The Origin of The Apocrypha & The Bible of The Early Church
Why Some Bibles Have More Books Than Others: A History of the Apocrypha
Most modern Bibles don’t match the one the early Church used.
That’s not a provocative claim—it’s a historical fact. For over a thousand years, Christians read and cherished books like Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Judith, and 1–2 Maccabees as Scripture. These were included in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), which was quoted, read and referenced by Jesus and the apostles, preserved in the earliest Christian Bibles, and affirmed by church fathers and councils. Yet today, these books are often missing entirely from Protestant Bibles, relegated to a footnote in history or dismissed as “Apocrypha.”
So what happened? Why do some Bibles include these books and others do not? And what does that say about the Bible you hold in your hands?
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The Bible Jesus Knew: The Septuagint
The Septuagint was the first major translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was produced in the 3rd–2nd centuries BC by Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt, for the Greek-speaking Jewish diaspora. It eventually included all the books we now associate with the Old Testament—but also several others, such as Tobit, Baruch, Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, and extended versions of Esther and Daniel (including Susanna and Bel and the Dragon).The Septuagint wasn’t just a convenience for Greek-speaking Jews—it was believed by many in the early Church to be divinely inspired. The name Septuagint comes from the Latin for “seventy,” referencing the traditional account in the Letter of Aristeas that 72 Jewish elders, working independently, all produced identical translations of the Torah—seen as a miraculous confirmation of divine guidance.
Early Christians viewed this translation as more than accurate—they saw it as Spirit-led. Church Fathers like Augustine said, “The translators of the Septuagint were not only learned but inspired as prophets” (City of God, Book 18.43). Irenaeus echoed this, writing, “God himself prepared and gave this interpretation through the seventy elders” (Against Heresies 3.21.2). Even Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, asserted that the Septuagint was the true text and accused Jewish scribes of altering the Hebrew to hide prophecies about Christ.
This expanded Greek Old Testament was the Bible most frequently quoted in the New Testament. Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and the author of Hebrews all quote or allude to the Septuagint dozens of times—often when the Greek and Hebrew differ. Some critical Messianic prophecies—such as Isaiah 7:14 ("a virgin will conceive") and Psalm 22:16 ("they have pierced my hands and feet")—are far clearer in the Greek than in the later Hebrew Masoretic Text. In fact, the belief of early Christians was that the Greek version of the Old Testament was a divinely inspired version that better pointed to Jesus as the Messiah or Christ.
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Why the Early Church Used the Greek Bible
Many readers unfamiliar with early church history are surprised to learn that when the New Testament writers quote Scripture, they are rarely quoting from the Hebrew text we find in modern Old Testaments. Instead, they overwhelmingly quote from the Greek Old Testament—commonly called the Septuagint, or abbreviated LXX. This wasn’t an accident, a compromise, or a late church invention. It was the Bible of Jesus and the apostles. It was the Bible of the early Church.For some, this may raise questions. Why didn’t they use the Hebrew? Is this a rejection of the Jewish roots of the faith? Is this about Gentile takeover or cultural erasure?
Absolutely not.
In fact, it was Greek-speaking Jews themselves who created, preserved, and honored the Septuagint long before Jesus was born. The story of the Septuagint is not one of replacement—but one of accessibility, prophecy, and fulfillment.Let’s walk through the history and theology behind it.
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Hebrew Was No Longer the Common Language
The Story of Hebrew: From the Temple to Translation
When we talk about the Septuagint—the Greek Old Testament—the natural question arises: Why did Jews ever need a translation in the first place? Wasn’t Hebrew their language? Isn’t the “original Hebrew” what matters?
To answer that, we need to look honestly at the history of the Hebrew language itself.
The Rise and Decline of Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew thrived during the early history of Israel, especially throughout the First Temple period (roughly 10th to 6th centuries BCE). It was both the spoken and written language of the people of God. But this changed dramatically after the Babylonian Exile in 586 BCE. When the Judeans were deported to Babylon, they entered a multilingual empire, and one language stood out: Aramaic.
Aramaic quickly became the new common language—not just in Babylon, but across the Persian Empire that succeeded it. By the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, portions of Scripture were already being written in Aramaic (see parts of Daniel and Ezra). This shift wasn’t temporary. Even after the exiles returned to Jerusalem, Hebrew never quite regained its full status as the primary spoken language.
Enter the Septuagint: A Bible for the Greek-Speaking World
By the 3rd century BCE, Hebrew had largely faded as the spoken language of everyday life, especially among Jews in the diaspora. This was particularly true in Alexandria, Egypt—home to one of the largest Jewish communities outside Judea. These Jews no longer spoke or understood Hebrew fluently. They were Hellenized—culturally Greek—and spoke the common language of the day: Koine Greek.
To meet the needs of these Greek-speaking Jews, a group of scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. This translation is what we now call the Septuagint—often abbreviated as LXX, referencing the tradition that seventy or seventy-two elders worked on it. This took place under the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BCE), making it the first major Bible translation in history.
Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE–50 CE), a Jewish philosopher who lived around the time of Jesus, praised the Septuagint as divinely inspired. The Jewish community not only welcomed the translation—they used it as their Bible. In fact, the New Testament writers themselves almost exclusively quoted from the Greek Septuagint, not from the later Hebrew Masoretic Text.
Jesus’ Time: Aramaic for Conversation, Hebrew for the Synagogue
By the 1st century CE, when Jesus walked the earth, the spoken language of Israel was Aramaic. This was the language of daily life, family, and local business. Hebrew remained in use, but mostly for liturgical and religious purposes—like synagogue readings, Torah study, and temple rituals. Scholars often refer to this form as “Mishnaic Hebrew,” a dialect more literary than conversational.
We see this reflected directly in the New Testament: many of Jesus’ words are preserved in Aramaic—phrases like “Talitha koum” (“Little girl, get up!”) or “Ephphatha” (“Be opened!”). Even His cry on the cross reveals this linguistic reality. In Mark 15:34, we read: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”—clearly Aramaic. Matthew’s account gives the Hebrew version: “Eli, Eli.”
This distinction is critical: the Gospel writers preserve Aramaic nearly every time they quote Jesus’ original words—but with one striking exception, where Hebrew is used for theological emphasis.
Preservation Without Use: Hebrew After the Temple
Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE), Jewish life changed forever. The Jewish people were scattered further across the Roman world. Hebrew remained sacred—but not spoken. For centuries, it was preserved only in the context of prayer, study, and Torah scrolls. The daily languages of Jewish communities became Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic, or the languages of their host nations. Hebrew endured as a “holy tongue” (Lashon HaKodesh)—set apart for worship, but not for ordering groceries.
A Miracle of Linguistic History: The Modern Revival
That began to change in the late 1800s. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922), often called the father of Modern Hebrew, envisioned a nation where Jews could once again speak the language of Scripture—not just in prayer, but in life. Driven by Zionist dreams, he began creating new words, promoting Hebrew education, and publishing newspapers and dictionaries.
His dream took root. As Jewish immigrants began returning to their ancestral land—then under Ottoman control—they brought Hebrew back with them. Schools began teaching in Hebrew. The language spread, grew, and adapted.
In 1948, with the establishment of the modern State of Israel, Hebrew was declared one of its official languages. Today, millions speak Hebrew as their first language—a linguistic resurrection unmatched in human history.
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So Why Does This Matter?
When Christians say, “Let’s go back to the original Hebrew,” we need to remember: even the Jews of Jesus’ day weren’t doing that. The Bible of the early Church—the one quoted by Jesus, Paul, and the Gospel writers—was the Greek Septuagint. And that translation didn’t exist in a vacuum; it was created because most Jews no longer spoke Hebrew.
This isn’t a rejection of Hebrew—it’s a recognition of history. Jesus was a Jew. His apostles were Jews. The Septuagint was their Bible. Understanding this gives us clarity, not conflict—and brings us closer to the heart of the Scriptures as they were understood in the early Church.
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The Septuagint Was Created by Jews—for Jews
Recognizing the need, a group of Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt translated the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) into Greek around 250 BC. This effort, funded and supported by the Jewish community, was not seen as controversial—it was welcomed. Over time, the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures were also translated into Greek, including the Psalms, Prophets, and historical books, along with what are now known as the Deuterocanonical books or “Apocrypha.”
This collection became known as the Septuagint, named after the legendary seventy (or seventy-two) translators who worked in harmony to produce the Greek version. This story, told in the Letter of Aristeas (2nd century BC), shows how highly the Jewish community regarded this work.
Far from being a Christian invention, the Septuagint was:• Made by Jews• For Jews• Celebrated by Jews• Used in Jewish synagogues
It became the standard Scripture of Greek-speaking Jewish communities all across the Roman world—long before Christianity emerged.
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Jewish Scholars Celebrated the LXX Before Jesus
Some readers may think the Greek Scriptures were rejected by the Jewish community and only adopted by Christians. The opposite is true.One of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the 1st century was Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC – 50 AD). Philo never wrote in Hebrew. He read the Septuagint, quoted it extensively, and called it divinely inspired. He believed the translators were guided by God and that the resulting Greek version preserved the full meaning of the original Hebrew.
Other Jewish writers, such as Aristobulus of Paneas (2nd century BC), affirmed that Greek philosophical writings had borrowed from Jewish Scripture—implying that the Greek translation carried the weight of sacred authority.In short: the Septuagint was seen by Jews as Scripture, long before it became the default Bible of the Church.
_________________________________________ The Masoretic Counter-Canon: A Reaction to Jesus After Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity spread rapidly among Greek-speaking Jews and Gentiles. Christians claimed Jesus fulfilled the Jewish Scriptures—using the Greek Septuagint as proof. In response, Jewish leaders began to distance themselves from the Septuagint and formed what became known as the Masoretic Text (MT), a more limited Hebrew canon compiled and finalized between the 7th–10th centuries AD. Many of the Messianic prophecies were reworded, weakened, or entirely omitted in the Masoretic version. Psalm 22:16 (“they pierced my hands and feet”) was changed to “like a lion at my hands and feet.” Isaiah 7:14 (“a virgin will conceive”) was changed to “a young woman.” And significantly, the books not found in the Hebrew tradition—like Wisdom of Solomon or 1 Maccabees—were excluded altogether. The early church did not follow this shift. But the seeds of division were planted. ________________________________________ Jerome vs. Augustine: The Great Debate In the late 4th century, Jerome was commissioned to create a Latin translation of the Bible—what became the Latin Vulgate. Instead of using the established Greek Septuagint, Jerome insisted on returning to the Hebrew, influenced by a growing desire to access the “original” texts. In doing so, he rejected the full canon used by Christians for centuries. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, strongly objected. He argued that the Greek Septuagint was inspired by the Holy Spirit, widely used by the apostles, and supported by the testimony of the early Church. He warned Jerome that removing these books would undermine Christian doctrine and tradition. Despite the objections, Jerome’s Hebrew-based Vulgate eventually became the standard Bible for the Roman Catholic Church—with the Apocryphal books included, but treated as a “secondary” canon (deuterocanon). The Orthodox Church, meanwhile, never accepted Jerome’s downgrade and continued using the Septuagint in full. ________________________________________ The Canon Splits: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Paths This divergence hardened during the Great Schism of 1054. The Eastern Orthodox Church retained the full Septuagint-based Old Testament. The Roman Catholic Church used Jerome’s Vulgate, still including the Apocryphal books but with a slight hesitancy. Then came the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther, seeking to align doctrine strictly with what was found in Hebrew Scripture, moved the Apocryphal books to a separate section between the Old and New Testaments. He called them “not equal to the Holy Scriptures, but useful and good to read.” Still, he included them in the 1534 Luther Bible, and they remained in Protestant Bibles for centuries. That included the 1611 King James Version, which also included the Apocrypha as standard. For over 250 years, English-speaking Protestants read these books. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s, under pressure from Bible societies and cost-cutting publishers, that the Apocryphal books began disappearing altogether from Protestant editions. ________________________________________ Modern Restoration: What Scholars Know and Publishers Don’t Say Today, Protestant Bibles are shorter—not because of new research, but because of old decisions rooted in theological disagreement. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles still include the Apocryphal books, and scholarly editions like the NRSV with Apocrypha or ESV with Apocrypha restore them—quietly acknowledging their importance. And what’s most telling? These books keep showing up in footnotes. When modern translations like the NLT, NASB, NIV or ESV encounter difficult Hebrew passages, they often reference the Greek Septuagint—the very collection that includes these so-called “extra books.” Look for “LXX” in the footnotes of your Bible – this is acknowledging that the translators needed to use the Greek version! ________________________________________ So Why Were They Removed? Not because they were obscure. Not because they were new. Not because they were heretical.But because they may have supported doctrines the Reformers challenged, were written in Greek, and were not included in the post-Christian Hebrew canon.Yet for the first 1,500 years of the Church, the Apocryphal books were not Apocryphal—they were Scripture. And many of them remain powerful witnesses to Christ: containing prophecy, foreshadowing, and typology the New Testament builds upon. ________________________________________ Where Do We Go From Here? The question isn’t just, “Why were these books removed?”It’s, “Why did it take us so long to notice?”And now that we know, it’s time to read them again—with open eyes and an open Bible. ________________________________________ Read More: Proving the Apocryphal Books Were Always in the Bible The Apocryphal—or more accurately, Deuterocanonical—books were not fringe writings casually appended to Scripture. For the majority of Church history, they were Scripture. These books—Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel—were preserved in the Greek Septuagint, quoted by New Testament writers, and defended by the Church Fathers and early councils. ________________________________________ Church Fathers Who Considered Them Scripture • Origen of Alexandria (c. 184–253 AD):In Homilies on Joshua 1.8, Origen explicitly includes Tobit among canonical books. In Commentary on Psalm 1, he lists books the Jews did not accept but affirms that the Christian Church uses others, including the Apocryphal books. • Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200–258 AD):Quotes Tobit 4:11 as Scripture in Testimonia ad Quirinum (Book 3.17). He also alludes to Sirach in his pastoral letters, demonstrating its usage across Africa. • Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373 AD):While he distinguishes between canonical and edifying books in his Festal Letter 39, he still assigns high value to Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, and Tobit for teaching and public reading. • Augustine (c. 354–430 AD):Treats the Deuterocanonical books as inspired. In City of God (Book 18), he quotes from Wisdom and Sirach authoritatively. In On Christian Doctrine (Book 2, Chapter 8), he lists the full canon—including all the Apocryphal books—as Scripture. • The Apostolic Constitutions (c. 250–300 AD):A crucial liturgical document in Greek-speaking churches quotes Tobit several times and uses it as authoritative Scripture. ________________________________________ Church Councils That Affirmed These Books • Council of Rome (AD 382) – Under Damasus I, issued a list including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, etc.• Council of Hippo (AD 393) and Council of Carthage (AD 397) – Both affirmed the same list of books used in the Catholic & Orthodox Bibles today.• Council of Florence (1442) and Council of Trent (1546) – Reaffirmed the canon including these books, especially in response to Protestant challenges. These councils demonstrate that the Deuterocanonical books were not added after the fact—they were defended because they were being challenged. ________________________________________ Justin Martyr’s Objection to the Masoretic Text Writing in the second century, Justin Martyr accuses Jewish leaders of deliberately removing prophetic passages from the Hebrew texts that pointed to Jesus. In Dialogue with Trypho, he writes:"But I am far from putting reliance in your teachers, who refuse to admit that the interpretation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy of Egypt is a correct one... for they have taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy elders" (Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 71).He specifically accuses Jewish scribes of removing passages like Psalm 96:10 and Isaiah 7:14 which, in Greek, clearly refer to the virgin birth. ________________________________________ Conclusion The Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books were never "extra" in the eyes of the early Church. They were included in the earliest Christian Bibles (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus), quoted by the apostles, used by Jesus and His earliest followers, affirmed by Church Fathers, and ratified in councils centuries before any Protestant Reformation. Their removal was not due to lack of value or late discovery, but due to theological disputes, linguistic preferences, and ultimately, the ripple effects of Jerome’s preference for Hebrew and Martin Luther’s theological reforms. So before deciding these books are "non-essential," consider this: they were central to the Church that gave us the New Testament—and that’s a story worth rediscovering. Where Do I Find These Books? APP VERSIONS: C3 APP > Media > Bible > Read Bible > CEBYouVersion APP > GNTD - Includes Audio
English Standard Version (ESV) with Apocryphao Publisher: Oxford University Presso ISBN-10: 0195289102o ISBN-13: 978-0195289107o Description: This edition includes the Apocrypha, placed at the back of the Bible, intended for denominations that use those books in liturgical readings and for students who need them for historical and scholarly purposes.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible with Apocryphao Publisher: Oxford University Presso ISBN-10: 0195375246o ISBN-13: 978-0195375244o Description: This edition includes the Apocrypha and is acclaimed for its accuracy and readability.
The CEB Study Bible with Apocryphao Publisher: Common English Bibleo ISBN-13: 9781609260293o Description: This study Bible includes the Apocrypha and provides tools, illustrations, and explanations necessary for making informed decisions about the meaning of the Bible.
The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB)o Publisher: Thomas Nelsono Publication Date: February 26, 2008o ISBN-10: 0718003594o ISBN-13: 978-0718003593o Description: The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) is a comprehensive resource that presents the Bible through the lens of ancient Christian tradition, particularly from the Eastern Orthodox perspective. Minus the denominational commentaries, this version offers the best representation of what the book order of the earliest Christian Bible looked like with an unbroken chain of tradition going back to the earliest Bibles in existence.
_________________________________________ The Masoretic Counter-Canon: A Reaction to Jesus After Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity spread rapidly among Greek-speaking Jews and Gentiles. Christians claimed Jesus fulfilled the Jewish Scriptures—using the Greek Septuagint as proof. In response, Jewish leaders began to distance themselves from the Septuagint and formed what became known as the Masoretic Text (MT), a more limited Hebrew canon compiled and finalized between the 7th–10th centuries AD. Many of the Messianic prophecies were reworded, weakened, or entirely omitted in the Masoretic version. Psalm 22:16 (“they pierced my hands and feet”) was changed to “like a lion at my hands and feet.” Isaiah 7:14 (“a virgin will conceive”) was changed to “a young woman.” And significantly, the books not found in the Hebrew tradition—like Wisdom of Solomon or 1 Maccabees—were excluded altogether. The early church did not follow this shift. But the seeds of division were planted. ________________________________________ Jerome vs. Augustine: The Great Debate In the late 4th century, Jerome was commissioned to create a Latin translation of the Bible—what became the Latin Vulgate. Instead of using the established Greek Septuagint, Jerome insisted on returning to the Hebrew, influenced by a growing desire to access the “original” texts. In doing so, he rejected the full canon used by Christians for centuries. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, strongly objected. He argued that the Greek Septuagint was inspired by the Holy Spirit, widely used by the apostles, and supported by the testimony of the early Church. He warned Jerome that removing these books would undermine Christian doctrine and tradition. Despite the objections, Jerome’s Hebrew-based Vulgate eventually became the standard Bible for the Roman Catholic Church—with the Apocryphal books included, but treated as a “secondary” canon (deuterocanon). The Orthodox Church, meanwhile, never accepted Jerome’s downgrade and continued using the Septuagint in full. ________________________________________ The Canon Splits: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Paths This divergence hardened during the Great Schism of 1054. The Eastern Orthodox Church retained the full Septuagint-based Old Testament. The Roman Catholic Church used Jerome’s Vulgate, still including the Apocryphal books but with a slight hesitancy. Then came the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther, seeking to align doctrine strictly with what was found in Hebrew Scripture, moved the Apocryphal books to a separate section between the Old and New Testaments. He called them “not equal to the Holy Scriptures, but useful and good to read.” Still, he included them in the 1534 Luther Bible, and they remained in Protestant Bibles for centuries. That included the 1611 King James Version, which also included the Apocrypha as standard. For over 250 years, English-speaking Protestants read these books. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s, under pressure from Bible societies and cost-cutting publishers, that the Apocryphal books began disappearing altogether from Protestant editions. ________________________________________ Modern Restoration: What Scholars Know and Publishers Don’t Say Today, Protestant Bibles are shorter—not because of new research, but because of old decisions rooted in theological disagreement. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles still include the Apocryphal books, and scholarly editions like the NRSV with Apocrypha or ESV with Apocrypha restore them—quietly acknowledging their importance. And what’s most telling? These books keep showing up in footnotes. When modern translations like the NLT, NASB, NIV or ESV encounter difficult Hebrew passages, they often reference the Greek Septuagint—the very collection that includes these so-called “extra books.” Look for “LXX” in the footnotes of your Bible – this is acknowledging that the translators needed to use the Greek version! ________________________________________ So Why Were They Removed? Not because they were obscure. Not because they were new. Not because they were heretical.But because they may have supported doctrines the Reformers challenged, were written in Greek, and were not included in the post-Christian Hebrew canon.Yet for the first 1,500 years of the Church, the Apocryphal books were not Apocryphal—they were Scripture. And many of them remain powerful witnesses to Christ: containing prophecy, foreshadowing, and typology the New Testament builds upon. ________________________________________ Where Do We Go From Here? The question isn’t just, “Why were these books removed?”It’s, “Why did it take us so long to notice?”And now that we know, it’s time to read them again—with open eyes and an open Bible. ________________________________________ Read More: Proving the Apocryphal Books Were Always in the Bible The Apocryphal—or more accurately, Deuterocanonical—books were not fringe writings casually appended to Scripture. For the majority of Church history, they were Scripture. These books—Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel—were preserved in the Greek Septuagint, quoted by New Testament writers, and defended by the Church Fathers and early councils. ________________________________________ Church Fathers Who Considered Them Scripture • Origen of Alexandria (c. 184–253 AD):In Homilies on Joshua 1.8, Origen explicitly includes Tobit among canonical books. In Commentary on Psalm 1, he lists books the Jews did not accept but affirms that the Christian Church uses others, including the Apocryphal books. • Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200–258 AD):Quotes Tobit 4:11 as Scripture in Testimonia ad Quirinum (Book 3.17). He also alludes to Sirach in his pastoral letters, demonstrating its usage across Africa. • Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373 AD):While he distinguishes between canonical and edifying books in his Festal Letter 39, he still assigns high value to Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, and Tobit for teaching and public reading. • Augustine (c. 354–430 AD):Treats the Deuterocanonical books as inspired. In City of God (Book 18), he quotes from Wisdom and Sirach authoritatively. In On Christian Doctrine (Book 2, Chapter 8), he lists the full canon—including all the Apocryphal books—as Scripture. • The Apostolic Constitutions (c. 250–300 AD):A crucial liturgical document in Greek-speaking churches quotes Tobit several times and uses it as authoritative Scripture. ________________________________________ Church Councils That Affirmed These Books • Council of Rome (AD 382) – Under Damasus I, issued a list including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, etc.• Council of Hippo (AD 393) and Council of Carthage (AD 397) – Both affirmed the same list of books used in the Catholic & Orthodox Bibles today.• Council of Florence (1442) and Council of Trent (1546) – Reaffirmed the canon including these books, especially in response to Protestant challenges. These councils demonstrate that the Deuterocanonical books were not added after the fact—they were defended because they were being challenged. ________________________________________ Justin Martyr’s Objection to the Masoretic Text Writing in the second century, Justin Martyr accuses Jewish leaders of deliberately removing prophetic passages from the Hebrew texts that pointed to Jesus. In Dialogue with Trypho, he writes:"But I am far from putting reliance in your teachers, who refuse to admit that the interpretation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy of Egypt is a correct one... for they have taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy elders" (Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 71).He specifically accuses Jewish scribes of removing passages like Psalm 96:10 and Isaiah 7:14 which, in Greek, clearly refer to the virgin birth. ________________________________________ Conclusion The Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books were never "extra" in the eyes of the early Church. They were included in the earliest Christian Bibles (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus), quoted by the apostles, used by Jesus and His earliest followers, affirmed by Church Fathers, and ratified in councils centuries before any Protestant Reformation. Their removal was not due to lack of value or late discovery, but due to theological disputes, linguistic preferences, and ultimately, the ripple effects of Jerome’s preference for Hebrew and Martin Luther’s theological reforms. So before deciding these books are "non-essential," consider this: they were central to the Church that gave us the New Testament—and that’s a story worth rediscovering. Where Do I Find These Books? APP VERSIONS: C3 APP > Media > Bible > Read Bible > CEBYouVersion APP > GNTD - Includes Audio
English Standard Version (ESV) with Apocryphao Publisher: Oxford University Presso ISBN-10: 0195289102o ISBN-13: 978-0195289107o Description: This edition includes the Apocrypha, placed at the back of the Bible, intended for denominations that use those books in liturgical readings and for students who need them for historical and scholarly purposes.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible with Apocryphao Publisher: Oxford University Presso ISBN-10: 0195375246o ISBN-13: 978-0195375244o Description: This edition includes the Apocrypha and is acclaimed for its accuracy and readability.
The CEB Study Bible with Apocryphao Publisher: Common English Bibleo ISBN-13: 9781609260293o Description: This study Bible includes the Apocrypha and provides tools, illustrations, and explanations necessary for making informed decisions about the meaning of the Bible.
The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB)o Publisher: Thomas Nelsono Publication Date: February 26, 2008o ISBN-10: 0718003594o ISBN-13: 978-0718003593o Description: The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) is a comprehensive resource that presents the Bible through the lens of ancient Christian tradition, particularly from the Eastern Orthodox perspective. Minus the denominational commentaries, this version offers the best representation of what the book order of the earliest Christian Bible looked like with an unbroken chain of tradition going back to the earliest Bibles in existence.