The non-canonical books referenced in the Bible includes non-Biblical cultures, and lost works of known or unknown status. By the "Bible" is meant those books recognised by most Christians and Jews as being part of

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

(or

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Biblical apocrypha The biblical apocrypha (from the grc, ἀπόκρυφος, translit=apókruphos, lit=hidden) denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and AD 400. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Ort ...

or of the

Deuterocanon The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

. It may also include books of the Anagignoskomena () that are accepted only by

Eastern Orthodox Christians Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

. For the purposes of this article, "referenced" can mean direct quotations, paraphrases, or allusions, which in some cases are known only because they have been identified as such by ancient writers, or the citation of a work or author.

Hebrew Bible

The following are mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Book of Jasher Sefer haYashar is a reference to the Five Books of Moses, Joshua 10:13, see Targum Jonathan, "sifra d'oriaitho"; named on behalf of the Patriarchs who were call "Yesharim", see Numbers 23:10. Sefer haYashar (Hebrew language, Hebrew ספר הישר ...

is mentioned in and and also referenced in . From the context in the Book of Samuel, it is implied that it was a collection of poetry. Several books have claimed to be this lost text, some of which are discounted as

pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pse ...

. Certain members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

secured the copyright to a particular English translation of one of these and republished it in 1887 in Salt Lake City. * The

Book of the Wars of the Lord The Book of the Wars of the Lord () is one of several non-canonical books referenced in the Bible which have now been completely lost. It is mentioned in Numbers 21:13–14, which reads: David Rosenberg suggests in ''The Book of David'' that ...

is mentioned in . It is speculatively associated with one of the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

, the ''

War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness ''The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness'', also known as War Rule, Rule of War and the War Scroll, is a manual for military organization and strategy that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The manuscript was among the ...

''. The Book of the Wars of the Lord is also cited in the

Book of Jasher Sefer haYashar is a reference to the Five Books of Moses, Joshua 10:13, see Targum Jonathan, "sifra d'oriaitho"; named on behalf of the Patriarchs who were call "Yesharim", see Numbers 23:10. Sefer haYashar (Hebrew language, Hebrew ספר הישר ...

(trans. Moses Samuel c. 1840, ed. J. H. Parry 1887) Chapter 90:48 as being a collaborative record written by Moses, Joshua and the children of Israel. * The

Chronicles of the Kings of Israel The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Israel than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical acc ...

and

Chronicles of the Kings of Judah :''The similarly named Biblical books are located at Books of Chronicles.'' The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is a Lost work that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of the ancient Kingdom of Judah that appears in the H ...

are mentioned in the

Books of Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the boo ...

(). They are said to tell of events during the reigns of Kings

Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , ; , ; la, Roboam, ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the last monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel and the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the former's split. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a g ...

of Judah, respectively. The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is again mentioned in regarding King Zimri, and many other times throughout 1 and 2 Kings. * The ''

Book of Shemaiah the Prophet The Book of Shemaiah the Prophet is one of the non-canonical books referenced in the Bible. It was probably written by the biblical prophet Shemaiah, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. This text is sometimes called ''Shemaiah the Prophet'' or ''T ...

'' and '' Visions of Iddo the Seer'' (also called ''

Story of the Prophet Iddo The Story of the Prophet Iddo (also called the Midrash of the Prophet Iddo and Visions of Iddo the Seer) is a lost work mentioned in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Iddo who lived at the time of King Rehoboam. Biblical references ...

'' or ''The Annals of the Prophet Iddo'') is mentioned in the 2nd Book of Chronicles. (, , ). This book has been completely lost to history, save for its title. * The Manner of the Kingdom.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Acts of Solomon :''The similarly named Biblical book is located at Song of Solomon.'' The ook of theActs of Solomon is a lost text referred to in , which reads: :''And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written i ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Annals of King David The ''Annals of King David'' (alternatively translated as the ''Chronicles of King David'') is a lost work A lost work is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia produced some time in the past, of which no surviving copies are known to ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Book of Samuel the Seer The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books ( Jo ...

. Also called ''Samuel the Seer'' or ''The Acts of Samuel the Seer'', which could be the same as 1 & 2 Samuel.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Book of Nathan the Prophet The Book of Nathan the Prophet and the History of Nathan the Prophet are among the lost books quoted in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Nathan. They may be the same text, but they are sometimes distinguished from one another. No such ...

. Also called ''Nathan the Prophet'' or ''The Acts of Nathan the Prophet'' or

History of Nathan the Prophet The Book of Nathan the Prophet and the History of Nathan the Prophet are among the lost books quoted in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Nathan. They may be the same text, but they are sometimes distinguished from one another. No such ...

.
''Referenced at , and also ''. * The

Book of Gad the Seer The Book of Gad the Seer () is a presumed lost text, supposed to have been written by the biblical prophet Gad, which is mentioned at 1 Chronicles (). The passage reads: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Prophecy of Ahijah The Prophecy of Ahijah is a lost text which may have been written by the biblical prophet Ahijah the Shilonite. The book is referred to in . The passage reads :"Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book o ...

, might be a reference to 1 Kings 14:2–18.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel was separated into the two books of I Kings and II Kings in the Old Testament. The book is described at . The passage reads: "And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book o ...

.
''Referenced in , and ''. Might be the same as 1 & 2 Kings. * The

Book of Jehu The Book of Jehu is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Jehu ben Hanani, who was one of King Baasha's contemporaries. The book is described in : "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are ...

, could be a reference to 1 Kings 16:1–7.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Story of the Book of Kings The Story of the Book of Kings, also called the Midrash on the Book of Kings, is a lost work A lost work is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia produced some time in the past, of which no surviving copies are known to exist. It c ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The Acts of Uziah. Also called ''The Book by the prophet Isaiah''. Perhaps the same as the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century B ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The Vision of Isaiah.
''Referenced at ''. * The Acts of the Kings of Israel. Also called ''The Acts and Prayers of Manasseh''. May be identical to ''The Book of the Kings of Israel'', above.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Sayings of the Seers The Sayings of the Seers (or Sayings of Hozai, , in the Masoretic Text) is a lost text referred to in . The passage reads: ''"His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Laments for Josiah Laments for Josiah is the term used in reference to . The passage reads: "And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, ...

. Also called ''Lamentations''. This event is recorded in the existing ''

Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megill ...

''.
''Referenced at ''. * The Chronicles of King

Ahasuerus Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh'';; fa, اخشورش, Axšoreš; fa, label= New Persian, خشایار, Xašāyār; grc, Ξέρξης, Xérxēs. grc, label= Koine Greek, Ἀσουήρος, Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; la, Assue ...

.
''Referenced at , , , and ''.

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

* ''Book (or Wisdom) of Ahikar'' referenced by , , , *

Aesop's fable Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to m ...

of ''The Two Pots'' referenced at See footnote to the Biblical passage in ''The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...

'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1966 * ''The Egyptian Satire of the Trades'', or another work in that tradition referenced at * "The archives" referenced by *Memoirs of

Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced o ...

referenced by , could be the same as the

Book of Nehemiah The Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, largely takes the form of a first-person memoir concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedi ...

. * "letters of the kings" referenced by * "five books by

Jason of Cyrene Jason of Cyrene ( el, Ἰάσων ὁ Κυρηναῖος) was a Hellenistic Jew who lived around the middle of the second century BCE (fl. ~160–110 BCE?). He is the author of a five-volume history of the Maccabean Revolt and its preceding ...

" referenced by : the author of 2 Maccabees here tells us that the work is abridged from the history by Jason. * "the king's letter" referenced by

New Testament

Mennonite scholar David Ewart has mentioned that Nestle's Greek New Testament lists some 132 New Testament passages that appear to be verbal allusions to paracanonical books. Pagan authors quoted or alluded to: *

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His ...

, ''Thais'' 218 () *

Epimenides Epimenides of Cnossos (or Epimenides of Crete) (; grc-gre, Ἐπιμενίδης) was a semi-mythical 7th or 6th century BC Greek seer and philosopher- poet, from Knossos or Phaistos. Life While tending his father's sheep, Epimenides is s ...

, ''de Oraculis,'' (, where

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

introduces Epimenides as "a prophet of the Cretans," ''see

Epimenides paradox The Epimenides paradox reveals a problem with self-reference in logic. It is named after the Cretan philosopher Epimenides of Knossos (alive circa 600 BC) who is credited with the original statement. A typical description of the problem is given ...

'') *

Aratus Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the ...

, ''Phaenomena'' 5, (, where Paul refers to the words of "some of your own poets") Non-canonical books quoted or alluded to: * Book of Enoch (, , , , ; , and ). *'' Book of Jannes and Jambres'', according to

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and the ...

( "... as Jannes and Jambres withstood

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...

") *

Epistle to the Laodiceans The Epistle to the Laodiceans is a letter of Paul the Apostle, the original existence of which is inferred from an instruction to the congregation in Colossae to send their letter to the believing community in Laodicea, and likewise obtain a cop ...

( "read the epistle from Laodicea") *

Life of Adam and Eve The ''Life of Adam and Eve'', also known in its Greek version as the ''Apocalypse of Moses'' (, ''Apokalypsis Mōuseōs''; Hebrew: ספר אדם וחוה), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from aft ...

( "Satan as an angel of light", "Third Heaven") *A lost section of the Assumption of Moses (, Jude 9 "Michael.. body of Moses") * Martyrdom of Isaiah ( "they were sawn in two") *Paul's letter to the Corinthians before

1 Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-au ...

( "I wrote to you in my letter...") *Paul’s letter to the Ephesians before Ephesians ( “As I wrote afore in few words...”) *An unknown messianic prophecy possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Matthew 2:23 that states "...he will be called a Nazorian." ("ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται"). "Nazorian" is typically rendered as "Nazarene" ("from

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

"), as in , where Christians are referred to as "the sect of the Nazorians/Nazarenes" ("τῶν Ναζωραίων αἱρέσεως"). This is speculated to be a vague allusion to a quote about Samson in Judges 13:5 that uses a similar-sounding word: "the child shall be a Nazirite" (ναζιρ) *An unknown version of Genesis (possibly a targum, midrash or other commentary), quoted by Paul in , as a reference to Christ's being "the

Last Adam The Last Adam, also given as the Final Adam or the Ultimate Adam, is a title given to Jesus in the New Testament. Similar titles that also refer to Jesus include Second Adam and New Adam. Twice in the New Testament an explicit comparison is m ...

who became a life-giving spirit" (οὕτως καὶ γέγραπται· Ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν· ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδὰμ εἰς πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν.). It has been speculated that Paul is simply paraphrasing , but there is no clear indication that this is not a complete quote. *An unknown text quoted by Paul in , suggested by Origen to be a lost apocryphal book: "But as it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." This may also be an allusion to the similar , "For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.'". *An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in , speculated to be a vague allusion to : "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." *An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in , speculated to be a vague allusion to Isaiah 53: "and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought."

Notes

{{Authority control Bible content Lists of books about religion Old Testament apocrypha New Testament apocrypha Ancient Hebrew texts

Hebrew Bible

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

New Testament

See also

Notes