The Apocrypha: The Lutheran Edition with Notes

by Concordia Publishing House

Rediscover a great biblical and literary classic.

For more than 100 years, the Apocrypha has been left out of English versions of the Bible. Concordia Publishing House is proud to announce the 2012 release of the first and only ESV edition of the Apocrypha with notes and annotations by Lutherans.



Described by Martin Luther as useful texts to read, but not divinely inspired, the Apocrypha allows Lutherans to look back at their heritage and see the Bible as our forefathers would have. Furthermore, the texts of the Apocrypha are essential reading for filling in the 400-year gap between the Old and New Testaments.



A key resource for understanding the New Testament's background, Concordia's The Apocrypha will include notes, maps, charts, illustrations, introductions to the books, and an extensive set of articles that will provide guidance to those who are studying ancient literatures such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.



This Study Bible-style treatment of the Apocrypha is certain to be the most extensive, popular edition available; especially to those eager to study the unique Lutheran perspective on these books and the time between the testaments.





Features of The Apocrypha



ESV text



Lutheran notes



Maps



Charts



Illustrations



Book introductions



Helpful articles



Free Promo Tools



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Bulletin Insert

Genres: Christian, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Church History, History

519 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[David C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Well worth the effort. The apocryphal texts are clearly different and inferior to inspired scripture. Excellent edition. Three stars for the Apocrypha itself. Five stars for the edition.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to deviate from my usual review format on this one and give some brief thoughts on most of the books of The Apocrypha instead, followed by a few closing thoughts.

1 and 2 Esdras did not stick with me at all. I should have taken notes while I was reading (a lesson I quickly took to heart) because by the end of it, I hadn't retained anything and had zero desire to go back and read it a second time.

Tobit and Judith felt more like stories to me. I had a difficult time investing in either of them.

Old Greek Esther (the remaining chapters of the book of Esther) was interesting to ponder, especially when read following the book of Esther found in the Bible.

Wisdom of Solomon was my favorite. It felt the most uplifting of the books to me.

I wanted to like Ecclesiasticus, but it was like an angry version of Proverbs.

Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah - struggled with this a bit, similar to struggles with reading the book of Jeremiah in the Bible.

Song of the Three Holy Children - This was an interesting addition to what I already knew of their stories from the Bible.

I liked both Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon. There were good lessons within both books.

I found The Prayer of Manasseh to be good food for thought in praying a prayer of repentance.

1 and 2 Maccabees filled in a lot of the gaps between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, providing some historical context.

There was a lot to take in. It took me years to wade through it, off and on. I found it especially helpful to read it alongside Study Guide to the Apocrypha . I am not sure I would have known how to interpret or compare the books of The Apocrypha to the Bible on my own. In fact, initially, I tried to, but found that I was struggling to make heads or tails of what I was really reading. I strongly recommend getting your hands on some sort of companion study guide for taking this on. Though it took me considerable time to work my way through, I am glad that I persisted. Even as a child, the gap in time between the Old and New Testaments felt like a enormous question mark. One of the best parts of this edition is the in-depth history lessons that allowed me to get a context for what was going on in the rest of the world, beyond the scope of The Apocrypha and the Bible as well. I finally feel like I at least have some historical filler, even if it is not Divinely inspired, and that I have had the opportunity to hone my skills at discerning when a text with theological implications is at odds with Holy Scripture.

[Jordan McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a helpful volume that sheds light on the period between the Old and New Testaments and the thought of the people of God during that time. The notes and articles that supplement the actual apocryphal books are gold.

[Seth Kasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for 2 reasons. 1) Overall, a great resource. 2) The volume has an inherently anti-canon status for the apocrypha. This is the standard position in modern Lutheranism, but it doesn't align in the strictest sense with how Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, or Gerhard utilize the apocrypha in their arguments, generally freely citing it as an authority, despite not recognizing it as canonical. This bumps it down in my opinion as somewhat "modernist." 3) Doesn't include commentary on 3-4 Maccabees or 1-2 Esdras or Psalm 151, which would have been nice given that these books have by far the fewest Christian commentaries in history, and it would have been nice to hear the thoughts of our well-studied exegetes and historians on these books.

[Pete Jurchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an honest and respectful treatment of a book of which most Protestant Christians are clueless but should know well.

[Barbara Ruuska · Rating 3 out of 5]

True confession, I only finished it through page 258 - The Prayer of Manasseh 1. Martin Luther didn't consider it worthwhile to read the remaining books so we only read about half of the entire book. The historical details of the time between testaments was very informative. Also some of the appendices were interesting.

I now know more about the books in the Apocrypha and don't consider them to be more than an interesting read. In my opinion they are certainly not scripture and should not be included in the Bible.

[Mark Gaschler · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be clear, I read an RSV translation that I couldn't find on Goodreads. But I also own a copy of the Lutheran edition, so just mark this as a review of the apocrypha.

I keep seeing ads for a site that's supposed to edit movies and television shows to remove the sex and violence, and I wonder what the people who run those sites make of Judith cutting off a man's head (if they weren't already offended by me reading Judith). At some point, I'm going to have write something about violence in the Bible. Just not today.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested and read it, and have that off my bucket list. Little profit or benefit. Some were interesting, but there was quite a bit of chaff. Unfortunately, the Bible I'm reading through this year also has the apocrypha so I may have to go through this again. If you read only one book this year - I'd advise to keep going!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting in that I've never read the Apocrypha before. The books themselves are somewhat interesting, some more than others, and should be read as an interesting book of the Jewish people between testaments. Many of the stories are historical fiction.

The most interesting part of the book is the notes and the appendixes that come with the material. I found myself skipping ahead to read the notes, look at maps, and read the appendixes.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some apocryphal books were easier to read than others. The study notes at the bottom of the page were quite helpful. Not gonna lie, I skimmed the last 100 pages or so. Lots of extra resources in here- maps, study outline/timeline, church fathers’ writings on the specific books, info on ancient biblical historians and ancient biblical writings.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this "in-between bible" literally between old and new testaments.