The Apocrypha: What It Is and Why We Study the KJV Without It
What Is the Apocrypha?
The term Apocrypha derives from the Greek word meaning “hidden” or “concealed.” It refers to a collection of writings that appear in some versions of the Old Testament but are absent from the Hebrew Bible as received by the Jewish community. The books most commonly included under this term are: Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, additions to the canonical book of Daniel (including the Prayer of Azariah, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon), and additions to Esther. Some traditions also include 1 and 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh.
These books were written primarily between approximately 300 BC and 100 BC — the intertestamental period, the four centuries of prophetic silence between Malachi and the opening of the New Testament. They are therefore not the product of the Old Testament prophetic tradition in the same sense as the canonical books. Most were composed in Greek, though scholarly evidence suggests that Sirach and 1 Maccabees were originally written in Hebrew, with Greek translations surviving where the Hebrew was lost or only partially recovered (the Hebrew text of Sirach was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls).
How the Apocrypha Entered the Christian Bible
The question of the Apocrypha’s canonical status is inseparable from the history of the Septuagint — the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures produced in Alexandria beginning around 250 BC. The Septuagint was the Bible of the early Greek-speaking church and is the version most frequently quoted by the New Testament authors. Crucially, the manuscripts of the Septuagint that have come down to us include the apocryphal books alongside the canonical Old Testament texts, which is how these writings entered widespread Christian usage.
However, it is important to note that the presence of these books in Septuagint manuscripts does not settle the question of their canonical authority. The Hebrew-speaking Jewish community, in the decades following the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, settled on the canon of the Hebrew Bible — what Christians call the Old Testament — without the apocryphal books. This canon, preserved in the Masoretic text, is the basis for the Old Testament in Protestant Bibles. Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate) around AD 400 and who knew Hebrew, was explicit in distinguishing the canonical books from what he called “ecclesiastical books” — useful for edification but not for establishing doctrine. His view did not prevail at the time — the apocryphal books were absorbed into the Vulgate and remained in Roman Catholic use — but his distinction anticipated by a thousand years what the Protestant Reformers would later argue.
The Apocrypha and the Original 1611 KJV
The original King James Bible of 1611 included the Apocrypha as a separate section placed between the Old and New Testaments — not interspersed with the canonical books, but clearly set apart. The translators and the Church of England regarded these writings as valuable for “example of life and instruction of manners” but, following the tradition of Jerome, did not consider them sufficient for establishing doctrine. This is a careful and historically informed position: the Apocrypha illuminates the world of Second Temple Judaism, preserves accounts of the Maccabean revolt that explain the Hanukkah celebrated in John 10:22, and contains genuinely moving passages of prayer and wisdom. But illumination and inspiration are not the same thing.
From the mid-17th century onward, the Apocrypha was progressively removed from printed KJV Bibles for several reasons. Protestant reformers, from Luther onwards, had argued that the Hebrew canon — which excluded these books — was the proper basis for the Old Testament. There were also practical considerations: omitting the Apocrypha reduced printing costs significantly. In the 19th century, the British and Foreign Bible Society formally excluded the Apocrypha from its distributions, and from that point the 66-book KJV became standard in Protestant usage. Today, most readers of the KJV are unaware that the original 1611 edition contained these additional texts.
Arguments for the Apocrypha’s Canonical Status
Historical and Cultural Value: The Apocrypha provides irreplaceable historical context for the four centuries between Malachi and Matthew — a period of Greek and then Roman domination, the Maccabean revolt, the rise of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the intense messianic expectation that shaped the world into which Jesus was born. Without 1 and 2 Maccabees, we have no biblical-era account of these events.
Early Church Usage: Many early Church Fathers, including Augustine of Hippo, quoted from the Apocrypha and regarded these books as Scripture. The Council of Carthage in AD 397, which Augustine attended and influenced, included the apocryphal books in its list of canonical writings.
Canonical in Catholic and Orthodox Traditions: The Roman Catholic Church formally defined the Apocrypha as canonical at the Council of Trent in 1546 (calling them “deuterocanonical,” meaning “second canon”). The Eastern Orthodox Church also includes them, though with some variation between Orthodox traditions as to which books are accepted.
Arguments Against the Apocrypha’s Canonical Status
Absent from the Hebrew Canon: The most fundamental objection is that these books were never part of the Hebrew Bible as received and preserved by the Jewish people — the very community entrusted by God with His oracles, as Paul states in Romans 3:2. The Reformers held that the Old Testament canon should be determined by the Hebrew scriptures, not by the Septuagint manuscripts of a later period.
Never Quoted as Scripture in the New Testament: The New Testament authors quote or allude to the Old Testament hundreds of times. They draw from nearly every canonical book. They never once explicitly quote any book of the Apocrypha as Scripture — a silence that is striking given how thoroughly they engaged with the Hebrew Bible. While there are possible allusions to apocryphal ideas in some New Testament passages, none carry the formulaic “it is written” that signals a citation of authoritative Scripture.
No Prophetic Claim: The canonical Old Testament books consistently present themselves as the word of God delivered through His prophets. The apocryphal books, by contrast, generally do not claim prophetic authority. Notably, 1 Maccabees explicitly acknowledges that there was no prophet in Israel at the time of its writing (1 Maccabees 9:27) — an honest statement that inadvertently undermines any claim to inspired canonical status.
Doctrinal Tensions: Certain passages in the Apocrypha introduce doctrines difficult to reconcile with the rest of Scripture. Tobit includes the use of a fish’s liver and gall as a means of driving away a demon — a magical practice foreign to the tone of canonical Scripture. 2 Maccabees 12:43-45 speaks of making offerings for the dead so that they might be released from sin — a passage that became a proof text for the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, a doctrine rejected by Protestants as having no basis in the canonical books. These tensions do not prove the books are worthless, but they do raise serious questions about their doctrinal authority.
Why This Site Studies the KJV Without the Apocrypha
This site studies the 66-book King James Version of the Bible — the canon shared by virtually all Protestant traditions — for reasons that are both theological and practical.
Theologically, we hold that the canon of Scripture was not determined by church councils but recognised by them — that the books which bear the marks of divine inspiration, prophetic authority, apostolic testimony, and internal consistency with the whole of God’s revealed Word were identified over time by the people of God under the Spirit’s guidance. By that standard, the 39 books of the Old Testament as received from Israel and the 27 books of the New Testament as received from the apostolic church form the complete and sufficient Word of God. Paul’s declaration in 2 Timothy 3:16 applies to this body of Scripture:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
And the solemn warning that closes the canon of Scripture is one we take seriously:
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Revelation 22:18-19
This warning was written in the context of the book of Revelation, but it reflects a principle that runs through the whole of Scripture: the Word of God is not to be supplemented by human tradition or addition. We do not say the Apocrypha is without value — as history, as literature, and as a window into the intertestamental world it is genuinely illuminating. But we do not treat it as the inspired, authoritative Word of God, and we do not derive doctrine from it.
Practically, the KJV in its now-standard 66-book form is the translation we have chosen for its fidelity to the underlying Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, its remarkable literary quality, and its centuries of proven use in the English-speaking church. It is the Bible in which the great doctrines of the faith were defended, the great hymns were written, and countless souls were brought to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is a legacy we are glad to stand within.