Introduction to the Deuterocanonicals

Blessed Lord, you speak to us through the Holy Scriptures. Grant that we may hear, read, respect, learn, and make them our own in such a way that the enduring benefit and comfort of the Word will help us grasp and hold the blessed hope of everlasting life, given us through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Preliminaries

Why we're taking this course and what we expect to learn

Textbooks

• Parallel Apocrypha
• Invitation to the Apocrypha

Assignments and grading

Class participation Review sessions Three written items

1. Revised web page
2. New web page
3. Approved project

Introduction

1. Meanings of "Apocrypha" and "Deuterocanonical"

• hidden: special?, deceptive?
• second: historically?, in authority?

2. Varying canons of scripture

• Jewish
• Eastern Orthodox
• Ethiopian Coptic
• Roman Catholic
• Reformed
• Anglican, Lutheran, and others

3. Printing and publishing

• standardized texts and collections
• relationship between printing and authority

4. Groupings of works and kinds of study

• by age, form, canonical orders, or literary connections
• historical, literary, canonical

5. History of second temple period

Early Persian period

Cyrus [ca 539]

Sheshbazzar

Darius [ca 520]

Jeshua, Zerubbabel, Haggai, Zechariah

Later Persian period

Artaxerxes [I, 465-425 ; II, 404-359]

Ezra, Nehemiah

Samaritan split?, Edomite incursion?

Hellenistic

Alexander [ca 333]

Ptolemaic rule [ca 312-200]

Seleucid rule [ca 200-166]

Hasmonean age

Antiochus IV Epiphanes [175-164]

Judas Maccabeus

Roman rule [beginning 63 BCE]

• 66-74 CE - Judean war
• 115-117 -- Jewish revolt outside Judah (Cyprus, Egypt, Mesopotamia)
• 132-135 -- Bar Kokhba revolt

Varying versions of Hebrew Bible books

• Different basic texts (Samuel, Jeremiah, etc)
  • Jerome's Latin Jeremiah follows MT