Non-Canonical Books of the Bible

— in the ancient Church, this term designated all books not designated in the decrees of councils and fathers as inspired (see Laodicean Council, rule 59); later, the term “apocryphal books” became established to designate such books.

Currently, the term “non-canonical books” is used exclusively in Russian biblical studies and primarily refers to the 11 books of the Old Testament of the Slavic and Russian Bible that are absent from the Jewish canon. These are the following books: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach, 2 Ezra and 3 Ezra, Epistle of Jeremiah, Baruch, and three Books of Maccabees.
Also, sometimes the so-called “non-canonical additions” are included in the scope of the concept of “non-canonical books” — fragments of canonical books of the Bible that are absent from the Hebrew Bible (it should be emphasized that only fragments of substantial volume belong to this group, while the short phrases/sentences present in Greek but absent in Hebrew, which are abundant in most Old Testament books, are not taken into account here): Prayer of Manasseh at the end of 2 Chronicles, parts of the Book of Esther (7 fragments that in the Russian Bible are given without verse numbering and are attached to the following verses: 1:1; 3:13; 4:17; 5:1; 8:13; 10:3), fragments of the Book of the Prophet Daniel (song of the three young men — Dan. 3:24–90; story of Susanna — Dan. 13; story of Bel and the Dragon — Dan. 14), two fragments of the Book of Job (Job 2:9; 42:17), and Psalm 151.

The term “non-canonical books” arose in Russian theological science in the 19th century; its approximate time of origin is the early 1840s; possibly, this term was first introduced into scientific circulation by Archimandrite Athanasius (Drozdov) in his “Abridged Hermeneutics” (the work itself has not survived). It became especially popular thanks to “Introduction to Orthodox Theology” by Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov); it was Metropolitan Macarius who began to actively use the term “non-canonical books.”

As a result, in Russian biblical studies, a rather free attitude toward non-canonical books became almost axiomatic: they are considered not inspired, but simply “good and useful”; biblical criticism methods and ideas are applied to their study (whereas in relation to canonical books, the method of biblical criticism is usually rejected). In particular, such a famous pre-revolutionary biblical scholar as Professor P. A. Yungerov, known for his conservatism and categorical rejection of critical opinions regarding canonical books, relatively easily agrees with many, sometimes radical, ideas of Western researchers when it comes to non-canonical books.

At the same time, for a long time (from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century), the term “non-canonical books” remained little known and was the property only of academic circles. It became commonly used only from 1968, with the 2nd edition of the Bible by the Moscow Patriarchate, where the appendix “On Canonical and Non-Canonical Books” was published, and since then non-canonical books have been marked with an asterisk in the table of contents.

At the same time, in the Greek Orthodox tradition, there is still neither the term “non-canonical books” nor the division of Old Testament books according to the principle of authority; all “our” non-canonical books (except for 3 Ezra, which is absent from the Greek Bible) are considered canonical in the Greek Churches.

It is also important that many of these books and sections are used in our worship, and this fact best confirms their authority for believers. Below we list these books and sections, briefly indicating their liturgical use.

Judith — paremia on the feast of the blessed princess Olga (July 11);

Wisdom of Solomon — especially widely represented in worship, 5 different paremia are taken for many feasts of saints;

Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach — paremia in the service of All Saints who shone in the Russian land (2nd Sunday after Pentecost) and on the polyeleos feast of the 70 apostles (January 4).

Baruch — paremia on the Nativity of Christ

Non-canonical sections:

Prayer of Manasseh — at Great Compline

Job 42:17 — in the paremia of Great Friday

Dan. 3:25–95 — seventh and eighth biblical odes at Matins, as well as in the paremia of Great Saturday.

In addition to the listed readings, liturgical use also includes quotations and indirect references in hymns and prayers to individual fragments of Tobit, 2 Maccabees, and Dan. 13–14 (thus, these books, although not read as paremia, are still represented in Orthodox worship).

Currently, in Russian biblical studies there is a partial rejection of the negative attitude toward non-canonical books; some biblical scholars (following P. V. Tikhomirov, a teacher at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy) speak of the relativity of the term “non-canonical books” in relation to the above texts, that the tradition of the “narrow” canon (only in the volume of books included in the Hebrew Bible) is not established by Ecumenical Councils and that there is no agreement between different Local Orthodox Churches regarding non-canonical books and sections.

“For an Orthodox Christian, the distinction between canonical and non-canonical books of the Old Testament has a conditional character, since we are not talking about the Orthodox or Christian canon, but about the Jewish canon, completed independently of Christianity.”

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)

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Non-Canonical Books of the Bible

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