Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Loren T. Stuckenbruck
The terms “apocrypha” and “pseudepigrapha” mean, respectively, “hidden
things (books)” and “books falsely ascribed/inscribed.” However, under
the problematic headings of “Old Testament Apocrypha” and “Old Testa-
ment Pseudepigrapha” they have come to designate collections or groups
of ancient Jewish writings which were either composed during the Second
Temple period or which preserve traditions that arguably go back to that
time. Thus these designations, as conventionally used today, are not de-
scriptive and do not always reflect the way they (and the concepts underly-
ing them) were sometimes used in antiquity. It is the ancient background,
especially as now informed by the writings preserved among the Dead Sea
Scrolls, which may suggest that what “apocrypha” and “pseudepigrapha”
appropriately signify may need to be rethought. Since the contemporary
use of these terms is largely determined by developments after the Second
Temple period, the present discussion will review their use in Christian
and Jewish tradition from late antiquity through the post-Reformation
and then consider how they were being applied by some of the Jewish writ-
ers who composed them.Apocrypha
Apocrypha during and since the Reformation
and Counter-Reformation
Most commonly, the term “Apocrypha” refers to a collection of writings
that fall outside the canons of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New179EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:01 PM