THE CENTURY BIBLE HANDBOOKS The Apocryphal Books PROF H. T. ANDREWS W'^'t- "■< ':>^^m^-t% •"r-^") Vff:^:Y^ *V<;V'5 /%.. /2.. n ^< as.'^ ^i tijt ^^alagicni ^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^*. '^. ^i '^ BS 417 .C46 V.3 Andrews, Herbert Tom, 1864- 1928. The apocryphal books of the Old & New Testament mf.,^ CENTURY BIBLE HANDBOOKS General EpiroR Principal WALTER F. ADENEY, M.A., D.D. APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT * n BY DEC 12 1910 = REV. H. T. ANDREWS, B.A. PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT EXEGESIS AND CRITICISM NEW COLLEGE, LONDON HODDER AND STOUGHTON NEW YORK 1909 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA — INTRODUC- TION ....... I II. THE APOCRYPHA PROPER .... 7 III. THE HISTORICAL BOOKS . . o . I4 IV. THE DIDACTIC BOOKS . c . . . 30 V. THE RELIGIOUS ROMANCES . . c . 44 VI. PROPHETIC WRITINGS . . . . 5^ VII. THE WIDER APOCRYPHA . c = .69 VIII. APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE . . o . 74 IX. APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE {cOfltinued) . . 89 X. OTHER APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE . • I05 XI. THE NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA . . I20 XII. NON-CANONICAL BOOKS WHICH WERE USED AS SCRIPTURE BY THE EARLY CHURCH . 1 26 XIII. THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS .... I4I XIV. THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS {continued) . 1 55 XV. APOCRYPHAL ACTS, EPISTLES, ETC. . -165 INDEX 180 APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT CHAPTER I THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA- INTRODUCTION THE PRESENT-DAY VALUE OF THE APOCRYPHA The first question which naturally suggests itself in approaching the study of Jewish Apocryphal literature is, Why should we trouble about the Apocrypha at all ? What value has the Apocrypha for us to-day ? Im- mersed as we are in theological problems of the first importance, why should we devote time and strength to the study of books which have been unanimously re- jected by the whole of Protestant Christendom ? This question might be answered in various ways. There are many grounds upon which the Apocrypha can lay claim to our interest. I. We must remember that up to the time of the Reformation the Apocrypha formed an integral part of the Christian Bible, It is true that many of the Chris- tian Fathers drew a distinction between the Apocrypha A 2 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS and the rest of the Old Testament ; but after the fifth century the distinction was almost universally forgotten, and for a thousand years the Apocrypha held a well- nigh unchallenged place in Holy Writ. The Council of Trent definitely decreed that it was of equal authority with the other books of the Bible, and this position is still maintained by Roman Catholics to-day. Even after the Reformation the Apocrypha still held a high place in the affections of a large number of Protestants, though it was assigned a subordinate position as compared with that of the other books of Scripture. The sixth article of the English Church, for instance, defined the position of the Apocrypha thus : " And the other books (as Jerome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners ; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine." It was not till 1827 that English Bibles began to be commonly printed wdthout the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha, therefore, has played no insignificant part in the history of the Christian Church. For more than half the time, during which Christianity has been in ex- istence, it was regarded as an integral part of Scripture, and during the other half it has exercised an influence only second to that of the inspired books themselves. For this reason alone, no student of Church History or Chris- tian Doctrine can afford to neglect the Apocrypha. We are bound to recognise the force which it has exercised in shaping Christian thought and moulding Christian char- OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 3 acter. And though the question of the Canon has beeft closed and is not likely to be reopened, the Apocrypha, as I shall hope to show presently, has still an important role to play in the work of theological reconstruction, which is the immediate task that lies before the Church. 2. The Apocrypha has claims upon our interest on account of the intrinsic value of some of its books. There can be little doubt that, if it were possible for us to revise the Canon of the Old Testament, very many people would prefer to substitute Ecclesiasticus for Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Wisdom for the Song of Solomon. Some might even, like Josephus, consider I. Esdras an improvement on our Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, while the religious tone of Judith is un- doubtedly higher than that of Esther. The spiritual value of much of the Apocrypha has been recognised in the Church from the very first. Traces of its influence are obvious in the pages of the New Testament. Some of Paul's arguments in the Epistle to the Romans were undoubtedly inspired by the Book of Wisdom, and the language in which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes Christ (chap. i. 1-3) was borrowed from the same source. The Fathers of the Church always recognised the worth of the Apocrypha, and, for the most part, treated it as Scripture. When Augustine, towards the end of his life, made an anthology of the passages of Scripture which he considered specially 4 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS helpful for the culture of the spiritual life, the quota- tions from Ecclesiasticus occupied no less than an eighth of the book (36 pages out of 285 in Wehlrich's edition of the " Speculum "), twice as much space as was given to the Gospel of St. Matthew. Even though we may think that Augustine attaches too much weight to Ecclesiasticus, it is impossible to dispute the proposition that the best books of the Apocrypha are undoubtedly worth reading for their own sakes, and contain much that is profitable and stimulating. 3. The Apocrypha is also of immense importance from a historical point of view. Between the latest book of the Old Testament (the Book of Daniel, which dates from about 168 B.C.) and the birth of Christ, there is a a gap of more than a century and a half. During this period, radical changes took place both in the political and religious condition of the Jewish people. Why should our interest in the history of Israel cease with Daniel? Why should we ignore the interval between the two Testaments? If the story of the Maccab^ean struggle for freedom does not appeal to us, the history of the development of Jewish theology ought surely to command our attention. God's revelation of Himself to Israel did not end with Ezra. It is impossible to think of Him as silent for four hundred, or even for a hundred and fifty years. There was no hiatus in the Divine preparation for the advent of the Messiah. The OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 5 religious and political movements during this inter- mediate period profoundly affected the life and thought of the infant Church. For this reason alone, if for no other, the Apocrypha is of priceless value to us, since it is the source from which we derive most of our know- ledge of Jewish history during the years that separate the Old Testament from the New. 4. A knowledge of Apocryphal literature is absolutely indispensable for the sciefitific study of the Neiu Testa- juent. It is no exaggeration to say that New Testament criticism has been simply revolutionised during the last ten years, and the revolution has largely been produced by the publication of the Jewish Apocalyptic writings. New problems have been raised which never before ex- cited serious attention. We cannot, for instance, read the Epistles of Paul to-day without asking questions which never troubled theologians in the past. It is impossible for us to take Paul's statements just as we find them. We are bound to ask. What is the source from which he derived his ideas ? How much of his theology, for in- stance, is simply Judaism carried over into Christianity ? To what extent is his interpretation of Christianity coloured by his Pharisaic training ? What is the origin of the thought-forms in which he clothes his Christian experience ? Whence did he obtain the categories which he uses in explaining the Person of Christ or the Doctrine of the Atonement? What is the validity of 6 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS these ideas for modern theology ? Questions Uke these, and many other similar problems which confront us in New Testament criticism to-day, can only be answered by the scientific study of Apocryphal literature. As Sandayand Headlamsayin their Commentary on Romans, " It is by a continuous and careful study of such works that any advance in the exegesis of the New Testament will be possible." Two epoch-making books have already appeared which illustrate the tremendous importance of the new method. Dr. Charles' " Eschatology " throws a flood of light on the Pauline doctrine of the Future Life ; and Tennant's " Sources of the Doctrine of Ori- ginal Sin " has proved conclusively the influence of the Apocrypha on this particular aspect of Pauline theology. These books are only the pioneers of a new principle of criticism which must, sooner or later, be applied to the whole range of New Testament theology. In this work, the effects of which upon the theology of the future can scarcely be foreseen at present, the Apocrypha is destined to exercise an enormous influence. It may be said, there- fore, that a knoivledge of Apocryphal literature is even more essential for the study of the New Tesfa7?tent tha?i a know- ledge of the Old Testame?it itself The present handbook is merely an attempt to give an account of the literature, but an opportunity has been taken, wherever it was pos- sible, of pointing out the value of each particular book for the student of the New Testament. CHAPTER II THE APOCRYPHA PROPER The term Apocrypha in its technical sense has been used since the time of the Reformation to describe a collection of Jewish books, whose claim to be regarded as part of the Old Testament has been challenged by the Protestant section of Christendom. This collection comprises some fourteen works of varying character and value. They may be classified as follows : — 1. Historical Works. — I. Esdras ; I. and 11. Macca- bees. 2. Didactic Works. — The Wisdom of Solomon; the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus). 3. Religious Romances. — The Book of Tobit; the Book of Judith. 4. Prophetic or Apocalyptic Works. — The Book of Baruch ; IV. Ezra (sometimes called II. Esdras). 5. Additions to the Old Testament. — The addition to the Book of Esther; the Prayer of Manasseh; the three additions to Daniel, viz. {a) The Song of the Three Holy Children ; {b) The Story of 8 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS Susanna ; {c) The Story of Bel and the Dragon. Most of these additions might very properly be placed in the class of Religious Romances. What is the Apocrypha? — The Christian Church in modern times first became conscious of the existence of the Apocrypha at the Reformation, though individual scholars and theologians had of course always known of it before. Up to the Reformation the Bible in common use was the Latin version originally made by Jerome, and known as the Vulgate. When, however, Reuchlin reintroduced the study of the Hebrew language, and Protestants began to read the Hebrew original of the Old Testament, the discovery was made that the Vulgate contained many more books than the Hebrew Bible. The name Apocrypha was accordingly given to those books which were found in the Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible. But how did the books get into the Vulgate? If they were not part of the original Hebrew, whence did Jerome obtain them ? The answer to the question is simple. The Jews in the early centuries of the Christian era had two versions of the Old Testament, one the original Hebrew, which was used more par- ticularly in Palestine, the other a Greek translation, called the Septuagint, which was originally made at Alexandria and used by the Greek-speaking Jews of the Dispersion. The Greek Bible, like the Vulgate, contains THE APOCRYPHA PROPER 9 the extra books, known as the Apocrypha (with the ex- ception of IV. Ezra), which are not found in the Hebrew,, and it was from the Greek Bible that Jerome intro- duced them into; his Latin translation. The Apocrypha therefore represents the difference between the co?itents of the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagi7it plus IV. Ezra. The Origin of the Apocrypha. — The statement that the Apocrypha is the excess of the contents of the Septuagint over the Hebrew Bible, only drives the question which was raised about the Vulgate a stage further back. We have still to ask how the Apocrypha got into the Septuagint when it is absent from the Hebrew. To answer this question it is necessary to consider the problem of the origin of the Old Testament Canon. It is impossible to go into the details, or discuss the debatable points connected with this important sub- ject. All that can be done here, is simply to state the main conclusions with regard to which there is general agreement amongst modern scholars. How, then, was the Old Testament formed ? Obviously it did not drop from the skies, and equally obviously its books were not composed at the same time. The Old Testament is a collection of books written by many different people over a period of several centuries. How were the books collected together.? It is certain now that the collection was not made at any one particular point in the history of Israel, though it may have received lo THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS official sanction at a particular date. The Old Testa- ment was formed very gradually, and over five hundred years elapsed between the beginning and the end of the process. The chief points in the evolution of the Canon were as follows : (i) In its earliest form the Old Testament consisted merely of " the Law." The word " Law," however, in this connection is used in a broad sense, and covers the six books of the Hexateuch. These books were recognised as authoritative about 444 B.C. or perhaps in their present form a little later. If the Bible of 400 b.c. had been stereotyped, it would thus have ended with the Book of Joshua. As a matter of fact, the Samaritan Old Testament only contained the Pentateuch. (2) In the second stage, a further collec- tion, consisting of the prophetical writings, and including the historical books {i.e. Judges, 1. and II. Samuel, I. and 11. Kings), was added to the Canon. When exactly this addition was made cannot be precisely determined, but we know that it must be placed some- where between 400 and 200 B.C. The Old Testament of 200 B.C. therefore consisted of the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Historical Books. (3) A final addition, consisting of the Hagiographa, and comprising all the books not found in the two other sections, was made between 200 b.c. and a.d. 100, and the total collection received official recognition at the Jewish Synod of Jamnia (about a.d. 90), so that the Old Testament, as THE APOCRYPHA PROPER ii we know it in its complete form, was finally adopted as the Bible of the Jewish people about the end of the first century of our era. Here the process stopped as far as Palestine was concerned. If we ask why a development which had been going on for five hundred years should have been suddenly arrested, the only satisfactory ex- planation that we can find is that it was probably due to the revolutionary change in the character of Judaism which resulted from the destruction of the Temple. Before a.d. 70 the Temple had been the centre and soul of the Jewish religion. When its Temple was destroyed, it had to find a new centre, and it turned to its sacred writings. The first problem it had to settle was the question as to what was to be regarded as sacred, and what not. The decision of this question was of vital importance. Hence the Synod of Jamnia. From this point onwards, the Bible took the place of the Temple, and Judaism became the religion of a book. But though the process stopped in Palestine, it did not stop in Alexandria. The Jews of Alexandria still went on adding to the Old Testament, and the books which they added consisted of the writings which we now call " the Apocrypha." We owe the Apocrypha, therefore, to the fact that the process of the evolution of the Old Testament was arrested at an earlier stage in Palestine than it was at Alexandria. Reasons why the Apocrypha was rejected. — The 12 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS grounds upon which the Apocrypha was rejected by Protestants are not far to seek. Protestantism was the religion of a Book. Its seat of authority was the Bible. The Bible was to it what the Church had hitherto been to Christendom. Its doctrine of inspira- tion sharply differentiated the Bible from all other litera- ture. It was absolutely necessary, therefore, to reject all books of disputed canonicity. The right of the Apocrypha to a place in the Bible had never been universally acknowledged. It had no place in the Hebrew Scriptures. It was with great reluctance that Jerome had admitted it into the Vulgate. Several of the Fathers of the Church had protested against its use. In the face of this divergence of opinion, it was im- possible to regard the Apocrypha as inspired Scripture, and no book of doubtful inspiration could have any place in the Protestant Bible. Besides the divergence of opinion, there were other reasons which probably weighed with the Protestants, (a) The re-discovery of the Hebrew and Greek originals had created a revulsion of feeling against the Vulgate. Some of the renderings of the Vulgate seemed to afford unfair support to the doctrines of Roman Catholicism. The whole version was therefore regarded with suspicion, and the suspicion naturally extended to the Apocrypha, {b) The Apocrypha contained some passages which conflicted with Protes- tant theology. The doctrines of the intercession of the THE APOCRYPHA PROPER 13 saints and of prayers for the dead were both clearly taught in some of the books. Many passages in Ecclesiasticus lent support to the Romanist doctrine that "salvation is of works." There cannot be much doubt that theological considerations weighed both with Roman Catholics in their acceptance of the Apocrypha and with Protestants in their rejection of it. Many of the old objections have lost their weight to-day. The rigid theory of inspiration has been given up. Few would now deny that there is more inspiration in some of the books of the Apocrypha than there is in some of the writings included in the Old Testament. On the other hand, every impartial student is bound to admit that the general spiritual level of the Apocrypha is nothing like as high as that of the Old Testament, and partly for this reason, and partly too because of the grave problems that would be raised if the question of the Canon were reopened, the verdict, which was passed on the Apocrypha by Protestantism at the Reformation, is not likely to be reversed. CHAPTER III THE HISTORICAL BOOKS THE FIRST BOOK OF MACCABEES There are only three books in the Apocrypha proper which can be termed historical, viz. I. and II. Maccabees and I. Esdras, and of these three I. Maccabees is by far the most important. Its importance is due to the fact that it is our chief authority for one of the most stirring periods in Jewish history. From it we derive our most trustworthy account of the heroic struggle for civil and religious liberty which forms almost the only brilliant episode in the dreary centuries that separate the epoch of the great prophets from the time of Christ. As Westcott says, " History offers no parallel to the undaunted courage with which the Maccabaean brothers dared to face death, one by one, in the maintenance of a holy cause. The result was worthy of the sacrifice. The Maccabees inspired a subject people with inde- pendence : they found a few personal followers and they left a nation." The Contents of I. Maccabees. — The narrative I. MACCABEES covers a period of forty years from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes in 175 B.C. to the death of Simon in 135 B.C., and gives therefore a complete picture of the struggle. The book may be conveniently divided into five sections, (i) The cause of the revolt (chap. i.). The writer gives a vivid description of the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes, in conjunction with the Hellenising party in Judaea, to abolish the Jewish religion and establish paganism in its stead. A Greek gymnasium was erected in Jerusalem ; the Temple was desecrated, and became the scene of idolatrous sacrifices ; a terrible inquisition was instituted, and all Jews who refused to abandon their faith were put to death. (2) The outbreak of the revo/t {chsip. ii.). The standard of revolt was raised at Modin by Mattathias and his five sons, who gathered together a force and resisted the demands of Antiochus (167 B.C.). Just before his death, which occurrgd in the following year, Mattathias charged his sons "to be zealous for the law and give their lives for the cove- nant." (3) The struggle under the leadership of Judas (chaps, iii. i-ix. 22). Judas is the hero of the book, and the writer dwells at length on his valorous deeds during the five years (166-161) of his captaincy. In his first campaign he won three signal victories, the first over Apollonius, the second over Seron, the third over a large army specially sent from Antioch to avenge the previous defeats under the command of Nicanor and i6 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS Gorgias (chaps, iii., iv.). In the following year he was again successful against a still larger Syrian army under Lysias, and this triumph enabled him to obtain posses- sion of the Temple at Jerusalem, which he purified and re-dedicated to the worship of Jehovah (chaps, v. and vi.). The victories of Judas, and the difficulties which arose in Syria after the death of Antiochus, compelled Lysias to abandon the policy of destroying the Jewish religion, and grant the Jews religious liberty. Judas, however, was not content with this concession. The remainder of his life was devoted to the attempt to secure political independence as well (chaps, vii.-ix.). (4) The leader- ship of Jonathan (chaps, ix. 23-xii. 53), which lasted from 161 B.C. to 143. After a fruitless guerilla warfare, in which Jonathan won some victories, a change of fortune took place through a civil strife in Syria. Jonathan was made High Priest in 153, and by diplo- matic alliances succeeded in maintaining his position for ten years. (5) The leadership of Simon (chaps, xiii.- xvi.) from 143-135 B.C. Partly by success in war, partly by diplomacy, Simon consolidated his position and secured complete independence for the Jews. His rule was characterised by many administrative reforms. In 135 B.C. he was treacherously murdered by his son- in-law, Ptolemy, who hoped to secure the position. Authorship and Date. — The name of the author of I. Maccabees is unknown. It is certain, however, I. MACCABEES 17 that he must have been a Palestinian Jew. This is clearly proved (i) by the fact that, as we know from the express statements of Origen and Jerome, the book was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic; (2) by the author's minute acquaintance with the geography and topography of Palestine. Many scholars think that the religious tone of the book indicates that the writer was a Sadducee. The date cannot be fixed with pre- cision. The book must have been written before the Roman invasion of Palestine in 63 B.C., because other- wise the writer's attitude to the Empire must have been much less favourable than it is : 63 B.C. is therefore the latest possible limit. The earliest possible date seems to be fixed by the reference to Hyrcanus in chap. xvi. 23. The statement, "the rest of the acts of John . . . are written in the chronicles of the priest- hood," seems to imply that Hyrcanus was already dead, and that an account of his life had been written. The death of Hyrcanus occurred in 105 B.C. Consequently the majority of modern scholars date the book between ICO and 80 B.C. There is, however, another view. Some scholars, including Wellhausen, think that the last two chapters did not form part of the original book, but are a later addition. If this be so, an earlier date may be adopted, and some authorities place the book in the early part of the reign of John Hyrcanus, between 140 and 125 B.C. i8 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS Characteristics of the Book. — {a) Its historical value. For accuracy and trustworthiness I. Maccabees com- pares very favourably with most historical writings of ancient times. It is not entirely free from mistakes. It represents, for instance, the partition of Alexander's empire as having been made by himself (chap. i. 6), and it is at variance with the statements of other historians with regard to the date of the murder of Antiochus VI. chap. xiv. i). No historian, however, not even Thucy- dides, is absolutely infallible, and such errors as have been discovered in the book belong for the most part to extraneous affairs^ and do not affect the essence of the narrative, {b) Its freedom from legendary accretions. The most remarkable characteristic of I. Maccabees is its absolute freedom from mythical elements. It con- fines itself to the sober facts of history. The narrative contains no miracles, no portents, no supernatural inter- ventions. In this respect it stands almost alone among ancient histories, and the fact is all the more wonderful when we remember that the writer was dealing with a great religious movement, which must have afforded no little material that a superstitious imagination might have easily developed into supernatural events, (c) Its religious tone. One of the most striking features about I. Maccabees is its religious reticence. This is not due to scepticism or want of faith, however. There can be no question about the genuine faith and religious I. MACCABEES 19 devotion which the writer exhibits throughout the book. He is in fullest sympathy with the aims of the movement which he is describing. He shows the greatest zeal for all the institutions of Judaism, for the Law and the Ordinances, for the Temple and for the Scriptures. He refers to the Divine deliverances of Israel in the past, and is confident that " none that put their trust in Him shall want for strength." Yet never once, from beginning to end of the book, according to the true text, does the term " God " or " Lord " occur. The writer either describes God by the word " Heaven," or leaves the reader to supply his own subject to the verb. The writer evidently belongs to a school of thought which had lost the sense of the nearness of God, and which no longer used the old familiar names. To it God had become remote and far away — in fact, little more than an abstraction. L Maccabees is lacking, too, in a belief in the future life. There is no hint of any reward or punishment, or even of any existence after death. It contains, however, an adumbration, at any rate, of the Messianic hope. Twice the writer speaks of certain temporary arrangements which have been made and are to continue " till the prophet comes " (chaps, iv. 46, xiv. 41). 20 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS THE SECOND BOOK OF MACCABEES II. Maccabees presents many points of contrast with I. Maccabees. It is widely different in (a) the scope of its contents, (^) its aim and purpose, (c) its historical value, (d) its religious outlook. The Contents of II. Maccabees. — While the first book of Maccabees covers the whole period from 175 B.C. to 135 B.C., the scope of the second book is much more limited. It begins a year earlier, but only extends to the death of Nicanor, which occurred in 161 B.C. Thus it only covers fifteen years, and, like the Acts of the Apostles, ends without recording the death of its hero. The first seven chapters contain new material ; chaps, viii.-xv. run parallel to I. Maccabees i.-vii. The new material comprises the following ele- ments : (a) two prefatory letters from the Jews of Palestine to their brethren in Egypt (chaps, i. i-ii. 18), which, how- ever, seem to be a later addition and not an integral part of the book ; (d) the writer's preface describing the aim and source of the book (chap. ii. 19-32); (c) the attempt of Heliodorus to plunder the Temple (chap, iii.) ; {d) the intrigues amongst the High Priests at Jerusalem (chap, iv.); (e) the attack on the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes (chap, v.); (/) the martyrdom of Eleazar and the seven brethren (chaps, vi., vii.). The Aim of the Book. — The interest of the author 11. MACCABEES 21 of I. Maccabees is purely historical : the book is entirely free from any ulterior purpose, and is intended to be an unvarnished record of facts. The case, however, is different with the second book. The writer definitely states that his object was to write for the pleasure and profit of his readers. " We have been careful that they that will read may have delight, and that they that are desirous to commit to memory might have ease, and that all into whose hands it comes might have profit " (chap. ii. 25). He compares himself to a decorator putting the finishing touches on the ornamentation of a house (chap. v. 29). The writer's idea of what would be profitable to his readers may be gathered from the general tone of the book. His purpose is "writ large" on almost every page. He is always striving to impress upon the Egyptian Jews that they were part and parcel of the Jewish race, and so the participants in the glories of the Maccabaean age. His great ideal is the unity of Jewish people. Centrifugal forces were at work. A temple had been established at Leontopolis, and there was a danger that the Diaspora in Egypt would be completely dissevered from Palestinian Judaism. It is against this spirit that the author of II. Maccabees is protesting, and he uses the events of the Maccabaean struggle to exalt the Temple at Jerusalem and to urge the necessity for keeping the Palestinian festivals. The book might be described as a tract in favour 22 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS of unity based on the events of the Maccabaean war. Historical Value. — H. Maccabees is of considerably less historical value than the first book, for : {a) Historical accuracy and chronological order are subordinated to the religious purpose of the book. The festivals of the Dedication and of Nicanor, for instance, are taken out of their proper place in the narrative for dramatic effect. There are many discrepancies, too, between the state- ments of the two books on points of detail and order, and in every case internal evidence favours the narrative of I. Maccabees, {b) The writer of H. Maccabees has a predilection for introducing marvellous and super- natural incidents. He speaks of the manifest signs which came from heaven (chap. ii. 21). Amongst the prodigies related in the book may be mentioned the great apparition of the terrible rider who smote Helio- dorus (chap. iii. 24-29), the apparition of the horsemen fighting in the air (chap. v. 2-4), the supernatural protection given to Judas on the battle-field (chap. x. 29-31), &c. {c) There is a lack of true historical per- spective. Minor events often receive an undue emphasis, and a disproportionate amount of space is allotted to them. Yet in spite of all this, the fact remains that the book possesses no little historical value. There is much in it that we have to discount. No one, for 11. MACCABEES 23 instance, accepts the account of the martyrdom of the seven brethren (chap, vii.) as literal history. Neverthe- less, by the use of critical methods, it is possible to extract many precious grains of fact from the husk of fiction which overlays the narrative. Religious Outlook. — The dissimilarity between the two books is most obvious when we come to the ques- tion of religious tone. If the first book can be said to represent the Sadducean standpoint, the second is certainly written from the point of view of the Pharisees. There is no reserve or reticence about the writer of II. Maccabees. He is always obtruding his religious convictions upon his readers. He never misses an opportunity of " pointing the moral " of the story. The most (interesting feature in the theology of the book is the emphasis which it lays upon the resurrection of the dead. There is no other Pre-Christian Jewish book where the doctrine of the future life is so strongly in- sisted upon as in II. Maccabees. There is, moreover, most distinct evidence that the resurrection to which the writer looked forward was a resurrection not merely of the soul but of the body as well. Most of the crucial passages on the subject occur in the account of the martyrdoms in chaps, vi. and vii. Authorship and Date. — Nothing is known about the author except that he was probably an Alexandrian, who sympathised with, if he did not actually belong to, 24 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS the Pharisaic party. He derived the bulk of his infor- mation from a history of the Maccabees written by Jason of Gyrene, whose work he abridged. It is not always easy to decide, however, what was taken from Jason and what is the author's own production. Nor have we any clear indications which enable us to fix with certainty the date of either work. There are a number of small points in II. Maccabees which have led the majority of modern scholars to assume that the book was written in the closing decades of the first century B.C., between 60 B.C. and a.d. i. It seems probable, too, that Jason's History was written about a century earlier — possibly between 150 and 120 B.C. THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS The different titles which are given to this book are somewhat confusing. In the Septuagint it is called the First Book of Esdras (Esdras A) ; II. Esdras being equi- valent to our canonical Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which originally formed one work. In the Vulgate, on the other hand, it is termed the Third Book of Esdras ; I. and II. Esdras representing respectively our Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. To avoid the ambiguity modem scholars often speak of it as the " Greek Esdras." Contents. — With the exception of one section, viz. chaps, iii.-v. 6, the book is a compilation from I. E S D R A S 25 II. Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The following table will make its relations to these books apparent : — Esdras i. =11. Chron. xxxv., xxxvi. ii. 1-14 = Ezra i. ii. 15-25 = Ezra iv. 7-24. iii.-v. 6 = The original section. V. 7- 70 = Ezra ii. i-iv. 5 vi. vii. = Ezra v., vi. viii.-ix. 36 = Ezra vii.-x. ix. 37-55 = ^^^h. vii. 73-viii. 13. The main theme of the book is concerned with the rebuilding of the Temple. The chronological arrange- ment, however, is hopeless. After mentioning (chap. ii. 1-14) the decree of Cyrus (53S-530 B.C.), the writer without a word of warning leaps over a period of eighty years, and proceeds to describe (chap. ii. 15-25) the opposition encountered from Artaxerxes (464- 425 B.C.). In the original section of the book w^e are transferred to the second year of Darius (520 B.C.). Chap. V. 7-70 returns to the reign of Cyrus. In chaps. \-i. and vii. we are back again in the reign of Darius, while the remainder of the book belongs to the reign of Artaxerxes. With chap. ii. 15-25 and chap. V. 7-70 in their present places, it is impossible to reduce the chronological chaos of the book into order. The original section is interesting. It gives an 26 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS account of a literary contest between three pages-in- waiting at the court of Darius. The three pages submit three themes to Darius on " what is the strongest force in the world." The first maintains that "wine is the strongest," the second that " the king is the strongest," the third that " women are strongest, but above all things truth beareth away the victory." The last-named, a Jewish youth, won the prize, and received as his reward a promise from the King that the Temple at Jerusalem should be rebuilt. Historical Value. — The historical worth of the book is a matter of keen controversy amongst scholars to-day. At first sight, its chronological inaccuracies would seem to put it out of court altogether. There are, however, some important considerations on the other side, (i) It is clear that Josephus used I. Esdras as his authority for this period of Jewish history in preference to the other narratives which were at his disposal. (2) The position assigned to the book in the Septuagint suggests that more importance was attached to it at the time than to Ezra and Nehemiah, which are accorded an inferior position. (3) The contents imply that it belongs to a comparatively early age, when Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah were as yet undivided. (4) The book was universally accepted in the Christian Church up to the time of Jerome. In face of these arguments, it is impossible to set the book aside as a I. ES DR AS 27 worthless compilation. The difficulties, however, remain, and present an insoluble problem. Josephus substituted the name of Cambyses for the Artaxerxes of chap. ii. 15, and so removed one very serious stumbling-block. Sir H. Howorth, who is the foremost English champion of I. Esdras, suggests that the Darius mentioned in chaps, vi. and vii. is not Darius Hystaspis, as is usually supposed, but Darius Nothus (423-404). Many scholars think that the book was a compilation of gradual growth. The earhest stratum is the original section (chaps, iii.- v. 6). This was placed in a historical setting by the addition of chaps, vi. i-vii. 15 and ii. 16-30 from an Aramaic document. It was only in the third stage that tlie book assumed its present form, the further additions being made by a later writer from the canonical books. Some such theory seems necessary to explain the arrangement of the book. On any hypothesis, however, it is clear that the failure of the compiler to arrange his sources in proper order does not detract from the historical value of the original documents themselves. Date of the Book. — The date of the book cannot be fixed except within broad limits. Its use by Josephus (a.d. 100), and the fact that he would not have been likely to use it unless it had already acquired an estab- lished reputation, prove that it could not have been written later than the early decades of the first century A.D. On the other hand, its Unguistic affinities with 28 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS the Book of Daniel prove that it could not have been written earlier than i68 B.C. We may be tolerably certain, therefore, that the book falls between i6o B.C. and I A.D., but it is impossible to arrive at any certain date between those limits. There is an absolute cleavage of opinion among scholars as to whether the book belongs to the first or second century B.C. Motive of the Book. — Judging from the contents and tone of I. Esdras, there seems to be a suggestion of three underlying motives for its compilation, (i) One of its objects was undoubtedly to establish the dictum, " Fortis est Veritas et praevalebit." This suggests an apologetic purpose, and possibly the book may have been written in a time of persecution to encourage the Jew^ish sufferers and assure them that ultimately the truth was bound to prevail. (2) There is a second apolo- getic note in the book. The writer seems to lay stress on the fact that great emperors like Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes had shown favour to the Jews, and so to suggest to the authorities of his own time that their attitude ought to be imitated. (3) The emphasis laid on the rebuilding of the Temple seems to be intended by the author to encourage his readers in a similar project. The theory has been propounded that the book was WTitten to support Onias in his task of establishing a temple at Leontopolis. There is, however^ no evidence in support of the conjecture, and the date of the I. ESDRAS 29 building of the temple (168) is too early for the com- position of I. Esdras. The author of I. Esdras completely hides his identity. It is probable that he was an Alexandrian. It seems clear, too, that he did not use the Septuagint version of his sources, but either an earlier Greek version which has been lost, or the Hebrew original itself. The original section of the book shows no signs of Hebrew or Aramaic origin. CHAPTER IV THE DIDACTIC BOOKS There can be little doubt that the two didactic books, Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon, constitute the most valuable part of the Apocrypha for us to-day. These books belong to a special class of writings to which the name " Wisdom Literature " has been given. They occupy the same position in the Apocrypha as Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. While the other types of Jewish literature deal with the peculiarly national aspects of Israelitish religion and law, the Wisdom Literature moves on a broader plain, and treats of the universal elements in morality and religion. The priests and the scribes were content, for the most part, with expounding and expanding the enactments of the legal code, but the wise men or sages set themselves to face the wider problems of life and discover the essential truths which lie at the basis of morality. The spirit of the sage is well described in Ecclesiasticus xxxix. i-ii : " He that giveth his mind to the law of the Most High . . . will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients. . . . ECCLESI AST I CUS 31 He will keep the sayings of the renowned men, and where subtle parables are, he will be there also. He will seek out the secrets of grave sentences and be con- versant in dark parables. . . . He will travel through strange countries. . . . He will give his heart to seek early to the Lord, and will pray before the Most High. When the great Lord will, he shall be filled with the spirit of understanding : he shall pour out wise sentences. He will direct his counsel and knowledge, and on His secrets shall he meditate." ECCLESIASTICUS The Title of the Book.— The word Ecclesiasticus means "belonging to the Church" or "used in the Church." The title was bestowed on certain books, which, though they had not been admitted into the Canon, were recognised as suitable for use in public worship. Our present treatise subsequently seems to have monopolised the term, as being par excellence the ' ' Church-book " of the Apocrypha, and so in the Vulgate it is called Ecclesiasticus, and from the Vulgate the name has passed into common use. In the Greek versions, however, the book is generally described as the " Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach," and so it is often referred to by abbreviation as the "Book of Sirach." The Author. — The book was originally written in Hebrew by Jesus, the son of Sirach, and translated into 32 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS Greek by his grandson, who bore the same name. The family relationships are described in different ways in different MSS. Many scholars think that Jesus was the son of Eleazar, and that the phrase "Son of Sirach" or Ben Sira is a family title. Nothing further is known about either author or translator. The former is de- scribed in some MSS. as belonging to Jerusalem, but the text is doubtful. We may infer from certain allu- sions in the book itself that he was a man of means and leisure, fond of travel, a philosophical observer of life, an ardent Israelite, belonging to the religious party which afterwards developed into Sadduceeism. The Date. — The date of the Greek edition of the book may be fixed from the statement in the prologue, "Coming into Egypt in the thirty-eighth year when Euergetes was king." There were two kings of Egypt named Ptolemy Euergetes. The first, however, only reigned twenty-five years (247-222 B.C.), and so is impossible. The re- ference must therefore be to the second, who reigned, partly as co-regent, and partly as sole king, from 170 to 116 B.C. The date of the translator's arrival in Egypt thus falls in the year 132 B.C., and his book was pub- lished shortly afterwards. We may assume that his grandfather's original work was written about fifty years before. The only other reference of importance bearing upon the question of date is found in the eulogium passed upon " Simon the high priest, the son of Onias " ECCLESIASTICUS 33 (chap. 1. i). Simon is singled out for such high praise, and his achievements are described in such detail, that we are warranted in drawing the conclusion that he lived near to the times of the writer of the book, and possibly may have been contemporaneous with him. Unfortu- nately, however, we cannot identify him with certainty. We know of two men who answer to the description given : (i) Simon I., the son of Onias I. (310-291 B.C.); (2) Simon 11. , son of Onias II. (219-199 B.C.). The second named fits in with the date mentioned above (190-170 B.C.), but we cannot be certain with regard to the identification because we only possess very scanty information about him. A theory has recently been propounded by N. Schmidt that the Simon of Eccle- siasticus ought to be identified with Simon the Maccabee (143-137 B.C.), the phrase "son of Onias " being due to a corruption of the text. There is a good deal to be said in favour of this view. It need not, however, affect the date which we have assigned to the original work, as Schmidt holds that the concluding chapters of the book are a later appendix, and did not form part of the Hebrew edition. We may safely, therefore, date the Greek Ecclesiasticus between 130 and 120 B.C. and the Hebrew original between 190 and 170 B.C. The Contents of the Book. — It is impossible to give an analysis of the book. It consists very largely of a number of proverbs and counsels strung loosely c 34 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS together without any orderly development of thought. It gives advice on the regulation of conduct under all possible circumstances and in every relationship of life. It lays down rules for the training of children, the management of business, the treatment of slaves, the government of the nation, Szc. There is no attempt, however, to arrange these precepts on any definite principle. The writer turns at random from one sub- ject to another. The process by which the book was composed seems to have been this. — The writer col- lected from every available source striking sayings, interesting proverbs, sage counsels, shrewd remarks, and apposite phrases, and then without even attempt- ing to classify them, threw them together into a book, adding here and there dicta of his own. He describes himself as " one that gathered after the grape-gatherers, and filled his wine-press like a gatherer of grapes " (chap, xxxiii. i6). The last eight chapters of the book on " the praise of famous men," seem to be a separate composition, and are marked by a unity of purpose which is entirely lacking in the remainder of the book. Religious Teaching. — Ecclesiasticus is of supreme importance to us because it gives a clear picture of the religious thought and ethical teaching of the second century B.C. The doctrine of God represented by the book may be described as conventional and common- place. The writer is a firm believer in God as the Ruler ECCLESIASTICUS 35 of the Universe and the Lord of mankind, but his state- ments are altogether devoid of originaHty, and lack prophetic insight and passion. "It would have been as impossible for him," says Schmidt, " to watch with the eyes of an Amos or an Isaiah the doings of Israel's Holy One, as to go forth with unwavering faith in his own inspiration to deliver the oracles of Yahwe." He emphasises the forbearance and mercy of God. " Great is the pity and forgiveness of God, for all things are not possible to men" (chap. xvii. 25). He attaches very litde importance to the conception of atonement. " Say not, God will look upon the multitude of my oblations " (chap. vii. 9). " Concerning propitiation be not without fear to add sin to sin" (chap. v. 5). Almsgiving is of more importance, as an act of atonement, than the sacri- fices of the Temple. The book knows nothing of angels or spirits. There are a few allusions to supernatural beings in the Greek version, but they are completely absent from the original Hebrew. Even when quotations are given from the Old Testament, all references to angels in them are carefully obliterated. The sole intermediary between God and Man is the Divine attribute of Wisdom, which is personified and represented as the eternal prin- ciple of creation. There is absolutely no place in the theology of Ecclesiasticus for the conception of a future life. " Who shall praise the Most High in the grave ? . . . The son of man is not immortal" (chap. xvii. 27, 30). 36 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS Ethical Teaching. — Ecclesiasticus was intended by its author to be a compendium of ethical teaching — a kind of vade fnecum — the moral "guide, philosopher, and friend " of the average Jew in every relationship of life. " It gives," as Schmidt says, " more detailed directions than any other book in the Bible as to proper conduct in different circumstances. It teaches a man how to govern his wife, his children, and his slaves : how to deal with his friends and his foes, his superiors and inferiors, his creditors and his debtors, the rich and the poor : how to behave at the banqueting table and in the house of mourning, in the home and in the public assembly, in the Temple and in the mart : how to control his passions, practise moderation, cultivate his nobler tastes, emulate the example and seek the company of the wise." Amongst the more prominent characteristics of the ethical teaching of the book we may note : (i) The i?ifluence of Greek philosophy. Wisdom is identified with knowledge according to the Socratic principle. Through- out the book the pious man is represented as wise, the sinner as a fool. (2) The utilitarian character of the syste??i. The writer undoubtedly attempts to connect his ethical system with his religion, and to make the fear of God his main moral motive ; but all his sanctions are prudential ; the end of morality is always the man's own well-being and happiness. (3) The exterfiality of the ethical teaching. The book deals almost entirely ECCLESIASTICUS 37 with the external aspects of morality : very little is said about the aspirations, motives, and ideals of the inward life. (4) Limitation to the present life. There being no conception of a future existence in Ecclesiasticus, the ethical teaching is concerned entirely with the present life. The punishment of vice and the reward of virtue are dealt out here and now. (5) Individualisvi. The ethics of Ecclesiasticus are individualistic. No interest is taken in the national life or in society as a whole. The Different Versions of the Book. — The author of the Greek Ecclesiasticus says in his preface that the book was originally written in Hebrew, and Jerome states that a Hebrew version was in existence in the fourth century a.d. All traces of the Hebrew original were lost up to 1896, when Mrs. Agnes Lewis brought a fragment from Palestine containing chaps, xxxix. 15- xl. 18. This discovery led to further investigation, and many other fragments have been brought to light, largely owing to the efforts of Mr. S. Schechter. These frag- ments contain the bulk of the book, though several chapters are still missing. A good deal of discussion has been raised as to whether these fragments can claim to represent the original Hebrew text. Some scholars have maintained that they are a re-translation made either from a Persian or Syriac version. On the whole, however, it may be said that the consensus of modern criticism favours the view that they represent the original 38 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS Hebrew, and regards them of great importance for the work of textual criticism. Besides these Hebrew fragments, we have versions in Syriac (made from the Hebrew), in Latin (made from the Greek), in Coptic, in ^thiopic, and in Armenian. THE BOOK OF WISDOM The Book of Wisdom belongs to the same class of literature as Ecclesiasticus, but represents a great advance upon it in many important respects. In its prophetic insight, in its religious outlook, in the ordered develop- ment of its thought, and in the broad range of its ideas, it is undoubtedly far superior to the earlier book. Contents. — The book may be divided into the following parts : (i) Chaps, i.-v. are polemical, and attack the current unbelief and pessimism of the age. Wisdom is depicted as the source of immortality. (2) Chaps, vi.-ix. contain the writer's own positive state- ment, based, or supposed to be based on his own expe- rience. Wisdom is commended as the source of all moral and intellectual power. (3) Chaps, x.-xix. are an appeal to the history of Israel in support of the writer's fundamental position. Illustrations are taken from the lives of the patriarchs, and the early history of the nation, to prove that wisdom has always been at the root of success, and the lack of it the cause of failure. In the WISDOM 39 midst of this section there is a digression (chaps, xiii.- XV.) containing a very strong denunciation of idolatry. Aim and Purpose. — The book is partly polemical and partly apologetic. Its opening chapters contain a very strong attack against " the ungodly." By " the un- godly " the writer probably means the Sadducees. He describes them as men who deny the future life, and are not deterred by the fear of punishment after death. " After our end there is no returning." As a result they became Epicurean in their attitude to moral ques- tions. " Our life is short and tedious," they said ; " let us enjoy the good things that are present; let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and deck ourselves with rosebuds before they are withered ! " (chap. ii. 5-9). The arguments with which the Book of Wisdom meets the Hedonism of the age imply a great advance upon the ethical situation in Eccle- siasticus. The writer of Ecclesiasticus is content with the simple statement that men should be virtuous because virtue is its own reward in this life. That position, however, in the interval between the two books, had fallen to pieces because it seemed contrary to the facts of life. Virtue did not always secure the prize. The righteous suffered like other people. The loss of the conventional moral sanction drove men over into Epicureanism, and it is as a protest against this fatal tendency that the Book of Wisdom was written. Upon 40 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS what does the writer base his new Apologetic? He bases it: (i) Partly upon his doctrine of the future life. He introduces new religious sanctions in place of the old exploded Utilitarianism. (2) Partly upon an appeal to his own personal experiences. (3) Partly, too, upon an appeal to history. It was the first argument, however, that constituted the writer's chief contribution to Jewish thought. He attempted to redress the balance in favour of morality by "caUing a new world into being." We shall not be far wrong if we say that the Book of Wisdom was written to counteract the pessimism and scepticism which had been created by the failure of Utilitarianism as represented by Ecclesiasticus. Author. — We know nothing about the author of the Book of Wisdom, except that he must have been an Alexandrian Jew. Augustine attributed it to Jesus the son of Sirach, but the differences between it and Ecclesiasticus put the theory out of court at once. Jerome tells us that many of " the old writers " of his time regarded Philo as its author, and this view was accepted by Luther and many other scholars of the Reformation period. A careful examination of Philo's works, however, reveals such marked discrepancies of style, terminology, method of quotation, and philosophy that this theory is now universally rejected. An attempt has been made in recent times to associate the name of Apollos with the authorship of the book. This hypo- WISDOM 41 thesis is based on the assumption that Apollos was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is nothing more than a conjecture, and cannot be substantiated. The absence of any specifically Christian ideas is a most serious objection to the theory. Date. — We have very few data for fixing the date of the book. The writer uses the Septuagint of the Pentateuch, and the book must therefore have been written later than 250 B.C. It is certain that the book was known to and used by Paul, especially in the Epistle to the Romans. This fixes the latest possible limit at about A.D. 50. There is the utmost divergence of opinion as to the point at which the book ought to be placed within these two extremes. Modern scholars prefer either a date between 100 B.C. and a.d. i or a date between a.d. i and 40. We shall probably not be far wrong if we say that the book was written somewhere about the commencement of the Christian era. Religious Outlook. — The religious teaching of the Book of Wisdom is extremely interesting. The writer emphasises the omniscience and omnipotence of God, yet links with this conception a firm belief in the Divine Fatherhood. He lays far greater stress on the love of God than other Apocryphal writers. " Thou lovest all the things that are, and abhorrest nothing. . . . Thou sparest all things, O God, thou lover of souls " (chap. xi. 24-26). The most interesting point in his doctrine of 42 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS God is the way in which he develops the personification of the Divine attribute of Wisdom. "Wisdom is the breath of the power of God and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty. . . . She is the bright- ness of everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she can do all things, and remaining in herself she maketh all things new, and in all ages entering into the holy souls she maketh them friends of God and prophets" (chap. vii. 25-27). The concep- tions of the Logos and the Holy Spirit are also a prominent feature of the book, though the exact relation between these ideas and Wisdom is not defined. In one passage the three great conceptions — God, Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit — are joined together in a manner which adumbrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (chap. ix. 17). There can be Httle doubt that the speculations of the writer of the Book of Wisdom helped to provide the categories for the Christian interpretation of Christ. In fact, some of the language in which he describes Wisdom is boldly borrowed by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews and applied to Christ (compare chap. vii. 26 and Heb. i. i, 2). It is in his doctrine of man and the future Ufe, however, that the writer of Wisdom shows most originality. He believes, for instance, in the pre-existence of souls, an idea which he borrowed from Greek philosophy. He WISDOM 43 holds that man was created for immortahty. " God created man," he says, " for immortality, and made him the image of his own eternity" (chap. ii. 23). "God did not make death, and takes no pleasure in the de- struction of the living" (chap, i. 12). Death was intro- duced into the world through the Fall. " Through envy of the devil death came into the world " (chap. ii. 24). Another conception borrowed from Greek thought is to be seen in the stress which is laid on the dualism of body and soul. "The corruptible body presses down the soul and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind" (chap. iv. 15). Wisdom cannot dwell "in a body subject to sin " (chap. i. 4). The writer's belief in the future life is expressed with indomitable con- viction. " The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. . . . Though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality" (chap. iii. 1-4). "The righteous shall live for ever, and in the Lord is their reward" (chap. v. 15). The wicked will suffer retribu- tion in this world and the next. No one can read the Book of Wisdom without being struck by the many points of similarity between its teaching and the theology of the Apostle Paul. There can be little doubt that it was one of the most important sources from which Paul drew the materials out of which he constructed his philosophy of the Christian religion. CHAPTER V THE RELIGIOUS ROMANCES The Jews utilised all the resources of literature in their efforts to enforce the truths of their religion and kindle the flame of religious enthusiasm. History, poetry, philosophy, and prophecy were all pressed into service, and it is not surprising, therefore, to find them using legends and romances — religious novels, as we should term them to-day — as vehicles for conveying instruction and arousing faith. The two most important of these romances are the Books of Judith and Tobit. " The Story of Susanna" and "The Story of Bel and the Dragon " are further illustrations of the same literary principle. It is a fatal mistake to attempt to discover history in these works. They are religious novels pure and simple, and it is only when we recognise this that they become intelligible. THE BOOK OF JUDITH The Story of the Book. — The tale of Judith has come down to us in two different versions. The story as it is told in the ordinary version is as follows : JUDITH 45 Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Assyrians, after defeating Arphaxad of Ecbatana, resolves to send a punitive expedition against the nations between Persia and Memphis which had refused to render him help in the war. Holofernes, who is put in command, marches towards Palestine and occupies the principal towns on the sea coasts. The Jews, terrified by the tidings of his approach, hastily fortify the hill-country in order to protect Jerusalem. Special instructions are sent to the fortress of Bethulia, which commanded the situation, to arrest the progress of the Assyrian army. Holofernes lays siege to Bethulia and cuts off the water supply. The people, in despair, beseech the rulers of the city to surrender, and they agree to do so unless help arrives within five days. Judith, however, hearing of this craven counsel, determines to save the city with her own hands. After obtaining permission of the rulers, she puts off her widow's dress, and attiring herself in her finest robes, goes into the camp of Holofernes and obtains an audience with him on the plea that she has useful information to impart which will enable him to take the town. Holofernes becomes enamoured of her beauty and invites her to a banquet. She accepts the invitation in order to gain her purpose. Holofernes drinks deeply and falls into a drunken sleep. Judith with her own scimitar cuts off his head and carries it back to Bethulia in triumph. The Assyrian army, when 46 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS it hears of the death of its general, retreats in con- fusion and Jerusalem is saved. In the shorter version, though the story is practically the same, it is put in a different setting. Seleucus takes the place of Nebuchadnezzar and Holofernes, and the scene is laid at Jerusalem and not at Bethulia. The Religious Tone of the Book.— The Book of Judith possesses some very marked religious character- istics. No one can read it, for instance, without noting the stress which is laid on legal observances and ceremonial. Judith's piety is described as consisting largely {a) in the regularity of her fastings (chap. viii. 6), (b) in the scrupulous care with which she avoided un- clean meats (chap. x. 5, xii. 2), {c) in her attention to the ritual " washings " prescribed by the law (chap. xii. 7-9). The same conception is very prominent, too, in the significant passage in which Judith declares to Holo- fernes that the city will be taken because its inhabitants will be forced by famine to offend God by eating unclean food (chap. xi. 11-19). The Temple, too, occupies an important position in the book. The main concern of the Jews at the prospect of Holofernes' conquests is that the Temple will be destroyed (chap. iv. 11-15). All these marks point to the fact that the author sympathised with the Pharasaic party, though it should be noted that there is no reference to angels or a belief in the future life. J U D I T H— T OBIT 47 Object of the Book. — It is quite clear that Judith is not history. Luther was right when he spoke of it as a "poem" or "sacred drama." It was written to encourage the Jews to be faithful to their religion and their law in the face of heathen attacks. "Judith," says Dr. Sayce, " is a type of that portion of the Jewish nation who remained true to the Law and its observances, and against whom, therefore, weak though they seemed to be, the whole might of the Gentile world was unable to prevail." The book may be described as a religious novel with a purpose — the purpose being to induce men to keep the Law under the promise of God's protection. The Date. — The date of Judith is a matter of dis- pute. There are numerous theories, but the only two which claim consideration are: (i) the theory which connects it with the Maccabaean age (160-140 B.C.); (2) the theory which places it at a date soon after the Roman invasion in 63 B.C. We have not sufficient evidence to decide absolutely between these two views, but the similarity of the religious outlook in Judith and the Psalms of Solomon has led many scholars to accept the second alternative, and date the book about 50 B.C. THE BOOK OF TOBIT The Book of Tobit, though of quite a different type from Judith, may be regarded as a companion volume because it belongs to the same class of literature. 48 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS The Story of the Book.— Tobit tells the story of the misfortunes which befell two Jewish families, and of a happy denouement^ resulting in their union by marriage. The plot is of a less heroic and more domestic character than in the case of Judith. Tobit, a pious Jew, had been carried away captive, together with his son Tobias and his wife Anna, by Shalmaneser to Nineveh. At Nineveh, though remaining faithful to the principles of the Jewish religion, he obtained favour at court, and was appointed royal purveyor. After the accession of Sennacherib, who succeeded Shalma- neser, he fell into disrepute, owing largely to his habit of giving burial to his Jewish kinsmen who had been killed in the streets of Nineveh. He lost his sight, too, through an accident, and became entirely dependent upon his wife for support. One day his wife, in a fit of temper, taunted him with the uselessness of his alms and deeds of piety. In despair he prayed to God that he might die. At this point we are introduced by the story to the second family, who lived at Ecbatana. Sara, the daughter of Raguel, had been married to seven husbands, all of whom had been slain by the demon Asmodeus on the bridal night. And on the day when Tobit was taunted by his wife, Sara was also driven to distraction by the reproaches of her maids, and prayed for death. The prayers of both were heard, and the angel Raphael was sent to deliver them. The help T O B I T 49 came in the following way. Some time previously Tobit had deposited ten talents of silver with a Jew at Rages. Under the pressure of poverty he now resolved to send his son Tobias to secure the money. When Tobias sought for a guide to accompany him, the angel Raphael offered his services. Terms were arranged, and the two set out on the journey. It was necessary for them to go through Ecbatana, and they stayed with Raguel, who was a kinsman of Tobit. Tobias fell in love with Sara, and sought her hand in marriage, undeterred by the fate of her previous husbands. By means of a magic charm, given to him by the angel, Tobias exor- cised the evil spirit, and the wedding festival was cele- brated amidst much rejoicing. Having obtained the repayment of the loan, Tobias and his wife w^ent to Nineveh wnth Raphael. Tobit is cured of his blindness and all ends happily. The Religious Teaching of Tobit. — The religious purpose of Tobit is very similar to that of Judith. Great stress is laid upon legal observances and upon almsgiving. This is clearly brought out in the description of Tobit's piety. " I went often to Jerusalem at the feasts . . . having the first-fruits and tenths of increase . . . and them gave I at the altar to the priests" (chap. i. 5, 6). " All my brethren did eat of the bread of the Gentiles . . . but I kept myself from eating (chap. v. 7). "I gave many alms to my brethren, and bread to the hungry, D 50 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS and clothes to the naked, and if I saw any of my nation dead I buried him" (chap. v. i6, 17). The same ideal appears in the words of the angel (chap. xi. 4-15): " Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteous- ness. ... It is better to give alms than to lay up gold, for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin." The moral of the book appears in Tobit's final appeal : " O, ye sinners, turn ye and do righteous- ness before him ; who can tell if he will accept you and have mercy on you ? " (chap. xiii. 6). There are, however, some points which are emphasised in Tobit which have nothing corresponding to them in Judith, (i) The belief in angels and demons plays a most important part in the book. Raphael and Asmodeus are two of the chief drafnatis perso7ia. (2) The belief in magic is also most pronounced. The demon Asmodeus is expelled by the smoke produced by burning the heart and liver of a fish, according to the instructions of Raphael. Tobit's eyes are cured by an application of gall taken from the same fish. (3) The necessity for the proper burial of the dead is insisted upon. Different Versions of the Story. — The story of Tobit was so popular that versions of it were issued in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin, and Greek. These versions vary from each other in many important details. Some of them, for instance, omit the reference to the dog which accompanied Raphael and Tobias. Some of TOBIT 51 them speak of Tobit in the third person throughout, others make Tobit speak in the first person as far as chap. iii. 15. Some of them expand the didactic part of the book. These variations show that the book as we possess it to-day in the ordinary form passed through many stages, in each of which it received accretions. The allusions to Achiacharus are interesting. They represent a separate story — the legend of Ahikar — which has been woven in different forms into the Tobit narra- tive. Ahikar, according to the legend, was a pious courtier of Sennacherib, who, being childless, adopted a boy, Nadan, and brought him up as his heir and suc- cessor. Nadan, however, turned against Ahikar, and by means of forged documents accused him of treason and secured his condemnation. The executioner, however, spared his life and imprisoned him in a cellar beneath his house. Later on he was rescued and restored to favour (see Tobit xiv. 10). Purpose of the Book. — The writer of Tobit used, as his groundwork, a common story, which has its counterpart in most mythologies, and adapted it as a vehicle for enforcing the moral and religious truths of Judaism — especially the duty of obeying the Law, giving alms, and burying the dead. Luther described the book as " a truly beautiful, wholesome, and profitable fiction." Date of the Book. — The only data which we have for fixing the approximate date of Tobit are: (i) We 52 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS know that it was quoted by Polycarp in a.d. 112. (2) In chap. xiv. 5, 6 we read, "God will bring them again into the land, where they shall build a temple, but not like to the first . . . Afterward the house of God shall be built with a glorious building." This passage has been taken to mean that Tobit was written before the commencement of Herod's Temple, but the deduc- tion is not absolutely convincing. (3) The prominence given to the burial of the dead may point to the Maccabaean age. Antiochus Epiphanes "cast out a multitude" unburied. (4) Tobit has many points of resemblance with the Book of Ecclesiasticus. These indications have led the majority of modern scholars to place the book in the second century B.C., probably between 150 and 100 B.C. THE STORY OF SUSANNA The Story of Susanna is one of the three additions made by the Apocrypha to the canonical Book of Daniel. In the Septuagint it is placed before chap. i. ; in the Vulgate it stands as chap. xiii. The Narrative. — The story has no connection with the Book of Daniel, except that it illustrates the wise judgment of the hero of the book. Susanna is the wife of Joachim, a wealthy Jew of Babylon. Two Jewish elders, ravished by her beauty, form an intrigue against THE STORY OF SUSANNA 53 her. Foiled in their purpose, they charge her before the Council with having committed adultery, and produce evidence in support of their accusation. Susanna is condemned by the Council. At this point Daniel comes into the court and calls for a new trial on the ground that the witnesses have committed perjury. He demands that the two elders shall be examined separately. A discrepancy at once makes itself apparent between the stories of the two men. Susanna is acquitted and the elders are condemned. The Motive of the Story. — Here, again, there can be little doubt that we have a common story, which is widely circulated in different forms, put into Jewish dress and used to enforce a Jewish moral. An ingenious theory as to its origin and motive has been suggested by an English scholar, C. J. Ball. About the year 100 B.C. a miscarriage of justice occurred in Jerusalem, the son of Simon, the President of the Council, being condemned by the perjury of his accusers. This led the Pharisaic party to advocate legal reforms : (a) the more stringent examination of witnesses ; (d) the infliction of severer penalties on false witnesses. If perjury was discovered, the guilty parties were to suffer the same penalty which they had attempted to inflict on the innocent. The Sadducean party opposed, arguing that the penalty ought not to be inflicted on the perjurers unless the innocent victim had actually suffered it. On this theory, the 54 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS story of Susanna is a tract issued by the Pharisees in support of their policy. BEL AND THE DRAGON This forms another addition to the Book of Daniel. It consists of two independent stories, which have no connection with each other except that they are both associated with the name of Daniel, and both are directed against idolatrous practices. The Story of Bel. — The image of Bel was one of the chief objects of worship in the city of Babylon. Daniel, true to his principles, refused to obey the king's edict enjoining the worship of the image. The king expostu- lated, and in proof of the deity of the image pointed to the amount of food which it consumed. Daniel in reply asks the king to arrange for a test. The food is prepared and the doors are sealed, and Daniel, sus- pecting the trickery of the priests, has the floor lightly strewn with fine ashes. Next morning, though the seals are unbroken, the food is gone. Examination, however, discloses the marks of naked feet on the floor. The priests are convicted and put to death. The Story of the Dragon. — There was in Babylon a great dragon which was universally worshipped as divine. Daniel, however, again refused, and offered to kill the beast. Upon obtaining the king's permission, THE APOCRYPHAL ADDITIONS 55 he prepared a concoction largely comprised of pitch, and threw it to the dragon. As a result the dragon burst asunder. The furious populace demanded that Daniel should be thrown into the lions' den. He remained unharmed, and was finally restored to favour. The stories are full of anachronisms and extravagances, and evidently are merely folk-lore adapted as a vehicle of religious instruction. The motive is sufficiently obvious. Like the Epistle of Jeremy, they are an attack on idolatry, and probably belong to the same period — the first century B.C. OTHER ADDITIONS TO THE CANONICAL BOOKS Besides the passages inserted in Daniel, already mentioned, there are other additions to the canonical books which, though they cannot be described as legendary, may be conveniently dealt with in this connection. The Song of the Three Children, or " The Prayer of Azarias," as it is sometimes called, is an addition of sixty-eight verses, inserted by the Septuagint after Daniel iii. 23. It is divided into three parts: (i) the prayer of Azarias (vers. 1-22); (2) a continuation of the narrative in Daniel iii. 23, describing how the king's servants kept on heating the fiery furnace with naphtha 56 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS and pitch, and how an angel came down and formed an inner zone within the furnace which the flames could not reach (vers. 23-27); (3) the thanksgiving song of the three martyrs (vers. 28-68). It is probable that the document is the work of more than one writer. Whether it was originally composed in Hebrew or Greek is a matter of dispute. The Rest of Esther. — This document contains six chapters of additional material which was inserted in the Book of Esther by the Septuagint. The English Apocrypha, following the Vulgate, has collected the added parts into a separate whole. In the Septuagint they are scattered about in different places of the book. Thus — Chap. X. 4-xi. i forms the conclusion of the Septua- gint Esther. Chap. xi. 2-xii. 6 forms its commencement. Chap. xiii. 1-7 is placed after iii. 13. Chap. xiii. 8-xiv. 19 is placed after iv. 17. Chap. XV. is substituted for v. 1-3. Chap. xvi. is placed after viii. 12. The object of the addition was twofold: (i) partly to expand the narrative by the addition of new material, (2) partly to give a religious tone to the book. In the canonical Book of Esther the name of God never occurs, and the religious interest is very slight. In the addi- tional parts the religious note is very emphatic. To THE APOCRYPHAL ADDITIONS 57 take one instance. Observe the frequent introduction of the Divine name in chap. x. 9 : " Israel which cried to God and were saved ; for the Lord hath saved his people, and the Lord hath delivered us from all those evils, and God hath wrought great signs and wonders." The Prayer of Manasseh. — The explanation of this addition is to be found in the statement in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 18, 19 : " Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God . . . behold they are written in the acts of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him . . . behold they are written in the history of Hozai " (or the seers). The prayer of Manasseh, therefore, is an attempt to supply an omission on the part of the writer of Chronicles. There is no justification for regarding the prayer as genuine. Everything points to the fact that it was an imaginative composition, and the work of a Hellenistic Jew. It is generally found appended to the Book of Psalms. CHAPTER VI PROPHETIC WRITINGS THE BOOK OF BARUCH The Book of Baruch has most affinities with the type of prophecy represented by Jeremiah, with which it is closely associated in the Septuagint and Vulgate. Contents. — The Book of Baruch is not a unity. It consists of two, perhaps three, quite distinct documents . (i) The preface (chap. i. 1-14). (2) The first part, con- taining a confession of sin, and prayer for restoration to Divine favour (chaps, i. 15-iii. 8). (3) The second part, containing a discourse of encouragement to the Jews of the Diaspora (chaps, iii. 9-v. 9). The Preface gives what purports to be a historical introduction to the book. The scene is laid at Babylon, in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans. Baruch, the author, reads his work to Jehoiachin and his court, who at once determine to send it to Jerusalem. They also collect money that the Jews at Jerusalem may purchase sacrifices to offer on behalf of the King of Babylon. The preface 58 BARUCH 59 is highly artificial, and does not fit the contents of either of the documents which follow, though some scholars think that it may possibly have originally been the in- troduction to the second document. The First Document appears to contain two distinct confessions of sin, and a prayer for restoration : {a) an ancient form of confession used by the Palestinian rem- nant (chaps, i. 15-ii. 5); {b) the exiles' confession (chap, ii, 6-13); {c) the exiles' prayer (chaps, ii. 14- iii. 8). The style of the document resembles that of Deuteronomy and the prophecy of Jeremiah. The Second Document may be divided into two parts : {a) A passage in praise of wisdom, identifying wisdom with the Law (chaps, iii. 9-iv. 4). This passage possesses many characteristics of the descriptions of wisdom found in the Wisdom Literature, {b) A dis- course containing words of comfort and encouragement to the Jews of the Dispersion, resembling in many par- ticulars some of the poetical passages in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and Job. Whether these two sections are separate entities is a matter of debate amongst scholars. It is quite easy to regard them as parts of a single document, the first section showing that the calamities which have befallen the people are due to the fact that they have deserted the fountain of wisdom, the second consoling them with promises of future restoration. The Date of Baruch. — From what has already been 6o THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS said it is clear that we are concerned with at least two documents, each of which must be dealt with separately. It will be simpler to deal with the second document first, because modern opinion is much more unanimous with regard to its date than it is in the case of the document which forms the first half of the book. There is a general agreement amongst recent critics that this document cannot be placed earlier than the destruc- tion of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. This result seems to be decisively established by the fact that the author used the Psalms of Solomon (especially Ps. xi.). The Psalms of Solomon date from 70-40 B.C., and it was probably not till after the commencement of the Christian era that a Greek translation of them was published. This being so, we are bound to place our document in the first century a.d., and there is no historical situation suited to its contents, till after the destruction of Jerusalem. There is much more diversity of opinion with regard to the date of the first document. Leaving out of ac- count the impossible theory which regards the document as belonging to the historical situation described in the Preface {i.e. 583 B.C.), the following views find favour, in different schools of criticism to-day : (i) some scholars, following Ewald, place the document in the period following the conquest of Jerusalem by Ptolemy L in 320 B.C. ; (2) others place it in the Maccabsean period. BARUCH 6i 160-140 B.C. : (3) Others regard it as belonging to the same age as the second document^ i.e. the period subse- quent to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The only datum that seems to help us in arriving at a de- finite conclusion in the undoubted connection between chaps, i. 15-ii. 12, and Daniel ix. 4-19. The fact that Baruch seems deliberately to omit three references in Daniel to the desolation of Jerusalem which would have been particularly appropriate if the book were written after a.d. 70, militates against the third theory. Those who accept 320 B.C. as the date, have to resort to the hypothesis that Baruch and Daniel are embodying a common tradition, in order to explain the resemblances between the two. On the whole the second view seems to present least difficulty, and we may place the docu- ment in the period between 150 B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era. The Religious Outlook of Baruch. — There can be little doubt that Baruch was compiled in its present form by a devout Jew in the last decades of the first century a.d. for the purpose of consoling and comforting his people for the loss of their city. It is contempora- neous, therefore, with a large part of our New Testament, and throws a flood of light upon one type of Jewish thought during this important period. We notice in reading the book: (i) the writer's firm confidence in God and in the divine promises to Israel; (2) his pride 62 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS in his religion — "God hath found out all the way of knowledge and given it unto Israel his beloved" (chap. iii. 36) ; (3) his anti-Gentile prejudices — " Give not thine honour to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation" — a statement which helps us to understand the opposition of the Judaisers to St. Paul ; (4) his devotion to the Law, which he regards as the expression of the wisdom of God, and so of eternal value (chap. iv. 1-3); (5) that the writer never advances upon the position of the prophets. He lives in the spiritual world of Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Deutero-Isaiah. This is especially noticeable in the absence of any allusion to the future life. THE SECOND BOOK OF ESDRAS The second book of Esdras (sometimes called IV. Ezra) is by common consent one of the most important books in the Apocrypha. It occupies the same place in the Apocrypha as the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, and is the only specimen of apocalyptic (as distinct from prophetic) literature in it. The wide popularity which it enjoyed in ancient times is evident from the fact that versions of it are found in Latin, Armenian, Syriac, /Ethiopic, and Arabic. The Hebrew and Greek originals have been lost. The Latin text from which the Authorised Version was translated 1 1. E S D R A S 63 is imperfect, and lacks an important section, which has been torn out between the 35th and 36th verses of chap. vii. The missing fragment, however, has been recovered by the discovery, made by Professor Bensly in 1875, of an unmutilated MS. at Amiens. Contents. — The version of II. Esdras in our Apo- crypha contains the original book in a Christian frame. The first two and the last two chapters are a later addition, and were attached to the book to make it suitable for use amongst Christians. The original book, as we know from the versions, comprised only chaps, iii.-xiv. It is generally divided into seven parts, answering to the seven visions which it describes, (i) The first vision {Qh