Anagignoskomena - Classification

Classification

The Apocrypha of the King James Bible constitutes the books of the Vulgate that are present neither in the Hebrew Old Testament nor the Greek New Testament. Since these are derived from the Septuagint, from which the old Latin version was translated, it follows that the difference between the KJV and the Roman Catholic Old Testaments is traceable to the difference between the Palestinian and the Alexandrian canons of the Old Testament. This is only true with certain reservations, as the Latin Vulgate was revised by Jerome according to the Hebrew, and, where Hebrew originals were not found, according to the Septuagint. Furthermore, the Vulgate omits 3 and 4 Maccabees, which generally appear in the Septuagint, while the Septuagint and Luther's Bible omit 2 Esdras, which is found in the Apocrypha of the Vulgate and the King James Bible. Luther's Bible, moreover, also omits 1 Esdras. It should further be observed that the Clementine Vulgate places the Prayer of Manasses and 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras in an appendix after the New Testament as apocryphal.

It is hardly possible to form any classification not open to some objection. Scholars are still divided as to the original language, date, and place of composition of some of the books that come under this provisional attempt at order. (Thus some of the additions to Daniel and the Prayer of Manasseh are most probably derived from a Semitic original written in Palestine, yet in compliance with the prevailing opinion they are classed under Hellenistic Jewish literature. Again, the Slavonic Enoch goes back undoubtedly in parts to a Semitic original, though most of it may have been written by a Greek Jew in Egypt.)

A distinction can be made between the Palestinian and the Hellenistic literature of the Old Testament, though even this is open to serious objections. The former literature was written in Hebrew or Aramaic, and seldom in Greek; the latter in Greek.

Next, within these literatures there are three or four classes of subject material.

• Historical,
• Legendary (Haggadic),
• Apocalyptic,
• Didactic or Sapiential.

The Apocrypha proper then would be classified as follows:--

• Palestinian Jewish Literature
  • Historical
    • 1 Esdras (i.e. Greek Ezra).
    • 1 Maccabees.
  • Legendary
    • Book of Baruch
    • Book of Judith
  • Apocalyptic
    • 2 Esdras (see also Apocalyptic literature)
  • Didactic
    • Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus)
    • Tobit
• Hellenistic Jewish Literature:--
  • Historical and Legendary
    • Additions to Daniel
    • Additions to Esther
    • Epistle of Jeremy
    • 2 Maccabees
    • Prayer of Manasseh
  • Didactic
    • Book of Wisdom