Signifies properly hidden, concealed; and as applied to books, it means those which assume a claim to a sacred character, but are really uninspired, and have not been publicly admitted into the canon. These are of two classes: namely,

1. Those which were in existence in the time of Christ, but were not admitted by the Jews into the canon of the Old Testament, because they had no Hebrew original and were regarded as not divinely inspired. The most important of these are collected in the Apocrypha often bound up with the English Bible; but in the Septuagint and Vulgate they stand as canonical.

These apocryphal writings are ten in number: namely, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom of Solomon, Tobit, Judith, two books of the Maccabees, Song of the Three Children, Susannah, and Bell and the Dragon. Their style proves that they were a part of the Jewish-Greek literature of Alexandria, within three hundred years before Christ; and as the Septuagint Greek version of the Hebrew Bible came from the same quarter, it was often accompanied by these uninspired Greek writings, and they thus gained a general circulation. Josephus and Philo, of the first century, exclude them from the canon. The Talmud contains no trace of them; and from the various lists of the Old Testament Scriptures in the early centuries, it is clear that then as now they formed no part of the Hebrew canon. None of them are quoted or endorsed by Christ or the apostles; they were not acknowledged by the Christian fathers; and their own contents condemn them, abounding with errors and absurdities. Some of them, however, are of value for the historical information they furnish, for their moral and prudential maxims, and for the illustrations they afford of ancient life.

2. Those which were written after the time of Christ, but were not admitted by the churches into the canon of the New Testament, as not being divinely inspired. These are mostly of a legendary character. They have all been collected by Fabricius in his Codex Apoc. New Testament.

hidden, spurious, the name given to certain ancient books which found a place in the LXX. and Latin Vulgate versions of the Old Testament, and were appended to all the great translations made from them in the sixteenth century, but which have no claim to be regarded as in any sense parts of the inspired Word.

(1.) They are not once quoted by the New Testament writers, who frequently quote from the LXX. Our Lord and his apostles confirmed by their authority the ordinary Jewish canon, which was the same in all respects as we now have it.

(2.) These books were written not in Hebrew but in Greek, and during the "period of silence," from the time of Malachi, after which oracles and direct revelations from God ceased till the Christian era.

(3.) The contents of the books themselves show that they were no part of Scripture. The Old Testament Apocrypha consists of fourteen books, the chief of which are the Books of the Maccabees (q.v.), the Books of Esdras, the Book of Wisdom, the Book of Baruch, the Book of Esther, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Judith, etc.

The New Testament Apocrypha consists of a very extensive literature, which bears distinct evidences of its non-apostolic origin, and is utterly unworthy of regard.

("hidden", and so "spurious".) Applied by Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian to forged books which heretics put forward as canonical, and as possessing a secret esoteric knowledge, known only to the initiated; compare Col 2:3. The orthodox applied in scorn a term which the heretics used in honor. They are not included in the lists by Melito, bishop of Sardis, Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Jerome; the last noted as "apocryphal" the writings added in the Septuagint, I. and II. Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the sequel of Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Song of the Three Children, Story of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Manasses' Prayer, and I. and II. Maccabees. In his Prologus Galeatus, having enumerated the canonical books, he says: "whatever is beside these is to be placed in the Apocrypha, and is to be read only for edification, ... not to establish the authority of ecclesiastical doctrines."

In the face of the authority of the Hebrew church, "to whom were committed the oracles of God" (Ro 3:2), and in the face of Jerome, the author of the Vulgate, Rome's standard version of the Bible, the Council of Trent raises the Apocrypha to the same level as the inspired Old Testament Scriptures. Josephus rejects the Apocrypha; Philo never refers to it; the Lord and His apostles, though quoting the Old Testament so frequently, never quote the Apocrypha. The New Testament links itself immediately with the end of Old Testament, as if no inspired writing came between. The gospel begins at the outset with claiming to be the fulfillment of Malachi (Mal 3:1; 4:5-6; compare Mr 1:2; Lu 1:16-17). There is a lack of inherent power and majesty in the Apocrypha, as compared with canonical Scripture.

The son of Sirach (Prologue, chap. 39, Sir 7:27) claims no higher pretension than that of wisdom and learning. Compare also 1Ma 4:46; 1Ma 9:27; 1Ma 14:41 for their own confession of the inferiority in prophetic gifts of the age after, as contrasted with the age before, the canon was closed. No one claims the coming to him of "the word of Jehovah." Moreover, in the Apocrypha occur unscriptural fables, fictions, and doctrinal errors: compare Tob 6:1-8; Jdt 9:10; 2 Maccabees 2, Bel and the Dragon, the merit-earning power of alms, prayers for the dead, ere. They utterly want the progressive plan and mutual interconnection of the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures.

Historical errors, inaccuracies, and evidently fictitious stories and speeches occur. Still the apocryphal writings possess great interest as unfolding to us the workings of the Jewish mind in the long uninspired age between Malachi and Matthew. They mirror forth the transition period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the age of the heroic struggle wherein the Maccabees rescued their country and race from the persecuting fanaticism of Antiochus Epiphanes. The earliest book dates about the beginning of the third century B.C., the 2nd Book of Esdras about 80 B.C. Above all the Book of Wisdom rises to a strain among the loftiest in human productions. Its personification of wisdom as "the unspotted mirror of God's power, and the image of His goodness," the teacher of all "holy souls" in "all ages" (Wis 7:26-27), guiding and ruling God's people, foreshadows John's revelation of "the Word," the Declaration of the unseen God, the Light that lighteth every man.

Its representation of the temple as "a resemblance of the holy tabernacle" which God "has prepared from the beginning" (Wis 9:8) is sanctioned by Hebrews 8 and 9. It rises above many Jewish prejudices, vindicating God's universal love and righteousness and the spirituality of His worship; thus preparing the way for the higher gospel revelation (Wisdom 1; 2; Wis 3:1; Wis 11:23-26; Wis 12:16; Wis 13:6). The apocryphal books of New Testament times have been universally excluded from Scripture. The Epistle of Clement and the Shepherd of Hennas are among the oldest, and are genuine though uninspired; most of them are spurious, as the Apostolical Constitutions, the Gospel of James, etc.

The term 'Apocrypha' is applied to a body of literature that has come down to us in close connexion with the canonical books of the Bible, and yet is not of them. This term (Gr. apokryphos, 'hidden') seems to have been used to specify certain documents or writings that were purposely hidden from general public contact, either because of their supposed sacredness, or to retain within the precincts of a certain sect their secret wisdom and knowledge. The name was given either by those who hid the books or by those from whom they were hidden.

All such books bore, as their alleged authors, the names of notable men in Hebrew history. These names were not sufficient of themselves to carry the books over into the canonical collection of the Bible. The term applied to them as 'apocryphal,' that is, withheld from public gaze and use, was at first rather complimentary to their character. But their rejection by the Jewish Palestinian body of worshippers, as well as by the larger proportion of the early Church, gradually stamped the name 'apocryphal' as a term of reproach, indicating inferiority in content and a spurious authorship. Henceforth such books lost their early sacredness, and became embodied in a collection that remained entirely outside the Hebrew Bible, though in general found in the Septuagint and the Vulgate.

The word 'Apocrypha,' as used by Protestant Christians, signifies the books found in the Latin Vulgate as over and above those of the Hebrew OT. Jerome incorporated in his revision and translation, in the main as he found them in the Old Latin Version, certain books not found in the Hebrew canonical writings. These books had been carried over into the Old Latin from the Septuagint.

The real external differences, then, between the Protestant and Rom. Cath. Bibles to-day are to be traced to the different ideas of the Canon on the part of the Jews of Palestine, where the Hebrew Bible was on its native soil, and on the part of the Jews of Alexandria who translated that same Hebrew Bible into Greek. With this translation, and other books later called the Apocrypha, they constructed a Greek Bible now called the Septuagint (the Seventy).

In the transfer of the works from the Septuagint to the Old Latin and to the Vulgate, there is some confusion both as to their names and their order.

These so-called Apocryphal books may be roughly classified as follows:

Apoc'rypha

The name given to those Books which were attached to the MSS copies of the LXX, but which do not form a part of the canon of scripture. The term itself signifies, 'hidden,' 'secret,' 'occult;' and, as to any pretence of being a part of scripture, they must be described as 'spurious.' There are such writings connected with both the Old and the New Testament, but generally speaking the term 'Apocrypha' refers to the O.T. (for those connected with the N. Test. see APOSTOLIC FATHERS. The O.T. books are:

1 I. Esdras.

2 II. Esdras.

3 Tobit.

4 Judith.

5 Chapters of Esther, not found in the Hebrew nor Chaldee.

6 Wisdom of Solomon.

7 Jesus, son of Sirach; or Ecclesiasticus; quoted Ecclus.

8 Baruch, including the Epistle of Jeremiah.

9 Song of the Three Holy Children

10 The History of Susanna.

11 Bel and the Dragon.

12 Prayer of Manasseh.

13 I. Maccabees.

14 II. Maccabees.

The Council of Trent in A.D. 1546, professing to be guided by the Holy Spirit, declared the Apocrypha to be a part of the Holy Scripture. The above fourteen books formed part of the English Authorised Version of 1611, but are now seldom attached to the canonical books. Besides the above there are a few others, as the III., IV., and V. Maccabees, book of Enoch, etc., not regarded by any one as a part of scripture. It may be noticed

1. That the canonical books of the O.T. were written in Hebrew (except parts of Ezra and Daniel which were in Chaldee); whereas the Apocrypha has reached us only in Greek or Latin, though Jerome says some of it had been seen in Hebrew.

2. Though the Apocrypha is supposed to have been written not later than B.C. 30, the Lord never in any way alludes to any part of it; nor do any of the writers of the N.T., though both the Lord and the apostles constantly quote the canonical books.

3. The Jews did not receive the Apocrypha as any part of scripture, and to 'them were committed the oracles of God.'

4. As some of the spurious books were added to the LXX Version (the O.T. in the Greek) and to the Latin translation of the LXX, some of the early Christian writers were in doubt as to whether they should be received or not, and this uncertainty existed more or less until the before mentioned Council of Trent decided that the greater part of the Apocrypha was to be regarded as canonical. Happily at that time the Reformation had opened the eyes of many Christians to the extreme corruption of the church of Rome, and in rejecting the claims of that church they were also freed from its judgement as to the Apocryphal books.

5. The internal evidences of the human authorship of the Apocrypha ought to convince any Christian that it can form no part of holy scripture.

Expressions of the writers themselves show that they had no thought of their books being taken for scripture. There are also contradictions in them such as are common to human productions. Evil doctrines also are found therein: let one suffice: "Alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin." Tobit 12:9. The value of holy scripture as the fountain of truth is such that anything that might in any way contaminate that spring should be refused with decision and scorn. Some parts of the Apocryphal books may be true as history, but in every other respect they should be refused as spurious. Nor can it be granted that we need the judgement of the church, could a universal judgement be arrived at, as to what is to be regarded as the canon of scripture. The Bible carries its own credentials to the hearts and consciences of the saints who are willing to let its power be felt.

Apoc'rypha

(concealed, hidden).

1. Old Testament Apocrypha._The collection of books to which this term is popularly applied includes the following (the order given is that in which they stand in the English version); I. 1 Esdras; II. 2 Esdras; III. Tobit; IV. Judith; V. The rest of the chapters of the book of Esther, which are found neither in the Hebrew nor in the Chaldee; VI. The Wisdom of Solomon; VII. The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus; VII. Baruch; IX. The Song of the Three Holy Children, X. The History of Susanna; XI. The History of the destruction of Bel and the Dragon; XII. The Prayer of Manasses king of Judah; XIII. 1 Maccabee; XIV. 2 Maccabees. The primary meaning of apocrypha, "hidden, secret," seems, toward the close of the second century to have been associated with the signification "spurious," and ultimately to have settled down into the latter. The separate books of this collection are treated of in distinct articles. Their relation to the canonical books of the Old Testament is discussed under CANON.

See Canon of Scripture, The

2. New Testament Apocrypha-- (A collection of legendary and spurious Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and Epistles. They are go entirely inferior to the genuine books, so full of nonsensical and unworthy stories of Christ and the apostles, that they have never been regarded as divine, or bound up in our Bibles. It is said that Mohammed obtained his ideas of Christ entirely from these spurious gospels.--ED.)

APOCRYPHA, books not admitted into the sacred canon, being either spurious, or at least not acknowledged to be divine. The word Apocrypha is of Greek origin, and is either derived from the words ??? ??? ???????, because the books in question were removed from the crypt, chest, ark, or other receptacle in which the sacred books were deposited whose authority was never doubted, or more probably from the verb ?????????, to hide

or conceal, because they were concealed from the generality of readers, their authority not being recognised by the church, and because they are books which are destitute of proper testimonials, their original being obscure, their authors unknown, and their character either heretical or suspected. The advocates of the church of Rome, indeed, affirm that some of these books are divinely inspired; but it is easy to account for this: the apocryphal writings serve to countenance some of the corrupt practices of that church. The Protestant churches not only account those books to be apocryphal and merely human compositions which are esteemed such by the church of Rome, as the Prayer of Manasseh, the third and fourth books of Esdras, the addition at the end of Job, and the hundred and fifty-first Psalm; but also the books of Tobit, Judith, the additions to the book of Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch the Prophet, with the Epistle of Jeremiah, the Song of the Three Children, the Story of Susanna, the Story of Bel and the Dragon, and the first and second books of Maccabees. The books here enumerated are unanimously rejected by Protestants for the following reasons: