The reason for the use of “apocrypha” to designate noncanonical
works during the fourth century may be found in the widespread notion
of “hidden” or “sealed” books in Greco-Roman and especially Jewish an-
tiquity (Dan. 8:26; 12:4, 9-10;Sib. Or.11.163-71;4 Ezra12:37; 14:5-6; 14:44-47;
2Bar.20:3-4; 87:1; implied inJub.1:5;1 Enoch82:1-3; 107:3;2 Enoch35:1-3).
In a number of Jewish apocalyptic writings, authors sometimes presented
themselves (or, rather, those ancient figures whose names they were using)
as having been instructed by God or an angel to “seal” or “hide” their
works. This fictional instruction functioned as a way of explaining how
such works attributed to such ancient authors had not been in circulation
until the present. The existence of these books was a “secret” until the time
when they actually appeared. A closely related idea is the instruction that a
writer “seal” the book so that its contents will not be accessible until the
appropriate time.
In this regard, three texts in particular seem to have exercised some in-
fluence: Daniel,4 Ezra,and2 Baruch.(a) The book of Daniel presents itself
as an apocryphal work. The writer is told to “seal up the vision” given to
him, “for it refers to many days from now” (8:26). This instruction is then
echoed in 12:4 (“keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time
of the end”), while according to 12:9-10 the seer, who has completed writ-
ing down his revelations, is to consign his work “to remain secret and
sealed until the time of the end.” This self-presentation of Daniel is closely
bound up with the view that the special revelation in this book will be
comprehended only by the wise (12:10). (b)4 Ezrapicks up similar ideas in
several passages. In 12:37-38 the command that the seer record his visions is
accompanied by the directive that he deposit them “in a hidden place”;
similar to Daniel, the hidden status of the writing establishes its contents
as teaching for “the wise...whose hearts...areable to comprehend and
keep these secrets.” In a later passage (14:5-6) the figure of Moses himself is
presented as having been the recipient of a double revelation (cf. Deut.
29:29), one being open and available to all, the other being secret and re-
stricted in access. While the generally available teaching refers to the Mo-
saic Torah, the esoteric teaching involves “the secrets of the times” and “the
end of the times.” Near the end of the book (14:44-47), the seer, who pat-
terns himself after Moses, claims to have been given, along with five men
with him, ninety-four books to record during forty days of revelation. Of
these books, the twenty-four to be made public are to be read by “the wor-
thy and unworthy,” while the remaining seventy are to be given to “the
wise” in whom there are “the springs of understanding,” “the fountains of186loren t. stuckenbruckEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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