In our Adult Sunday School class, we’ve started a short study on the Apocrypha. Here is the first lesson.
A Look into the Apocrypha (Deuterocanon, Anagignoskomena)
Lesson 1: Introduction
By Pr. Rich Futrell
Jan 2, 2011
Meaning
Apocrypha: “That which is hidden.” During 16th-century controversies about the biblical canon, the word acquired a negative connotation, and has become a synonym for “spurious” or “false.”
The Roman Catholic Church uses the term deuterocanonical books: canonical books of 2nd-tier rating. This designation goes all the way back to Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386).
Eastern Orthodox churches use the term Anagignoskomena: books worthy of being read. This designation goes back to Athanasius (295-373).
What is the Apocrypha?
The Apocryphal books were written from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC. The books hail from locations such as Israel, Alexandria (Egypt), and Antioch (Syria). Some were written originally in Greek, the common language (lingua franca) of the Mediterranean world from the 3rd-century into the New Testament era. Others were written in Hebrew and Aramaic and later translated into Greek.
The reason the Apocrypha is considered of value today is because it was included in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint (LXX), the primary Old Testament during Jesus’ day, the Apostles, and the early Church.
Today, only the Protestant versions of the Old Testament do not contain the Apocrypha. Besides the Roman Catholic Church, other churches that can also trace their lineage back to apostolic times also include the Apocrypha, such as the Eastern Orthodox churches and Coptic churches.
Some NT Uses of the Apocrypha
Contrary to Protestant myth, the New Testament is full of references to the Old Testament Apocryphal books. Like knowing the Old Testament, to understand the New Testament in its fullness also requires knowledge of the Apocrypha.
Jesus Calls a Book of the Apocrypha “Scripture”
In Matthew 22:23-28, the Sadducees tried to mock the resurrection of the body and the larger Old Testament that other Jews recognized. (Remember, the Sadducees only recognized the five books of Moses). So they used the story in Tobit about a woman being married seven times to mock the truthfulness of the resurrection and the larger Old Testament, which included the Apocrypha.
This is how Jesus answered the Sadducees: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
Jesus used Familiar Language Structures from the OT Apocrypha
Jesus used familiar language OT language from the Apocrypha. When Jesus adapted and made His own that which was familiar to 1st-century Jews, He invited hearers to see to see Him–not just as another rabbi–but as a true teacher of wisdom.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Sirach 51:23, 26-27
Draw near to me, you who are untaught, and lodge in the house of instruction…. Put your neck under the yoke and let your souls receive instruction; it is found close by. See with your eyes that I have labored little and found for myself much rest.
The Golden Rule: No Masoretic Text Reference
“The Law and the Prophets” was the shorthand way to refer to the Old Testament. Here, Jesus makes a statement that is nowhere found in the Protestant Old Testament (Masoretic Text). The only reference found is in the book of Tobit.
Matthew 7:12
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Luke 6:31
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Tobit 4:15
And what you hate, do not do to anyone.
Jewish Leaders Mock Jesus
Here, we see the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day use Wisdom of Solomon in an authoritative way. The Jewish leaders mocked Jesus, but by the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we see His resurrection as proof of His divine sonship.
In Matthew 27:43, Jesus is being taunted, not for merely being loved by God (Psalm 22:8-9) but specifically because “He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” This taunting by the Scribes and Pharisees clearly had its basis from the Apocrypha book of Wisdom of Solomon. Wisdom of Solomon expresses directly that the Son of God would be delivered from mockers and detractors.
Matthew 27:41-43
So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel; let him come down now from the cross and save himself, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the son of God.’”
Wisdom 2:17-22
Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son. He will help him and deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
Jesus celebrated a Jewish religious festival of the Feast of Dedication (for Jews today it has morphed into Chanukah)
Backdrop: Antiochus IV, the Syrian ruler over Israel, turned the Temple into a shrine for Zeus (1 Maccabees 1:41-61, 2 Maccabees 6:1-2). He insisted on being called “Epiphanes,” meaning that he was a manifestation of the divine. The Jews saw this as being blasphemous and attempting to be “equal to God” (2 Maccabees 9:12, 28). Judas (Judah) Maccabee, a Jewish military leader, led a revolt to cleanse and rededicate the Temple in 164 BC (1 Maccabees 4:36-59, 2 Maccabees 10:1-8).
In John chapter 10, John shows Jesus as the fulfillment of all that was celebrated in the Jewish liturgical calendar, including the Feast of Dedication.
John 10:22
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.
1 Maccabees 4:59
The Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at the season the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed.
One can only understand all what Jesus is doing and fulfilling if one knows and understands Jewish history from 1st and 2nd Maccabees.
The Apostle Paul References the Septuagint (Only) and the Apocrypha
2 Corinthians 9:7
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Sirach 35:11
With every gift show a cheerful face and dedicate your tithe with gladness.
Proverbs 22:8a (Septuagint only)
God blesses a cheerful man and a giver …
James Speaks of the Impossibility of God Tempting People to Sin
When James wrote that God does not tempt people to sin, and that they may not blame God for their falling away, he was drawing on truths already accepted by 1st-century Jews.
James 1:13-14
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Sirach 15:11-12, 20
Do no say, “Because of the Lord I left the right way”; for he will not do what he hates. Do not say, “It was he who led me astray”; for he has no need of sinful man…. He has not commanded anyone to be ungodly, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.
Jesus is described as the Radiance of God
Here we have a description of Jesus that only comes from the Apocrypha
Hebrews 1:3
He is the radiance [Greek: apaugasma] of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Wisdom of Solomon 7:26
For she [Wisdom, a feminine-gendered word in the Greek] is a reflection [Greek: apaugasma] of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.
Martyrs Extolled in Hebrews 11
The book of Hebrews list many martyrs who died for the faith in the Old Testament. The movement is chronological, from older to newer. Hebrews 11:35 describes only what took place in 2nd Maccabees.
Hebrews 11:35
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
2 Maccabees 7:1, 13-14
It happened also that seven brothers and their mothers were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh…. When he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourths in the same way. And when he was near death, he said, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life.
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