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1 THE

Jewish Encyclopedia APOCRYPHA tion of

Apocrypha

§ I. The most general definiWritings having some preten-



is,

sion to the character of sacred scripture, or received as such by certain sects, but excluded from the ,

canon

(see

Canon).

The

history of the earlier usage of the word is obIt is probable that the adjective airdicpvfoc, " hidden away, kept secret, " as applied to books, was first used of writings which were kept from the public by their possessors because they contained a mysterious or esoteric wisdom too profound or too sacred to be communicated to any but the initiated. Thus a Leyden magical papyrus bears the title, Mmiaeug lepa. scure.

pifS^oc aivdKpvfoc; iniKaTiOVjiivrj by&bij

fj

ayia, "

The

Secret

Sacred Book of Moses, Entitled the Eighth or the Holy Book "(Dietrich, "Abraxas," 169). Pherecydes of Syros is said to have learned his wisdom from to

"The

Secret Books of the In the early centuries of our era many religious and philosophical sects had such scriptures; thus the followers of the Gnostic Prodicus boasted the possession of secret books (lnroKpvboiviKav andupvifia fii/iMa,

Phenicians

"

(Suidas,

s.v.

^epeniid^).



et seg.). (see Dan. xii. 4, 9; Enoch, i. 2, cviii. 1; Assumptio Mosis, x. 1 et seq.) In another passage such writings are expressly distinguished from the twenty-four canonical books; the latter are to be published that they may be read by the worthy and unworthy alike; the former (seventy in number) are to be preserved and transmitted to the wise, because

36

they contain a profounder teaching (xiv. 44-47). In this sense Gregory of Nyssa quotes words of John in the Apocalypse as h> cmoKpinpoi; (" Oratio in Suam Ordinationem,"iii. 549, ed. Migne; compare Epiphanius, " Ad versus Hsereses, " li. 8). The book contains revelations not to be comprehended by the masses, nor rashly published among them.

Inasmuch, however, as this kind of literature flourished most among heretical sects, and as many of the writings themselves were falsely attributed to the famous men of ancient times, the word " Apocrypha " acquired in ecclesiastical use an unfavorable

II.—

connotation; the private scriptures treasured by the sects were repudiated by the Church as heretical and often spurious. Lists were made of the books which the Church received as sacred scripture and of those which it rejected; the former were "canonical " (see Canon); to the latter the name "Apocrypha" was given. The canon of the Church included the books which are contained in the Greek Bible but not in the Hebrew (see the list below, § III.); hence the term " Apocrypha " was not applied to these books, but to such writings as Enoch, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, etc. (see below, § III.). Jerome alone applies the word to all books which are not found in the Jewish canon (see " Prologus Galeatus "). At the Reformation, Protestants adopted the Jewish canon, and designated by the name " Apocrypha " the books of the Latin and Greek Bibles which they thus rejected; while the Catholic Church in the Council of Trent formally declared these books canonical, and continued to use the word " Apocrypha " for the class of writings to which it had generally been appropriated in the ancient Church; for the latter, Protestants introduced the name " Pseudepigrapha.

§ II.

Apocryphal Books among the Jews.

Judaism

also had sects which possessed esoteric or recondite scriptures, such as the Essenes (Josephus, "B. J." ii. 8, § 7), and' the Therapeutae (Philo, "De

Vita Contemplativa," ed. Mangey, ii. 475). Their occurrence among these particular sects is explicitly attested, but doubtless there were others. Indeed, many of the books which the Church branded as apocryphal were of Jewish (sometimes heretical Jewish) origin. The Jewish authorities, therefore, were constrained to form a canon, that is, a list of sacred scriptures; and in some cases to specify particular writings claiming this character which were rejected and forbidden. The former so the distinction is expressed in a ceremonial rule (Yad. iii. 5; Tosef., Yad. ii. 13) make the hands which touch

—

—

them unclean— DHTI

TIN

pKDDO BHpn

UM

f>3



the

Canon). Another term used in the discussion of certain books is TJJ, properly "to lay

latter

do not

(see

away for safe-keeping," also "withdraw from use." Thus, Shab. 30J, "The sages intended to withdraw Ecclesiastes " "they also intended to withdraw Proverbs"; ib. 136,"Hananiahb. Hezekiah prevented Ezekiel from being withdrawn" Sanh. up, store





100Z>

(Codex Carlsruhe),

"

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