The Apocrypha are a collection of books that were written around the same time as the Hebrew Bible. At some point, they were excluded by Rabbinic Councils as not being part of the accepted canon of sacred writings. Some of the books are actually accepted as part of the “Old Testament” by the Roman Catholic Church (we don’t call it the Old Testament, since we don’t recognize the New one as a valid sacred text – though I feel I ought to read it at some point). There’s not even 100% agreement on what books are included, and various lists cover anywhere from eleven to a couple of dozen texts, though some of that is just the way the books are divided (like Vol. 1, 2, 3… sometimes being treated as a single book). As such, there is not set order to these and I’m not at all sure where this will go, but I’m going there.
The Book of Tobit is an apocryphal story of two families living in Assyrian exile during the 8th century BCE, likely composed between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE in Hebrew or Aramaic. It was rejected as part of the canon in the 2nd century CE under the direction of Rabbi Akiva. It tells of a righteous man named Tobit (Tobi), his son Tobiyah, and a woman named Sarah, whom Tobiyah ultimately marries, focusing on the characters’ prayer, good deeds, and the miraculous divine intervention they experience. Traces of the work’s influence are evident in later texts like the Books of Job and Solomon; Midrash Bereishit Rabbah includes a truncated Aramaic version of Tobit, and one medieval manuscript suggests that at least in some medieval communities, the work was publicly read on the holiday of Shavuot.
The Book of Judith is a dramatic tale set during an imagined Assyrian siege of the Jewish town of Bethulia. The Assyrian general Holofernes, under orders from King Nebuchadnezzar, threatens to destroy the town. Judith, a devout and beautiful widow, devises a bold plan: she infiltrates the enemy camp, charms Holofernes, and ultimately beheads him while he sleeps. Her act of bravery inspires the Israelites to launch a counterattack, routing the Assyrian forces and securing their freedom. The narrative blends themes of faith, courage, and divine intervention, with Judith portrayed as a symbol of pious resistance and female heroism. Despite its vivid storytelling, the Book of Judith is considered apocryphal because it was excluded from the Hebrew Bible and Protestant canon. It is included in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures) and accepted in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Scholars have long questioned its historical accuracy—Nebuchadnezzar is misidentified as king of Assyria rather than Babylon, and the town of Bethulia is unknown outside the text. These anachronisms, along with its literary style and theological themes, suggest it was written as a fictionalized moral tale rather than a historical account, likely composed in the second or early first century BCE.
Additions to the Book of Esther
A series of six extended writings to the original Book of Esther. These were originally written in Greek, not Hebrew, and are numbered as chapters 11-16 (or sometimes as additions A-F), placing them after the canonized ten chapters of the book. Key differences from the original: God is mentioned 50-some times in the additions but was never mentioned in the Hebrew chapters; the Jews are portrayed as deeply religious, while in the original, they are cast as an ethnic minority, not a religious one; Esther is portrayed as keeping kosher, which she wasn’t in the original; she’s portrayed as a weak, helpless woman rather than strong and confident, and, she’s no longer the heroine of the story, but simply a bit player in God’s heroic triumph.
Set in the period of roughly 170-134BCE, and written, anonymously, around 100BCE, the first book of the Maccabees details the decree against the practice of Judaism by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire (Syrian Greeks), sparking a rebellion in the Hasmonean kingdom, which at the time encompassed the area known as Judea. The rebellion is launched by one Mattathias and his five sons, one of whom, Judah, or Judas, takes the leadership role in the revolt. The book details the successes and failures of the Maccabee (“Hammer”) rebellion, Judah’s death, and the eventual success in freeing Judea. One of the other brothers, Simon, becomes the High Priest of the Jewish people.
This is not a continuation of Maccabees 1, but rather the last remaining book of a five-volume set, summarizing the contents of the previous four volumes (which have never been found). They were written in Greek, in Egypt, during the period 153-133 BCE. The book details the history of what has become the Chanukah story (unlike Maccabees 1 – related in theme, but not in context – but a very different story from the one we were taught). It focuses on religious and supernatural themes (I’m guessing, without having read it yet, that we’re going to get to things like the eight day oil lamp miracle), and apparently martyrdom will play a big part.
Wisdom of Solomon (a.k.a. Book of Wisdom)
Think of the Wisdom of Solomon as a mash‑up between a sermon, a philosophy lecture, and a motivational TED Talk delivered by someone who really wants you to know that wisdom is the ultimate life hack. It opens with a warning to rulers: play fair or get wrecked. Then Solomon himself steps in, waxing poetic about how wisdom is basically the divine Wi‑Fi signal that keeps him connected to God’s cosmic operating system. The final act is a retelling of the Exodus, where the Egyptians get dunked on repeatedly while Israel struts out of bondage like the heroes of a revenge flick. Wisdom here isn’t just “be smart”; it’s a radiant, feminine force that makes the righteous glow and the wicked choke on their own hubris.
The Book of Ben Sira (a.k.a. Sirach – his surname in Greek, or Ecclesiasticus in the Christian apocryphal order) is a text from roughly 180 BCE, written in Hebrew by a Jerusalem sage named Shimon ben Sira, who was living in Alexandria. Later, the book was translated into Greek by his grandson (for centuries, only the Greek version was known, a copy of the Hebrew version was not found until the 1800s, in a library in Cairo). The region was under Greek control, and Ben Sira wanted to reaffirm Jewish wisdom and traditions in the face of encroaching assimilation. As such, it’s considered a cultural touchstone, a guide for living traditionally while under foreign rule. The first 25 of 51 chapters follow on the previous book Wisdom of Solomon, which is part of why it is included at this point in the apocryphal order. It personifies the Torah as Wisdom, and cements the Torah’s place as the centerpiece of Judaism. Most of the rest of the book is then devoted to ethical guidance, similar to Proverbs, but with Sira taking authorship of the work. The final chapters are paeans to various Jewish heroes, and, of course, God.
The Book of Jubilees is an apocryphal retelling of events from the Books of Genesis and Exodus, presented as an angel’s revelation to Moses as Moses ascends Mount Sinai. Composed in the 2nd century BCE, it divides history into periods of 49 years (hence the title “Jubilees,” which in a biblical context refers to the end of a 49 year period) and provides dates for biblical events. While parts of the book are in line with biblical narrative, much of it contains additions, gaps, or alternative explanations to biblical stories and laws.
The Letter of Aristeas is a Hellenistic Jewish text, probably from the 2nd–3rd century BCE, that narrates the legendary origins of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Torah. Imagine Judaism hiring a Hellenistic spin doctor: that’s Aristeas (a literary pseudonym, ostensibly a courtier in Ptolemy’s court, but more likely an Alexandrian Jew who wanted to make Judaism acceptable in Greek social and political circles). He stages the Septuagint’s birth as a miracle of translation, seventy-two scholars producing identical texts. Beneath the miracle, the letter is a sales pitch – Judaism as rational, ethical, and library-worthy. It’s less about history than about branding: Torah as timeless wisdom, fit for the shelves of Alexandria and the minds of philosophers. The letter was consigned to the Jewish apocrypha because it was judged pseudepigraphal (falsely attributed to an important figure), legendary rather than historical, and primarily apologetic in nature, not to transmit divine revelation.