The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Much Apocryphal Literature Produced

After having outlined some of the important events and developments during the postexilic period of Jewish history, we will readily understand that these three or four centuries so filled with action and drama could not represent a literary vacuum. It would have been most unusual if during such a span of time no religious or other literature had been produced by the Jews. Especially after Judaism had come in contact with the Hellenistic culture and philosophy there must have been a reaction, either positive or negative, in accepting or rejecting these ideas, else the nation would have been spiritually dead. That, of course, was not the case. Therefore, we find during this period a rich and widely divergent literature—historical and legendary, didactic and homiletic, mystic and apocalyptic. PFF1 72.3

1. SLIPPED INTO OLD TESTAMENT CANON

Some of these works became so commonly known and accepted that, when the sacred writings were translated into Greek, they slipped in as canonical with the greatest ease, and came to form an integral part of the Septuagint and later of the Vulgate. Certain of these later writings also found entrance into the book of Daniel. They are: the Prayer of Asarias, and the Song of the Three Holy Children, which are interpolated in chapter 3 between verses 23 and 24. The former is a prayer which Asarias (Azariah) is supposed to have offered in the midst of the flames of the fiery furnace, and the latter is a hymn of strength, fortitude, and praise which the three young men allegedly sang during their fearful trial. PFF1 73.1

A further addition to Daniel is the History of Susanna, or, as it is also called, the judgment of Daniel, showing the wisdom of Daniel in the conviction of the real culprits who had succeeded in condemning an innocent victim. This is added as chapter 13. And chapter 14, generally referred to as Bel and the Dragon, comprises two stories which show, with a touch of mockery, the futility of idol worship as well as the fantastic element of Babylonian legend in Daniel’s slaying such a mythical creature as Bel’s dragon. PFF1 73.2

2. THE TERM APOCRYPHA IN ITS CHANGING APPLICATION

These additions to Daniel, along with a number of other books—First and Second Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the Rest of Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch, the Epistle of Jeremy, the Prayer of Manassas, and the First and Second Maccabees—are, in Protestant circles, called the Apocrypha, denoting therewith the collection of religious writings which the Septuagint and the Vulgate contain in addition to the books constituting the Jewish canon which forms the accepted Protestant canon of today. PFF1 73.3

The word apocryphal carries with it a kind of depreciating flavor, which was not implied in the original meaning of the Greek word dxbxQvcpoS. It means “hidden,” or “concealed,” as regards a material object. In the Hellenistic period it took on the meaning of something “hidden away from human knowledge.” In the patristic writings it came to be applied to Jewish and Christian writings containing secret knowledge about the future, intelligible only to an initiated group, so that the meaning became equivalent to “esoteric,” and was applied mostly to apocalyptic literature. PFF1 74.1

Originally Christianity had nothing corresponding to the idea of a doctrine for the initiated, or a literature for a select few. This was an idea which entered through Greek philosophy, and helped to spread Gnosticism in the rank and file of the early Christian church. These Gnostics were, in turn, deeply influenced by Persian and Babylonian mysticism. PFF1 74.2

The next step in the development was to designate as apocryphal those books which did not receive the recognition of the churches in general. That is, they became known as noncanonical. Such was the meaning of the word as used by Irenaeus, as well as Tetullian. But both meant by “apocrypha” what are now called the “pseudepigrapha,” largely the apocalyptic writings which circulated in the church (see chapters 8 and 10), not the Old Testament Apocrypha proper as printed in Bibles today. PFF1 74.3

The assembling of the writings of the Apocrypha into a separate collection was due in large measure to the critical work of Jerome, who separated many of the Apocryphal additions from their original context because he suspected their genuineness. Through the Protestant Reformation this term finally came to stand for the books listed at the beginning of this section. ⁷ PFF1 74.4

These books which we designate as “Apocryphal” in Protestant circles, are fully accepted in the Greek church at present, and with some reservations in the Latin church. They are an integral part of the Septuagint. Besides these writings there are known to be a large number of other so—called apocalyptic writings which were not accepted by the translators of the Septuagint, as well as pseudepigraphic writings, in which the name of a well—known figure of the past had been adopted to cover the authorship of a later writer. Neither were these ever accepted. PFF1 74.5

3. SEPTUAGINT IS FIRST TRANSLATION FROM HEBREW

The Septuagint is the most ancient translation of the Old Testament. It is the earliest version of the Old Testament that we possess, made about a millennium earlier—and its oldest surviving manuscripts are several centuries earlier—than the earliest (ninth century) Hebrew manuscript known until recently. ⁸ It was the first attempt to reproduce the Hebrew Scripture in another tongue. The legendary view that it was made by seventy or seventy—two priests who, in separate cells, translated all the books of the Old Testament and that when their completed translations were compared they were all alike, of course has to be discarded. PFF1 75.1

The commonly accepted view at present is that during the last two or three centuries B.C. the Jews had settled in great numbers in Egypt. By adopting Greek as the lingua franca they ceased to understand the Hebrew, and were in danger of forgetting the law. Therefore it seems quite natural that some men, zealous for the law, should have undertaken to compile a translation of the Pentateuch. And after a certain period the Prophets and Hagiographa were likewise translated. Just when the work of translation started and when it was completed, is hard to ascertain. In general, it is believed the Hexateuch may be placed in the third century B.C., the Prophets mainly in the second century B.C., and the Writings largely in the second and first centuries B.C. ⁹ PFF1 75.2