A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

James Hastings • SECTION 153

Section 153

← A Dictionary of the Bible — Volume 1

1. In the New Testnment.

2. In the Eastern Cliurch-

a. Orij^nal Usage.

b. Scholarly Theory. e. Manuscripts.

d. Versions.

«. The Ijitcr Greek Churcb. 8. In the Western Church.

a. Roman.

b. Protestant.

Vdlo.

r.xx

OraiL.

Hn.

Cod. Vat. (B).

Cod. AUa. (A)k

Pent

Pent

Pent

1-6. Pen*

L • Torah ' (Law)—

Jot

Jos

Jos

6. Jos

1-4. Pent

Jg Ru

J? Ru

&

7. Jg-Ru

8. 1. 2K

U.*Nebiim'(PropheU)— a. * Fonner'

6. Jos

7. Jg S S 9 K

1-»K

1-4 K

1-4 K

9. 8. 4 K

1. 2Ch

1. 2Ch

1.2 Oh

10. 1. 2Ch

1 Kk[ = Ezt]

I El

XII

11. 1. 2 Es

2 Es(-Nehl

ZEsf^Eir+Neh]

Is

12. EstMAn

To

Psiiei]

Jer (with Bar la, Ep.

13. Job

6 ' Latter*

Jth

Pr

Jtri

14. Ps

10. Is 11 Jpf

Est [Ad. 10*-M«1

Eo

Ezk

16. Pi

Job

Ca

Dn \Ad.)

18. Eo

12. I-Jzk

Ps (ISO]

Job

Est [.Ad.'\

17. Ca

Pr

Wit

To

18. -XI!

Eo

Sir

Jth

10. Is

IIL *Eethub[m* (Ho^o-

Ca

Est lAd.t

1 I'.l

20. Jer Bar I« J^ Jtr

prapha)—

Wis

Jth

2 Es[°Ezr-t-Neh]

21. Ezk

14. Ps

Sir

To

xa

1. 2 Hat

22. Da[Ad.r]

16. Pr

16. Job

Jer (L» Barl

Is

Ps [lSlandl4Cantlcle»,

i.«. 12 historical, 6

17. Ca -V

Elk

Jer

of which one Is Pr.

noetipjil, and 5 prophet- ical books. The number

18. Hu

Dn [Ad. 8»«M Thrte

Bar

J/anfl

19. La y-MeffUloth'

l3Siu

La

Job

of the Heb. Can. is

20. Ec 1

14 Bet]

Ep. Jm

Pr

reduced by Joining Ru to Jg and La to Jer.

21. Est j

ZII(<.«. Minor Prophets]

Ezk

Eo

22. I>n

X.tMa4,

Dn \Ad.\

Ca

23. Ezr-Neh

24. Ch

After the NT, as an Appendix, in small type and wivh new po^ng :

•The Ad. Ett are In

their original places, vir.. lO* 111 after IW:

Sir

After the NT stood

thin order, which ia that

Pr. Man

11> 12« before ll ; 131-7

originally,

of the pritiUMi edcj., art-

iEidr[.lEt]

otter 3i»; 13*ia 141 1»

Psalms op Solouoi.

found in the case of Ihc

t Kidr l-i J^Ml.

15 ii« after tiTj 181W

attwBU

t 9 are from OT. The others — M annijieat, Jiune dijnirtit, Unif- dictua, and the Morning Hymn.

mudic lisU, which niny bo more ori^ntml. But the threo diviiiionB and the contents of «aoh

remain flxcd.

It ia to be noticed that of our A., 1 and 2 Es and Pr. Man are regarded also by Rome an a^. Of |

•In thli artifle Apocrypha (A.) dgnifleB tMs collr-f'tlon : Aporr}iphii (A.) the txKtkji originally to callod ; apocrjphiU (t^) It uoeu in eilhor eoim

112

APOCRYPHA

APOCRYPHA

1. THE WORD 'APOCRYPHA.'— The word ir6Kpv<pos, meaning ' hidden,' was no doubt at first applied to books in quite a literal sense, as the designation, whether by those who hid them or by those from whom they were hidden, of books kept from the public. The hiding of a book was easy when copies were few. It might be done upon two opposite grounds. An exclusive sect might hide its sacred books in order to keep from outsiders the secret laws or wisdom which they contained ; or I he religious authorities of a community might hide books judged by them to be useless or harm- ful. The two grounds might indeed approach each other in the case of books jud^'ed unfit for public use, not because of the error, but because of the depth and difficulty of their contents. Indeed, a book judged wholly erroneous and harmful we should expect the authorities to destroy rather than to hide. A certain value, or at least a certain doubt, should naturally be attached to books hidden in this sense, wnile their peculiar value is the reason for their being hidden in the former — which is, in all probability, the more original sense of the Greek word.

From the place of secret books in Judaism and in Christianity we may therefore hope to gain a knowledge of the original sense ancl use of the word ; and we shall find its first and proper applica- tion to be, not to the books of our A., but to the (chiefly apocalyptical) literature commonly desig- nated Pseudejnijrajj/ui.

1. The Hidden Books of Judaism.— Esoteric doctrines and books do not belong properly to the Isr. religion. Their home is in beatlienism, from which, however, they gained a foothold from time to time in Judaism. The occult lore connected with sorcery and magic, lurked beneath the surface of old Israel's religiou. ife, but was condemned by law and prophets (Dt iS™-, Lv 19^', Is 8" 19^ etc.). No priestly religion, indeed, can be without a partly esoteric priestly tradition respecting rites, their form, and perhaps their meaning. But it was a characteristic of Judaism that it was based upon a priestly law made public and openly adopted by the people (Neh 8-10). Yet Judaism did not escape from the charm which mystery exerts over the human mind. It was esp. in the after de- velopment's of OT wisdom literature under Hellenic influence, on the one side, and of OT pro- phetic literature, under Pers. and Bab. influence, on the other, that the idea of the superior religious value of hidden things, mysteriously disclosed to the favoured few, took possession of the Jewish mind. Even Jesus, son of Sirach, the Palestinian, finds it the chief task of the wise man to discover the 'apocrypha, ' the hidden things, of wisdom and of God ( 14»> 39»- '), and thinks that the hidden things of the world are greater than the manifest (43'"). ' Apoc- rypha' was for him a word of honour (yet see 3i"-» and 24»-»<). But it was esp. in Hel. circles that the love of hidden things was cultivated. Philo presents the results of his deepest study and reflexion, and of his highest insight, in the form of an exposition of the Pent., making of this a hidden book, which only the initiated could understand.

Public-domain historical reference work (1898–1905); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.

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