The So-Called Apocrypha

During the 1500’s, Martin Luther desired to create a translation of the Scriptures into his native tongue of German. To translate the Old Testament into German he decided to use the Hebrew Scriptures that were in use by his local Jewish community called the Masoretic Text.

Because these books were not found in the Masoretic text, Luther considered them a lower form of Scripture. Yet, these books are found in the much earlier translation, the Septuagint.

He was unaware that this text had been altered by the Jews to counteract early Christians who were using the scriptures to convert Jews to Christianity. The Old Testament that those early Christians used was called the Septuagint.

The Masoretic text does not include many books that are found in the Septuagint. The Jews removed these in the Masoretic as effort to deter proselytizing. These books that were removed are called the Apocrypha. Jews in the time of Jesus, Paul, the Apostles, and the early church called them Scripture.

When Luther made his translation, he did keep the Apocrypha in, but moved them to the back of the bible, and included a heading that read, “APOCRYPHA, that is, Books which are not to be esteemed like the Holy Scriptures, and yet which are useful and good to read.” Because these books were not found in the Masoretic text, Luther considered them a lower form of Scripture. Yet, these books are found in the much earlier translation, the Septuagint.

Despite what Luther felt about these books, Jesus seemed to know them very well:

The Bible of the Early Church

300 years before Christ was born, the Hebrew bible, which Christians consider the Old Testament, was translated into Koine Greek. The title of this translation was called the Septuagint. It is this translation that was used by the Paul, the Apostles, and the early church. It is still in use by the Orthodox Church today, however, sadly, it is rejected by most modern Christians in favor of the Masoretic text.

Brief History of the Septuagint

After Alexander the Great conquered much of the know world, the Greek language become the common language in the Mediterranean. Over time Jews outside of Jerusalem ceased to understand Hebrew, but only Greek. Soon a Greek translation of the Hebrew bible was commissioned. It was translated by 72 scribes in 72 days called the Septuagint, which means “70” in Latin or LXX for short. The Septuagint was approved by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem as an accurate translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

By the time of Christ, the Septuagint was the translation used throughout the Mediterranean. Both Jews in and out of Jerusalem were familiar with it and considered it Holy Scripture. It is evident that Jesus and the Apostles were very familiar with the Septuagint because of the 350 (approx) quotes of the Old Testament contained in the New Testament, 300 are from the Septuagint. The Apostles used the Septuagint on their missionary journeys. Greek speaking Jews were converting to Christianity because, in part, of what they were reading in the Septuagint.

Reading the Bible by Saint Justin Popovich

The Bible is in a sense a biography of God in this world. In it the Indescribable One has in a sense described Himself.

The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament are a biography of the incarnate God in this world. In them it is related how God, in order to reveal Himself to men, sent God the Logos, Who took on flesh and became man, and as man told men everything that God is, everything that God wants from this world and the people in it.

God the Logos revealed God’s plan for the world and God’s love for the world. God the Word spoke to men about God with the help of words insofar as human words can contain the uncontainable God.

All that is necessary for this world and the people in it—the Lord has stated in the Bible. In it He has given the answers to all questions. There is no question which can torment the human soul, and not find its answer, either directly or indirectly in the Bible.

Men cannot devise more questions than there are answers in the Bible. If you fail to find the answer to any of your questions in the Bible, it means that you have either posed a senseless question or did not know how to read the Bible and did not finish reading the answer in it.