Guide
The Apocrypha explained
The "extra" books between the testaments: what they are, who reads them, and why they were excluded from the Protestant Bible.
If you pick up a Catholic Bible, you will find books that a Protestant Bible does not contain: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel. These are the Apocrypha (or Deuterocanon). Their status has been debated since the early church.
This guide explains what the apocryphal books are, why different traditions treat them differently, and why reading them can enrich any Christian’s understanding of the Bible.
What the Apocrypha contains
The apocryphal books were written between roughly 300 BC and AD 100 — the "intertestamental" period between the Old and New Testaments. They include historical narratives (1–2 Maccabees), wisdom literature (Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach), romantic fiction (Tobit, Judith), and apocalyptic visions (2 Esdras).
These books were included in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures used by the early church. Many early Christians quoted them as Scripture. The New Testament never directly quotes them, but several passages appear to allude to them.
Why Christians disagree about them
The Catholic and Orthodox churches accept these books as canonical Scripture (calling them "deuterocanonical" — second canon). They were affirmed at the Council of Trent in 1546. Protestant reformers, following Jerome and the Hebrew canon, classified them as useful for reading but not for establishing doctrine.
The original 1611 King James Version included the Apocrypha between the Old and New Testaments. It was common in English Bibles until the 19th century. The removal of the Apocrypha from most Protestant Bibles is a relatively modern development.
Why they matter
The apocryphal books illuminate the world between the testaments: the Maccabean revolt, the rise of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the development of ideas about resurrection, angels, and demons. Without this context, the New Testament is harder to understand.
Whether or not one considers them Scripture, they are part of the literary and theological world that shaped Jesus and the apostles. Reading them is not a compromise of Protestant conviction; it is an act of historical curiosity that deepens understanding of the canonical text.
Key passages
"Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king."
The Prayer of Azariah is one of the additions found in the Apocrypha.
"Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:"
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance — a possible allusion to 2 Maccabees.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"
Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak — echoing Sirach 5:11.