there are a number of books that were removed from the bible. These books are known as Apocrypha, which means “those that are hidden” in Greek and applies to all the writings that were removed from the Bible. there are many possible reasons why these books may have been left out.
In this article, we’ll delve into the Apocrypha to learn why these books were removed, which books were removed, and what this can tell us about the ancient text.
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why were the 14 books of the bible removed?
It is a sacred mystery to know exactly why these books were removed. there are many conspiracy theories and thoughts centered on this, but no one knows the exact reason.
some believe the texts were not included because they were only known to a select few people. as a result, they were left out because they would not apply to the vast majority of the population.
Others believe they just didn’t “fit” the narrative of what the ancient text was trying to convey. That is not to say that the removed books were inaccurate or false, it simply says that they were not suitable for the Bible because the information was not applicable and did not have a place in the biblical narrative.
also, some of the books were not written at the same time as the bible, which was yet another reason not to include them. these books were generally assumed to be incomplete and would be omitted as a result.
The King James Version of the Bible first coined the term Apocrypha and set these sets of books apart from the rest. The roman catholic bibles still contain these books in the old testament, but they are not called apocryphal, instead they are called deuterocanonical. this means that they belong to the second canon, which refers to a list of literary works accepted as the word of god.
Although many different versions of the Bible have been developed over the centuries, the Roman Catholic tradition has always been to remain as faithful as possible to the original word of God. that is why they prefer to keep the additional books as part of their sacred text.
why was the book removed?
Many people disagree with the reasons why these texts were removed. Most believe this text remained in the Bible until 1828, but translators say the additional books made it difficult for people to understand God’s word.
there were also many teachings in the books that went against the accepted books of the bible, causing further confusion.
This could point to one of the main reasons the books were removed: they were difficult to read and understand. the goal of the bible according to the translators was to prepare people to accept god and understand him. anything that would have further complicated or challenged that agenda would have been controversial.
This is likely why the additional 14 books of the common bible were eventually dropped in the 17th century.
what are the 14 books removed from the bible?
in 1684 it was decided to remove the following 14 books from some versions of the bible:
- 1 esdras
- 2 esdras
- tobit
- judith
- the rest of esther
- the wisdom of solomon
- ecclesiastic (also known as sirac)
- baruch with the epistle of jeremiah
- the songs of the 3 holy children
- the story of susana
- bel and the dragon
- the prayer of manasseh
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
while the catholic faith continued to keep the books in a separate section of their bible, when looking at different versions of the bible today, you will find that some contain all of these books, while others contain a select few.
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There are many theories as to why the books were removed. Let’s take a closer look at each book and some scriptures to further explore this topic.
1 esdras
The first chapter of Ezra is a historical account of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. this took place between 536 and 436 BC. The chapter deals most often with groups of people returning to Jerusalem and the Cyrus appeals.
In this book, King Cyrus called on all who were unable to work in the temple to provide items such as livestock and food as offerings. Since they couldn’t physically help, this was their repair. building the temple was a huge undertaking, so these “donations” went towards the construction costs.
a record of these offerings tells us that cyrus gave over 5,000 items to the treasurer. All of these items were in turn given to the prince of Judah, helping the people of Cyrus establish a presence in Jerusalem again.
1 Now then, in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, so that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying:
2 Thus says Cyrus, King of Persia: The Lord, God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
– 1 Esdras: 1-2
2 Ezra
ezra 2 has a slightly more interesting story behind it. Actually, there is no such thing as 2 Ezra and there are no direct accounts of any scripture from this book of the bible. Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox Christians are believed to have deliberately excluded this book from the Old Testament. therefore, you can only find it in Latin text today.
The name of the book has created a lot of confusion because no one seems to have a solid understanding of who actually named the book 2 ezra. Across many different versions of the bible, you’ll see that 2 ezra named something completely different.
tobit
the book of tobit is about tobit and his family living outside of israel as exiles. Tobit eventually goes blind and is forced to send his son, Tobias, on a journey with the angel Raphael disguised as a human. This is when Tobias meets Sarah, who is possessed by a demon, but Raphael is able to intervene and expel the demon, allowing Tobias and Sarah to marry.
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then they return to tobit and he regains his sight. he eventually dies of old a happy man because god was able to intervene.
It is not entirely believed that this book is the true work of God. instead, it is considered a folk tale due to the outlandish nature of some of the book’s text. That said, there is still a lot of deeply rooted biblical morality and even practical information outlined in this book.
The angel told him: “Open the fish and take out the gallbladder, heart and liver and keep them with you and throw away the entrails. your gallbladder, heart, and liver are useful medicines.”
6 so tobias opened the fish and collected the gallbladder, heart and liver. he cooked the fish and ate it; and what was left of it, and she was salting it, she put it away. then both traveled together until they approached the media. 7 Tobias asked the angel: “Brother Azariah, what medicine is in the heart, liver and gallbladder of the fish?”
– Tobit 6:5-7
judith
judith’s story centers on a young woman who is upset with everyone around her for not trusting god to give them what they need.
She goes with her maid to a nearby camp with an enemy general named Holofernes who is preparing to fight the very men she is trying to help. Holofernes manages to coerce her into providing information on the whereabouts of the Israelites.
She ends up gaining his trust and he allows her access to his store one night when he’s drunk. judith cuts off holofernes’s head and takes it to the countrymen who feared him.
all the people who were led by him scatter. The outcome of the story is a victory for the Israelites but Judith remains single for the rest of her life.
It is generally believed that this book combines truth and fiction. The reason this book was left out of the Bible could well be due to the fact that the story cannot be verified as true. this book was left out of the bible due to revisions and updates over the years.
Whether the story is true or not, this book is a testament to how Judith had confidence in God’s handiwork and was not afraid.
the remainder of ester
The additional sections that were removed from the Book of Esther are believed to have been written by an Egyptian Jew around 170 BC. The goal was to give the Bible a more religious tone and indicate that the Jews were saved by their piety. the additions completely changed the tone of the book and for that reason they were never included.
this is a great indicator that many of the parts of the bible that were left out were done with the intention of increasing the accuracy of the information and focus more on the word of god. Jesus made no reference to many of the books that were removed. this is true of all apocryphal writings.
the wisdom of solomon
Although the name “king solomon” does not appear anywhere in the text, some believe that the wisdom of solomon was written by him.
The early church rejected this because of an ancient manuscript called the muratorian fragment which references the book written by the “friends of soloman”. The Catholic Church continues to believe that Soloman did not write this book. Of course, there is no way to know for sure who the author is.
the book touches on wisdom a lot throughout the proverbs, but it was never widely accepted because there are no references to jesus.
she is the brightness that shines from the eternal light. she is a mirror that perfectly reflects the activity of god. she is the perfect image of god’s goodness.
– wisdom 7:26
There are many verses in this book that really go against what we all know and trust as Christians. we understand that the only way to heaven is through the father. we know that this is one of the most important pieces of salvation. however, this book describes a different way to obtain salvation.
Only then did your ways become clear to us on earth. only then could humans learn what pleases them, and thus were rescued by wisdom.
So the paths of those on earth were made straight, and the people learned what pleases you, and they were saved by wisdom.
– wisdom 9:18
as you read this, it gives you chills. it feels appalling that this could even be considered a part of the holy text. It feels like King Solomon or those around him are worshiping false idols and not living their lives according to God.
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The wisdom mentioned in this book refers to the wisdom of Solomon, but unfortunately elevates that wisdom to salvation, something Christians can clearly see as false teaching. only god can save us with his grace and mercy.
ecclesiastical
This book is said to have been written by Sirach’s grandson between 190 and 170 BC. he was some sort of philosopher and lived in jerusalem. he understood the Hebrew traditions and scriptures very well. the original book was written in Hebrew and was translated into Greek approximately 40-50 years later.
one of the reasons we think this book may not have been included is because it contains a lot of advice on various topics that have no real link to jesus christ. it also has a different treatment with regard to sin. It talks about a different kind of afterlife where not everyone goes to heaven or hell, and instead everyone gets the punishment for their sins during their lifetime.
baruch with the epistle of jeremiah
Baruch is Jeremiah’s scribe and is considered the author of this entire book. The book is a reflection of the circumstances involving the exiled Jews in Babylon. In fact, the book is written directly for the citizens of Jerusalem with guidelines that they must follow. the book focuses on wisdom and is believed by many to have been written during the Maccabean period.
however this is one of the most accepted pieces of the removed books and is still present in the greek orthodox bible and the vulgate bible which also contains the letter of jeremiah.
the songs of the 3 holy children
This text is nowhere to be found in the original Hebrew Bible and is also not quoted in Jewish scripture, but it does appear in some ancient translations. the origins of the text are obscure and no one knows if they come from the originally composed Hebrew text or if they come from another source.
At this point, there is not much information about this scripture and that could be the reason why it was never included in the bible. much of the text that could not identify a source was omitted for fear of inaccuracy.
Susana’s story
this was chapter 13 in the book of daniel until it was removed by the protestant church. is considered an example of good manners. The story begins with a wife named Susanna who was accused by onlookers. These men were spying on her while she was taking a bath and then demanded that she have sex with them.
Of course, she refused and was arrested, claiming she sent her maids away so she could have sex with a young man under a tree. As she is executed, young Daniel yells that the two men should be questioned separately to see if her stories line up.
The result is that their stories do not match because each one tells the authorities of a different type of tree where the act occurred. the two men are then sentenced to death.
bel and the dragon
here we have another book that was from the book of daniel. this is chapter 13 and in fact it didn’t even make it into any version of the bible. this story was rejected by the church from the beginning.
is a single story of daniel in the court of cyrus. Bel’s story denounces idol worship, and the king tests Daniel by asking him if he believes Bel is a living god. The king is furious when Daniel denies Bel and is not impressed by what the king says.
The king demands that 70 priests show Daniel’s offerings to be made to the idol. bel then he must consume all the offerings and if he does not, the priests will be sentenced to death. If he does, Daniel will be put to death.
Daniel spreads ashes all over the temple floor only to discover that the food was actually eaten by the priests, wives and children who enter through a secret door when the temple doors are closed.
The next morning, the king comes to see that the food has been consumed, but Daniel draws his attention to the footprints of different sizes that indicate that a large group of people was present. the priests are arrested, the secret passage is found, and everyone involved receives a death sentence.
the prayer for manasseh
This 15-line prayer to King Manasseh of Judah is believed to have been left out of the Bible because Manasseh is considered one of the most idolatrous kings in ancient scriptural history.
1 Maccabean/ 2 Maccabeans
A leading theory for the exclusion of the Maccabees is the dating of the books. The canon is supposed to have been formulated in Jamnia, but much of the information in this book would have taken place long before it was written. it could mean that the writers inherited some information they were passing down or it could mean that the old testament scribes included this information. there is no way to know for sure.
It has also been said that the Maccabees can be traced back to a political rivalry between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. these two rejected each other’s interpretation of the ancient text, and as a result, the book’s exclusion might have been one of the final disputes between the two.
which bible is the most accurate?
choosing a single version of the bible is a difficult task. think of it like choosing your favorite cereal for breakfast. they all have similarities, differences, pros and cons, so it’s not easy to say one is better than the other or more accurate.
Depends on what you’re looking to win. If you’re looking for applicable information that you can apply to your life, you could benefit from a new American Standard Bible because the translations are more in line with modern life.
if you’re looking for something that more closely represents an earlier direct translation, the king james version or the new king james version might be the one for you.
The new living translation is considered one of the most dynamic translations because it communicates information in a language that is easy for everyone to understand.
where can you find an original bible?
Note that there is no such thing as an “original” bible. The Bible consists of a large number of books and stories that were compiled over time. as a result, there can be no single original bible.
the books of the bible were written by many different people at different times. Many different interpretations have resulted over the centuries, creating a wide range of translations and inclusions or exclusions of books, such as the Apocrypha.
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