It is a striking fact that while official Judaism rejected these hidden books, and declared for tlie exclusive recognition of the 24 books of the Canon, it yet proceeded to claim for itself the possession of an oral law which Moses delivered to Joshua when he gave the Pent, openly to Israel, and which passed on through the hands of the elders, the prophets, the men of the Great Synagogue, to an unbroken succession of scribes (Pirke Aboth), until it came to writing in the Mishna, and then in ',he Talmud. By the theory of a secret tradition the scribes sought to give their law the authority of MoseB, and yet account for its late appearance.
2. The Words 'Genuzim' and ' uizonim.' — The designation of these hidden books in II eb. we do not know. A Heb. synonym for irbKpiKf^oi is O'njj ; but this word and the verb ui are used in theTalm., not of thesecret books just described, bnt nsually of a hiding, by the authorities, of books judged unfit for pulilic use. A possible exception is the report<;d 'hiding' by Hezekiah of a book of medical lore, in order that the sick might call rather upon God (Mishna Pesach iv. 9). But It was commonly used with reference to some VOL. I.— 8
book of the Canon. Thus a worn-out roll of a sacred scripture was ' hidden,' perhaps because, though unhtted for use in the synagogue, it wn^ yet sacred and not to be destroyed (Mishna Sabli. IX. 6 ; Sanh. x. 6). But the word was commonly used in reference to the question wliether some book should be withdra^vn from the class of sacred Scriptures. Thus there were Ivabbis who wished to 'hide' Pr, because of its contradiit- tions ; Ca, because of its seculr.r character ; Ec, because of its heresies. But tL.j objections were in every instance met. The case of Ksc was more serious, and it is not improbable that it was put in the class of genuzim for a time among certain circles, though we have only the evidence of sonic Christian lists of the Canon, which claim (or secnii to follow the instructions of Jews (esp. Melito. Sue below).
If there existed at any time a class of books called genuzim, the Talmudic use of the woul would lead us to expect that it would contain the books nearest to the Canon in authority oi common esteem: books which once stood within the circle of sacred writings, or made a fair claim to stand there ; in other words, books like tlie antilegomena of early Christian use. If there weie such a class, Sir and 1 Mac, if not To and Jtli, should stand in it ; but the word is never applied to these books in extant writings. This is not, in- deed, a proof that it was not so used j and the testi- mony of Origen suggests that it was. He says that the Jews had bidden Sus and other books from the people, while Jth and To, they ha*! told him, they did not possess even among their hidden books, or apocrypha (Ep. ad A/ric).
For writings that stood wholly outside of the circle of sacred books, esp. for the books of heretics such as the Samaritans, the Sadducees, and Chris tians (DT? "!?P), the Rabbis had another name, hizonim (D'j'isn d-!;t)> I't. 'external' or 'outsi.lu' books. 'The danger to Judaism of the reailing of these books led Akiba, who had himself been attracted by them, to prohibit thuir use. ' Who- ever reads in the sepnnrim hizunim has no part in the world to come. Books, on the other hand, like Sir and other such, which were composed after the age of the prophets had been closed, may be read just as one reads a letter.' * Sir, then, and otner such books, are not hizonim in Akiba's view, the correctness of which is evident from the free use of Sir by Rabbis in Pal. for a century and a half after Akiba, and in Babylon still later But it appears that the maintenance of a middle class of txioks between sacred and profane involved dangers, and it was finally decided that ' he who reads a verse which is not out of the 24 books of sacred scripture, his oll'enoe is as if he had read in the sepkarim hizonim' (Midr. r. Num. S 14, and at Koheleth 12'^ cf. Jer. Sabb. 16). It is possible that this practical transfer of books like Sir into the class of hizonim may have ob- scured the evidence of their having once been in the cla-ss of ijenuzim.
3. The Bidden Books op Christianity and THE Word ' ArocRvriiA.' — Christianity was at its beginning, even less than Judaism, a religion of mysteries, to be hidden by the few from the nuiny. Christ's words in Lk 10", Mt ll" ('hidden' from the wise, revealed to babes), were a diuct contrailiction of esoteric religion. If there aic aiiocrj'plia, hidden things, they ore to be made known (Mk 4", Lk 8", cf. Mt 13").
In Christ the hidden wisdom of God had become manifest, and the mysteries of the coming of His
• For this renderinff by Qrmetx of ft corrupt t«xt (.Sanh. x. 1. anil Ihc Bab. and Jtr. Talm.), ve Ilubl. Canon and Trzt of (IT. p. 8; and cf. HamburKPr, Ural-Encye. ii. 6Sff. Tbo Jer. Taltn \;i\vH Sirach aH an illustration of tlio h^onim.