Apocryphal

Letter of Jeremiah

Usually placed at the end of Baruch as the sixth chaptter, it is patterned after the earlier letter of Jeremiah (29), in the spirit of the warnings against idolatry contained in Jeremiah 10 and Isaiah 44. Its earnestness is impressive, but in restating previous inspired teachings at a later day, it does so with no special literary grace ...[Apocryp...

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Additions to Daniel - Bell and the Dragon

The last addition contains the narrative of the destruction of Bel and the dragon. The first narrative recounts the clever manner in which Daniel shows the king that the offerings to the Babylonian idol, Bel, were really consumed at night by the pagan priests and their families: in consequence, these impostors were put to death, and Bel and its tem...

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Additions to Daniel - Prayer of Azariah

The first addition consists of a prayer in which Azarias, standing in the midst of the furnace, asks that God may deliver him and his companions, Ananias and Misael, and put their enemies to shamea brief notice of the fact that the Angel of the Lord saved the Three Children from all harm, whereas the flame consumed the Chaldeans above the furnace ;...

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Baruch

The opening verses of this book ascribe it, or at least its first part, to Baruch, the well-known secretary of the prophet Jeremiah. It contains five very different compositions, the first and the last ...[Apocryphal Book Listing]...

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Additions to Daniel - Susanna

The second addition tells the history of Susanna, a faithful wife of a wealthy Jew named Joakim, and resident in Babylon. Accused falsely of adultery by two unworthy elders whose criminal advances she had repelled, she was sentenced to death by the tribunal before which she had been arraigned. As Susanna was led forth to execution, Daniel, moved by...

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Sirach

The Book of Sirach derives its name from the author, Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach (Sir 50:27). Its earliest title seems to have been "Wisdom of the Son of Sirach." ...[Apocryphal Book Listing]...

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Wisdom of Solomon

The Book of Wisdom was written about a hundred years before the coming of Christ. Its author, whose name is not known to us, was a member of the Jewish community at Alexandria, in ...[Apocryphal Book Listing]...

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Tobit

The Book of Tobit, named after its principal hero, combines specifically Jewish piety and morality with oriental folklore in a fascinating story that has enjoyed wide popularity in both Jewish...[Apocryphal Book Listing]...

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Judith

The Book of Judith is a vivid story relating how, in a grave crisis, God delivered the Jewish people through the instrumentality of a woman. The unknown author composed this edifying narrative ...[Apocryphal Book Listing]...

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Additions to Esther

The Book of Esther is named after its Jewish heroine. It tells the story of the plot of Haman the Agagite, the jealous and powerful vizier of King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) of Persia (485-464 B.C.), to destroy ...[Apocryphal Book Listing]...

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