Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Despite the name of this book, 4 Maccabees has nothing to do with Judas Maccabeus and his brothers. So why is it called 4 Maccabees? 4 Maccabees is in the Hellenistic Judaism tradition. The point of the book is that reason can be used to overcome every situation. The author uses some Old Testament examples … Read More “What is 4 Maccabees?” »
Like 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras was not written by Ezra. The earliest part of the book was not written until the first century AD. Second Esdras is made up of a Jewish writing called 4 Ezra with 5 Ezra stuck at the beginning and 6 Esdras at the end. Although 4 Ezra is a Jewish … Read More “What is 2 Esdras?” »
One would assume, based on the title, that like 1 and 2 Maccabees, that 3 Maccabees is an account of the revolt led by Judas Maccabeus. That would be a reasonable assumption. It would also be incorrect. Despite the title, 3 Maccabees has nothing to do with Judas Maccabeus or his family. Rather 3 Maccabees … Read More “What is 3 Maccabees?” »
Did you even know there was a Psalm 151? The truth is there are many more psalms than the 150 found in the Bible. A psalm is a genre and there is no reason why we can’t write more psalms. There is a Psalm 151 that is a part of the apocrypha. It is actually … Read More “What is Psalm 151?” »
In 2 Kings 21:1-18, Manasseh is portrayed as a purely wicked king of Judah. In 2 Chronicles 33, Manasseh is also described as a bad king but with the added detail of his repentance. Read my post on What is the Difference Between Samuel/Kings and Chronicles? Wouldn’t it be great to have more information about that repentance? … Read More “What is the Prayer of Manasseh?” »
The most complicated aspect of 1 Esdras is that it is sometimes called 1 Esdras and sometimes 3 Esdras. When it is called 3 Esdras, it is because the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah are names 1 and 2 Esdras respectively. We will go with 1 Esdras. Firs Esdras is rather unique in … Read More “What is 1 Esdras?” »
You should not think of 2 Maccabees as the sequel to 1 Maccabees. It is not like 1 and 2 Kings where one book is broken into two parts for the sake of space. Nor is it like 1 and 2 Corinthians, where the same author is writing twice to the same audience. First and … Read More “What is 2 Maccabees?” »
It has long been my opinion that if a person is going to read only one book from the apocrypha, they should read 1 Maccabees. First Maccabees covers some important events in Jewish history from the early to mid-second century BC. After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire broke up into four pieces. … Read More “What is 1 Maccabees?” »
Some of my favourite parts of the apocrypha are the Additions of Daniel. As the name suggests, they do not originally belong to Daniel. Still, they are fun to read and worth looking at. The date of composition is unknown. Some scholars have thought that they were originally composed having nothing to do with Daniel … Read More “What Are the Additions to Daniel?” »
Jeremiah is one of the major prophets of the Old Testament and is very important in the history of the Hebrew people. It is understandable that later readers would be drawn to him. One way of demonstrating this respect was to create a writing in his name. The Letter of Jeremiah is one such writing. … Read More “What is the Letter of Jeremiah?” »
In the book of Jeremiah, we find that Jeremiah was assisted by a man named Baruch. This historical figure was eventually used as a mouthpiece for later Jewish writers in a book called Baruch and later in something called 2 Baruch (which is not included in the apocrypha). Although Jeremiah concludes with Baruch in Egypt, this … Read More “What is Baruch?” »
One of the longest books in the apocrypha is Sirach. Actually the full name is Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes) or the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach. As the title suggests, it belongs to the wisdom genre, although it has other purposes as well. The book was written in Hebrew sometime before … Read More “What is Sirach?” »
Aside from being one of the superpowers of Captain Marvel (Shazam), the Wisdom of Solomon is one of the books of the apocrypha. It is a part of the genre of wisdom literature and is attributed to Solomon, although it was written many centuries later than that time. It is natural to compare Wisdom to … Read More “What is the Wisdom of Solomon?” »
Question: What is the only book of the Bible that never mentions God? Answer: The Book of Esther. It could be argued (and I do) that God is implicit throughout the book even if he is never mentioned. But that does not mean that there is no temptation to fix what may seem as troubling … Read More “What are the Additions to Esther?” »
I have mentioned previously that one of my favourite books of the Apocrypha is Tobit. The same cannot be said about the next book, which is Judith. I understand that Judith has been influential in literature and art, but it does not do much for me. The book of Judith is a work of historical … Read More “What is the Book of Judith?” »
You may or may not have heard of Tobit. Tobit is one of my favourite books in the Apocrypha and I would like to share with you why. Although the book is named after Tobit, he does not actually make an appearance in much of the book. There are two people in the book who … Read More “What is the Book of Tobit?” »
I have had evangelicals ask about the Apocrypha, seemingly concerned about their nature. Should Christians read the Apocrypha? My short answer is yes, but more information is needed. I have heard people describe the Apocrypha as “those Roman Catholic books.” Let me be clear, the Roman Catholic Church had nothing to do with the creation of … Read More “Should Christians Read the Apocrypha?” »
I have just finished reading Bart Ehrman’s Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and Faiths We Never Knew. First of all, it must be said that Ehrman is a talented writer. He is able to take material that is normally of interest only to scholars and package it in away that can reach the interested … Read More “Lost Christianities” »
