Why Read Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha?
By Pinchas Shir
Periodically, I meet people who are hesitant to read extra-biblical books designated as Pseudepigrapha or Apocrypha. I was even told once, “They are forbidden.” Admittedly, “Pseudepigrapha” and “Apocrypha” are academic designations, but they have simple definitions. If these terms make you feel uneasy, then allow me to explain what they really mean.
In Greek, the term Pseudepigrapha (Ψευδεπίγραφα; pseudepīgrapha) woodenly means, “false writings.” Practically, it means that a particular book was not written by the author to whom it is attributed. This would describe a whole lot of ancient Jewish books because, in antiquity, people attached the names of notable people to the books they wrote—not merely to tell their story, but also to honor their memory. Take the Psalms of Solomon for example; the psalms are beautiful, but they’re certainly not written by the famed Israelite King. Or let’s consider the Apocalypse of Ezra. Though the traditions in these books emerge from the Second Temple period, the Ezra we know from the Bible did not author the material.
Scholars who study ancient manuscripts recognize that many of the ancient books—even texts in the New Testament—were originally completely anonymous. For example, no one knows who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, but Christians are encouraged to read it anyway. None of the four Gospels tell us who wrote them, either; the names by which they are known today reflect post-biblical tradition. Ancient people treated books and authorship very differently than we do today, and we simply have to be aware of that.
The term Apocrypha (Ἀπόκρυφα; apōkrupha) means “hidden [books].” Some of the texts deemed apocryphal in contemporary Christianity are included in ancient biblical canons and other manuscript collections. For example, 1 Baruch appears among the old Greek Septuagint manuscripts and is included in Catholic Bibles, but to other Christian groups it is apocryphal (hidden from the accepted canon). The book of Jubilees was embraced by some Jews in antiquity and ignored by others. Martin Luther wanted to exclude the Letter of James from the New Testament canon, which would have made it “Apocrypha” for Lutherans. First Enoch (also known as the Book of Watchers) is part of Orthodox Christian Bibles in Ethiopia, but it's classified as both Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha in most other Christian denominations.
If you’re hesitant about reading books deemed “outside the Bible,” my suggestion is to give them a chance and judge for yourself. At the very least, reading these texts will illuminate the theology and historical presuppositions of early Judaism and some of Jesus’s earliest followers. At best, you’ll discover the context of specific New Testament quotations, such as the reference to 1 Enoch in Jude 1:7: “It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming with tens of thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly.” The pseudepigraphal and apocryphal writings can offer important backgrounds for understanding various Jewish and Christian canonical traditions.
