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Deuterocanonical books (the Apocrypha)
written c. 200 BC – AD 50; scripture for Catholics and Orthodox· Book of the Bible· Books & writings
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Jewish books from about 200 BC to AD 50, kept in the Greek Bible, that Catholics and Orthodox count as scripture and Protestants do not.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
Catholic Bibles include seven: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach and Baruch, plus Greek additions to Esther and Daniel. Orthodox Bibles add more, such as 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees and Psalm 151. Catholics call them 'deuterocanonical' ('second canon'); Protestants say 'Apocrypha' ('hidden'). Jerome doubted them around AD 400. Luther printed them in a separate section, 'useful and good to read' but not scripture; the Council of Trent affirmed them in 1546.
Why it matters
They fill the gap between the Old and New Testaments and support some Catholic teachings, such as prayer for the dead (2 Maccabees 12:43–46), making them a Reformation flashpoint.
Sources and history
Hebrew and Aramaic fragments of Sirach and Tobit were found at Qumran and Masada. They appear in the great 4th and 5th-century Greek codices, and the 1611 King James Bible originally printed them.
Questions and debates
Whether Jews in Jesus' day treated any of them as scripture, and why they were left out of the Hebrew canon, is debated.
Connections (3)
▸Septuagint: the Greek Old Testament included the extra books called Deuterocanonical books (the Apocrypha)Historical record
The connection
The Greek Bible, as Christians preserved it, included books not in the Hebrew canon: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Maccabees and additions to Esther and Daniel. Because the early church read the Old Testament in Greek, these books entered Christian Bibles; Catholic and Orthodox churches still accept them.
When and where
Greek-speaking Judaism, c. 200 BC to AD 50; collected in Christian codices of the 4th and 5th centuries, such as Codex Sinaiticus.
Historical evidence
The great codices Vaticanus, Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus include them, but their lists vary, showing the boundaries were still loose.
Questions and debates
Whether a pre-Christian Jewish 'Alexandrian canon' with these books ever existed, or Christians assembled the collection later, is debated.
▸Deuterocanonical books (the Apocrypha) tell, in 1–2 Maccabees, the story of Maccabean revolt and HanukkahHistorical record
The connection
1 Maccabees gives a sober history of the revolt and its aftermath from 175 to 134 BC, from Antiochus IV's decrees to the death of Simon. 2 Maccabees, condensed from a five-volume work by Jason of Cyrene, retells the early years with stories of martyrs, such as a mother and her seven sons (2 Maccabees 7).
When and where
1 Maccabees was written in Hebrew in Judea around 100 BC and survives in Greek; 2 Maccabees was written in Greek in the late 2nd century BC.
Historical evidence
Their accounts match Greek historians such as Polybius on Seleucid politics, and Seleucid coins and Babylonian records confirm many events.
Questions and debates
Why the Hebrew original of 1 Maccabees was lost, and why Judaism left these books out of its Bible despite honoring Hanukkah, is debated.
▸Deuterocanonical books (the Apocrypha) were set apart between the Testaments in Luther's German BibleHistorical record
The connection
Luther accepted only the books of the Hebrew Bible as Old Testament scripture. In his 1534 Bible he gathered Judith, Wisdom, Tobit, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees and others into a separate section, 'books not held equal to Holy Scripture, yet useful and good to read'. Later Protestant Bibles followed, and many eventually dropped them.
When and where
Wittenberg, 1534; the Council of Trent answered in April 1546 by affirming them as full scripture.
Historical evidence
The 1534 Bible's section heading and Luther's prefaces survive, and the arrangement is visible in surviving copies.
Questions and debates
Some early church fathers, including Jerome, also ranked these books below the Hebrew ones, so Catholics and Protestants can both cite precedent.