Truth you can trace
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
The between-the-Testaments Jewish writings themselves (1 Enoch, Jubilees, Sirach…).
Apocrypha
- 1 Maccabees · Apocrypha
1 Maccabees: the first Hanukkah (the rededication of the Temple)
1 Maccabees is a sober history of the Jewish revolt (167-135 BC) against Antiochus IV, who had defiled the Temple.
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Read - 2 Maccabees · Apocrypha
2 Maccabees: the martyrs' hope of resurrection
2 Maccabees tells of a mother and her seven sons tortured to death for refusing to break God's law, each dying in the hope that God will raise them up again.
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Read - Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) · Apocrypha
Sirach: 'let us praise the men of piety' (the fathers of old)
Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus), written by Ben Sira around 180 BC, is a long book of practical wisdom in the style of Proverbs.
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Read - the Wisdom of Solomon · Apocrypha
The Wisdom of Solomon: the righteous one his enemies condemn
The Wisdom of Solomon (1st century BC, written in Greek) is a poetic book on wisdom, righteousness, and immortality.
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Read - Tobit · Apocrypha
Tobit: the 'silver rule' (do to no one what you hate)
Tobit (c. 200 BC) is a warm domestic tale of a devout exile, his son's journey, and the angel Raphael.
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Pseudepigrapha
- 1 Enoch · Pseudepigrapha
1 Enoch: the passage the New Testament quotes
1 Enoch is a Jewish apocalypse (its oldest parts 3rd-2nd century BC) attributed to Enoch, the man 'taken' by God in Genesis 5.
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Read - 1 Enoch · Pseudepigrapha
1 Enoch: the Watchers (the 'sons of God' of Genesis 6)
1 Enoch expands the brief, mysterious note in Genesis 6 that 'the sons of God' took human wives who bore giants: it names the fallen angels 'Watchers,' led by Semjaza and Azazel…
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Read - the Book of Jubilees · Pseudepigrapha
The Book of Jubilees: what it is
Jubilees (2nd century BC, sometimes called 'Little Genesis') retells Genesis and the start of Exodus as a revelation an angel dictates to Moses on Sinai…
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Read - the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs · Pseudepigrapha
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: love God and one another
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs are farewell speeches put in the mouths of Jacob's twelve sons, each teaching a moral lesson from his life.
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9 passages, every one citing its sources. See our sources and licences.
On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.