The history regarding this issue of additional books in the Old Testament is really an issue of canon. The word canon, means rule or standard. As applied to scripture the question, “was the Old Testament canon, open or closed after Malachi (425 B.C.), or were new books added?” is at the heart of the issue. There are several strong arguments, which clearly show the Old Testament “Canon” was closed before the New Testament period, as dealt with previously. We will just review some of the main arguments here, 1. Jesus, in Luke 11:51 and Matthew 23:55 when he refers to the “the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah” affirms the first book of the Hebrew scripture as Genesis, and the last book as II Chronicles. This affirmation demonstrates the Hebrew “Canon” was closed by the time of Malachi in 425 B.C. 2. Jesus also referred to the 3-part division of Hebrew scripture in Luke 24:44, referring to the, “Law of Moses.. the prophets …the Psalms”. This reference confirms the current division of Hebrew canon, which excludes the books known as the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonicals. 3. Josephus (37-100 A.D), the Jewish historian also affirmed in his arguments in Contra Apion 1:7-8 the number of books in the Hebrew canon was numbered at 22, which according to Jewish numbering is the same as the 39 in the Protestant Old Testament. (See Chapter 5, Old Testament Canon). Our books, those which are justly accredited, are but two and twenty and contain the record of all time. Contra Apion 1:7-8 4. Jewish tradition also taught in the Babylonian Talmud, the books in the Hebrew “Canon” are the identical 39 books, which are in both the Protestant and Catholic Bibles, to the exclusion of the Apocrypha. (See Talmud Babylon Baba Batra 14b) 5. Jerome (325-420 A.D.) The Biblical scholar of his day, and the translator of the Catholic Bible, the Latin Vulgate, clearly agreed with the Hebrew canon, being limited 39 books of the present Old Testament to the exclusion of the additional books of the Apocrypha. The debate regarding the canon stems back to the early church and the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint. To understand this debate regarding the apocrypha, we first need to understand the history of the Septuagint.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 16:00:31 +0000