iv. U.SE OF THE APOCRYPH.A. IN THE GO-SPELS
AND THE Church.— Our Apocr., which consists of Jewish writings contained in the Vulg. but not found in the Hebrew OT, rests primarily on the LXX, and that was the version of the OT com- monly used by the Greek-speaking Jews in the times of the Apostles, and subsequently by the Christians. Being thus the Scriptures in the hands of the NT writers, the LXX introduced the Apocr. to them together with the books of our OT. But most of the NT writers knew the Hebrew Bible. This is evident in the case of St. Paul, St. John, and St. Matthew. The only certain excep- tion is the author of Hebrews, to whom probably we should add St. Luke; and it is reasonable. to suppose that these two men, being the most scholarly NT writers, were not unacquainted with the limits of the Palestinian Canon. No NT writer names any book of the Apocr., nor is there any direct quotation from one of these books in the NT. Phrases from some of them indicate, how- ever, that these books were used by the writers in whom they occur, although there is no evidence that they regarded them as authoritative. On the other hand, 2 Esdras borrows from the NT, especially from the Apocalypse. 2 Es 8' is an echo of Mt 20'^. Tlie only books of our Apocr. to which reference can be manifestly traced in the NT are the works of Wisdom literature, Wisdom and Sirach, e;-pecially the former ; and the NT writers who most evidently make allusion to phrases in those books are St. Paul, St. James, and the autlior of Hebrews. Since these writers are be- yond the scope of this Dictionary, the inquirer IS referred to DB articles, ' Wisdom,' ' Sirach,' ' Apocrypha,' and those on the various NT books.
Coming to the special subject of the present volume, we note that Jesus Christ never names or distinctly cites any of the books of the Apocr., nor are any of them mentioned or directly quoted by any of the Evangelists. Nevertheless there seem to be several reminiscences of Wisdom and Sirach, if not direct allusions to those books in the Gospels.
Wis 3' has been connected with Mt 13« ; but the Gospel phrase can be better derived from Dn 123, for in both cases the same verb is used — txi^u^^urM, while in Wis. the verb is itct>.ufA^tua-i¥. Wis 33 'Thev shall judire(v"0''<r'*) the nations' may be alluded to in Mt 1928 • judging («^,.«.tb) the twelve tribes of Israel ' : and, if so, the chan'^-e is in accordance «ith our Lord's uioditicatious of Jewish Messianic expectations, shoniug
APOCRYPHA
APOSTLES
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that the judgment which the Jews reserved for Gentiles was to come upon Israel. Possibly Wis 44 is alluded to in Mt 7i9. But Wis 91 (0 mmit! TO, criircc U \iyu nu) may be more than antici- pation of Jn 13 ; it may have su^jgested the idea in the Gospel, though the entirely different lanjiuage (toc^t* Si' ctiiou iytviTo) with reference to the function of the Log:os in creation excludes the notion of actual quotation. Wis 15» ' when he is required (kftcLiTViOiis) to render back the soul (t>;j '4'wxiiV) which was lent him' is suggested by Lk 12™ ' this nip:ht is thy soul (ri,, •i,uxn<i nv) required (iT«iToD»-i«) of thee.' Perhaps ' the darkness that should afterwards receive them ' (Wis 1721) suggested our Lord's image of ' outer darkness ' (Mt 812) as the fate of the lost ; but the idea is too general to make any connexion evident. On the other hand, Mt 1241- ■12 should not be cited as a reference to Wis 416 ; nor Lk 12"- « for Wis 68 ; nor Jn 7" for Wis 612 ; nor Mt 2634 for Wis 98 ; nor Mt 4-' for Wis 1626. The last instance is a declared quotation from the OT, and the other cases are too vague to allow of any identification.
Sir 215 ' They that love {a.yx.TuvTK) him will keep {rripr^eouiriv) his ways' may well have suggested the language in Jn 1423 ' If a man love {U-yx-rS.) me he will keep (tti^ w:;) my word." Sir 44 'Turn not away (fj-vi xrorrpi-^'^JO thy face from a poor man ' suggests to us Mt 6^2 ' From him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away (uh x-rcfrrpxifii;).' Sir 714 ' Repeat not thy words in thy prayer' suggests Mt 6T, but here the Greek is very different ; Sir lOi* ' The Lord cast down the thrones of rulers, and set the meek in their stead,' is probably the source of Lk 1=2, which is nearer to it than to Job 6" or Ps 14'?6, especially in the use of the word ' thrones.' Possibly Sir 1119 suggested Lk 12" ; Sir 121 has been associated with Mt 76, it is more likely to have suggested Diclache 1 ; Sir 1921 is too general and obvious to have suggested Jit 2129, which is more definite and specific ; Sir 21" ' He that kcepeth the law be- cometh master of the interest thereof ' is a fine anticipation of Jn 7I" ; Sir -239 anticipates our Lord's rebuke of swearing (Jit 533. 34)_ but is less specific ; the metaphor of the vine in Jn ISif- is not to be referred to Sir 241', it is more likely to have been