Clementine Bible published in 1592.) Since Sixtus of Sienna (1566), many
Roman Catholic scholars have referred to Old Testament writings not in-
cluded in the Jewish Hebrew Bible as “Deuterocanonical,” a term that is
meant not so much to imply their secondary or inferior status as rather to
acknowledge that their canonicity had not been formalized by ecclesiasti-
cal authorities until a more recent time.Apocrypha in Orthodox Traditions
It is important to remember that the term “Apocrypha,” while playing an
important role in Protestantism, has been of only little significance in
other traditions. In this respect, we may draw attention to eastern Ortho-
dox confessions, such as the Greek, Russian, Syriac, and Ethiopic churches,
which have defined their biblical canons in a way that includes some of the
“Apocrypha” and, indeed, even further writings (which vary in each tradi-
tion). Each of these ecclesiastical traditions includes a core of these writ-
ings within their Bible, while the determination of what constitutes Scrip-
ture as a whole varies, depending on factors such as the form and shape of
traditions received into their respective languages, use in liturgy, other is-
sues in emerging self-definition, and the understanding of “canon.”
Among the Orthodox traditions, some thirteen writings regarded by
the Council of Trent as “Deuterocanonical” have acquired some form of
biblical status. While five of these appear as material attached to the end of
other books (Psalm 151, Letter of Jeremiah [to Baruch], Additions to Es-
ther, and Additions to Daniel in Prayer of Azariah, Song of the Three
Young Men, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon), the remaining seven have
been transmitted as free-standing works (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solo-
mon, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, and Baruch).
In the Greek Orthodox Church, after some debate, these writings were
labeled as “Deuterocanonical” during the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672;
however, they are more often referred to as “things which are read” (Gr.
anagignZskomena). Not found in the Hebrew Bible, but transmitted as part
of the Greek Old Testament, this group of books also includes Prayer of
Manasseh, 1 Esdras, and 3 Maccabees (while 4 Maccabees, transmitted in a
more limited number of biblical manuscripts, is now placed in an appen-
dix). The affirmation of the validity of the “Deuterocanonical” writings by
the Synod was more a commendation than a dogmatic pronouncement, so
that opinion regarding their canonical status in the Church has varied.181Apocrypha and PseudepigraphaEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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