Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/757

APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. (translation New York, 1885-91) ; article "Apoc- alyptic Literature" in the Eiicyclopcedia Biblica (New Vork, 1891) i. APOC'ALYP'TIC NUMBER. The mystical number which i.s given in Revelation xiii. 18 as the designation of the beast of the ten horns and seven heads (v. 1), and which, in the accepted text, reads "Six hundred and sixty and six." ("He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast ; for it is the number of a man . . . six hundred and sixty and six.") A multitude of interpretations of this num- ber have been given ; but it has been generally held by scholars that, on the basis of the Hebrew numerical alphabet, which contains no charac- ters for e or a, the author intended to represent by this number Nero —

N (e) R O N K (e) S(a) R "1 Ugg 200 50 100 60 200 J It is claimed, however, that there is a variant reading for the text that gives the number "Si.x hundred and sixteen," which, on the basis of the Greek numerical alphabet, would represent Gaius (Caligula) —

GAIOSKAISARl f 016 ,3 1 10 70 200 20 I 10 200 1 100 J In confirmation of this second reading it is urged that an author writing for Greek readers would be more likely to use the Greek alphabet, with which they were familiar, than the Hebrew, with which they were unacquainted. But it is to be noticed that in ix. 11, a Hebrew as well as a Greek word is used for the mystical idea the author has in mind ( " . . the angel of the abyss, in Hebrew called Abaddon, and Greek ApoUyon"), and in xvi. 16, a Hebrew word alone, (" . . the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon" ). It is not impossible, therefore, that Hebrew letters were intended to be rejire- sented by the number here given. In fact, the variant reading may have quite naturally come from the voluntary omission by copyists of the second n of A'eron in the first reading — Nero being the more familiar form. In any case, however, it is certain that the author had in mind a Roman emperor hostile to the Christians, whose name it was not safe for him to mention (cf. xvii. 9, 18, where the "seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth," and "the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" clearly indicate Rome). See AntI- CHRi.sT and Re-eijVtiox of S.int .John. APOCALYPTIC WRIT'INGS. See and under Apocryi'iia. AP'OCATAS'TASIS (Gk. dirorariffTao-is, apo- katastnsis, restoration). A word found in Acts iii. 21 (comp. Rom. viii. 21, Eph. i. 9, Col. i. 19). It has been interpreted by some as pointing to the final salvation of all men, and has been em- ployed as a technical term with this significa- tion. See Universausm. APOCRYPHA (Gk. ἀπόκρυφος, apokryphos, hidden, concealed, from ἀπό, apo, away + κρύπτειν, kryptein, to hide), or and. I. Old Testament. &mdash; A word rendered current by the Jews of Alexandria. In the earliest churches, it was applied with very different significations to a variety of writings. Among the various views that have been brought forward to account for the application of the term to the non-canonical

writings of the Bible (more particularly of the Old Testament), the most probable is to connect the word with the practice existing among religious and philosophic sects to withhold from the general public writings embodying the special tenets of the sect and communicated only to the inner circle of adherents. Such books generally bore the name of a patriarch, prophet, or even apostle, purporting to be the author. In consequence, the term &lsquo;apocryphal&rsquo; also acquired an unfavorable meaning, and by the Fourth Century A.D. was applied also to writings which were regarded as pseudepigraphical and forgeries; but in connection with the Bible it has been customary, since the time of Jerome, to apply the term to a number of writings which the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) had circulated amongst the Christians, and which were sometimes considered as an appendage to the Old Testament, and sometimes as a portion of it. The Greek Church, at the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 360), excluded them from the canon; the Latin Church, on the other hand, always highly favored them; and finally the Council of Trent (1545-63) received them in part for edification, but not for the &ldquo;establishment of doctrine.&rdquo; All the Protestant churches in England and America, except the Church of England, reject their use in public worship. In French and English Bibles of the Sixteenth Century it was customary to bind up the Apocrypha between the authorized versions of the Old and New Testaments, but in the Seventeenth Century this ceased, and, as a consequence, this curious, interesting, and instructive part of Jewish literature acquired to a large extent merely scholarly interest. The Apocrypha is not published by the great Bible societies, but was revised by the Bible Revision Committee, and is separately published by the University Press. The Old Testament Apocrypha consists of fourteen books: (1) First Esdras (q.v.); (2) Second Esdras (q.v.); (3) Tobit (q.v.); (4) ../Judith/ (q.v.); (5) The parts of Esther not found in Hebrew or Aramaic; (6) The Wisdom of Solomon; (7) The Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, or ../Ecclesiasticus/ (q.v.); (8) Baruch (q.v.); (9) The Song of the Three Holy Children; (10) The History of Susanna; (11) The History of the Destruction of Bel and the ../Dragon/ (q.v.); (12) The Prayer of Manasses, King of Judah (see ); (13) First Maccabees (q.v.); (14) Second Maccabees (q.v.). The precise origin of all of these writings cannot be ascertained. Their composition covers, roughly speaking, the period B.C. 150 to A.D. 75. Some, as e.g. The Wisdom of Jesus and the First Maccabees, were originally written in Hebrew; others, as the Fourth Esdras and The Wisdom of Solomon, in Greek. In respect to contents, they may be divided into (a) historical (the First Esdras, First and Second Maccabees); (b) legendary (Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, Song of Three Holy Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon); (c) prophetical (Baruch, Prayer of Manasses); (d) apocalyptic (Second Esdras); (e) didactic (The Wisdom of Solomon, The Wisdom of Jesus).

Betraying to a larger extent the religious influences current in Hellenistic Judaism than those which prevailed in Palestine, it was natural that these writings should have been looked upon with more favor outside of the strictly rabbinical circles than within those circles;