. This caused their new way of life to be more burdensome than their previous one
Because of the strict standards they imposed upon their congregation, the congregation grew smaller. To offset this, they began to compromise and offer limited membership to those they called “halfway” or “almost” Christians, allowing them to live in their community and become a member of their congregation with certain restrictions. In doing this, they were able to extract those community taxes from the new members needed to support their church-run government.
As to why the Puritans were so determined to have the books of the Apocrypha removed from the Bible, one can only speculate. It could be that because the religion of the Puritans was so unemotional with a type of preaching nonconductive to revivals and conversion that they were removed. Or coupled with their long standing efforts to purify the churches of all teaching and practices which they determined were unacceptable, that the books of the Apocrypha became just another target for them to fight against.
Some church leaders today might contend that it was God’s will for these books to be removed from the Bible and that He just used the influence of the Puritans to accomplish His will. But I firmly believe that it was God’s influence that caused the Authorized King James Version of the Bible to be developed, and since the books of the Apocrypha were originally a part of this work, it was God’s will to include them in the Bible.
Even the translators of the King James Version of the Bible spoke of the attempts of the Puritans to influence the content of the Bible by the changing of some words that they preferred to use as well as efforts on the part of the Church of Rome to water down those words that spoke of their dark history. But the translators were more desirous that the scripture should speak like it was meant to; in the language and meaning of the land where it was originally written; in and around Canaan .
AN OVERVIEW OF THE BOOKS
OF THE APOCRYPHA
I Esdras
The book of First Esdras covers the same events that are covered in the last few chapters of Second Kings and Second Chronicles, the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah. These events cover the period of time from the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the King of Judah, through the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the seventy years of Israel ’s exile in the city of Babylon
Esdras is the same person as Ezra of the book bearing his name in the Old Testament. The genealogy that he gives in chapter eight of First Esdras and chapter one of second Esdras, compared to chapter seven of the book of Ezra is the same, disregarding some minor changes in the names given.
2 Esdras
This book begins describing exactly who Esdras was. This Esdras was a prophet and according to his genealogy was the same man as Ezra of the Old Testament. Described in this book are seven visions that Esdras had, which somewhat parallel some of Daniel’s visions, and the interpretations of those visions as revealed to Esdras by an archangel named Uriel. These visions came to Esdras in the thirtieth year of their exile in Babylon
In this book, several of the Old Testament prophets are mentioned, as well as some other statements that appear in the Old and New Testament scriptures.
Tobit
The book of Tobit, who was of the tribe of Naphtali, the second son of Jacob, is primarily written about his son Tobias. Tobit begins the book telling about being carried away captive by the Assyrians to the city of Nineveh Israel
The last verse in Tobit tells of the destruction of Nineveh Nineveh
Judith
The book of Judith tells of an Assyrian king who was determined to conquer all the other nations around him. But when he sent his army out under the command of his chief captain Holofernes, the captain was deceived and slain by a widow named Judith, who lived in a city named Bethulia. Judith was the daughter of Merari, who descended from the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob.
Esther
This book is listed as the continuation of the book of Esther, which is in the Old Testament. It begins with the fourth verse of the tenth chapter, where the Old Testament book of Esther ends.
Wisdom of Solomon
The writings of this book appear to have been written by Solomon as is indicated by the statement in chapter nine, verse seven and contains words of wisdom which parallels other writings of Solomon.
Ecclesiasticus
This book was the result of the efforts of three generations of one family. It was started by the grandfather named Jesus, passed down to his son named Sirach, then to his grandson, also named Jesus. This book contains statements of wisdom, similar to those of Solomon, and states that wisdom is a gift from the Lord.
Baruch
This book appears to have been written in the first few years after Nebuchadnezzar had carried the Israelites away to Babylon
The Song of the Three Children
This book is written about three of the young children that Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon
Susanna
This book tells the story of a woman named Susanna, who was in Babylon after the carrying away of the people from Jerusalem
Bel and the Dragon
The prophet Daniel, while he was living in Babylon
The Prayer of Manasseh
This book relates a prayer of Manasseh, who was a king of Judah
I Maccabees
This book relates the history of the Jewish nation between the end of the reign of Alexander the Great and the rule of the Roman Empire . It tells the story of the family of Maccabees and how they assumed a leadership role to prevent surrounding nations from conquering the Jewish nation.
II Maccabees
This book appears to be a letter that was written to the Jews living in Egypt , being sent to them from the Jews who were living in the land of Judaea
The theme of the summary of these books of the Apocrypha relates to the history of the Israelites prior to the time of Christ and words of wisdom that the writers believe is the result of God’s gift to them. Of these fourteen books, twelve address history and two address words of wisdom.
Many theologians view some of these books as legend, fiction or unhistorical narratives. These books, even though they appeared in the Septuagint and in the Latin Bibles, were not a part of the canon of the Hebrew Old Testament writings. But in defense of the value and importance of the Septuagint, it was the Bible used by those Jews who had been carried away from their homeland and was the Bible for all the first generation Christians, including those who wrote various books of the New Testament.
Since these books of the Apocrypha relate to pre-Christian times, they do not address themselves to what could be used as doctrine for the New Covenant church, but when used for historical reading and/or conditioning of one’s lifestyle, there is an apparent value.
As to specifically why the Puritans were against the inclusion of the books of the Apocrypha in their Bibles, this information could not be determined. But if these writings were of value to pre-Christian Jews, the first generation Christians and most of the men who translated the original scriptures into other languages, then they without a doubt should be valuable to modern day Christians as well.
If we believe that the Lord inspired the Authorized King James translation of the Bible, and we believe He did, then we should value the inclusion of the books of the Apocrypha in our Bibles, just as it was in the original King James translation.
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