List of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
Encyclopedia
Pseudepigrapha are works produced after the closing of the Hebrew bible canon
but before production of the Christian canon that are not accepted as canonical
by Jews or all Christians today. Some of these works may have Christian authors, but books in this list are predominantly Jewish in character and origin.
Development of the Jewish Bible canon
Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the 24 books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, as authoritative. Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BCE and 200 CE. A popular former theory is that the Torah was canonized c. 400 BCE, the Prophets c....
but before production of the Christian canon that are not accepted as canonical
Biblical canon
A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
by Jews or all Christians today. Some of these works may have Christian authors, but books in this list are predominantly Jewish in character and origin.
- 1 Enoch
- 2 Enoch
- 3 Enoch3 Enoch3 Enoch is an Old Testament Apocryphal book. 3 Enoch purports to have been written in the 2nd century CE, but its origins can only be traced to the 5th century...
- 2 Baruch2 Baruch2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. It is attributed to the Biblical Baruch and so is associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or by...
- 3 Baruch3 Baruch3 Baruch or the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch is a visionary, Jewish pseudepedigraphic text thought to have been written after 130 CE, perhaps as late as the early 3rd century CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE...
- 4 Baruch4 BaruchThe Rest of the Words of Baruch or Paralipomena of Baruch is the pseudepigraphical text that appears in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Old Testament Biblical canon...
- 3 Esdras
- 4 Esdras
- 5 Ezra
- 6 Ezra
- 3 Maccabees3 MaccabeesThe book of the 3 Maccabees is found in most Orthodox Bibles as a part of the Anagignoskomena, while Protestants and Catholics consider it non-canonical, except the Moravian Brethren who included it in the Apocrypha of the Czech Kralicka Bible...
- 4 Maccabees4 MaccabeesThe book of 4 Maccabees is a homily or philosophic discourse praising the supremacy of pious reason over passion. It is not in the Bible for most churches, but is an appendix to the Greek Bible, and in the canon of the Georgian Bible...
- 5 Maccabees5 MaccabeesThe Fifth book of the Maccabees is an ancient Jewish work relating the history in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.-Content:The book chronicles the events from Heliodorus' attempt to rob the Temple treasury in 186 BC to the death of Herod the Great's two sons about 6 BC...
- 6 MaccabeesBooks of the MaccabeesThe Books of the Maccabees are books concerned with the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty, or related subjects.The term mostly refers to two deuterocanonical books contained in some canons of the Bible:...
- 7 MaccabeesBooks of the MaccabeesThe Books of the Maccabees are books concerned with the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty, or related subjects.The term mostly refers to two deuterocanonical books contained in some canons of the Bible:...
- 8 MaccabeesBooks of the MaccabeesThe Books of the Maccabees are books concerned with the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty, or related subjects.The term mostly refers to two deuterocanonical books contained in some canons of the Bible:...
- 1 MeqabyanMeqabyanI, II, and III Meqabyan are three books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament Biblical canon....
- 2 MeqabyanMeqabyanI, II, and III Meqabyan are three books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament Biblical canon....
- 3 MeqabyanMeqabyanI, II, and III Meqabyan are three books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament Biblical canon....
- Adam Octipartite
- Adjuration of Elijah
- Apocalypse of AbrahamApocalypse of AbrahamThe Apocalypse of Abraham is a pseudepigraphic work based on the Old Testament. Probably composed between about 70–150 AD, it is of Jewish origin and is usually considered to be part of the Apocalyptic literature...
- Apocalypse of AdamApocalypse of AdamThe Apocalypse of Adam discovered in 1945 as part of the Nag Hammadi library is a Gnostic work written in Coptic. It has no necessary references to Christianity and it is accordingly debated whether it is a Christian Gnostic work or an example of Jewish Gnosticism...
- Apocalypse of ElijahApocalypse of ElijahThe Apocalypse of Elijah is an anonymous apocryphal work presenting itself as a revelation given by an angel. Two versions are known today, a Coptic Christian fragmentary version and a Hebrew Jewish version...
- Apocalypse of Ezekiel
- Apocalypse of SedrachApocalypse of SedrachThe Apocalypse of Sedrach, also known as the Word of Sedrach, is an ancient apocryphal text. The name of the titular figure, Sedrach may simply be the Greek form of Shadrach, the name of one of the three individuals put into the fiery furnace in the Book of Daniel...
- Apocalypse of the Seven Heavens
- Apocalypse of ZephaniahApocalypse of ZephaniahThe Apocalypse of Zephaniah is an ancient pseudepigraphic text attributed to the Biblical Zephaniah and so associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group. It was rediscovered and published at the end of 19th century...
- Apocryphon of EzekielApocryphon of EzekielApocryphon of Ezekiel is an apocryphal book, written in the style of the Old Testament, as revelations of Ezekiel. It survives only in fragments including quotations in writings by Epiphanius, Clement of Rome and Clement of Alexandria, and the Chester Beatty Papyri 185...
- Apocryphon of Jacob and Joseph
- Apocryphon of Melchizedek
- Apocryphon of the Ten Tribes
- Ascension of Moses
- Assumption of MosesAssumption of MosesThe Assumption of Moses is a Jewish apocryphal pseudepigraphical work. It is known from a single sixth-century incomplete manuscript in Latin that was discovered by Antonio Ceriani in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan in the mid-nineteenth century and published by him in 1861.-Identification:The...
- Book of AssafBook of AssafThe Book of Assaf is the earliest medical book written in Hebrew. According to the book it was written by Assaf Ben Berhiyahu and Johanan Ben Zabda, who lived in Israel between the fourth and sixth century CE. The book discusses illnesses, treatments and prevention...
- Book of NoahBook of NoahThe Book of Noah is currently thought to be a non-extant Old Testament pseudepigraphal work, attributed to Noah. It is quoted in several places in another pseudepigraphal work, 1 Enoch, as well as mentioned in another, Jubilees...
- Cave of TreasuresCave of TreasuresThe Cave of Treasures, sometimes referred to simply as The Treasure, is a book of the New Testament apocrypha.-Origin:This text is attributed to Ephrem Syrus, who was born at Nisibis soon after AD 306 and died in 373, but it is now generally believed that its current form is 6th century or...
- Coptic Apocryphon of Jeremiah
- Eldad and Modad
- Enochic Book of GiantsOgias the GiantOgias the Giant, also known as The Book of Giants, is an apocryphal Jewish book expanding a narrative in the Hebrew Bible. Its discovery at Qumran dates the text's creation to before the 2nd century BCE.-Origin:...
- Epistle of Rehoboam
- Greek Apocalypse of DanielGreek Apocalypse of DanielThe Greek Apocalypse of Daniel is an Christian pseudepigraphic text attributed to the Biblical Daniel and so associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group. The canonical Book of Daniel has much apocalyptic imagery, and this apocalyptic-style text...
- Greek Apocalypse of Ezra
- History of Joseph
- History of the RechabitesHistory of the RechabitesThe History of the Rechabites is an ancient apocryphal account of an island nation led by Jonadab, the son of Rechab, which appears to be based on a brief account in the Book of Jeremiah....
- Jannes and Jambres
- Joseph and AsenethJoseph and AsenethJoseph and Aseneth is an ancient apocryphal expansion of the Book of Genesis's account of the patriarch Joseph's marriage to Aseneth....
- JubileesJubileesThe Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
- Ladder of JacobLadder of JacobThe Ladder of Jacob is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It is usually considered to be part of the Apocalyptic literature. The text has been preserved only in Slavonic, and it is clearly a translation from a now lost Greek version...
- Letter of AristeasLetter of AristeasThe so-called Letter of Aristeas or Letter to Philocrates is a Hellenistic work of the 2nd century BCE, one of the Pseudepigrapha. Josephus who paraphrases about two-fifths of the letter, ascribes it to Aristeas and written to Philocrates, describing the Greek translation of the Hebrew Law by...
- Life of Adam and EveLife of Adam and EveThe Life of Adam and Eve, also known, in its Greek version, as the Apocalypse of Moses, is a Jewish pseudepigraphical group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including...
- Lives of the ProphetsLives of the ProphetsThe Lives of the Prophets is an ancient apocryphal account of the lives of the prophets from the Old Testament. It is not regarded as scripture by any Jewish or Christian denomination...
- Manual of Discipline
- Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
- Odes of SolomonOdes of SolomonThe Odes of Solomon is a collection of 42 odes attributed to Solomon. Various scholars have dated the composition of these religious poems to anywhere in the range of the first three centuries AD...
- Prayer of Jacob
- Prayer of JosephPrayer of JosephThe Prayer of Joseph is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It was composed either in Aramaic or in Greek in the 1st century AD...
- Psalms of SolomonPsalms of SolomonOne of the Pseudepigrapha, the Psalms of Solomon is a group of eighteen psalms that are not part of any scriptural canon...
- Questions of EzraQuestions of EzraThe Questions of Ezra is an ancient Christian apocryphal text, claimed to have been written by the Biblical Ezra. The earliest surviving manuscript, composed in Armenian, dates from 1208 CE. It is an example of the Christian development of topics coming out from the Jewish Apocalyptic literature...
- Revelation of Ezra
- Sibylline OraclesSibylline oraclesThe Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Fourteen books and eight fragments of Sibylline Oracles survive...
- Signs of the Judgement
- Sword of Moses
- Testament of AbrahamTestament of AbrahamThe Testament of Abraham a pseudepigraphic text of the Old Testament. Probably composed in the 1st or 2nd century CE, it is of Jewish origin and is usually considered to be part of the apocalyptic literature. It is not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group...
- Testament of AdamTestament of AdamThe Testament of Adam is a Christian pseudepigraphical work extant in Syriac and Arabic. The earliest manuscript is dated to the 6th century, but the text is 4th century AD in origin, probably composed in Edessa...
- Testament of IsaacTestament of IsaacThe Testament of Isaac is a work now regarded as part of the Old Testament apocrypha. It is often treated as one of a trio of very similar works, the other two of which are the Testament of Abraham and Testament of Jacob, though there is no reason to assume that they were originally a single work...
- Testament of JacobTestament of JacobThe Testament of Jacob is a work now regarded as part of the Old Testament apocrypha. It is often treated as one of a trio of very similar works, the other two of which are the Testament of Abraham and Testament of Isaac, though there is no reason to assume that they were originally a single work...
- Testament of JobTestament of JobThe Testament of Job is a book written in the 1st century BC or the 1st century AD...
- Testament of Moses
- Testament of SolomonTestament of SolomonThe Testament of Solomon is an Old Testament pseudepigraphical work, the authorship of which is ascribed to King Solomon. It describes how Solomon was enabled to build the Temple by commanding demons by means of a magical ring entrusted to him by the Archangel Michael.- History :Despite the text's...
- Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
- Treatise of Shem
- Vision of EzraVision of EzraThe Vision of Ezra is an ancient apocryphal text, claiming to have been written by the biblical Ezra. The earliest surviving manuscripts, composed in Latin, date to the 11th Century AD, though textual peculiarities strongly suggest that the text was originally written in Greek...
- Visions of Heaven and Hell
- Words of Gad the Seer
See also
- ApocryphaApocryphaThe term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
for books rejected by Jews but accepted by some ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s - New Testament ApocryphaNew Testament apocryphaThe New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
for books in the style of the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....