The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the Biblical Canon

Most of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha have never been canonical for any Christian or Jewish group. However, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha books of 1 Enoch, Jubilees, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Testament of Moses, and the Ascension and Martyrdom of Isaiah were widely used and were often quoted both within Judaism and early Christianity. In addition, a few of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha are included in the biblical canons of the Ethiopian Orthodox church or of churches of the Syriac tradition, and a few more may have been canonical for some churches in the past but are no longer.

The following texts of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha are or may formerly have been canonical for some Christian traditions:

• The Letter of Baruch, which consists of the last 10 chapters of 2 Baruch (also known as the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch) is canonical for the Syriac tradition churches.

• Fourth Baruch is canonical for Ethiopian Orthodox churches and is included, along with Lamentations, in a book called Säqoqawä Eremyas, “Things Omitted from Jeremiah.”

• First Enoch, Jubilees, and the three Ethiopian books of the Maccabees are canonical for the Ethiopian Orthodox church.

• The Book of Josippon (also known as Pseudo-Josephus) is part of the Ethiopian Orthodox church’s broader canon.

• The Psalms of Solomon are included in the list of contents of Codex Alexandrinus, but as an appendix following the New Testament, not as part of the Old Testament. The pages of Codex Alexandrinus which once contained the Psalms of Solomon have been lost. The Psalms of Solomon appeared in some Eastern Orthodox and Syriac tradition biblical manuscripts, and may have been considered canonical by some in those traditions, but are not included in modern Bibles of those traditions and are not considered canonical.

• The Syriac so-called “psalms of David” (psalms 152–155) appear in some Syriac biblical manuscripts and may have been considered canonical in some periods.

The remaining pseudepigraphal texts are noncanonical for all Christian traditions and Judaism.

(For further information on the various Christian traditions and the texts they embrace, see this article: Canon of the Bible, Traditions of The.)