Holy Bible: The Apocrypha

by Anonymous

The full NRSV Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament in a separate hardback volume. Includes helpful text sub-headings.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Reference, History

254 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A number of additional books once canonised as part of the Bible. Most of them are retained only by the Catholic church, a few at the end accepted only by Eastern Orthodox. All of them offering, at the very least, further insight into the Hebrew culture during the last two centuries before Christ. Given their apocryphal nature, one can't help feeling encouraged to take them with a grain of salt. They are, however, there for the reading, and one can take their own position in regards to their authenticity. As it stands, I as a Catholic accept most of them anyway - I had Tobit used in my wedding - and even with the books the Catholic church rejects, I greatly enjoyed reading them anyway. Prayer of Manasseh was a beautiful prayer of repentance, a desperate reach for God's forgiveness. Esdras, especially the second book, was fascinating and scary with its prophetic revelations of judgement and destruction. All in all, wherever these books sit in regards to the truth - (and I am personally inclined to generally take all of them, even if just for their themes and overall message) - they make for further soul-confronting reflections that were equally as troubling and they were inspiring and profound.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had always heard that the Apocrypha read differently from the Bible, in that the tone of the book was completely different. I can now verify that this is true. That being said, it is a great source of information and learning, and there are very many parts, particularly in "The Wisdom of Solomon" which are uplifting as well.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very interesting. To be honest, I'm not sure I could really tell the difference between much of this and the Old Testament (apart from perhaps the more 'modern' Maccabees books). There were major areas of text that were very resonant with passages in the Gospels and New Testament which suggests to me that those authors were very familiar with these, in addition to the OT. The very last book is pretty gruesome and horrific (multiple martyrdoms of jews refusing to eat pork); it made me think about my occassional lapses of vegetarianism due to bacon sandwiches in a new way...

[Rick Boyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although not considered to be Holy Writ by those of us in the Protestant fold, the Apocrypha is nevertheless an important witness to the culture, thought, theology, and social life of the people of Israel during roughly the two centuries before the birth of Jesus. As such, it is an extremely valuable resource for helping us to understand the way the people of ancient Israel understood God, and God's plans for His people. Or, to put it another way, a familiarity with the Apocryphal writings can help us understand a bit better the cultural and theological context of the canonical biblical writings, and especially the New Testament. For a pastor like me, this is very helpful when preparing sermons or Bible studies.

A good example of what I mean can be seen in First and Second Maccabees. In both of these books, multiple mentions are made of the current (ca. 200-150 BC) Jewish understanding of resurrection. Knowing what Jewish people believed about resurrection in the years leading up to the birth of Jesus is very important to our understanding of how the earliest apostolic witnesses of Jesus' resurrection viewed it, thought about it, and interpreted it. So, while we Protestants may not consider the Apocrypha to be "The Word of God," it can certainly help us in our quest to understand "The Word of God" to the best of our ability.

If you've never read the Apocrypha, I encourage you to take a look at it. It's interesting, inspiring, and helpful to our overall understanding of the Bible.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I had read selections from the Apocrypha in the past, I had never gone through it from start to finish. It gave me an interesting new perspective on the Bible and the debate over the cannon. While there are some obvious similarities, there are also some significant differences. If you want to know what they are, you will have to read it for yourself! As far as I can tell, the translation was good so if you want to tackle the Apocrypha, this is as good a place as any to start.

[Citrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I haven't read this in full yet I've read a good portion of it .
Tobit , Judith , Maccabees , 2 Esdras , Susanna , Bel and the Dragon
Great read , I loved the visual image of war elephants . Excellent edition to my book collection . I'm sure I will be referencing it frequently .

[Erin]

Moved to my abandoned shelf. Read 1 Maccabees, but book club was cancelled, so it'll come back up later.

[Daniel Wright]

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments: New Revised Standard Version