Apocrypha

[NicoChristian]

Are the Apocryphal books genuine scripture or are they simply relevant historical books. Obviously the additions to Esther are garbage as the original book of Esther is garbage. I was also curious about the books of the Maccabees. Are they genuine history and are they relevant to true Israel or are they Jewish in origin. I've heard the Jews regard the Maccabees as their own and as the beginning of their own history. With the Jews claiming half of our history as their own sometimes one isn't sure what is actually ours or isn't.

[Filidh]

im unsure as regards some of the apocrypha, but its always been my belief that the maccabees books are genuine, as are the wisdom of solomon and the prayer of manasses. the wisdom of solomon alone is an amazing book and i have no idea why it was excluded from the canon.

sirach also has some wise things in it, but it combines that with some that i consider to be ungood and am unable to see how they could be genuinely inspired, such as promoting the use of pharmaceuticals (ive seen that part of sirach translated as pharmaceuticals and apothecarial things).

unsure about the rest of the apocrypha, and am open to correction about the above as well.

[Joe]

Some apocrypha is used by the Apostles, such as Enoch. The Testament of Zebulun has some information about how the money from Joseph being sold into slavery was spent, Clifton uses it in his second WTL. He also uses much other apocrypha, which I find interesting.

I started to make a list of the apocrypha I have seen used at Christogenea or Emahiser's site. Here it is (it is copy paste from various places. Especially here: http://christogenea.org/content/biblical-exegesis, http://christogenea.org/content/genesis-chapter-4, sorry I cannot find all the sources, but I am sure this will atleast help some-ways).

Gospel of Phillip (Emahiser used this in Early Church Era Two-Seedline), I Maccabees, Susanna, Tobit, Wisdom of Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch and especially I Esdras The Aramaic targum called pseudo-Jonathan; the Palestinian Targum; 4 Maccabees 18:7-8 (Brenton’s Septuagint); and The Protevangelion chapter 10 (a translation of which is found in The Lost Books of The Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden). Apocryphal literature, such as IV Macc. 18:7-8 (in the LXX), Wisdom of Salomon 2:24 (LXX), The Book of Enoch 68:7 (Lawrence’s verse division), The Protevangelion 10:1-6 (found in The Lost Books of the Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden) and the book The Secrets of Enoch (ibid.), at 31:5 which says of Satan: “...therefore he conceived thought against Adam, in such form he entered and seduced Eva, but did not touch Adam”. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Testament of Reuben, he also mentions one of the books of Adam and Eve somewhere but I can't remember where.
Jasher 4:18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.

Some interesting info that I remembered while finding the links for you.

The Aramaic targum called pseudo-Jonathan says at Gen. 4:1: “And Adam knew that his wife Eve had conceived from Sammael the Angel (of death) and she became pregnant and bore Cain. And he was like those on high and not like those below. And she said: ‘I have got a man from the angel of the Lord’.” Another, the Palestinian Targum, says it differently: “And Adam knew his wife Eve, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Cain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the angel of the Lord ...”.