PROTOCANONICAL BOOKS AND BOOKS

Deuterocanonical

I. Definitions:
a. Protocanonical:
The term Proto: first and kanonikós: "of (belonging to) a rule (canon)", that is
the 'first canon'.
This name was given to the books of the Holy Scripture that were recognized in all the
times like inspired, whether by the Jews in relation to the Old Testament and the church in
relationship with the New Testament. Thus, there was never any doubt nor the slightest dispute about
his divine inspiration.

b. Deuterocanonical:
From Greek: déuteros 'second', 'later' and kanonikós 'of (belonging to) a rule
(canon)
The deuterocanonical books refer to the texts and passages of the Old Testament of the Bible.
Christians that are not included in the Hebrew-Aramaic Tanakh, but are included in the
Greek Bible 'Septuagint' also known as the version of the LXX (seventy). This
due to some previous doubts, which is why they did not enter the canon.

II. Books that make up these two Canons

i. Books of the Protocanonical:
This Canon is formed by the 39 books of the Old Testament included in the Jewish Tanakh and
in the Protestant A. Testament. This Canon consists of the following books:

Prophetic Books:
Isaiah,
Jeremiah,
Ezequiel,
Daniel,
Nahum,

Habakkuk,
 Joel,
Amos,
Malachi,
Zacharias,
Ageo,
Zephaniah
Obadiah,
Oseas,
Jonah.
Micah and
Lamentations

Wisdom Books:
Job
the Psalms
the Proverbs
Ecclesiastes and
The Song of Songs

Pentateuch:
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy

Historical Books:
Joshua
Judges
Rut
1st and 2nd Samuel
1st and 2nd Kings
1st and 2nd Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Ester

ii. Deuterocanonical Books:

This Canon consists of 7 books distributed alongside the Inspired books of the Old Testament.
Testament. These books are found in the version of the LXX or Septuagint and in the
Catholic Bible. These books are the following

Tobias
Judit
Wisdom
Ecclesiastical
Baruch
1st and 2nd of Maccabees
III. History of the Two Biblical Canons

We do not know for sure when the Jews began to gather the Sacred Books in
collections. But we do know with full certainty that the Jews possessed books that
they were considered sacred and surrounded by great veneration. The Jewish canon of the Books
We ignore when it was definitely closed. For some, it would be during the time of
Ezra and Nehemiah (5th century BC); for others, during the Maccabees era (2nd century BC). The truth is
that the Jews had in the 1st century of our era a collection of Sacred books, that
they were considered inspired by God, and contained the revelation of divine will
made to the men. In this sense, we have very clear testimonies from Flavius Josephus[1], of
Fourth Book of Ezra[2]and of the Talmud3.
Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the early Church received the canon from the Jews.
Old Testament. Therefore, it seems appropriate to study the testimonies.
historical accounts that have come down to us about the formation of the canon of the Old
Will.

1. THE PROTOCANONICAL BOOKS

First, we will talk about the formation of the canon of the Protocanonical books.
Old Testament, which was accepted by all the Jews. Adhering to the
Biblical testimonies suggest that the formation of the canon underwent the following evolution.

. Before the exile:

There are many places in the Holy Scripture that show that the Hebrews had
special care in preserving certain books written by Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and others
great men of the Israelite people. On various occasions, God commands Moses to
put in writing the laws, both civil and ceremonial (Exodus 17:14; 34:27; Numbers 33:2;
Deuteronomy 31:9-14). He also wrote the book of the covenant (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy
27:8; Exodus 20:22, 23:19.
The Mosaic Law, given by the great legislator to the chosen people, was subsequently
enhanced with new laws and adapted to the needs of the times. This Law,
designated by the Hebrews with the name 'Torah', has always enjoyed great authority among
they. Joshua, the successor of Moses, added new laws and regulations, "writing them in the
"Book of the Law of God" (Joshua 24:25). Samuel, the prophet, "wrote the royal law in a book,
he deposited before Yahweh" (1 Sam 10:25). Hezekiah, king, commanded the collection of the judgments of
Solomon (Proverb 25:1).
But it is especially during the time of Josiah, king (640-608 BC), when it begins to be done.
resource to the authority of a written text, whose character as a sacred code seems to have been
was officially recognized. Before the reign of Josiah, there is no record that the Mosaic Law had
enjoyed a universally recognized 'canonical' authority. According to the testimony of the
Holy Scripture, before the reform of Josiah, there were many cult practices that did not
they were compliant with the prescriptions of Leviticus (2 Kings 23:4-15). However, after that
the high priest Hilkiah found in the temple of Yahweh "the book of the Law" (2 Kings 22-23; 2
Chronicles 34:35), things changed radically. It is not known whether the found book should
to be identified with the entire Pentateuch, or rather with only Deuteronomy. But the
the fact is that, from this moment on, 'the book of the Law' was considered something very
sacred and like the collection of the laws given by God to Israel. In the books of the Kings
we have already found the first explicit references to 'the Law of Moses' (1 Kings 2:3 =
Deuteronomy 29:8; 2 Kings 14:6 = Deuteronomy 24:26.
The prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 30:8; 34:16) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:2-4,27-32) wrote their
prophecies. And the work of the prophet Jeremiah is undoubtedly inspired by the spirit of the
reform of Josiah. This same prophet has citations from earlier prophets (Jeremiah
26:18; 49:14-16 = Micah 3:12; Obadiah 1 and 4), which seems to indicate that they already existed
collections of prophecies.

. After the exile:

We have important scriptural testimonies from which we can deduce that almost
all the Protocanonical books were already gathered in collections and were considered
as canonicals. The biblical texts of this time inform us about three types of Books
Sacred: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nebi’im), and the Writings or Hagiographa (Ketubim).
The first testimony in this regard is from the book of Nehemiah (chap. 8-9). It narrates
Ezra, the priest and scribe, read and explained the Law of Moses before the people (444 B.C.).
And after hearing its reading, the people promised under oath to observe it, which
It seems to indicate that they recognized canonical authority in the Pentateuch.
The prophet Daniel affirms that 'he was studying in the books the number of the seventy'
years... that Yahweh said to Jeremiah the prophet" (Dan 9:2; Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10). This demonstrates
with quite a clarity that at that time there was already a collection of Sacred Books.
The book of Ecclesiasticus, written in Hebrew in Palestine around the year 180 B.C. by Jesus, son
from Sirach, and translated into Greek by his grandson around the year 130 BC, contains an added prologue
by the translator who is of utmost importance for the history of the canon. In it, the grandson of
Jesus ben Sirach (ben=son of) talks about his grandfather, who "devoted himself greatly to the teaching of the Law,"
of the Prophets and of other native books” (Ecclesiasticus=prologue; the translator uses three times the
same expression in the prologue). From here we can deduce that the Bible was already divided
At that time in three groups. Two of which, the Leyylos Prophets, is very likely that
they would definitely be complete and closed. The third, on the other hand, designated
with an indefinite term, the other books, seems to suggest that it was still in the stage of
training and had not yet reached the final goal. Moreover, Jesus ben Sirach, in the
hymn of praise to the fathers (Ecclesiasticus chapters 44-49), generally follows the order of
the biblical writings, proving in this way that he knew all the books that the Hebrews
they were placed under the title of previous and later prophets. On the other hand, from the quotes that
From other books of the Old Testament, it can be concluded that he knew almost all of them.
books of the Hebrew canon. The only ones that it seems to make no reference to are the Song
of the Songs, Daniel, Esther, Tobias, Baruch, Wisdom.
In the second book of Maccabees, written in Greek around the year 120 BC, there is...
a letter from the Jews of Jerusalem, written shortly after 164 BC, addressed to Aristobulus
and the Jews of Egypt (cf. 2 Maccabees 1:10-2:19). It talks about a copy of the Law, which the
the prophet Jeremiah would have delivered to the exiles (2 Maccabees 2:1). It is also stated.
reference to the sacred writings that Nehemiah had gathered in his library, and to which
Judas Maccabeus -following his example- had gathered, after having been scattered
for the war (2 Maccabees 2:13-15). The books that both Nehemiah and Judas gathered
Maccabees are designated under the general titles of 'Books of the Kings', 'Books of the'
prophets”, “books of David” and “the letters of the kings about the offerings” (2 Maccabees 2:13).
The first book of the Maccabees speaks of Daniel and his three friends: Ananias, Azarias and
Misael, who by his innocence and great faith were delivered from the mouth of the lions and from
fire furnace (1 Maccabees 2:59). This shows us that the book of Daniel was already part of
part of the canon of the Holy Scriptures towards the end of the 2nd century (1 Maccabees 12:9).

. 1st century of our era:

At this time, the number of the sacred Books and their triple is already clearly given to us.
division: Law, Prophets, and Writings. However, in some Jewish circles there existed
certain doubts about the canonicity of the Song, Ecclesiasticus, Proverbs, Ezekiel, and Esther. For
some were to be excluded from the collection of the Sacred Books and from public reading of the
synagogue; for others had the same authority as the other Holy Books. This implies
which by that time had already been received into the canon of the Old Testament.
Philo of Alexandria (+38 A.D.), the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher, does not treat the matter professedly of the
canon of the Old Testament, but cites the Pentateuch - which he attributes a greater degree of
inspiration-, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Minor Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs,
Job, Esdras[4].
The New Testament contains countless quotes from the Old Testament, although
it does not explicitly name the books. It seems that there is no mention of the books of Ruth, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song, Obadiah, Nahum, and the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament
Testament. But it is undeniable that the authors of the New Testament admitted and used the
canonical books received by the Jews.
Flavius Josephus (c. 38-100 AD), in his book Against Apion (1:7-8), composed around the year
97-98 A.D., it is written that the Jews did not have thousands of books in disagreement and contradiction.
between each other, as it happened among the Greeks, but only twenty-two [5], which were precisely
considered divine and contained the story of the past. The 22 books are distributed
as follows: five Moses, thirteen the prophets[6] and other four books that
they contained hymns of praise to God and precepts of life for menThe number 7. This text from
Flavius Josephus is of great importance, although he does not give us the names of the books.
The fourth book of Ezra, written towards the end of the 1st century A.D., states that the number
of the sacred books is twenty-four [8]The author of this book of Ezra gives us a
legendary description of how Ezra, scribe and priest, achieved
rewrite the sacred books destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Moved by the prophetic spirit,
he was dictating to four scribes for forty consecutive days, ninety-four
books. Of these, twenty-four were to be read by the worthy and the unworthy, and the others
seventy had to be delivered to the instructed men (4 Ezra 14:44). The number of
twenty-four books evidently corroborate the figure of 22 books given to us by Josephus Flavius, and
What is achieved by combining Ruth with Judges and Lamentations with Jeremiah.
consequently, the small difference between twenty-four and twenty-two is only apparent and
it depends on the calculation that is followed.

. 2nd century AD
The Talmud[9]Babylonian finally gives us the complete canon of the Old Testament.
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Well, with what we get from 4 Ezra and Josephus Flavius. Which indicates to us that at that time
the canon of the Jews was already closed. This fact seems to have taken place, according to the
rabbinic tradition, at the Jamnia synod (around the year 100 AD). After the destruction
From Jerusalem, the learned Jews dedicated themselves with great diligence to preserve what still
it subsisted from the past, especially the Sacred Scriptures. Starting from the synod of
Jamnia, the great concern of the rabbis was the preservation of the sacred text. The
the work of the Masoretes aimed for nothing more than this purpose.
The testimony of the Babylonian Talmud is contained in a Baraita.of the essay
titled Baba Bathra (the 'last gate'). The text is from after the 2nd century AD, but it collects
a tradition from a much earlier time. It goes like this: 'Our doctors transmitted to us the
next teaching: The order of the Prophets is this: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve (Minor Prophets)... The order of the Hagiographers is as follows:
Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra and
Chronicles. And who was the one who wrote them? Moses wrote his book and the section of
Balaam11and Job. Joshua wrote his book and the last eight verses of the Law.[12]Samuel
he wrote his book, the one of the Judges and Ruth. David wrote his book through the ten
elders: Adam, Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of
Cory. Jeremiah wrote his book, the book of Kings and Lamentations. Hezekiah and his
associates wrote the books of Isaiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes.
The members of the Great Synagogue wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve (Minor Prophets),
Daniel and Esther. Ezra wrote his book and the genealogies of the Chronicles up to his time, and
Nehemiah completed them.[13].
This catalog does not mention anything about the seven Deuterocanonical books: Tobit, Judith,
Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Maccabees and Wisdom.
From what has been said, we can conclude that the Jewish canon was formed successively.
It contained the Protocanonical books, following the Palestinian canon. However, it is very
It is possible that the Deuterocanonical books were not absolutely excluded from the canon.
Palestinian Jew, as we will see later, some Deuterocanonical texts were used.
by the Jews of Palestine. The canon, definitively established in the synod of Jamnia, was to
having been likely completed in the 2nd century BC, as demonstrated by the
version of the Seventy or Septuagint, begun in the 3rd century and completed at the end of the 2nd century
B.C.

[1]Against Apion 1:8.

[2]4 Esdras 14:37-48.
[3]Babylonian Talmud (Baba Batra 14b-15a).
[4]Cf. H. E. Ryle, Philo and Holy Scripture (London 1895).
5The number 22 corresponds to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This same figure of 22 books.
is corroborated by Meliton of Sardis (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History volume 4,26), Origen
(Expos. in Ps. I), Saint Athanasius (Epist. Fest.39), Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechesis 4:33,35:I,
Saint Gregory Nazianzen (Carm.1,12), Rufinus (In symb.37), Saint Jerome (Prol. gal.), Saint
Epifanio (Messages and weights 4s.22.) Saint Isidore of Seville (Etymologies 16:10).
6The 13 books of the prophets are: Joshua, Judges-Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-
Nehemiah, the 12 minor prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah-Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Job,
Ester.
[7]Those other four books must be: Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes. Cf. W.
Fell, The Biblical Canon of Josephus: BZ (1909) 1-16. 113-122. 235-244)
[8] The number 24 likely comes from the Greek alphabet. This enumeration gathers from
two in two the books of Samuel, the two of the Kings, the two of the Chronicles and the ones of Ezra
and Nehemiah; the 12 minor prophets also form a single unit.
 Talmud means 'teaching, doctrine' because it collects the teachings of the rabbis.
The Talmud consists of two parts: the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Mishnah was compiled at the end
from the 2nd century AD, in Tiberias, by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, in which it is mentioned about
150 rabbis, who are usually called Tannaitas. The Gemara is like the complement.
from the Talmud by later rabbis, called Amoraim, who expounded the Mishnah in
Palestine from the year 219 to 359, and in Babylon from 219 to 500 AD. Therefore, the first
It is known as the Palestinian recension, and the second as the Babylonian recension.
[10] Baraita = "external", indicates the material that has been transmitted by the rabbis, but that
it has not been incorporated into the Mishnah.
[11]Numbers 23-24.
[12]It refers to Deuteronomy 34:5-12: the death of Moses.
[13] Baba Bathra 14b-15a. Cf. H. Strack – P. Billerbeck, Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and
Midrash IV p. 424s.

NOTE: The Palestinian Jews admitted, in the time of Christ, all the Protocanonical books.
as sacred. This seems to be beyond any doubt. There are even some indications that
seem to indicate that the Palestinian Jews themselves knew and used some of the books
Deuterocanonical. In Qumran some fragments of three books have been found.
Deuterocanonical: from Sirach (cave 2), from Tobit (cave 4), and from Baruch (cave 7)[14].
The Alexandrian Jews, on the other hand, considered not only the books as canonical
Protocanonical, as well as the Deuterocanonical, as they were found in the version of
the Seventies. From here has arisen the division of the canon into Palestinian and Alexandrian, as we will see.
below.

[14]Cf. J. T. Milik, Ten years of discoveries in the desert of Judah (Turin 1957) page 23.

2. THE DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS

The Greek version of the Seventy, executed in Egypt between 300-130 B.C., contained
In addition to the Protocanonical books, received by all Jews, seven other books
Deuterocanonical books: Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom and
fragments of Esther (10:4-16:24) and Daniel (3:24-90; 13; 14).
The Christian Church, since apostolic times, received among the Sacred Books,
the Deuterocanonical, without making any distinction between Protocanonical books and
Deuterocanonical. In this way, the canon of the Alexandrian Jews became the canon
of the Roman Catholic Church.
But we can ask ourselves, what authority did the Deuterocanonical books have among the
Palestinian Jews and Hellenists? They were also received as sacred by the Jews of
Palestine?

. Opinions:
a) According to the judgment of several authors, the Jewish canon would have been unique for all
Jews. And it would be the brief canon, which would not encompass the Deuterocanonical books. This way
thinking is very common among Protestants, and it is also followed by some
catholics. But they assume that it is not necessary for the Church to have received the canon of
the Jews. It is enough that he received it from the apostles and they from Christ, who would have
gave specific instructions to his disciples regarding the inspiration of the
 Deuterocanonical. Proposed in this way, the hypothesis is completely orthodox; but not
seems to rely on historical data, as we will see later.
b) For other authors, the canon of the Old Testament would have been unique only for the
Palestinian Jews as well as the Alexandrians. A single canon would contain all the
Protocanonical and Deuterocanonical books. Only in later times (1st-2nd centuries A.D.)
the Pharisees would have rejected the Deuterocanonical books (at the Council of Jamnia) because
particular reasons. The Hellenistic Jews, on the contrary, would have preserved them.
c) A third opinion, which seems to us the most likely, holds that among the Jews there existed
undoublecanon. The brief canon of the Jews of Palestine, which did not include the books
Deuterocanonical, and the expanded canon of the Alexandrian Jews, which included the
Deuterocanonical books.

This divergence between the Palestinian and Alexandrian Jews is easily explained if
we take into account the environment in which each group lived. The Alexandrian Jews had a
broader concept of biblical inspiration than the Palestinians. They were convinced
who possessed divine wisdom, and this, pouring out through the ages into souls
saints can raise friends of God and prophets anywhere and anytime[15]On the other hand
part, this divergence was provoked in a sense by the great esteem and reverence that
Some groups of Palestinian Jews considered certain Deuterocanonical books to be sacred.[16].
It is undeniable that the Alexandrian Greek version, called the Septuagint, contained
the deuterocanonical. The place they occupy in the Septuagint is not at the end, as if they were a
appendix or of an inferior genre, but rather they are mixed with the Protocanonical books. It
which seems to be a clear indication that they were recognized with the same authority and dignity and
he attributed the same value to them[17].
There are also testimonies that prove to us that the majority of the
Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament were read and venerated by the Jews.
Palestinians and the diaspora.
The Ecclesiastic was written in Hebrew and preserved for a long time in this
language[18]He is frequently praised by the Talmud.and cited many times by the
rabbis until the 10th century AD. In some places it is even referred to as scripture.
canonical[20]From which it seems to be deduced that in antiquity the Ecclesiastic was held
as canonical, at least by certain circles of Jews.
The books of Tobit and Judith were very read by the Jews, as seen in the Midrashim.
where it is mentioned21In the time of Saint Jerome, the Aramaic text or the ...
Hebrew[22].
Baruch read publicly by the Jews, even in the fourth century, on the Day of Atonement,
according to the testimony of the Apostolic Constitutions23. In addition, the Greek version of
Baruch was made by the same author who did that of Jeremiah 29:41. As a consequence, Baruch
It seems that he was already joined to Jeremiah when they made the Greek version of the latter.
In the 1st Book of Maccabees, according to the testimony of the Babylonian Talmud, it was read in full in
the festival of the Dedication of the Temple (Hanukkah)25It is also cited
by Flavius Josephus[26], and in the time of Origen[27]and from Saint Jerome, it was still kept the
1 Maccabees[28].
The 2nd Book of Maccabees was originally written in Greek, which is why it is
less quoted by Jewish-Palestinian writers.
The Book of Wisdom, whose original language was also Greek, is cited several times.
times in the New Testament[29], which implies that he was known to the Jews. Saint
Epifanio informs us that the Jews of his time (4th century) disputed about the book of the
Wisdom[30]. This seems to indicate that some accepted its canonicity, as deduced.
from the words of Saint Eustatius of Antioch[31].
The Deuterocanonical parts of Esther (10:4-16:24) probably belong to the text
This seems to be confirmed by the fact that in the Seventies the fragments
Deuterocanonical books are not forming an appendix to the Protocanonical part, as in the
Vulgate, but mixed with it. They are used by Flavius Josephus.
The Deuterocanonical fragments of Daniel (3:24-90; 13; 14), written in Hebrew or
Aramaic must have also been part of the original text. It is of utmost importance that
these Deuterocanonical parts are found in the version of Theodotion (late 2nd century
.C.), made directly from Hebrew. Saint Jerome took these Deuterocanonical fragments
from Daniel from the version of Theodotion and incorporated them into his Latin version made on the
original Hebrew. It is also likely that the story of Susannawill be found in the
version of Simacus.
From what has been said, we can conclude that many of the Deuterocanonical books of the Old
Testaments enjoyed great authority among the Palestinian Jews. This does not mean,
however, that they were considered canonical. The most plausible seems to be that the
Deuterocanonical books were received in the canon of the Sacred Scriptures by the
Hellenistic Jews, independent of Palestinian Jews. Later the Church,
guided by the authority of Jesus Christ and the apostles, approved this canon and made it its own,
as we will see in its place. In this way, the broader canon of the Alexandrian Jews
came to become the heritage of the Church of Christ. The Church in its choice did not allow itself
to be guided not by the particularist spirit of the Pharisees, but by the universalist spirit of
Jesus Christ and the apostles.

Cf. Wisdom 7:27.

[16]From the documents of Qumran, we know that they read and used some of the
Deutero-canonical. Cf. J. T. Milik, Ten Years of Discoveries in the Desert of Judah (Turin 1957) p. 23.
[17]This is the order they have in the Vatican codex (B): Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut, Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, Wisdom, Sirach, Esther, Judith, Tobit

Os, Am, Miq, Jl, Abd, Jon, Nah, Hab, Sof, Ag, Zac, Mal, Is, Jer, Baruch, Lam, Letter of Jer (=Bar
6), Daniel is missing 1-2 Maccabees, but they are found in the Sinaitic and in the Alexandrian. The B
reproduce the order of ancient Greek manuscripts.
[18] In the Geniza of an ancient synagogue in Cairo, a large part of the
Hebrew text of Ecclesiasticus, between the years 1896-1900.
[19]Cf. Chagiga 2:1; Sanhedrin 10b. See S. Schechter, The Quotations from Ecclesiasticus in
Rabbinic Literature, Jewish Quarterly Review (1891) 687-706.
20Babylonian Talmud, Erubin 65a; ibid. Baba Kama 92b.
[21]The Midrashim are a free and sometimes arbitrary exposition of the biblical text.
[22]Preface to Tobit.
[23]Const. Apost. 5:20.
[24]Yoma 29a.
[25]Hanukkah means 'consecration'. See 1 Maccabees 4.
Against Apion 1:1.
[27]In Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History vol. 6:25.
No text provided for translation.San Jerónimo, Prol. gal.
29Wisdom 2:13 and 18 = Mt 27:3; Wisdom 3:8 = 1 Corinthians 6:2; Wisdom 4:10 =
Hebrews 11:5; Wisdom 5:18-21 = Ephesians 6:14.16s; Wisdom 6:4.8 = Romans 2:11; 1:,1;
Wisdom 12:24-15 and 19 = Romans 1:19-32.
30St. Epiphanius, Haer. 8,6.
C. Orig. 18.
32Daniel 13.

. The deuterocanonical books in the Church of the early times

During the first century, the Christian Bible consisted only of the OT (read in the version
from the Septuagint). The authority resided in this Scripture and in the words of the Lord, the
which circulated through oral tradition, as is evident in the letter of Clement to
the Corinthians.[33]
The LXX version was also used by the authors of the New Testament. Most
scholars date the books of the NT to different dates ranging from 75 AD to
approximately around 150 AD, depending on which book it is. The authors of the Scripture,
those who wrote in Greek cite the books of the Septuagint since it was written
in Greek.
As the Church grew and began to separate from Judaism, the Jews
they began to code a collection of inspired books, either as a response to
Christianity or the divisions among the different Jewish schools. The NJBC[34]supports that
The discussions with the early Christians also contributed to the decision of the Jews.
regarding what would constitute the canon of books of the Old Testament. In his work The Early Church, Henry
Chadwick points out that it was only after the Christians turned more to the Septuagint,
the favoritism of the Greek Jews towards more literal translations became more evident
to Hebrew. Some rabbis even denounced that during the preparation of the
Septuagint provoked a sin similar to the worship of the golden calf!
It was during these early years of the formation of the Church that two codifications
different ones from the Old Testament were manifested. As the Jews did not have
all the original Hebrew texts of the LXX, used this as a pretext and rejected the
deuterocanonical books considering them not inspired.
We must also clarify that the fact that Jesus did not cite each of the 39 books of
A.T. that the Jews consider inspired, it must be thought that the uncited books are not.
inspired. It is true that Jesus quoted most of these, but we do not find a quote from
Jesus of the book of Ruth, The Song of Songs, among others. Secondly, I really do not
we know if Jesus, in fact, ever quoted the Deuterocanonical books, since not all the
revelation has been written in the Bible (Jn. 21:25). Citing a book does not automatically imply
that is considered inspired. In Hebrews 11:36, for example, the author alludes to the book
[apocryphal] from The Ascension of Isaiah 5:1-14. In Jude 9, it speaks to us about the Archangel
Michael contended with the devil about the body of Moses. This dispute is not found in the Old Testament.
but only in the [apocryphal] book The Assumption of Moses, which is not inspired. The mere
allusion to a book or quoting it does not automatically make it more or less inspired by God.
even a more important aspect is that it is not true that the Deuterocanonical are not
referred to or mentioned in the New Testament. Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach) 5:13-14 corresponds
 with James 1:19; Wisdom 2:12-20 with Matthew 27:41-43 and 1 Maccabees 4:36-59 and 2 Maccabees
10: 1-8 with John 10:22-36.

What did the early Church say?

Among the Church Fathers, Clement cites: "Judith, Tobias, and Esther in his Letter to the
Corinthians (27:5). Quotes the book of Wisdom 12:12.

Didache (First written teaching of the Apostles) quotes Ecclesiasticus 4:31 (Didache 4:5) and
Wisdom 12:5 (Didache 5:2).

The Letter of Barnabas quotes Wisdom 2:12 (in 6:7).

Polycarp, in his Letter to the Philippians (10:2), cites Tobit 4:10.

NOTE: Protestant researchers A.C. Sundberg and J.P. Lewis discovered that the
The Primitive Church used the Alexandrian Canon (73 books in the Old Testament).
(The Early Church, Henry Chadwick, p. 42)
[34]The New Jerome Biblical Commentary

IV. The Council of Jamnia

According to rabbinic tradition[35]this is the Council that was called after the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD with the purpose of preserving what still remained of
past. The 'Council' was only a hypothesis proposed in 1871 by Heinrich Graetz to
explain the reason why Jews have a single canon. As a hypothesis it is very weak, isn't it?
There are early sources that speak of no Council of Jamnia. With them
evidence we could assert that a Council was held in Beijing. In any case, the
most experts have finally recognized the obvious: there is no reason to
to believe that such a council existed.
As I said, while it would be difficult to prove the existence of such
council, there was indeed a rabbinical school, in the sense that the rabbis taught lessons to their
students. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the city of Jamnia became
the intellectual and religious center of rabbinic Judaism. Perhaps it is unnecessary to mention it,
but the Jews of that time who converted to Christianity were not part of the
Jamnia school, since this school was only made up of those Jews who
they rejected Jesus Christ or in some way he was indifferent to them. In fact, the school of
Jamnia is the product of Pharisaic and legalistic Jews, this, by the way, is the reason why they
they did not need any council to produce a canon of the Scriptures. The Pharisees,
since time immemorial, they used the modern equivalent of the Old Testament of
Protestantism; it was the Hellenists, the Greek Jews, who used the Old
Testament that uses Roman Catholicism, while the Sadducees only used the
the first five books of the Bible, as only those books are conferred canonicity.
 However, we must note that the Jews did not define the canon of their scriptures until
90 AD, that is, after the coming of the Messiah, therefore the Christianity of the 1st century
He was without the influence of this synod for 35 to 65 years.
Since Pentecost, the Church of Jesus, the universal or Catholic Church, was the institution
invested with all authority (Mt. 16:18-19; 18:18; Ephesians 3:10; Acts 15). Therefore, what
whether or not the Jews decided in a council after the coming of Jesus Christ, in AD 90,
it is irrelevant since they no longer followed the true Faith and had rejected the Messiah
crucifying him.
While we cannot maintain that the rabbinical school of Jamnia ever has
Having produced a biblical canon, we can affirm one of its greatest contributions.
school. Here the unfortunate Jacob's curse, Birkat haMinim, was produced, which cursed the
Christians and sectarians, and they prayed to God that these 'sectarians' would not have hope and
that in an instant all evils be destroyed, and that all His enemies be
rapidly eliminated; and that all the wicked be eradicated, defeated, and humiliated,
soon, in our days.” Blessed are you, Lord, who subdues enemies and humbles the ...
"fishers." This prayer was to be said during all the sabbaths, and it compelled Christians to
Jewish origin to separate from other Jews in the synagogues.
Before this, those Jews who accepted Jesus Christ still felt comfortable.
going to the synagogue, where they tried to convert others by speaking to them about Him, like the
long-awaited Messiah. For example, this is described as a regular practice of
Apostle Paul and Barnabas, in Acts 14:1 and Acts 17:2.
After the Birkat haMinim, those days were over. A Christian could pray to God.
of the Jews with a clear conscience, since he was also the God of the Christians. But
Obviously, a Christian of Jewish descent could not ask God to condemn the
Christians.
While it is unclear that the Jamnia school produced a biblical canon, it does
he manifested there an opposition against the Deuterocanonical texts upheld by Catholicism
Roman today and against the Greek translation of the Bible in general, since the texts
Deuterocanonical texts speak very clearly about things like heaven and hell. These
they contain prophecies that undeniably refer to Jesus Christ. For example, Mt. 27:41-43 speaks
clearly from the fulfillment of what is stated in Wisdom 2:12-22, in which the Just one had to
to suffer a disgraceful death (cf. Phil. 2:8). As Judaism has detached itself from the texts
Deuterocanonical texts may have diminished mass conversions of Jews to Christianity.
since they were using the Greek version of the Scriptures with the Deuterocanonical books. This,
By the way, it is the reason why many experts, who advocate the idea of some canon
from Jamnia, they believe that the canon was indeed formed but with the firm purpose of distinguishing itself and
to clearly dissociate themselves from Hellenists and Christians. They wanted to reclaim their
identity. Furthermore, the deuterocanonical books contain many Christian prophecies and allusions.
to the New Testament something that the Jews could not tolerate! A perfect example of this
It could be Wisdom 2:10-24, which is one of the clearest prophecies about the passion of
Jesus, in all of Scripture.
 Christians continued to use the version of the LXX until the year 363 AD in the
The Council of Laodicea declares that only the Old Testament with the Deuterocanonical books is accepted.
how the 27 books of the New Testament were read in the Church, since up until before this
Date, in Christian churches books such as: The Shepherd of Hermas were read which were
considered as inspired, therefore they were part of the Canon[36]

Later at the Council of Hippo in 393 AD and at the Council of Carthage in 397 AD,
they confirmed the authority of the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New
Will.
It was not until around 1530 when Luther, during the Protestant Reformation, decides
remove the Deuterocanonical books from the Old Testament, but in the first Bible in German of
Martin Luther, printed in the year 1534, the Deuterocanonical books appear at the end of this Bible.
in an appendix. Luther used as a basis to remove the Deuterocanonical books, the Council of
Jamnia, as well as these books should never have been regarded as inspired.
In the year 1545, the Council of Trent reaffirmed that the Deuterocanonical books are
considered valid as the revealed Word of God, since the Primitive Church
he used the Septuagint to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

35There is no record in history that shows us the celebration of the Council of Jamnia.
[36]Apostolic Constitutions