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Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible

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The non-canonical books referenced in the Bible include known, unknown, or otherwise lost non-Biblical cultures' works referenced in the Bible. The Bible, in Judaism, consists of the Hebrew Bible; Christianity refers to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament, with a canon including the New Testament. Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible include the Biblical apocrypha and Deuterocanon.

It may also include books of the Anagignoskomena (Deuterocanonical books § In Eastern Orthodoxy) that are accepted in only Eastern Orthodoxy. For the purposes of this article, "referenced" can mean direct quotations, paraphrases, or allusions, which in some cases are known only because they have been identified as such by ancient writers or the citation of a work or author.

Hebrew Bible

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The following are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:

Israelite books quoted or alluded to are:

Egyptian books quoted or alluded to are:

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

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Further information: Deuterocanonical books, Biblical apocrypha, and Book of Sirach § References in Sirach and pre-modern texts

Aramaic books quoted or alluded to are:

Greek books quoted or alluded to are:

Egyptian books quoted or alluded to are:

Israelite books quoted or alluded to are:

New Testament

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Mennonite scholar David Ewart has mentioned that Nestle's Greek New Testament lists some 132 New Testament passages that appear to be verbal allusions to paracanonical books.[8]

Israelite books quoted or alluded to are:[9]

  • Book of Enoch (Jude 1:4, 6, 13, 14–15, 2 Peter 2:4 and 3:13,[10][11] and John 7:38).[12]
  • Book of Jubilees (Matthew 26:52); "For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tablets; the instrument with which a man kills his neighbor with the same shall he be killed." Not a word for word quote. May have been a common colloquialism. However, Jubilees interprets this as an extension of the law give in Exodus 21:23.
  • Life of Adam and Eve (2 Corinthians 11:14, "Satan as an angel of light", and 12:2, "Third Heaven").[13]
  • A lost section of the Assumption of Moses (Jude 1:9 "Michael... body of Moses").
  • Ascension of Isaiah (Hebrews 11:37, "they were sawn in two").
  • An unknown messianic prophecy possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Matthew 2:23 that states "he will be called a Nazorian" (ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται). "Nazorian" is typically rendered as "Nazarene" ("from Nazareth"), as in Acts 24:5, where Christians are referred to as "the sect of the Nazorians/Nazarenes" (τῶν Ναζωραίων αἱρέσεως). This is speculated[by whom?] to be a vague allusion to a quote about Samson in Judges 13:5 that uses a similar-sounding word: "the child shall be a Nazirite" (ναζιρ).
  • An unknown version of Genesis (possibly a targum, midrash or other commentary), quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:45, as a reference to Christ's being "the Last Adam who became a life-giving spirit" (οὕτως καὶ γέγραπται· Ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν· ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδὰμ εἰς πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν). It has been speculated[by whom?] that Paul is simply paraphrasing Genesis 2:7, but there is no clear indication that this is not a complete quote.
  • An unknown text quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9, suggested by Origen to be a lost apocryphal book:[14] "But as it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." This may also be an allusion to the similar Isaiah 64:4, "For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.'"
  • An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Luke 24:46, speculated to be a vague allusion to Hosea 6:2: "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day."
  • An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Mark 9:12, speculated[by whom?] to be a vague allusion to Isaiah 53: "and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought."

Greek books quoted or alluded to are:[9][15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Edward J. Brandt, "The Book of Jasher and the Latter-day Saints," in Apocryphal Writings and the Latter-day Saints, ed. C. Wilfred Griggs (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1986), 297–318.
  2. ^ Results for the text search
  3. ^ Also called The Book of the Acts of Solomon Archived 2006-06-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Lost Books of the Bible?". Archived from the original on 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2006-06-29.
  5. ^ Glanville, S. R. K. (1942). The Legacy of Egypt. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 246–248. ISBN 9780837190921. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g See footnote to the Biblical passage in The Jerusalem Bible, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1966
  7. ^ Rollston, Chris A. (April 2001). "Ben Sira 38:24–39:11 and The Egyptian Satire of the Trades". Journal of Biblical Literature. 120 (Spring): 131–139. doi:10.2307/3268597. JSTOR 3268597.
  8. ^ Ewert, David (1 July 1990). A General Introduction to the Bible: From Ancient Tablets to Modern Translations. Zondervan. ISBN 9780310453710 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ a b Holloway, Gary (1 January 1996). James & Jude. College Press. ISBN 9780899006383 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Witherington, Ben (9 January 2008). Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1–2 Peter. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 9780830829330 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Porter, Stanley E.; Pearson, Brook W. (19 December 2004). Christian-Jewish Relations Through the Centuries. A&C Black. ISBN 9780567041708 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ Book of Enoch (Ethopic Version), accessed 3 November 2018
  13. ^ Martin, Ralph P. 2 Corinthians Word Biblical Commentary 40,
  14. ^ "1 Corinthians 2:9 Commentaries". biblehub.com.
  15. ^ Charlesworth, James H. (24 October 1985). The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament. CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521301909 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Danker, Frederick William, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., 867
  17. ^ Jerome, Commentarium ad Titum 100.1
  18. ^ The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates ... , London: George Bell, 1897. book III, chapter 16, verse 114, page 194. See also the introductory essay to Samson Agonistes by John Milton, Of that sort of Dramatic Poem which is call'd Tragedy Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ^ Loeb Classical Library Euripides VIII, fragment 1024
  20. ^ "Epimenides Cretica 1 | Acts 17:28". Intertextual Bible. April 2026. Retrieved January 1, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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