Actual Book Names (OT and NT) of The Canon (The Bible):
(Sorted by Greek)
(Sorted by Hebrew)

Also: The 68 Deleted Books of The Bible

Quick links to:
The Apocrypha The Targums "One Iota" For entertainment: Bible books "in a nutshell"
The Missing Verses / The Hidden Verses
The Septuagint The Vulgate "Textus Receptus" Who wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?
William Tyndale
 Bible History
 The Jewish Old Testament
 We still use Latin TODAY!
Who wrote the Gespels?
 Latin words that we use daily
 The "lost verses" of The Bible
 The last 3 (deleted) chapters of Danies

And remember: Martin Luther wanted Revelation and James deleted!  And Job, Psalms and Proverbs WERE part of the Apocrypha!


For entertainment: Bible books "in a nutshell"
Genesis
God makes everything, and it’s PERFECT- - for about 3.2 seconds

Exodus
Yahweh vs Raw - fight night!

Leviticus
Stop doing gross stuff!

Numbers
Israel makes a wrong turn at Mt Sinai - refuses to ask for directions

Deuteronomy
I said STOP doing gross  stuff - what is WRONG with you all??!!!

Joshua
Hotly anticipated product launch of “Moses 2.0”

Judges
A riveting documentary of doctrine - total deprevety

Ruth
The Bachelorette:  Hebrew-ish

1 Samuel
It’s David and Goliath

2 Samuel
David and Goliath - the Director’s VHS sequel - like Alladdin 2

1 Kings
Solomon marries a TONNE of women, and finds out - it’s a REALLY bad idea.  Who new??

2 Kings
Israel and Judah go "0 for 2" in a death match against Babylon and Asyria.  Should have declared Philippians 4:13 over that mess

1 Chronicles
A sweeping documentary over Israel’s history

2 Chronicles
A sweeping documentary over Israel’s history

Ezra
The temple gets an extreme home makeover

Nehemiah
Jerusalem gets an extreme home makeover

Esther
A brave Jewish woman - saves her people.  Full of more exciting drama - than any game of thrones … plus there’s WAY more clothes.

Job
This is a Hebrew country music song

Psalms
Ancient Hillsong album - with cheap metaphors

Proverbs
God “pities ‘da fool” - who don’t follow Him!

Ecclesiastes
Everything is meaningless - except everything isn’t REALLY meaningless because God gives everything meaning.  Whooah!

Song of Solomon
You know what - just go ask your parents  (it’s all about SEX)
 Isaiah
“Make Worship Great Again” - MWGA !!

Jeremiah
God has a great plan, and a future for you - and definitely NOT any trials, tribulations or suffering.  Nope, not at all.

Lamentations
[crying emoji]

Ezekiel
A total of crafty and mind-trapping:  eagles and bones and flaming psychedelic wheels and stuff…

Daniel
Fights his own personal lions, which also happen to be _actual lions_ that want to eat him.

Hosea
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Joel
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Amos
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Obediah
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Jonah
Hey - finally!  An anthropomorphic asparagus - goes on an adventure with some pirates.   Arrrrr!

Micah
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Nahum
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Habakkuk
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Zephaniah
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Haggai
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Zechariah
This is a minor prophet -  - - didn’t I say this one already??  This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Malachi
This is a minor prophet - who’s not Jonah - feel free to skip this one

Matthew
Peter does some dumb stuff; Jesus is the Messiah

Mark
Peter does some dumb stuff; Jesus is the suffering servant

Luke
Peter does some dumb stuff; Jesus is the son of man

John
Peter does some dumb stuff; Jesus is the son of God

Acts
Miracles, shipwrecks, LOTS of tongues.  Basically it’s John MacArthur’s worst nightmare!
 Romans
Man screws stuff up, but God justifies

Corinthians
STOP screwing stuff up, Corinth!!

2 Corinthians
Corinth!!  I MEAN IT this time!!!!

Galatians
This is Romans, but shorter

Ephesians
This is Romans, but shorter II

Philippians
You can win sports games - through Jesus

Colossians
Jesus rules ALL of creation - even the the weird stuff, like “platypi”

1 Thessalonians
Jesus is “comin’  ‘round the mountain - when He comes”

2 Thessalonians
A letter of encouragement and inspiration - like an ancient Max Lucado book

1 Timothy
Ladies, please stop talking

2 Timothy
Paul gives his dying instructions to Timothy

Titus
basically a Century 1 "vision-casting conference" for young pastors

Philemon
Paul’s passive-aggressive anti-slavery manifesto

Hebrews
Moses gets put on “blast” - for  - like - 13 chapters!

James
Act MORE GOODER, people!

1 Peter
You’re gonna suffer!

2 Peter
Uh, Paul is REALLY confusing - please help!

1 John
God is love, OK?

2 John
Yep - God’s still love

3 John
How many TIMES do you have to SAVE people??!!!!  Do I need to write a FOUR JOHN??!!!!

Jude
Stop being heretics, please.  OK, thanks, bye.

Revelation
Kirk Cameron fights the Antichrist!


- - - - - - - -

Now, to get "serious", as all good "Pious" Christians must do...  [ha ha]

Original names of the Canon (Bible) books:

First, some history:
In his best-selling novel, "The Da Vinci Code," Dan Brown wrote that the Bible was assembled during the famous Council of Nicea in 325 AD - when Emperor Constantine and church authorities purportedly banned problematic books that didn't conform to their secret agenda.  Except that's not how it really went. "The Da Vinci Code" was fiction, but Brown wasn't the first to credit the Council of Nicea with deciding the books of the Bible. Voltaire, writing in Century 18, repeated a centuries-old myth that the Bible was canonized in Nicea by "placing all of the known books on a table, saying a prayer and seeing which illegitimate texts fell to the floor."


So who did choose the books of the Bible?
In truth, there was no single church authority or council that convened to rubber stamp the biblical Canon (official list of books in the Bible) — not at Nicea or anywhere else in antiquity, explains Jason Combs, an assistant professor at Brigham Young University, specializing in ancient Christianity.  "Dan Brown did us all a disservice," Combs says. "We don't have evidence that any group of Christians got together and said, 'Let's hash this out once and for all.'" (The Council of Nicea was convened to resolve a religious matter unrelated to the books of the Bible.)  What evidence scholars do have — in the form of theological treatises, letters and church histories that have survived for millennia — points to a much longer process of canonization. From the first through the Centuries 1 and 4 and beyond, different church leaders and theologians made arguments about which books belonged in the canon, often casting their opponents as heretics.

Various people wrote the books that make up the Bible over a period of more than 1,000 years, between 1200 BC and Century 1 AD The Bible contains a variety of literary genres, including poetry, history, songs, stories, letters and prophetic writings. These were originally written on scrolls of parchment, as opposed to being encapsulated in "books" as we think of them today. (Remember, the printing press wasn't invented until 1440.)

Rare and ancient biblical manuscripts are displayed at the "Book of Books" exhibition in the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. Note they are all on scrolls.  Over time, the books that were deemed authentic and authoritative by the communities who used them were included in the canon, and the rest were discarded. Although the bulk of that editing work ended in the late 300s, the debate over which books were theologically legit continued until at least Century 16 when church reformer Martin Luther published his German translation of the Bible.


Disputed, spurious and downright heretical
Martin Luther had issues with the book of James, which emphasized the role of "works" alongside faith, so he stuck James and Hebrews in the back of the Bible with Jude and Revelation, which he also thought were questionable. In Luther's original Bible, those 4 books don't even appear in the table of contents.

Eusebius was a Christian historian writing in the early 300s who provided one of the early lists of which books were considered legit and which were borderline bogus.  Eusebius broke his list down into different categories: recognized, disputed, spurious and heretical. Among the "recognized" were the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), Acts and Paul's Epistles. Under "disputed," Eusebius included James and Jude - the same books Luther didn't like - plus a few others that are now considered Canon (but were omitted back then!), like 2 Peter, 2 John and 3 John.  Eusebius take on the "spurious" and "heretical" categories gives us a glimpse into just how many other texts were in circulation in the second and Century 3 AD Have you ever heard of the Apocalypse of Peter, the Epistle of Barnabas or the Gospel of Thomas?  Combs says that there were hundreds of texts similar to those found in the New Testament and Old Testament that didn't make it into the canon.

Making the Cut
Why did some books make the cut and not others? Combs cites three criteria that early church leaders used.
-  The first was authorship, whether it was believed to have been written by an apostle, by Paul or by someone close to them. Mark, for example, wasn't an apostle but an interpreter for Peter.
-  The second criterion was antiquity, with older texts taking priority over newer ones.
-  The third was orthodoxy, or how well the text conformed with current Christian teaching.
"That last reason is so interesting, of course, because 'current Christian teaching' changed over hundreds of years," Combs says.

While it's not true to say that a single church council ruled on which books to include in the canon, it IS fair to say that over those first centuries of theological debate, the winners got to decide which books would stay and which had to go.


Septuagint

The Septuagint (/ˈsɛptjuədʒɪnt/ SEP-tew-ə-jint), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (Koinē Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα, romanized: Hē metáphrasis tôn Hebdomḗkonta), and abbreviated as LXX.  The term "Septuagint" is derived from the Latin phrase "Vetus Testamentum ex versione Septuaginta Interpretum” - meaning "The Old Testament from the version of the Seventy Translators”).  This phrase in turn was derived from the Ancient Greek: μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα - romanized to: hē metáphrasis tôn hebdomḗkonta, literally "The Translation of the Seventy”.

It was not until the time of Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE) that the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures was called by the Latin term Septuaginta. The Roman numeral LXX (seventy) is commonly used as an abbreviation.  From the Latin septuaginta or "seventy", also referred to by the Roman numeral for seventy, "LXX") - originally referred to a Century 3 B.C. translation of the Pentateuch into Koine Greek.

Translation of the Hebrew Bible and other books into the Greek language
The Septuagint, sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy, and often abbreviated as "LXX" (50 + 10 + 10), is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.



Vulgate
The Vulgate is a translation of the Scriptures into Latin, beginning with the translations by Jerome. Vulgate, as the name for the Scriptures in Latin, came from the phrase versio vulgata, i.e., "the translation made public," in which the adjective vulgata referred to text that was currently or regularly used.  These translations became the authoritative Bible of the Church of Rome.

See the history of Bible translations below...

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- - - - -  Now, those names:

Old Testament (The Torah/ Pentateuch:)

Here are the Books of the Bible and their real Hebrew (and Greek) names, and what they mean and their origin:
NOTE: The Torah portion of Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26) explores the mitzvah of Bikkurim - the offering of the first fruits - and its profound implications for our understanding of gratitude, responsibility, and continuous renewal.


Hebrew names of the Bible books:
- - - -
Genesis - Bereshith (as mentioned above, meaning “at start”)
"Genesis" is a Greek word meaning “birth”.

- - - -
Exodus - We’elleh Shemoth (meaning “these are the names of”)
The English "Exidos" is the Latin translation of the Greek "exodos", meaning “exit” or “departure”, but it's "reverse-engineering" and is incorrect.

- - - -
Leviticus - Wayiqra’  (meaning “and [God] called...”) - Vayikra is #24 weekly Torah portion in the Book of Leviticus, covering the laws of sacrifices.
Vayikra (parashah)
"Leviticus" is a Greek word: Λευιτικόν ("Leuïtikón") meaning “relating to the Levites”, the temple helpers. Same as above: "reverse-engineering".
Popularly called by the Hebrew name  וַיִּקְרָא‎ - Hebrew for "and [God] called," the first word in the parashah.
"Vayikra", meaning “God called,” which is its first word, Leviticus is known formally as "Torat Kohanim", meaning “instructions for the priests” (Mishnah Megillot 1:5). This title defines Leviticus as a prescription for the proper worship of the God of Israel.
Vayikra, VaYikra, Va-yikra, Wayyiqra, or Wayyiqro

- - - -
Numbers - Bemidbar (meaning “In the wilderness”)
Numbers is really about the journey from Mount Sinai to the camp just outside Canaan. "Numbers" is the English translation of the Greek. Same as above: "reverse-engineering".

- - - -
Deuteronomy - ‘Elleh Haddebarim (meaning “These are the words”)
"Deuteronomy" is a Greek word meaning “repetition of the law.”  Same as above:"reverse-engineering".
(/The Torah)

- - - -
(The historical books, from Joshua to Esther)
Joshua - Ioshua (named after Moses’s protégé Joshua, meaning “salvation”.  Moses renamed him Jehoshua, meaning “Yeshua saves.”)

- - - -
Judges - shopheTim
A history of the judges of Israel

- - - -
Ruth - Megilat Ruth
The Book of Ruth (Hebrew: מגילת רות, Megilat Ruth, "the Scroll of Ruth") - is the story of Ruth. It is one of only two books named after women, the other being Esther. The author is unknown; it’s traditionally Samuel, but considering the mention of David at the end, it was likely written no earlier than David’s accession to the throne.

The book is written without name of Author, and there is no direct indication of its date. Its aim is to record an event of interest and importance in the family history of David, and incidentally to illustrate ancient custom and marriage law. There is no ground for supposing, as has been suggested, that the writer had a polemical purpose in view, and desired to show that the strict and stern action taken by Ezra and Nehemiah after the return in forbidding mixed marriages was not justified by precedent. The narrative is simple and direct, and the preservation of the tradition which it records of the descent of Israel's royal house from a Moabite ancestress was probably due in the first instance to oral communication for some considerable time before it was committed to writing.  The ethical value of the Book of Ruth is considerable, as setting forth an example of stedfast filial piety. The action of Ruth in refusing to desert her mother-in-law and persevering in accompanying her to her own land meets with its due reward in the prosperity and happiness which become hers. The writer desires to show in the person and example of Ruth that a sincere and generous regard for the claims of duty and affection leads to prosperity and honour; and at the same time that the principles and recompense of righteous dealing are not dependent upon race, but are as valid for a Moabitess as for a Jew. There is no distinctive doctrine taught in the book. It is primarily historical, recording an ethical, indicating and enforcing in a well-known example the advantage and importance of right dealing and the observance of the dictates of filial duty [duty of a child to its parents].  It is one of only two books in the Official Canon named after women, the other being Esther. The author is unknown; it’s traditionally Samuel, but considering the mention of David at the end, it was likely written no earlier than David’s accession to the throne.

- - - -

1 Samuel - Shmuel A  (but is technically 1 Kings, but it's actually "Melakhim 1") (1 Samual for searching)
Originally a single book in Hebrew, the Septuagint [defined above,  (the same group who decided which writings were included in the Bible.  They omitted 68!) ]  -  divided it into 2 books, and the later Vulgate did as well.  1 Shmuel: Dagan was among one of the pagan gods that the Philistines worshipped. it's funny because "Dag" means "fish" in Hebrew!  Ha!!  And the Hebrew word "dagan" means “grain".  So maybe they thought the god was a "fish grain".  The talking donkey makes me laugh - what’s so funny here is that Balaam was so out of his sense that he actually answered his donkey’s questions as if it were an every day occurrence, which it obviously was not.  Very comical!  And when you see all of the animals in the world, you see that Elohim (God) had a HUGE sense of humour.

2 Samuel - Shmuel B  (but is technically 2 Kings, but it's actually "Melakhim 2")
Named after the prophet Samuel (Shmuel). He’s less the protagonist of the book and more the official covenant-keeper of Israel, the string that ties the plot together. He couldn’t have written both books, because parts happen after he dies; one possible author is Zabud, the son of the prophet Nathan who served David’s court.

NOTE: Samael, in Jewish folkloric, the true name of "Satan". Samael is the king of all demons, the angel of death, the husband of the demonic Lilith (femine).  Lucifer doesn't have "horns", a forked tongue, or a tail - that's what she WANTS you to think - so you won't recognize her - when she comes in her beauty.  And yes, I meant SHE - Lucifer is a GIRL'S name.
Listen to this great 80's song - lyrics just below:
The Prince of The Dark (Scott Smith)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbZBKdOdbhY&list=OLAK5uy_keR07YdkL_8zJYm-OhCA0YnMiJau52YgY

"He'll tell you things "in fashion" - with high society
Or maybe he'll entice you - with plain philosophy
And when he knows he's tricked you - with intellectual conceit
Then you'll start asking if you're headed for defeat
And the strongest case he's playin' - is the story he's spread 'round
That positively Devil - has 2 horns, a tail, and crown
So you won't recognize him - we he comes all dressed in light
But you sure will get acquainted - and cringe at the foolish sight
(chorus) 'Cause you've been CHEATED - by the one who knows he's DONE."


- - - -
1 Kings - Melakhim A  (but is technically 3 Kings, but it's actually "Melakhim 3")

2 Kings - Melakhim B  (but is technically 4 Kings, but it's actually "Melakhim 4")
Accounts of the kings of Israel. Like Samuel, it was originally a single book in Hebrew called Melakhim, “Kings”. And like Samuel, the Septuagint divided it into two books, and the later Vulgate did as well. However, something weird happened: in the year 1448, the traditional Hebrew scriptures followed suit and split them up as well. They were traditionally written by Jeremiah, but there’s little evidence for that.
NOTE: The historical book called in the Hebrew Melakhim, i.e. Kings, is in the Vulgate, in imitation of the Septuagint, styled Books 3 and 4 of Kings.

- - - -
1 Chronicles ("Coronicles" for search) - dibre hayyamim A (meaning "the events of the days")
Various chronicles, genealogies, and stories of the people from Adam to Abram to the Israelites. Kind of a boring title, really, like the English translators couldn’t come up with anything better. The Septuagint has the best name for it: “The Things Omitted”, as in, “all the stuff left out of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings”.

2 Chronicles - dibre hayyamim B

- - - -
Ezrah - It means "help" or "helper" in Hebrew.  Although a FEMALE name in Hebrew, it was written by a MALE Prophet, from the lineage of Aaron - son of Levi - King of the Persians (Iran).

Ezrah B - BANNED from the Canon (The Bible).  It speaks of the Apocolypse, and talks about overthrowing evil Governments. Too bad they didn't include it - we could overthrow Biden and Trudeau (and Zelinski, Putin, China ...)

The book of Ezra provides an account of the return of two groups of Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem, where they rebuilt the temple and their community.  As students study the book of Ezra, they can learn about how Elohim (God) enables His people to overcome opposition and accomplish His will.

The book of Ezra provides a much-needed link in the historical record of the Israelite people. When their king was dethroned and captured and the people exiled to Babylon, Judah as an independent nation ceased to exist. The book of Ezra provides an account of the Jews’ regathering, of their struggle to survive and to rebuild what had been destroyed. Through his narrative, Ezra declared that they were still God’s people and that God had not forgotten them.  In the book of Ezra we witness the rebuilding of the new temple, the unification of the returning tribes as they shared common struggles and were challenged to work together. Later, after the original remnant had stopped work on the city walls and spiritual apathy ruled, Ezra arrived with another two thousand people and sparked a spiritual revival. By the end of the book, Israel had renewed its covenant with God and had begun acting in obedience to Him.  Ezra also contains one of the great intercessory prayers of the Bible (Ezra 9:5–15; see Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 9 for others). His leadership proved crucial to the Jews’ spiritual advancement.

NOTE:
The inter-marriage crisis in Ezra and Nehemiah - Ezra 9 blames the intermingling of the races as the cause for his people’s woe, and why it should be forbidden.  This “intermarriage crisis”, as it is commonly referred to, is therefore very important.  A code in Ezra specifies who could marry who.  A Jew could only marry another Jew who had experienced the Exile.  Those who had remained in the land during the Exile were unacceptable.  Ezra provided a genealogy distinguishing between those who were considered acceptable and those who were not, but it is suspect.  Those who had married “other” women were commanded to divorce them.  This was motivated by a fear of pollution of the Holy Seed and uncleanliness.  For those "racially upset / offended", these are Jews saying this, and Islam says this TO THIS DAY!  So, when you change THEM, then come talk to me.    :-)

The end of the book of Nehemiah ultimately points us forward to Jesus Christ, a leader who has the power to change peoples' hearts

- - - -
Nehemiah ("comforted by God")
Originally a single book detailing the return of Israel from captivity in Babylon to Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the walls and the temple, and the defence against the neighbors. However, the text (Nehemiah 1:1) makes clear they’re really two distinct works, first recognized by Origen, who called them “1 and 2 Ezra” despite, again, Nehemiah 1:1.

- - - -
Ester - estere (Lexical meaning "shining star")
The story of Esther and Mordecai and the salvation of the entire Jewish nation during the Babylonian captivity. The Hebrew name is Esther’s Hebrew name, Hadassah. “Esther” means “star” while “Hadassah” means “myrtle tree”.
(/Historical books)

How can a book which fails to mention not only the name of God, but also prayer, worship, the coming Messiah, heaven, hell or faith, be included in the canon of the Old Testament? The puzzling book which Luther wished “did not exist at all” features a Torah-ignoring woman and bloody self-defense by Jews, has two significantly different versions and was the only canonical book absent from the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery at Qumran. The “Megillah” or Scroll, however, is also the most widely published book of the Old Testament because of its widespread use at Purim.

Despite its unclear historicity and literary classification, and “while there is no name of God, and no mention of the Hebrew religion anywhere, no one reads this book without being conscious of God.”  More than being just conscious of God, a reader of Esther can identify multiple theological themes contained in this short book. While acknowledging no single theological topic can be independent, nor categorized as pertaining to God or man entirely, I have arbitrarily divided this discussion into two foci: God, and the believer. In the end, we’ll discover the “hidden God” of Esther “is so great, so powerful, that He can work without miracles through the ordinary events of billions of human lives through millennia of time to accomplish His eternal purposes and ancient promises.”

Providence, Covenant and a Theology of Sin
Was it luck that Esther was chosen queen from almost 400 other women?  Or did God overrule the Persian beauty pageant proposed by heathen men for good?  Was the king’s delay in rewarding Mordecai for his discovery of an assassination plot by Bigthan and Teresh simply coincidence? Or was God working providentially, directing history, making good of evil intentions and ruling over people and nations? The providence of God is described by Dr. Strong as “God’s attention concentrated everywhere” and Paul instructs the Ephesians that God works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Esther uniquely highlights God’s actions, fingerprints, plans and thoughts, as we read of King Xerxes’ insomnia, his choice of entertainment, his specific choice of reading material, the delay in rewarding Mordecai, and the timely arrival of Haman in the courtyard.  Even as the lot (pur) is cast, consulting the gods for the proposed date of the Jewish pogrom, God determines the results working through forbidden, secular ways of divination.  Through each twist, turn and plot change, the author of Esther leads the reader to craft a definition of providence.

More than luck or coincidence, God’s providence is His on-going will and activity toward His creation, as he “continually accompanies history on its course.”  Providence, from the Latin word "providentia", means "seeing ahead of time".  Our understanding of the degree to which God’s providence controls, directs, guides or even overrules man widely varies, depending on an individual’s perspective.  Holding human will and freedom in tension with God’s sovereign plans and purposes challenges theological discussions about providence. C.S. Lewis suggests every event is providential, brought about as answers to prayer – some granted and others refused.  Chafer proposes that human freedom, under the control of God’s sovereignty, is found between God’s eternal purpose and its perfect realization, and at no time is God’s sovereignty subject to human freedom.

God providentially removed King Nebuchadnezzar’s sovereignty, forcing the prideful king to admit the true sovereignty of the Lord, and moving the king’s heart how He wishes.   Providence is God’s silence in times when we question his presence. Esther reminds us, that even when God seems particularly absent and uninvolved in situations, “He is there and He is not silent.”   When we’re tempted to cry out as Ellie Weisel, a child Holocaust survivor, “Where is God? Where is He?”   God’s providence assures us He is working, albeit silently at times, and His timing is perfect.

Providence is also the freedom to fulfill one’s destiny, as seen in the life of Esther and Mordecai. People are not marionette puppets in the hands of God, but rather individuals with unique gifts, passions, successes, failures and times of disobedience. God achieves his purposes through (unlikely) people, working behind and beside His creation. He uses obscure people like Esther’s eunuch Hathach to complete important tasks, Gentile kings and queens like Xerxes and Vashti, and even non-practicing exiled Jews like Mordecai and Esther. God prepares people for coming tasks and places them in positions as needed, like Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon and Mordecai serving at the king’s gate. He is neither surprised by circumstances nor at a loss for prepared, willing servants, and “When the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from.”

While God’s providence is the backbone of Esther, God's actions can only be understood within the framework of election and covenant theology. God knew, God called and God chose His people, the Jews. And He covenanted with them. Esther definitively answers “Yes!” to the question, “Was God still working according to His covenant promise?” Esther dramatically reminds readers God is always at work caring for and protecting His people, as He originally promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.

Esther clearly portrays that God blesses those who bless you and curses those who curse you - which is contradictory to the "Bless those who curse you" in Luke 6:28 ...  God proved to be faithful to His people even though they were exiled in a foreign land, hadn’t yet returned to Jerusalem, and were possibly unobservant of the Torah, just as promised in Deuteronomy 4:23-31. Esther’s victory on behalf of her people relates directly to her identity as God’s Chosen. God not only delivers His people, but even makes their name great, expanding their influence and numbers.

- - - -
Job - אִיּוֹב
"dʒoʊb"; Biblical Hebrew: אִיּוֹב,  _romanized: ʾĪyyōḇ, now simply "Jobe"
Is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. As with Revelation (Gregory of Nyssa (d. a.d. 395) put the Book of Revelation into that category) and James (Martin Luther) , Job was ORIGINALLY PART OF THE APOCRYPHA ...

The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonian Hebrew and Aramaic influences, indicates it was composed during the Persian period (540-330 BCE), with the poet using Hebrew in a literary manner. It addresses the problem of evil, providing a theodicy through the experiences of the eponymous protagonist. Job is a wealthy and God-fearing man with a comfortable life and a large family. God asks Satan (הַשָּׂטָן, haśśāṭān, 'lit. 'the adversary'') for his opinion of Job's piety. When Satan states that Job would turn away from God if he were rendered penniless, without his family, and materially uncomfortable, God allows him to do so. The rest of the book deals with Job successfully defending himself against his unsympathetic friends, whom God admonishes, and God's sovereignty over nature.

The Book of Job consists of a prose prologue and epilogue narrative framing poetic dialogues and monologues. It is common to view the narrative frame as the original core of the book, enlarged later by the poetic dialogues and discourses, and sections of the book such as the Elihu speeches and the wisdom poem of chapter 28 as late insertions, but recent trends have tended to concentrate on the book's underlying editorial unity.

Named after its protagonist, and Arabian patriarch, Dzhob, or alglocized: "Jobe". The author is obviously an Israelite given their understanding of the history and theology and historical theology of the Israelites, but since it takes place in roughly Abraham’s time period, it was probably written down much later by an unknown hand. How can a totally evil being like Satan be allowed to enter directly into the presence of God?  I’ve always been told that God is so holy that He can’t tolerate any evil in his presence.  To state the matter simply, the character in the book of Job.

Job's trials:
Some sites state:
- He survived the period of trial for one hundred and forty years, and died in a good old age, an example to succeeding generations of integrity.
- Others have suggested it might have been 42 months.
- Some state "a week or more"
- Some state "for a few weeks"
- Some state "The Bible doesn’t say how long Job suffered, however, it does give us a few interesting clues especially in Job 7:3 – “So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.”
- So it does seem to have lasted a minimum of 2 months but it could have been much, much longer."

A Reasoned Answer
Having followed the chronology of events, but without any definitive time markers or a specified number of days or years, we still can’t know how long Job suffered.  We can reasons that it had to be more than just a few weeks based on:
- one day of calamity in Job 1
- an apparent gap between Job 1 and 2
- the time it took for the three friends to hear about Job and travel to visit him
- one week of the friends sitting in silence with Job
- the three friends speaking
- the fourth friend speaking
- Job speaking
- God speaking
- God commanding the friends to offer sacrifice
- the departure of Job’s friends
- Job praying

It was only after the three friends left (Job 42:9), and when Job prayed for his friends, that God restored Job (Job 42:10).  There is no clarity about how these friends helped Job during his suffering. Job’s friends were silent for around 7 days after seeing Job’s situation. The three friends of Job took around 7 days to speak to him.

Is The Job In Genesis 26:13 The Same Job In The Book Of Job?commonly called Satan in English translations isn’t exactly the same as the devil or Satan described in the New Testament.   “Satan” is not actually a name. The Hebrew word satan literally means “adversary,” and in the book of Job it’s always preceded by the word “the,” so this is actually a title.


- - - -
Psalms - תְּהִלִים
Tehillim (meaning “praises” even though many of them are are actually "prayers": tephillot.)
A collection of psalms (songs)
Translators DO NOT KNOW who wrote Psalms - they GUESS that it was Solomon and David, but they DO NOT KNOW.   It is GUESSED that it is written by David, the sons of Korah, Moses, and others. The Septuagint first called this book “Songs”, intending the stringed instruments that would accompany the songs, but the word eventually evolved to mean the songs themselves.

NOTE: While almost half of the Psalms are headed "l'David" (I, David", or "I am David") (Psalms 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63 and 142), and tradition identifies several with specific events in David’s life - these headings were additions.  Again, THEY ARE NOT IN THE ORIGINAL - they were added by Translators (!!!!!)

NOTE:  Psalms was originally part of the Apocrypha.  Psalm 151 was not included in The Canon ("The Bible").

Psalm 151

NOTE: Psalm 151 was not included in the Bible - it is considered Apocrypha.  Psalm 150 is "so amazing!!", but noooo, he turned evil with the next chapter:
Psalm 151 purports to have been written by David and speaks of his selection by God as the new king of Israel and of David’s victory over the Philistine giant, Goliath. Psalm 151 is quite autobiographical, giving details of David’s life such as his flute-playing and harp-making; his anointing by Samuel, who bypassed his brothers, “handsome in form and appearance: / Their stature tall, / their hair beautiful” (Psalm 151:5–6); and his beheading of Goliath.

When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and Psalm 151 was found in one of the scrolls. The Hebrew version of Psalm 151 (in the Qumran scrolls) differs somewhat from the LXX translation; in the Hebrew version, the psalm is split into two separate texts, which are then combined and condensed into a shorter text in the LXX.

There are a couple reasons why they (who??) do not include Psalm 151 in most Bibles. One is that the psalm was not part of the traditional or Masoretic Hebrew text. Another is that, even though Psalm 151 appears in the Septuagint, the translators of that version marked it as “not of the number”; that is, they did not consider Psalm 151 to be an official part of the biblical canon.

There you have it - censorship, and making decisions for us.  You can read Psalm 151 online at
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+151+1&version=CEB


- - - -
Proverbs - מִשְׁלֵי
Mashali (meaning "parables" and also "promises". "Mashal" means "a parable"; the "i" is "plural".)
A collection of proverbs, or wise sayings.
Translators DO NOT KNOW who wrote Proverbs - they GUESS that it was Solomon and othes, but they DO NOT KNOW.   It is GUESSED that it is of Solomon and others. Given the significant overlap of the proverbs with the Psalms, and given David’s authorship of so many Psalms, I sometimes wonder if the proverbs aren’t really Solomon just writing down “things my father always told me that I didn’t want to hear.”
NOTE:  Proverbs was originally pat of the Apocrypha.

- - - -
Ecclesiastes - קֹהֶלֶת
Kohelet (meaning "writings" or "a collector [of sentences]"), pronoucced "ko-heh' leth" -
This is a long explaination:
Ecclesiastes, known in Hebrew as "Kohelet", is in the Writings (Ketuvim) section of the Bible. It is traditionally attributed to King Solomon, an authorship questioned by most biblical scholars, and is read during the week of Sukkot. It is arguably most famous today for the section that begins, “To everything there is a season,” immortalized in the folk song “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)“.  Also, mis-pronounced by the _dunce_ Giggle-box COMMIE-la Harris - saying "ecclesiastics".

This book struggles with the meaning of life in light of death.  Again and again it repeats the refrain “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity,” as it catalogues our efforts to provide our lives with a sense of meaning by building monuments that will outlast us. A small number of us endeavor to amass wisdom that will be passed on and will live beyond our deaths. Many more of us amass material goods in great quantity, hoping somehow to create a permanence that will outlive our limited time on earth. We toil and we construct and we hoard. Sometimes we perhaps do not even consciously understand that it all arises from a vain desire to overcome the inevitable temporality of life. We carry within us a deep sense of humiliation in the face of death. It is degrading to live and then be gone forever and ever, and so we have an existential need to make a mark that will last.

But it won’t. And even if it will, you will be gone, so what does it matter? All the fame and glory of accomplishment, whether material or intellectual accomplishment, will not solve the problem. All the books and theorems that we have authored, all the buildings and treasuries that may live on after death, can never plug that black hole in our souls created by awareness of our own mortality. As I read it, that is the intention of the chord ‘Vanity, vanity, all is vanity,’ to which the author of Ecclesiastes returns again and again.

But King Solomon, to whom the book of Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed, is not uniformly pessimistic. He sees a way out of the abyss, although he manages to extricate himself only partially, occasionally succumbing to the melancholy with which he began. The solution is to embrace the temporality of life, and without looking beyond, to savor the moment. One must focus on the here and now. Indeed, there is no permanence; our existence is transitory by its very nature. That however, is not man’s downfall.  His downfall is rather precisely in the vain effort to deny the truth that cannot be denied.

One must find the intrinsic value of the present. Wisdom is indeed meaningful, if it is gathered for its own sake and not as a monument to him who gathered it. Appreciated and savored in the here and now, wisdom is one of God’s greatest gifts to man. So too for wealth. If you understand that wealth is only in order to be enjoyed today, if you completely abandon the thought of wealth as fame for tomorrow, then you may be on your way to overcoming one of the greatest pitfalls of life.


- - - -
Song of Solomon - שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים
Shir Hashirim (meaning "song of songs")
The Song of Songs (Biblical Hebrew: שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים‎, romanized: Šīr hašŠīrīm), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a biblical poem, one of the five megillot ("scrolls") in the Ketuvim ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh.  Song of Songs is a well-known but little-understood book of the Bible made up of eight chapters of ancient Israelite love poetry. While there is an introduction and a conclusion, the book doesn’t have a rigid literary design.

A key question to consider re / the Song of Songs is the correct hermeneutical approach. At one extreme are those who want to take it in an entirely spiritual way believing that it deals exclusively with the love between God and his people. At the other extreme are
 those who want to take it in an entirely natural way. For them, it is all about the love between a woman and her lover, and no more.

I believe, that when he wrote, the author had in mind both a natural and a spiritual understanding, and that those who originally received it as Scripture understood it both in terms of human love and intimacy, and as a portrait of the loving relationship between God and his people.

Raewynne Whitely puts it like this: “Song of Songs could be understood as a superb love poem, evocative and rich in imagery. As such it sets forth a high standard for mutual love and encourages the celebration of love and beauty. However, as we understand the further dimension of God’s love, it becomes an intimate invitation into relationship with God, celebrating the goodness of love, the beauty of passion and the tenderness of God”.

They SAY that Solomon most likely wrote this song during the early part of his reign. This would place the date of composition around BC 965.
Purpose of Writing: The Song of Solomon is a lyric poem written to extol the virtues of love between a husband and his wife.
Also sometimes actualy called Song of Songs, is a single [long] song about a man and his betrothed (a person that someone has promised to marry).  “Song of Songs”, indicates this song is the greatest song about Solomon, not necessarily that he himself wrote it. It may have been composed - or by someone else - as a wedding song.

NOTE: Song of Solomon, is a biblical poem, one of the five megillot ("scrolls") in the Ketuvim (writings), the last section of the Tanakh. It is unique within the Hebrew Bible: it shows no interest in Law or Covenant or the God of Israel, nor does it teach or explore wisdom, like Proverbs or Ecclesiastes—although it does have some affinities to wisdom literature, as the ascription to the Century 10 BCE King of Israel Solomon indicates. Instead, it celebrates sexual love, giving "the voices of two lovers, praising each other, yearning for each other, proffering invitations to enjoy".  The two lovers are in harmony, each desiring the other and rejoicing in sexual intimacy.  Jewish tradition reads it as an allegory of the relationship between God and Israel. In Christianity, it is read as an allegory of Christ and his “bride", the Church.  Frankly, I am ASTONISHED that this is included in the Canon.  As with Job - it's astonishing.

- - - -
Isaiah - יְשַׁעְיָהוּ
It is NOT KNOWN who wrote Isaiah.  If Isaiah did write a small portion, Scholars generally accept that the Book of Isaiah was at least partially written by the prophet Isaiah, during Century 8 BC.
SEE ALL BELOW...

- - - -
Jeremiah -  ירמיה / ירמיהו (yir-me-yah / yir-me-yahu)
Ieremiah
Means "to lift up", or "Yah lifts up"

- - - -
Lamentations - נְהִי
Pronounced "neh-HEE", the word means "wailing" or "mourning".  The Old Testament is full of hardship, and wailing.
A collection of laments (sadness) of Jeremiah, who is known as “the weeping prophet” for his grief over the rebellion of Judah against God and the resulting Babylonian invasion and exile.

- - - -
Ezekiel - יְחֶזְקֵאל
Pronunciation: yeh-khez-KAY-el
Means "God will strengthen".  Also Yəḥezqē (meaning "God's Strength")

- - - -
Daniel - דָּנִיֵּאל
"Daniyyel", meaning "God is my judge", from the roots
din [to judge] and el [God] - it means in context "God is my judge")

The Book of Daniel originally had 15 chapters, not the present 12.  The last 3 chapters of Daniel (Daniel's final vision) were deleted, and now considered the Apocrypha - now forbidden in the King James version.  Originally, if you DID NOT include the Apocrypha, you were fined and jailed for 1 year!  Now, if you DO include the Apocrypha, you are considered "blasphemous"!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel's_final_vision

- - - -
Hosea - הוֹשֵׁעַ
Hoshea ("ho-shay'-ah") (meaning "salvation")
This name is significant in biblical context, as it was also the original name of Joshua before he was given the name יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ (Yehoshua). The name emphasizes God's saving purpose, whether through a faithful leader or a prophetic message.

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Joel - יוֹאֵל
Yoʾel (meaning "YHWH is God")
This name is derived from two Hebrew elements: "Yah," a shortened form of Yahweh, and "El," which means God. Joel is also recognized as one of the twelve minor prophets in the Old Testament.

- - - -
Amos - עָמַס
'amas (meaning "to carry", "load" or "burden")
Amos is also known as 1 of the 12 minor prophets in the Old Testament, and he authored the Book of Amos, which addresses themes of social justice and divine judgment.

- - - -
Obadiah - עֹבַד
'abad ) (meaning "to work/serve God")
The name Obadiah in Hebrew means "servant of Yahweh". It is derived from the Hebrew words "עֹבַד" (avad), meaning "to serve," and "יָה" (Yah), which is a shortened form of the name of God.

- - - -
Jonah - יונה
Yonah (meaning "dove" or "pigeon")
The name of a biblical prophet whose story is read on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The book of Jonah tells about the prophet’s refusal to fulfill G‑d’s mission to call on the people of Ninveh to repent.

- - - -
Micah - מִיכָיָה
Michaiah (only a girl's name) (meaning "Who is like Jah?" or "He who is like God." - with "Jah" meaning God.)
Often considered a shortened form of the name Michael, which carries a similar meaning.

- - - -
Nahum - נָחַם
naham  (meaning "to be sorry or to comfort", or "to console.")
Derived from the Hebrew root נָחַם (nacham), which conveys the idea of providing comfort. Nahum's prophetic message was particularly focused on bringing comfort to the people of Israel during times of oppression.

- - - -
Habakkuk - חֲבַקּוּק
Ḥăbhaqqūq (meaning "to embrace")
("khab-ak-kook")
Means "embrace" or "ardent embrace". Some ancient rabbis connected the name with the story of the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:16. The name may signify that Habakkuk embraced God and his people

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Zephaniah - צְפַנְיָה (Tzefanyah)
Tzephanyah (meaning "Jehovah has concealed")
Means "Yahweh has hidden". The name reflects the idea of God's concealment or encryption. The Hebrew title of the book of Zephaniah is "hynpx," which can mean "Yahweh hides" or "Watchman for the Lord". Zephaniah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible, with the most prominent being the prophet who prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah.

- - - -
Haggai - חַגַּי
Ḥaggay, boy's name (meaning "to gather for a festival")
It is derived from the Hebrew term "chag," meaning "festival," suggesting that the prophet was born during a major feast.

- - - -
Zechariah - זְכַרְיָה (Zeḵarya),
zakar (meaning "to remember/to review" or "Yahweh remembers")
Derived from the Hebrew roots זָכַר (zaḵar) meaning "to remember" and יָהּ (yah) referring to God. This name is associated with several figures in the Old Testament, including the prophet Zechariah.

- - - -
Malachi - מַלְאָכִי (Malʾaḵī)
Malachy (meaning "messenger of God", "my messenger" or "angel".)
It is the name used by the author of the Book of Malachi in the Tanakh.


NOTE: The books of the prophets are divided in two sub-sections: major (Isaiah–Daniel) and minor (Hosea–Malachi). Except for Lamentations, named for its contents, all of these books are named for their authors (or, at the very least, their protagonists). Unfortunately, that means Lamentations is the only interesting book name in all seventeen of these.

- - - -

Isaiah - this is a HUGE note:
The Book of Isaiah, comprising 66 chapters, is one of the most profound theological and literarily expressive works in the Bible. Compiled over a period of about two centuries (the latter half of Century 8 to the latter half of Century 6 BC), the Book of Isaiah is generally divided by scholars into 2 (sometimes 3) major sections, which are called Isaiah 1 (chapters 1–39), Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40–55 or 40–66), and - - if the second section is subdivided - - Trito-Isaiah (chapters 56–66).

As stated above, it is NOT KNOWN who wrote Isaiah.  If Isaiah did write a small portion, Scholars generally accept that the Book of Isaiah was at least partially written by the prophet Isaiah, during century 8 BC. However, there’s also evidence that other authors made additions. Recent scholarship also argues that even the portions he didn’t physically write originated with him in some form. This fits with the timeline of chapters 1–39, where the Babylonian captivity clearly hasn’t taken place yet.  Isaiah 39:5–7
But then the timeline appears to skip ahead about 150 years. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile took place in century 6, but in chapters 40–55, Isaiah speaks about these events as though they’ve already happened.
The opening passage of Isaiah 40 suggests Israel’s sin has already been paid for.
Isaiah 42 appears to speak of the destruction of Israel as an event in the past:
And in Isaiah 43, the Jews seem to be in Babylon:
In chapter 56, Isaiah jumps ahead again, to a time when the second temple is at least under construction. The narrator remains in this period until the end of the book.
So it appears that there are three distinct timelines in Isaiah, and the time between them is so great that they couldn’t have been written in the present by the same person. While other prophets talk about the future, Isaiah seems to talk _in_  the future.

Stylistic differences - If you read the Book of Isaiah, you’ll notice a huge shift in the style at chapter 40. After 39 chapters of prose, the next 27 chapters are poetry. From here on, there are also no more mentions of Isaiah.
https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-isaiah

The prophecies of First Isaiah
First Isaiah contains the words and prophecies of Isaiah, a most important Century 8 BC Prophet of Judah, written either by himself or his contemporary followers in Jerusalem (from c. 740 to 700 bc), along with some later additions, such as chapters 24–27 and 33–39. The first of these 2 additions was probably written by a later disciple or disciples of Isaiah about 500 bce; the second addition is divided into two sections—chapters 33–35, written during or after the exile to Babylon in 586 bc, and chapters 36–39, which drew from the source used by the Deuteronomic  historian in 2 Kings, chapters 18–19. The second major section of Isaiah, which may be designated Second Isaiah even though it has been divided because of chronology into Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah, was written by members of the “school” of Isaiah in Babylon: chapters 40–55 were written prior to and after the conquest of Babylon in 539 by the Persian King Cyrus (2) the Great, and chapters 56–66 were composed after the return from the Babylonian Exile in 538. The canonical Book of Isaiah, after editorial redaction, probably assumed its present form during Century 4 BC. Because of its messianic (salvatory figure) themes, Isaiah became extremely significant among the early Christians who wrote the New Testament and the sectarians at Qumrān near the Dead Sea, who awaited the imminent messianic age, a time that would inaugurate the period of the Last Judgment and the Kingdom of God.

He was also a contemporary of the prophets of social justice: Amos, Hosea, and Micah. Influenced by their prophetic outcries against social injustice, Isaiah added themes peculiar to his prophetic mission. To kings, political and economic leaders, and to the people of the land, he issued a message that harked back nearly five centuries to the period of the judges: the holiness of Yahweh, the coming Messiah of Yahweh, the judgment of Yahweh, and the necessity of placing one’s own and the nation’s trust in Yahweh rather than in the might of ephemeral movements and nations.




NOTE on "Parable":
παραβολαῖς  ("parabolais") literally means: a placing beside, a comparison.  We'll go ahead and call it "a story".


Monogene:
Some passages (John 3:16) call Christ "Monogene      a part of"
μονογενῆ (pronounced "monogenē")   υἱὸν    (pronounced "uion")

Others - like Galatians 4:4 - use the word "υἱὸν",pronounced "uion", meaning "a son" (not "His son", but translated as such). Also, that verse continues "born of a woman, born under the law" - it actually is:
to come into being       a woman        to come into being        by that which is assigned

Close, but if you want the REAL original, go to THE ORIGINAL!!

There were 47 Translators of the King James Bible, and they drew heavily from the Tyndale.  Note: 47 translators of the KJV that were actually approved - out of the 54 allowed for selection.




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New Testament [New Covenant]

https://kentbrandenburg.com/2020/09/18/greek-names-of-books-of-new-testament/
Greek names of the books of the Bible, and what they mean.

Matthew - Mattityahu (meaning "the gift of Yahweh")
(Μαθθαῖον)


Mark
(Μᾶρκον)
The earliest witten of the gospels.  Contrary to the Church tradition, the authorship of the Gospel of Mark remains a mystery. The book itself doesn’t identify its author. Only in Century 2 did the Church guess that the author was named Mark, identifying him as John Mark from Acts 12:12. He appears there as the traveling companion of Paul and Barnabas. Who is Mark in the Bible? We can’t be sure!

Location of Writing - The composition's location remains uncertain. We know it was probably written outside Palestine. Some scholars suggest Rome, while others, like Joel Marcus, argue for a Syrian origin, particularly Antioch, citing it as “the most convincing” theory given the evidence.

The Message - 70 AD: Mark’s main message presented through Jesus is clear: The Kingdom of God is indeed at hand. Current events prove it!
Sound familiar??

Luke - Loukas (male name only), (meaning "bright, white, light-giving")
(Λουκᾶν)
The authorship of the Gospel of Mark remains a mystery.

- - - - - -
NOTE:
Many scholars believe that at least Matthew, Mark, and Luke were originally written in Hebrew, but not one of those manuscripts is known to exist. Also, it is possible that the books of Hebrews, Jacob, and Peter could have been written in Hebrew, since they were written to Hebrews.
1 - -  there is an ancient Hebrew version of Matthew. Check with Nehemiah(Yah) Gordon.
2 - -  if the newly formed Catholic church had not destroyed or locked them up, I am confident we would know the whole truth, and have more original Hebrew versions of the “New” Testament.

We need to apply more pressure on the Vatican to release what they have and open up their vaults of these ancient manuscripts.
Relying upon the Greek has led to many misunderstandings and possibly contradictions or failures of prophetic fulfillment to be accurate. Consider the number of generations of Yeshua’s lineage as well as his lineage through Miriam via Joseph, her father, NOT her husband.

Who Wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke & John?
Opinions vary regarding the authorship of the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Some assert that these were the actual names of the scribes. But most scholars conclude those names are merely placeholding pseudonyms, and the Gospels were written anonymously.

Who wrote Revelation?

The Remaining 10 Works  Not Attributed to Paul
The remaining 10 works of The New Testament that are not attributed to the apostle Paul’s direct input or influence are tricky to pin down in terms of authorship. The Book of Acts is commonly believed to have been written by the same writer as The Gospel of Luke, (70-95 CE). Let us not forget The Book of Revelation, also known as The Apocalypse of John (near the end of the century 1), which is nearly as popular as The Gospels are in many Christian Bible studies.  The confusion over who wrote what in the New Testament is widespread.  It’s no wonder the contributions are named for people and not places.
- - - - - -

John - Yôḥānān Ioannes is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name יוחנן (yohhanan)
(Ἰωάννην)
NOTE: The question of who wrote the Gospel of John is almost as baffling as how it was included in the New Testament canon in the first place.  To make a long story short, the early church was convinced the author of this Gospel was none other than John, the son of Zebedee and one of the three disciples in Jesus’s inner circle of trust. Without this label, it is doubtful that the Gospel of John would share Biblical history alongside Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Authorship of ancient scripture was a matter of supreme importance. This led early leaders to decide that the only books included in what would later be known as The Bible were required to have the apostolic stamp of approval (written by an apostle.) The most significant caveat to John’s identity is that the Gospel of John does not assert authorship by an individual bearing his name. It remains entirely anonymous.


NOTE:
John the Apostle is traditionally held to be the author of the Gospel of John, and many Christian denominations believe that he authored several other books of the New Testament (the three Johannine epistles and the Book of Revelation, together with the Gospel of John, are called the Johannine works), depending on whether he is distinguished from, or identified with, John the Evangelist, John the Elder, and John of Patmos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannine_literature

Johannine works
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannine_community



The question of who wrote the Gospel of John is almost as baffling as how it was included in the New Testament canon in the first place.  To make a long story short, the early church was convinced the author of this Gospel was none other than John, the son of Zebedee and one of the three disciples in Jesus’s inner circle of trust. Without this label, it is doubtful that the Gospel of John would share Biblical history alongside Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Authorship of ancient scripture was a matter of supreme importance. This led early leaders to decide that the only books included in what would later be known as The Bible were required to have the apostolic stamp of approval (written by an apostle.)

The most significant caveat to John’s identity is that the Gospel of John does not assert authorship by an individual bearing his name. It remains entirely anonymous.
The consensus among scholars may differ, but the prevailing belief is that John’s name serves as a mere placeholder.  I have complete faith in Dr. Bart Ehrman’s comprehensive coverage of this topic on Gospel authorship through his diverse range of books, blogs, podcasts, and online courses. There are numerous layers to uncover when examining who authored the Gospels, and Bart has done an exceptional job at dissecting them all with precision.

The aim here is not only to provide readers with an overview of the ongoing debate surrounding Gospel authorship but also to delve into what kind of individual could have penned such profound words. So prepare for a powerful exploration into one of Christianity’s most intriguing mysteries!

Academic Consensus: It's Unlikely John was an Eyewitness
When it comes to establishing and celebrating Biblical authority, it would be so much more convenient if the authors of the Gospels were, in fact, eyewitnesses to the miraculous deeds of Jesus.
….so the question is, who wrote the gospel of John?  Was he such an eyewitness?  Anonymous authorship can be a confusing concept to grapple with. However, assuming this John is the John from Jesus’s heyday is nothing more than wishful thinking, not to mention a bit irresponsible. We should trust the consensus among New Testament scholars who assert that none of these writers were eyewitnesses to Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.

Who were these Gospel writers, and why were they writing about Jesus? Authors of the Gospels like “John” were likely established Greek authors invited to entertain audiences with stories about the incredible deeds of Jesus passed on to them (For a mind-bending tangent, check out Dennis MacDonald’s Mythologizing Jesus: From Jewish Teach to Epic Hero).

However, I believe that the anonymous Greek writer known as “John” did not intend to talk about Jesus but rather embody his teachings. John’s approach was to speak in the voice of Jesus himself. While some may question the veracity of these extensive speeches, they remain unverifiable precisely because they are so distinctive within this Gospel text.

The Mystery of the Gospel of John. Was he a Jewish Mystic?
Cover to cover, the words of this Gospel differ significantly in comparison with the other three Gospels. John has Jesus conveying profound spiritual lessons about life and God, and they strike me as words I might hear from a preacher.  According to author John Shelby Spong, that might be because John was a Jewish mystic, and his words were intended to inspire a mystical understanding of Jesus rather than a historical account of his life.

Tapping the original Disciple "John" as the author - ignores the fact that these words were penned in the Greek language.  To write the Gospel of John, Jesus’s disciple would have needed to not only learn but master a new language in his very, very old age. Possible? Anything is possible with God, right? That said, given Jesus’s disciple was likely illiterate, it remains highly unlikely that he achieved fluency in Greek as a centenarian.  Using this logic, it’s difficult to imagine Jesus’s disciples writing any books of the New Testament.

Repeatedly, academics and theologians have established that the probability the author of John was the disciple of Zebedee is extremely low. Furthermore, whether “John” was even his actual name is doubtful. Despite this uncertainty, can we extract any valuable knowledge from this text?

“John’s” Gospel is one long, often repetitive, but highly charismatic sermon.  John's work is the equivalent of a lengthy Baptist preacher stirring up the crowd on a Sunday morning.  This Gospel comes across not as a book to be read - - but as a brow-beating persuasive testimony to be heard and felt.  It feels like this Gospel wasn’t intended to be studied but to be consumed. Whomever this author was, he succeeded in building a very compelling case in favor of Jesus as the Christ.


- - - - - -



Acts (Deeds/Miraculous works of the Apostles - Also called "Acts of the Apostles")
Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων
Pronounced "PRAK-sis Apostólon", and Anglocized as "Acts of Apostoloi", but means "deeds, actions".
ἀποστόλοις - pronounced "apostoloi" - means "a messenger, one sent on a mission, an apostle".

"Apostólon" is defined as: An apostle, representative, messenger; often used in a technical sense for the founders of the church
Definition: one sent as a messenger, or agent, the bearer of a commission.
https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/apostolos

The deities (gods) mentioned in the Book of Acts by name are Zeus, Hermes, Artemis, and the Dioskouroi.  Other books in the New Testament frequently seem to allude to them indirectly, particularly the Gospel of John. For instance, in John 4:1-26.
Paul and Barnabas were mistaken for Zeus and Hermes:
Acts 14:8–13 describes an incident that supposedly occurred during Paul and Barnabas’s visit to the Greek city of Lystra in the region of Lykaonia in Asia Minor. After Paul miraculously healed a lifelong cripple, the people of Lystra hailed him and Barnabas as the gods Hermes and Zeus respectively.


(Paul's letters - NOT "books" - to Churches):
Romans - Paul's letter to the Church in Rome
The Epistle to the Romanes (Ῥωμαίους)
NOTE: Scholars agree that at least a couple of the letters Paul wrote while under house arrest in Rome were actually penned by him. Which brings us to another problem of timing: When Paul was alive, there weren’t any church leaders. His view was that every Christian was endowed with a supernatural gift (healing, say, or speaking in tongues) and all were equal: “In Christ there is neither slave nor free, neither male nor female,” he declares in Galatians 3:28.

Paul believed Jesus’ Second Coming would happen unexpectedly, “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2), and he would be around to experience it. It wasn’t until a generation or more later, when people were still waiting, that some found it necessary to think more long term and offer up excuses.

“The author of 2 Thessalonians, claiming to be Paul, argues that the end is not, in fact, coming right away,” Ehrman explains. “There will be some kind of political or religious uprising and rebellion, and an Antichrist-like figure will appear who will take his seat in the Temple of Jerusalem and declare himself to be God.”

How could the same Paul declare in 1 Thessalonians that Jesus’ return would happen soon and suddenly, and then in 2 Thessalonians renege on that and state that a whole series of events had to take place first?

And in Ephesians, there’s also an issue with Paul’s biography. The writer includes himself as someone who, before meeting Jesus, was guilty of “doing the will of the flesh and senses.” But that doesn’t fit with the man who says, in undisputed letters, he had been “blameless” when it came to the “righteousness of the law” (Philippians 3:4-5).
- - - - -


1 Corinthians   (correctly pronounced: "One Corinthians", or "Letter One to Corinth" - or most properly: Corinthians A". See the correct pronunciations of all books here.) (Κορινθίους ά)
In Greek, Κορινθίους is pronounced “KAW-dee-zee-ass" - NOT "kor-IN-thee-uns".

2 Corinthians   (correctly pronounced: "Two Corinthians", or "Letter Two to Corinth" - or more properly: Corinthians B")
- Paul's letter to the Church in Corinth
(Κορινθίους β´)
Corinth, or Korinth (Κόρινθος) is a Greek city, located at the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta.


Galatians -  Gălắtās
(Γαλάτας)
Paul's letter was to a group of Christians in the area of Galatia (the northern part of what is now Turkey). The Galatians were a Celtic people dwelling in Galatia, a region of central Anatolia surrounding present-day Ankara, during the Hellenistic period.  Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in southern Anatolia, or a large region defined by Galatians, an ethnic group of Celtic people in central Anatolia. The letter was originally written in Koine Greek and later translated into other languages.

In this letter, Paul is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding Gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law during the Apostolic Age. Paul argues that the Gentile Galatians do not need to adhere to the tenets of the Mosaic Law, particularly religious male circumcision, by contextualizing the role of the law in light of the revelation of Christ. The Epistle to the Galatians has exerted enormous influence on the history of Christianity, the development of Christian theology, and the study of the Apostle Paul.



EphasusEphesians - Éfeso
Paul's letter to the Church in Ephesi (Ephasus) (Ἐφεσίους)
The city of Ephesus is an ancient Greek city on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The city was built in the Classical Greece era and the city expanded when the Romans took over.  A letter from Paul to the churches in Galatia: an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here and became a small transient foreign tribe in BC Century 3, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of the East.


Philippians - Phĭlĭppḗsĭos
(Φιλιππησίους)
Paul's letter to the Church in Philipi, a city in eastern Macedonia, in the Edonis region. Its original name was Crenides after its establishment by Thasian colonists in 360/359 BC. The Archeological Site of Phillipi is one of the most important archaeological sites of Greece.  Philippi is:
Φιλίππους
"philippous"

Colossians - Kolossai
(Κολοσσαεῖς)
The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Colossians between 61 and 63 A.D. while he was a prisoner in Rome. Surprisingly, not only had Paul _not_ visited Colosse before writing his epistle, the Bible _does not record him ever visiting the church_ !

Meaning "Colosse" (meaning: Monstrosities), but was a town named "Colosse" and was located south of Laodicea in the southwestern part of Asia Minor. It was built at the head of a gorge where two streams unite. Not only was it on a Roman road that connected it to other destinations in the province such as Laodicea and Hierapolis, it was also blessed with rich mineral deposits. The chief export of Colosse, for which it was famous, was a unique wool called collossinus.  The theology of Colossians is distinct because it arises from Paul’s response to a false teaching that was threatening the church in Colossae. It is difficult to know the exact nature of this false teaching, but the most important evidence comes in the polemical section of Colossians 2:16–23.

The general area around Colosse was prone to frequent earthquakes. These events were so violent that an earthquake during the latter part of Emperor Nero's reign destroyed the city and surrounding areas.

1 Thessalonians - Θεσσαλονικέων  ("thes-sal-on-ee-KYOOCE")   alpha
(correctly pronounced in English: "One Thessalonians", or "Letter One to Thessalonica" - or most properly: Thessalonians A")
(Θεσσαλονικεῖς ά)
Thessolonica is located in northern Greece. Perhaps Paul wrote the first letter to the church of Thessolonica while in Corinth, or maybe Athens, shortly after his companion Timothy had visited Thessolonica and then returned to inform Paul of the challenges at the church. It has been suggested that the first letter is the earliest of Paul’s epistles.

Thessalonica was located at the intersection of two major Roman roads, one leading from Italy: Eastward (Ignatia Way) and the other from the Danube to the Aegean. Thessalonica’s location and use as a port - made it a prominent city.

New testament churches, Apos Paul2 Thessalonians - Θεσσαλονικέων  ("thes-sal-on-ee-KYOOCE")     beta
(correctly pronounced in English: "Two Thessalonians", or "Letter Two to Thessalonica" - or most properly: Thessalonians B")
(Θεσσαλονικεῖς β´)

1 Timotheus - tee-MAW-theh-os     alpha
(correctly pronounced in English: "One Timothy" or most properly: Timotheus A")
(Τιμόθεον ά)

2 Timotheus tee-MAW-theh-os     beta
(correctly pronounced in English: "Two Timothy" or most properly: Timotheus B")
(Τιμόθεον β´)

Titus -
(Τίτον)
"touton"

Philemon - philḗmōn, from philéō, “I love you as my family”).
(Φιλήμονα)
"Fill-AY - mon (like Reggae) - oss"
Philemon is the name of a man who received a letter from the Apostle Paul in the New Testament.

To the Hebrewes - "heh-BRAH-yos"
(Ἑβραίους)
"Hebraios" - it literally means "a Hebrew, particularly one who speaks Aramaic "

James - ee-ak'-o-bos
(Ἰακώβου)
The Epistle of  ee-ak'-o-bos
James was the head of the first Christian church, but couldn’t have written this book of the New Testament that bears his name. And the book of James was supposedly penned by another of Jesus’ brothers, this one the head of the first Christian church, in Jerusalem. But not only was this book written after James’ death, the author is fluent in Greek and its rhetoric. Even if the timing worked out, the historical James, was an Aramaic-speaking peasant who almost certainly never learned to read.

Martin Luther had issues with the book of James, which emphasized the role of "works" alongside faith, so he stuck James and Hebrews in the back of the Bible with Jude and Revelation, which he also thought were questionable. In Luther's original Bible, those 4 books don't even appear in the table of contents.



1 Peter - petros  alpha
(correctly pronounced in English: Petros A")
(Πέτρου ά)
The First Epistle (official witing) of Peter.  The author presents himself as "Peter the Apostle". The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from "Babylon", which may be a reference to Rome.

2 Peter - petros  beta
(correctly pronounced in English: Petros B")
(Πέτρου β´)
It identifies the author as "Simon Peter" (in some translations, 'Simeon' or 'Shimon'), a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ"
NOTE:
The New Testament itself declares that Peter was illiterate - so how the heck could he have written all those Bible books?  Peter was an illiterate fisherman who died years before 1 and 2 Peter were written.  Like the book of James, the book of 1 Peter was written by someone who was very well educated, spoke Greek and practiced rhetoric.
What do we know of Peter from the Bible? He was a fisherman from the town of Capernaum in Galilee. Archeological and historical records reveal that “Peter’s town was a backwoods Jewish village made up of hand-to-mouth laborers who did not have an education,” Ehrman writes. “Everyone spoke Aramic. Nothing suggests that anyone could speak Greek. Nothing suggests that anyone in town could write. As a lower-class fisherman, Peter would have started work as a young boy and never attended school.”
In fact, in Acts 4:13, Peter and his companion John are described as agrammatoi, a Greek word meaning “unlettered” — that is, illiterate.
There’s also the issue of timing. Tradition holds that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero in 64 CE. But the author of 1 Peter alludes to Rome as “Babylon” — that is, the destroyer of Jerusalem and the Temple. The Romans didn’t destroy Jerusalem until 70 CE, six years after Peter died.


1 John - yo-AHN-noo   alpha
(correctly pronounced in English: Yoannes A")
(Ἰωάννου ά)
This (and the following) epistle is traditionally held to have been composed by John the Evangelist, at Ephesus, when the writer was in advanced age. The epistle's content, language and conceptual style are very similar to the Gospel of John, 2 John, and 3 John. Thus, at the end of Century 19 scholar Ernest DeWitt Burton wrote that there could be "no reasonable doubt" that 1 John and the gospel were written by the same author.  But, it is unknown.
https://ehrmanblog.org/1-john-who-wrote-it-when-and-why/
These Gospels were from early times said to have been written by John the son of Zebedee.  And since 1 John (along with 2 and 3 John) seemed so similar in many ways to the Gospel, it was assumed to have been written by him as well.  Hence the titles they received, as the Epistles of John.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzIDe59z2f4&t=3s

2 John - yo-AHN-noo   beta
(correctly pronounced in English: Yoannes B")
(Ἰωάννου β´)

3 John - yo-AHN-noo   cappa
(correctly pronounced in English: Yoannes C")
(Ἰωάννου γ´)
The total “book” was 196 Koine Greek words.

Jude - "ee-oo-das" - similar to "Adidas"
(Ἰούδα)
Jude is from the Hebrew name יְהוּדָה “Yehuda”(Judah) which means “praise”.  #4 of 6 sons of Jacob and Leah - and the founder of the Tribe of Judah of the Israelites.
The book of Jude was written too late to have been authored by Jesus’ brother.
The New Testament book of Jude, for example, claims to be written by Jesus’ brother. But the author is talking about false teachers (which he strangely calls “waterless souls” and “fruitless trees, twice dead, uprooted”) who have infiltrated the religion and need to be rooted out — something that didn't happen until much later than Jude’s lifetime.
Date: Between 65-80 AD
Occasion: Correct the ideas of the false teachers
Recipients: Probably Jewish audience give the frequent use of OT texts
Literary Feature: “these are the ones” in 1:8; 1:10; 1:12; 1:16; 1:19
Main Message: The certainty of divine judgment against evildoers


Enoch
https://www.gotquestions.org/book-of-Enoch.html  [web link]
The biblical book of Jude quotes from chapter 1 of the Book of Enoch in Jude 1:14–15, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam", prophesied about these men:
https://www.gotquestions.org/book-of-Noah.html  [web link]
See The Book of Enoch below...

Revelation - "app-oh-KAAV-ee-tees (like "cavities")  yo-AHN-noo"
(Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου) - (correctly pronounced in English: "Apocolypse d'Johanne", but meaning "Apocalypse of John [Yoannes]":
ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis, meaning "unveiling" or "disclosure")
Ἰωάννης (Ióannés) (Yoannes", or to Anglosize it: "John")

This is not to be confused with:
The Apocalypse of John Chrysostom, also called "Apocryphal Apocalypse of John 2", is a Christian text composed in Greek between Centuries 6 and 8 AD. Although the text is often called an apocalypse by analogy, with the similarly structured "First Apocryphal Apocalypse of John", the text is not a true apocalypse. In the manuscripts, it is called "a word of teaching" or "a treatise".

Who wote Revelation?




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For those who want it "sorted" by Greek first, here you go:

Μαθθαῖον
"Mattityahu" is the correct pronounciation, but we call it "Matthew".

Μᾶρκον
Mark

Λουκᾶν
"Loukas" is the correct pronounciation, but we call it:
Luke.

Yôḥānān
"Yohanne" is the correct pronounciation, but we call it:
John

Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων
Pronounced "Práxeis Apostólon", and Anglocized as "Acts Of Apostoloi",
We call it "Acts"

Ῥωμαίους
"Romanes"
Paul's letter to the Church in Rome, but we call it "Romans"

Κορινθίους ά
correctly pronounced: "Letter A to Corinth" - or even: Corinthians A", but we should call it "One Corintitians", but we incorrectly say "first".

Κορινθίους β´
correctly pronounced: "Letter B to Corinth" - or even: Corinthians B", but we should call it "Two Corintitians", but we incorrectly say "second".

Γαλάτας
We call it "Galatians"

Ἐφεσίους
Paul's letter to the Church in Ephesi
We call it "Ephesians"

Φιλιππησίους
Paul's letter to the Church in Philipi
We call it "Philippians"

Κολοσσαεῖς
We call it "Colossians"

Θεσσαλονικεῖς ά
Actually "Letter to 'Thessalonica alpha" or "A", but we  incorrectly re-named it to "1 Thessalonians", and we incorrectly say "first ..."

Θεσσαλονικεῖς β´
Actually "Letter to 'Thessalonica beta" or "B", but we  incorrectly re-named it to "2 Thessalonians", and we incorrectly say "second ..."

Τιμόθεον ά
Correctly pronounced: "Timotheus alpha", or "A", but we incorrectly re-named it to "1 Timothy", and we incorrectly say "first ..."

Τιμόθεον β´
Correctly pronounced: "Timotheus beta", or "B", but we incorrectly re-named it to "2 Timothy", and we incorrectly say "second ..."

Τίτον
"Titov", or even "Tirov"
We call it "Titus" - and insist on that, yet we have no idea what a "Titus" is...  it was a Roman Empie, son of Vespasian, bon in 70 AD.  Yes, the Disciple authored the writing, but we call it the Roman Emperor's name. IRONIC!

Φιλήμονα
"Filomena"
We call it "Philemon", but that was a Century 1 slave owner and Christian - who hosted a Church in his own home - pobably in Colossao.  He lived with his wife, Baucis, who offered hospitality to Zues and Hemes when the 2 gods came to eath - to test people's piety.  From what we can gather, Philemon was a wealthy Roman citizen from Colossae. He likely met Paul during his mission in Ephesus (Acts 19), where he became a follower of Jesus. When Paul’s coworker Epaphras started a Jesus community in Colossae, Philemon became a leader of a church based in his home.

Philemon, like all other household patriarchs in the Roman world, enslaved people, one of whom was named Onesimus. At some point, these two had a serious conflict. Onesimus wronged Philemon in some way, perhaps by theft or cheating. Whatever exactly happened, it was made worse when Onesimus ran away (Phm. vv. 18-19). Eventually, Onesimus visited Paul in prison, likely to appeal for help, and there he became a follower of Jesus and a beloved assistant to Paul.  Paul finds himself in a difficult and very delicate situation as he writes this letter (assuming that he DID). He wants Philemon to not simply forgive Onesimus but also receive and embrace him as a brother in the Messiah. In other words, Paul is asking Philemon to release Onesimus from enslavement and treat him like an equal within their Jesus community.

The name means "affectionate" in Geek.  They believe that Apos Paul wrote this witing to Philemon - during one of Paul's MANY imprisonments.  It’s the shortest letter he ever wrote, but don’t let its size trick you. This is actually one of the most explosive things Paul ever composed.


Ἑβραίους
"Hebraios"
It literally means "a Hebrew - particularly one who speaks Aramaic", but we call it "Hebrews", which is unfair in the grand scheme of things.

Ἰακώβου
"Iames" - it starts with an "I", not a "J"
We incorrectly call it "James".

Πέτρου ά
"Petros alpha"
Peter A (Peter Alpha)
We incorrectly re-named it to "2 Peter", and we incorrectly say "second".

Πέτρου β´
"Petros cappa"
Peter A (Peter Alpha)
We incorrectly re-named it to "2 Peter", and we incorrectly say "second".

Ἰωάννου ά
Yoannes C (John Alpha)
We incorrectly re-named it to "1 John", and we incorrectly say "first".

Ἰωάννου β´
Yoannes C (John Beta)
We incorrectly re-named it to "2 John", and we incorrectly say "second"

Ἰωάννου γ´
Yoannes C (John Cappa)
We incorrectly re-named it to "3 John", and we incorrectly say "third"

Jude
Ἰούδα
"Yehduda"
Jude is from the Hebrew name יְהוּדָה “Yehuda”(Judah) which means “praise”.  The fourth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah and the founder of the Tribe of Judah of the Israelites.
Author: Jude, a brother of Jesus
Date: Between 65-80 AD
Occasion: Correct the ideas of the false teachers
Recipients: Probably Jewish audience give the frequent use of OT texts
Literary Feature: “these are the ones” in 1:8; 1:10; 1:12; 1:16; 1:19
Main Message: The certainty of divine judgment against evildoers

Enoch (one of the 68 writings ("books") _removed_ from The Bible - talked about a great "flood" (so did Genesis, you goofs!), giants (so did Genesis, you goofs!), dinosaurs (so did Genesis, you goofs!), and demons mating with humans - to make evil offspring.
https://www.gotquestions.org/book-of-Enoch.html  [web link]

Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου
" "Apocalypse d'Yoanne"", or "Apocalypse by Yoannes", meaning "The Apocalypse by John", but we re-named it "Revelation"

ἀποκάλυψις
"apokalypsis", meaning "unveiling" or "disclosure", but it was _removed_ by that [evil] Edict of Thessalonica.


Iota / Ioda ("one iota")
An "iota" is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. The expression "not one iota" comes from the Bible (Matthew 5:18): "For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Original Greek: ἀμὴν λέγω eōs οὐρανὸς γῆ παρέλθῃ παρέλθῃ ἓν ἰῶτα ἢ κεραία νόμου ἕως πάντα γένηται
Means: “Truly      to say     until     heaven     earth/land     to pass by/to come to an end     to pass by/to come to an end (yes, it repeats)     one     iota [the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet: ι)     or/than     a little horn [Not “a dot”]     that which is assigned     until     all/every     to come into being/to happen”
https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-word-iota-mean-when-used-in-everyday-conversation-not-the-dictionary-definition




- - - - -

For those who want it IN HEBREW, here you go:

The Torah / Pentateuch:
Genesis
Bereshit
בְּרֵאשִׁית

Exodus
Shemot
שְׁמוֹת

Leviticus
Vayyiqra
וַיִּקְרָא

Numbers
B'midbar
בְּמִדְבַּר

Deuteronomy
Devarim
דְּבָרִים



- - - - -
The Nevi’im – the prophets

Joshua
Yehoshua
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ

Judges
Shophtim
שׁוֹפְטִים

Samuel
Sh’muel
שְׁמוּאֵל

Kings
Melakim
מְלָכִים

Isaiah
Yesha’yah
יְשַׁעְיָה

Jeremiah
Yirmeyah
יִרְמְיָה

Ezekiel
Yechezqel
יְחֶזְקֵאל



- - - - -
The Twelve Prophets
Terei Asar
תְרֵי עָשָׂר

Hosea
Hoshea
הוֹשֵׁעַ

Joel
Yoel
יוֹאֵל

Amos
Amos
עָמוֹס

Obadiah
Ovadyah
עֹבַדְיָה

Jonah
Yonah
יוֹנָה

Micah
Mikah
מִיכָה

Nahum
Nahum
נַחוּם

Habakkuk
Havaqquq
חֲבַקּוּק

Zephaniah
Tzephanyah
צְפַנְיָה

Haggai
Chagga
חַגַּי

Zechariah
Zekaryah
זְכַרְיָה

Malachi
Malaki
מַלְאָכִי



- - - - -
The Ketuvim – the writings
The Ketuvim (/kətuːˈviːm, kəˈtuːvɪm/; Biblical Hebrew: כְּתוּבִים‎, romanized: Kǝṯuḇim, lit. 'Writings') is the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible, after the Torah ("instruction") and the Nevi'im "Prophets”.

Ketuvim, the third division of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. Divided into four sections, the Ketuvim include: poetical books (Psalms, Proverbs, and Job), the Megillot, or Scrolls (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther), prophecy (Daniel), and history (Ezra, Nehemiah, and I and II Chronicles).

Thus the Ketuvim are a miscellaneous collection of liturgical poetry, secular love poetry, wisdom literature, history, apocalyptic literature, a short story, and a romantic tale. They were composed over a long period of time—from before the Babylonian Exile in early BC Century 6 - to the middle of  BC Century 2 - and were not entirely accepted as canonical until AD Century 2. Unlike the Torah and the Neviʾim (Prophets), which were canonized as groups, each book of the Ketuvim was canonized separately, often on the basis of its popularity.

Psalms
Tehillim
תְּהִלִים

Proverbs
Mishlei
מִשְׁלֵי

Job
Iyov
אִיּוֹב

The Song of Songs
Shir Hashirim
שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים

Ruth
Rut
רוּת

Lamentations
Eikah
אֵיכָה

Ecclesiastes
Qohelet
קֹהֶלֶת

Esther
Ester
אֶסְתֵּר

Daniel 6
Dani’el
דָּנִיֵּאל

Ezra-Nehemiah
Ezra-Nechemyah
עֶזְרָא-נְחֶמְיָה

Chronicles
Divrei Hayamim
דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים


- - - - -
The HaBrit HaChadasha – the New Covenant
The Besorot – the Gospels

Matthew
Mattai
מַתַּי

Mark
Marqos
מַרְקוֹס

Luke
Luqa
לוּקָא

John
Yochanan
יוֹחָנָן



- - - - -
Ma’asei Hashelichim – the Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles
Ma’ashei Hashlichim
מַעַשֵׂי הָשְּׁלִיחִים


- - - - -
The Writings of Shaul – the epistles of the apostle Paul

Romans
Romiym
רוֹמִים

Corinthians
Qorintiym
קוֹרִינְתִּים

Galatians
Galatiym
גָּלָטִים

Ephesians
Ephesiym
אֶפֶסִים

Philippians
Philippiym
פִילִיפִּים

Colossians
Qolassim
קוֹלַסִּים

Thessalonians
Tessaloniqim
תֶּסָּלוֹנִיקִים

Timothy
Timote’os
טִימוֹתֵאוּס

Titus
Titos
טִיטוֹס

Philemon
Philimon
פִילִיצוֹן



- - - - -
The Letter to the Hebrews

Hebrews
Ivrim
עִבְרִים


- - - - -
The Revelation of Yochana

Revelation
Hahitgallut
הַהִתְגַּלּוּת


NOTE:
The word TaNaK (sometimes spelled as Tanach) is an anagram for the words Torah, Nevi’im & Ketuvim.  In a Hebrew Tanak there are only 24 books in its presently accepted canon.



And lastly, the books that were NOT ADDED (they were REMOVED) from the original Bible!!!
Books not in the Bible ("the Official Canon") - (among many!)


For those who want it IN HEBREW, here you are.



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Names of People


Let's start with the most important:
God
elohim ("ee-LOW-him") in Hebrew
θεός
Pronounced "theós" in Greek

Yeshua ("Jesus")
"yesh-YOU-uh" in Hebrew
Ιησούς in Greek


“James” (the brother of Jesus)
Ἰάκωβος
“Iacobus”
Hebrew: יעקב, “Ya’aqov"


See other Greek words.




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The Deleted Books of The Bible (The Canon)


Part of The 68 Lost Books of the Bible: (the deleted books of the Bible)
Partly because of The Edict of Thessalonica, these were deleted...
https://swisscows.com/en/web?query=the+68+Lost+Books+of+the+Bible

https://www.mojeek.com/search?q=the+68+Lost+Books+of+the+Bible


-  The Book of Enoch
-  The Protevangelion
-  The Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ  (yes, that book that everyone wishes was written - it WAS, but it was DELETED!  See for yourself!)
https://swisscows.com/en/web?query=The+Gospel+of+the+Infancy+of+Jesus+Christ
https://www.mojeek.com/search?q=The+Gospel+of+the+Infancy+of+Jesus+Christ


-  The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
-  The Book of Jesus Christ   (NOT to be confused with "Jesus’ Bible: A Concise History of the Hebrew Scriptures" by Christopher Dost.  The book is a small one (less than 120 pages if you don’t count the preface or the bibliography) but it is packed with information, especially for those of us who know more about the Greek New Testament than we do about Hebrew manuscripts.  This book was a very interesting read and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about how we got our Old Testament.  Chris Dost received his PhD from Jewish Theological Seminary and is a Professor at Alliance Theological Seminary (New York, NY).  Dr. Dost is on the cutting edge of research when it comes to the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament.  As the back of the book informs us, he is a participant in the preparation of Biblia Hebraica Quinta (German Bible Society, 2004-) which is one of the most extensive critical editions of the Old Testament being published to date.  This guy knows his stuff.)

-  The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate)
-  The Apostles' Creed (throughout history)
-  The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans
-  The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca, with Seneca's to Paul
-  The Acts of Paul and Thecla - you have GOT to read about Thecla!)
-  The Apocalypse of Paul
-  The Epistles of Clement (The First and Second Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians)
-  The Epistle of Barnabas
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrneans
-  The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius-intro.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_of_Ignatius_to_the_Romans

-  The Shepherd of Hermas (Visions, Commands, and Similitudes)
-  Letter of Herod To Pilate the Governor
-  Letter of Pilate to Herod
-  The Lost Gospel of Peter
-  The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians


Contents of The Forgotten Books of Eden
-  The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (Book 1 and 2 of Adam and Eve)
-  The Secrets of Enoch (also known as the "Slavonic Enoch" or "Enoch 2")
-  The Psalms of Solomon
-  The Odes of Solomon
-  The Letter of Aristeas
-  Book 4 of Maccabees  (More below, but to note on these writings: 
The Books of Macabees, and how Jews left this very important book out of The Talmud:
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/4588772/jewish/Who-Were-the-Maccabees.htm
With no apparent connection to the house of David or the traditional Levite priesthood, this series of books has risen to power in Judiasm.  Chanakkah ("Hannica") - is not about putting up lights, singing about a dradle, and exchanging presents - it's about a BLOODY war in 198 BC - a battle between [Jewish]religion - and [Greek] paganism.  The Jewish fighters who led the revolt against the Syrian Greek ruling class, who had suppressed Jewish religion in an effort to spread their Hellenistic customs and idolatrous beliefs. The Maccabee victory, and the subsequent miracle of the oil burning in the Temple menorah for eight days instead of one, is what we celebrate every year during the eight-day holiday of Chanukah.

Matityahu began his revolt in the village of Modiin, where the Greeks tried to compel him to publically engage in idol worship. When he refused, violence broke out and a group of Jews ended up taking refuge in caves among the surrounding hills.

The Maccabees originally refused to fight on Shabbat
According to Josephus, after the Maccabees refused to comply with the Greek demands, they were attacked on Shabbat morning. Devoted to Torah, the Jews refused to fight back, and around 1,000 people, including many women and children, died from fire and smoke.  After that, Matityahu made it clear that Judaism is a religion of life, and that the Shabbat laws are temporarily suspended to save a life.  The Cabal concept was rammed-down Jews' throats - in the 1900's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5r-rxpDns  )

-  The Story of Ahikar
-  Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs



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The Apocrypha

People tell me all the time: “Don’t read that - it’s not in the Bible!” … yet they WILL recommend many books (which are NOT in the Bible!) - written by Christian authors - to read [below].  And NO Chistian that  I have ever met - realizes that Job, Revelation, and James - were ORIGINALLY PART OF THE APOCRYPHA (!!!!)  (They will DENY it to death)  Besides, who WROTE Revelation, James ...
In Job, God makes a "deal" (gambles??) with Lucifer (he can't be aound evil!!) - does that sound "devine" to you?  Going forward...
"Apocrypha" comes from Greek and is formed from the combination of apo (away) and kryptein (hide or conceal). The word apocrypha has undergone a major change in meaning throughout the centuries.
Readers interested in the apocryphal exploits of the apostles gravitate first, naturally, to the earliest examples of the genre, the so-called Five Great Apocryphal Acts: Peter, Paul, John, Andrew, and Thomas.

The Apocrypha [external link]
https://apocrypha.org
This link gives a FEW - of the 68 books.

"apocrypha" (from Ancient Greek ἀπόκρυφος (apókruphos) 'hidden')
Many Jewish texts of Hellenistic origin existed within Judaism and were frequently used by Christians. Patristic authorities frequently recognized these books as important to the emergence of Christianity, but the inspired authority and value of the apocrypha remained widely disputed.

Many Christians (especially KJO-ers)  -- ADIMITELY claim that "no books were removed from the Bible!!!"  Well, they are going by a "loophole" - that these books were not ever included in the Bible in the beginning.  They are WRONG.  Up until 414 years ago, ALL of the Apocrypha were included in the KJV.  They (as well as the introduction - were eventually "dropped" (it's REMOVED, but we'll go with their "spin"   [grin] )
All King James Bibles published before 1666 included the Apocrypha.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_apocrypha

--  Matthew's Bible, published in 1537, contains all the Apocrypha of the later King James Version in an inter-testamental section.
--  The 1538 Myles Coverdale Bible contained an Apocrypha that excluded Baruch and the Prayer of Manasseh.
--  The 1560 Geneva Bible placed the Prayer of Manasseh after 2 Chronicles; the rest of the Apocrypha were placed in an inter-testamental section.
--  The Douay-Rheims Bible (1582–1609) placed the Prayer of Manasseh and 3 and 4 Esdras into an Appendix of the second volume of the Old Testament.
--  In the Zürich Bible (1529–30), they are placed in an Appendix. They include 3 Maccabees, along with 1 Esdras & 2 Esdras. Edition 1 omitted the Prayer of Manasseh and the Rest of Esther, although these were included in Edition 2.
--  The French Bible (1535) of Pierre Robert Olivétan placed them between the Testaments, with the subtitle, "The volume of the apocryphal books contained in the Vulgate translation, which we have not found in the Hebrew or Chaldee".
--  In 1569 the Spanish Reina Bible, following the example of the pre-Clementine Latin Vulgate, contained the deuterocanonical books in its Old Testament. Following the other Protestant translations of its day, Valera's 1602 revision of the Reina Bible moved these books into an inter-testamental section.

Some editions of the Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version and the English Standard Version of the Bible include not only the Apocrypha listed above, but also 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, and Psalm 151.

The American Bible Society lifted restrictions on the publication of Bibles with the Apocrypha in 1964. The British and Foreign Bible Society followed in 1966.  The Stuttgart Vulgate (the printed edition, not most of the on-line editions), which is published by the UBS, contains the Clementine Apocrypha as well as the Epistle to the Laodiceans and Psalm 151.

In Greek circles, however, these books are not traditionally called Apocrypha, but Anagignoskomena (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα), and are integrated into the Old Testament. The Orthodox Study Bible, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, includes the Anagignoskomena in its Old Testament, with the exception of 4 Maccabees. This was translated by the Saint Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, from the Rahlfs Edition of the Septuagint using Brenton's English translation and the RSV Expanded Apocrypha as their standardized text. As such, they are included in the Old Testament with no distinction between these books and the rest of the Old Testament. This follows the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church where the Septuagint is the received version of Old Testament scripture, considered itself inspired.



The Septuagint, the ancient and best known Greek version of the Old Testament, contains books and additions that are not present in the Hebrew Bible. These texts are not traditionally segregated into a separate section, nor are they usually called apocrypha. Rather, they are referred to as the Anagignoskomena (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read" or "profitable reading"). The anagignoskomena are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus ben Sira (Sirach), Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah (in the Vulgate this is chapter 6 of Baruch), additions to Daniel (The Prayer of Azarias, Susanna and Bel and the Dragon), additions to Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, i.e. all of the Deuterocanonical books plus 3 Maccabees and 1 Esdras.

Some editions add additional books, such as Psalm 151 or the Odes (including the Prayer of Manasseh). 2 Esdras is added as an appendix in the Slavonic Bibles and 4 Maccabees as an appendix in Greek editions.


Apocalypse of Abraham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_of_Abraham

Apocalypse of Moses (aka: "The Life of Adam and Eve”)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Adam_and_Eve
It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to bow down to Adam. After Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection.

Letter of Aristeas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_Aristeas
The letter is the earliest text to mention the Library of Alexandria.

Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_of_Isaiah

Joseph and Aseneth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_and_Aseneth
It concerns the Hebrew patriarch Joseph and his marriage to Asenath, expanding the fleeting mentions of their relationship in the Book of Genesis. “Joseph” is the first of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel.

Life of Adam and Eve (aka: "Apocalypse of Moses”) - mentioned above.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Adam_and_Eve

Lives of the Prophets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Prophets

Ladder of Jacob
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_of_Jacob
A compendium of various Old Testament texts and comments which also preserved the Apocalypse of Abraham.

Jannes and Jambres
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocryphon_of_Jannes_and_Jambres

History of the Captivity in Babylon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Captivity_in_Babylon

History of the Rechabites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_of_Zosimus

Eldad and Medad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldad_and_Medad

History of Joseph the Carpenter (aka: Historia Josephi Fabri Lignari)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Joseph_the_Carpenter
A compilation of traditions concerning Mary (mother of Jesus), Joseph, and the Holy Family,

Odes of Solomon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odes_of_Solomon
A collection of 42 odes attributed to Solomon.

Prayer of Joseph
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Joseph

Prayer of Jacob
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Jacob

Vision of Ezra (Latin: Visio Beati Esdrae, "Vision of the Blessed Ezra")
Purportedly written by the biblical scribe Ezra. The earliest surviving manuscripts, composed in Latin, date to AD Century 11, although textual peculiarities strongly suggest that the text was originally written in Greek. Like the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, the work is clearly Christian, and features several apostles being seen in heaven.

The text survives in seven Latin manuscripts which date from centuries 11-13. They are:
--  Vatican Library 3838 fols. 59a-61a (Century 12);
--  Heiligenkreuz, Codex 11, fols. 273b-73a;
--  Bibliothek des Priestseminars in Linz, MS AI/6 (Hs 1, Century 11);
--  Klosterneuburg, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 714, fols. 139ba-41ba (Century 12);
--  Lilienfeld, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 145, fols. 70aa-70bb (Century 13);
--  Melk, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 310.F.8, fols. 208b-9b (Century 13);
--  Lilienfeld, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 134 Klein-Maria-Zell, fols. 109ab-10aa (Century 13).

The text has a strong dependence on 2 Esdras


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Apocrypha is (are) Deutorcanonical books that provide some historical context to the Bible, but are not considered scriptural canon.  Let's start...
Acts of Paul – NASSCAL
Bonnet, Maximilien. “Martyrium Pauli.” Pages 104–17 vol. 1 of Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha.
According to this legend, after Paul was decapitated, his severed head bounced three times, giving rise to a source of water each time that it touched the ground, which is how the place earned the name "San Paolo alle Tre Fontane" ("St Paul at the Three Fountains").  Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote in Century 4, states that Paul was beheaded in the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. This event has been dated either to the year 64 AD, when Rome was devastated by a fire.

Enoch was not only a very Godly man - he walked with God for over 300 years, and he was one of only 3 taken up to heaven - while alive: one of the others was JESUS.  So, do you think his writing is “worthy” or "inspied"??
Here’s those books [extenal links] recommended to Christians (by the very Christians who say "we should never read anything that is not the Bible!"):
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/25-christian-books-i-love-to-recommend
https://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/g25662481/best-christian-books/
https://www.kevinhalloran.net/book-recommendations-for-christians/
https://www.gospelrelevance.com/2019/10/15/books-every-christian-should-read/
There are thousands more, but I hope you see my point.  As stated above, one of those Authors was APOS PAUL (several of his writings were deleted!) and another man that you have probably heard of:  JESUS.  Yes, HIS was omitted (!!!!!!!!!)
So, tell me again - why I should read these books above, yet NOT read what was ORIGINALLY included in the Bible.  Going forward...

1. Books of the Apocrypha:

-  1 Esdras (150-100 BC)
-  2 Esdras
-  Tobit (200 BC)
-  Iudeth ("Judith" (150 BC)
-  The rest of Esther ("Additions to Esther" - 140-130 BC)
-  Wisedome ("Wisdom of Solomon" - 30 BC)
-  Ecclesiasticus ("Ecclesiasticus", otherwise known as "The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach" (132 BC)
-  Baruch (150-50 BC)
-  Epistle of Ieremiah ("Letter of Jeremiah", 300-100 BC)
-  The song of the three children. ("Song of the Three Holy Children", an addition in the Greek version of Daniel 3 (170-160 BC)
-  The Song of the three holy children, which followeth in the third Chapter of Daniel after this place, [And they walked in the midst of the fire, praising God, and blessing the Lord. ] That which followeth is not in the Hebrew; to wit, [Then Azarias stood vp vnto these wordes, [And Nabuchodonofor.]
-  The story of Susanna. (200-0 BC)
-  The historie of Susanna, set apart from the beginning of Daniel, because it is not in Hebrew, as neither the narration of Bel and the Dragon.
-  The idole Bel and the Dragon. (100 BC)
-  The history of the destruction of Bel and the Dragon, cut off from the end of Daniel.  "Additions to Daniel", or the Prayer of Azariah (200-0 BC)
-  The prayer of Manasseh. (100-0 BC)
-  The prayer of Manasses King of Iuda, when he was holden captiue in Babylon.
-  1 Maccabees (110 BC)
-  2 Maccabees (110-170 BC)

NOTE: There’s also evidence that New Testament authors used Greek editions of the Tanakh (Old Testament) that had different wording from the Greek versions we have today (the Septuagint/LXX).

ALL of The Apocrypha was included in the original KJV.  Mind you, the early Reformers still encouraged the reading of the Apocrypha, even in public Sunday worship. For example, the Anglican tradition  does not allow the Apocrypha to be used for the formulation of doctrine (at least as a primary text), but also allows for it to be read for worship, instruction in manners and holiness. So while it received a subordinate status to the other books which where universally received, they still had special status and some measure of authority. History has obscured this from most Protestants’ memories.

Catholics merely received the Deuterocanonical Books (Apocrypha) from the traditional Old Testament canon of the Latin Rite. They were never added because they were always there.

Additional factors to consider; the New Testament authors, when quoting the Old Testament, most often quote from a version of the Septuagint, which include Apocrypha. Jude quotes from the Book of Enoch contained  _only in the Ethiopian_  canon.

Many argue that - because most Protestants were not regularly reading the Apocrypha, some Puritan printers began printing Bibles without the Apocrypha from the later part of century 17. This had nothing to do with King James or any king, as James was already dead.  Those many King James lovers out there - may I remind you that:
1) he was a King (un-elected, and he lived in riches - from the back-breaking work of his “subjects”.)
2) he did not even try to hide his letters - to his lover (an older man) - proving that he was homosexual.  Many want to “sugar-coat” it that he was “bisexual’, but think about it - he had sex with men.  That makes him *homosexual* !!!
3) he wanted the Bible to sound _positive_ about Kings, as older versions were (rightfully - see above!) condemning kings.  it worked, and we love Kings to this day. (I don’t!!)
4) the fact that he originally included the The Apocrypha in his Bible, then removed it - is IRON CLAD PROOF that he removed books from the Bible!!!  68, in fact.
5) no matter what they could ever find about King James, people will still adore him - they are too “used” to this “this, thous, commest, and bringest”. Knock think self out - I choose normal English.  If thou wannest thine family to readeth thine old version, the doeth as thou mayest.

Again,
The Apocrypha [external link]
https://apocrypha.org
This link gives a FEW - of the 68 books.


BEFOE I GO TO "2", hear me out (this is LONG!) ...
On April 8, 1546 the Council of Trent removed all doubt as to the status of the Apocrypha. These books officially became part of the Roman Catholic Old Testament. And _they meant business_ .  Said the Church: "If anyone receive not as sacred and canonical the said books entire, with all their parts, as they have by custom been read in the Catholic Church, let him be accursed."
How LOVING!



11 books that weren’t in my original Bible: 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees.
Wait! Do you know what these additional books are? They’re the Apocrypha, known also as the Deuterocanonical books. That’s their official name. Most of us Protestants know this expansion of book as “the Catholic Bible.” The question is: Why does “the Catholic Bible” include these extra books, and what is this Apocrypha?

Literally, “the canon” refers to the list of books officially included in the Bible; thus, “deuterocanonical” means “the second canon,” or the-canon-in-addition-to-the-Protestant-canon-of-thirty-nine-Old-Testament-books. “Apocrypha” literally means “hidden,” implying “the hidden books of the Bible” (though that’s really a misleading term).

What Protestants call the Old Testament are thirty-nine books that starts with Genesis (which is dated as far back as 1500 BC) and ends with Malachi (written about 450 BC). If we date the first New Testament book to about 50 BC, then there was a nearly 500 year silence between Old and New Testament writings. The Deuterocanonical books are Jewish texts from this 500-year interim.

Let me use 1 and 2 Maccabees as an example. About 200 years before Jesus’ crucifixion, a group of pious Jewish rebels wrested control of Judea back from the Seleucid Empire. They re-dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem. Among their actions, they lit a menorah – Hanukah commemorates this. 1 and 2 Maccabees tell this Jewish historical story.

Historically, Judaism treated these writings as historical and with great respect. But they were not treated as part of the Hebrew Bible. The Early Church treated these books with respect too but, like the Hebrews, did not include them as part of the official Biblical canon (which we call the New Testament).

Within the Roman Catholic Church acceptance of these deuterocanonical books ebbed and waned over the centuries. But in the mid-1500s, at the Council of Trent, the Roman Church officially added the Apocrypha to their Canon. During the Protestant Reformation, Luther and other Reformers went back to the Canon that was accepted throughout the first fifteen hundred years of the Church.

Fans of the Apocrypha celebrate the important information of, what to many, is a lesser known period of Jewish history. (Their history is our history!) Critics of the Apocrypha cite inconsistencies from the rest of Old Testament theology. Critics also remind people that the only Scriptural foundation for many historic Catholic practices (like praying for the dead, worshiping angels, petitioning saints in heaven, and even indulgences to atone for sins) are from the Apocrypha and not the traditional Canon.



The books that make up the Apocrypha were part of the King James Bible when it was released in 1611 AD. It had 73 books, not the 66 normally included today.
There was no one moment when the additional books were dropped. Between 1611 and a major revision in the 1760’s, many printer had moved the additional texts and the additions to Daniel and Esther to an appendix in between the two testament, calling it the Apocrypha. But the mid 1800’s most printing of the JKV had dropped that appendix.

There was no one moment when it was “dropped”. And there are still published today which print the KJV with the additional texts.

Unlike the Catholic and Orthodox churches, there is not one central leadership for the Protestant churches. So each Protestant church decided on its own when (or if) to remove those texts from their printings of the KJV.

The reason for the removal of the texts is because they are not included in the Hebrew scriptures. Their inclusions is something that has been debates as far back as the Century 5, when Jerome attempted to exclude them from his Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. (They were first included in late Century 4.)

Funny that the first major Catholic/Orthodox translations of the Bible (the Vulgate) did NOT originally include these texts, but they ARE in all Catholic and Orthodox Bibles today. While the major Protestant English translation (KJV) DID include them, but they are NOT included in Protestant Bible today. They reversed over the centuries.

The Apocryphal books were written between about 350 B.C. and 80 A.D. — in those years between the Old and New Testaments. The reason why Protestants have never accepted them is that they do not believe that these books were "really inspired" of God; Catholics didn't either, at least not officially, until the 1500's.  Then they "were".

Examples:
--  The author of 1 Maccabees writes:
So there was great distress in Israel, the worst since the time when prophets ceased to appear among them (1 Macc. 9:27).

--  For example, the Book of Wisdom indicates that God created the world out of preexisting matter which God created (11:17) - which contradicts the rest of Scripture’s teaching that God created the world out of nothing.  (Either way, God created it)

--  The Book of Judith incorrectly states Nebuchadnezzar was king of Assyria, when in fact, he was the king of Babylon (1:5).

--  2 Ezra attempts to revise the Bible book of Ezra with supplemental material from II Chronicles and Nehemiah, so it would be "redundant".  But then, so are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Ezra 2 also contains a story of three young men who debate the question "What is the strongest thing in the world?" in front of the King of Persia, who promises to give the winner a prize.

--  1 Esdras (sometimes called "3 Esdras"): "Esdras" is Greek for the Hebrew name "Ezra". This book attempts to revise the Bible book of Ezra with supplemental material from 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah. It also contains a story of three young men who debate the question "What is the strongest thing in the world?" in front of the King of Persia, who promises to give the winner a prize. This is one of the few Apocryphal books that is not part of the Roman Catholic Bible.
--  2 Esdras (sometimes called the Ezra Apocalypse or 4 Esdras):  This book mostly contains conversations between Ezra and some angels sent to answer his theological questions. It also contains a fantastic story of how all the Hebrew Scriptures were lost during the Jew's Babylonian exile, but were perfectly restored when Ezra, under God's inspiration, dictated them word-for-word to 5 scribes. But he didn't stop there. While he was at it, he dictated an additional 70 "secret books" that were only to be read by those who were wise. (2 Esdras is supposed to be one of those secret books.)

--  Tobit

--  Judith:  This is one of the few Apocryphal books that really did start out in Hebrew. It is the story of a beautiful widow who saves her city from a military siege. When the city is surrounded, and all appears lost, she sneaks out to the enemy commander's camp, endears herself to the general, gets him drunk, chops off his head, and brings it back to her city. (I shall refrain from making a remark about losing one's head over a woman.) When she shows her people the enemy commander's head, they take heart, go out and rout their foes.

--  Additions to the Book of Esther:  Here are 6 paragraphs designed to be inserted at various places in the Bible book of Esther. Their main purpose is to give the book a more Jewish and religious tone.

--  Wisdom of Solomon:  Sometimes this book is simply called "Wisdom". It contains devotional and theological essays written such that they appear to have come from King Solomon. It compares Jewish religion with Greek philosophy, and attempts to prove that the highest form of wisdom is faith. This is one of the few Apocryphal books that was used and respected by early Christian writers.

--  Ecclesiasticus (also called The Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, or just Sirach):  This book contains discourses, proverbs and wise sayings by a teacher named Joshua Ben Sirach. Originally written in Hebrew, it was translated into Greek by Ben Sirach's grandson. It is the most highly respected of all the Apocryphal books, and in early times was read in church services.

--  Baruch:  Baruch was the prophet Jeremiah's secretary — "Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of The Lord" [Jeremiah 36:4]. This is a rather disjointed book, and includes exhortations against idolatry, promises to faithful Jews, and affirmations that the Law of God is real wisdom. It is written as if by Baruch during the Babylonian exile.

--  Letter of Jeremiah:  This is a letter from Jeremiah to the Jews in exile in Babylon. Often, because it is only one chapter long, rather than being a separate book, it is included as part of the book of Baruch.

--  Song of the Three Holy Children (sometimes the Prayer of Azariah):  This book was written as an addition to the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It contains prayers and hymns that were offered to God while the three were in the fiery furnace. It is typically added to the book of Daniel after Chapter 3 Verse 23.

--  Susanna:  This is also an addition to the book of Daniel. It is the story of 2 men who try to seduce a pious, young wife. When she refuses their advances, the men publicly accuse her of adultery. Susanna is condemned to death in a trial where the men testify falsely against her. But Daniel comes to the rescue, exposing the lies of the two men during a second trial. The men are put to death and Susanna regains her status as a virtuous woman.

--  Bel and the Dragon (sometimes Bel and the Snake):  Here we have two different stories that were expected to be included in the book of Daniel. In the first, Bel is a Babylonian idol that supposedly ate food left for him (although really it was eaten by priests who sneaked in through a secret entrance). When Daniel refuses to give Bel an offering, he is challenged by the King. Daniel tells the King that the idol does not really eat anything. As a test, food is left at night for the idol — but unknownst to the priests, fine ashes are spread over the floor. In the morning the food was gone, but the King could see lots of footprints in the ashes. Score one for Daniel. In the second story, the people are worshipping a living dragon (actually a big snake.) Daniel kills it by feeding it a mixture of pitch, fat and hair, which causes it to burst open. Too bad they didn't try that in the Garden of Eden.

--  Prayer of Manasseh: This is a short psalm of repentance, purportedly by King Manasseh of Judah, as he was being carried off captive to Babylon. This is one of the few Apocryphal books that has also been rejected by the Catholic Church.

--  1 Maccabees: Here is contained an honest and stirring account of Jewish history between 175 B.C. and 135 B.C. when the Jews gained their national independence from their Syrian oppressors. Historians consider this book an accurate account of events at that time. As an historical account, it is valued — but as Hebrew scripture, it never cut it.

--  2 Maccabees: This book relates many of the same events as I Maccabees, but in an attempt to add a religious flavor, it includes many legendary and fanciful additions. Some of the statements in this book support the Roman Catholic teachings on Purgatory, prayers for the dead and the intercessory work of deceased saints.



There were 2 different versions of the Old Testament at the time of Christ. The Septuagint version and the Masoretic version.
The Septuagint version, which was written in Greek, had several additional books, originally written in Greek [or, at least, for which no Hebrew originals were known], and several additions to the Books of Daniel and Esther, also originally written in Greek. The rest of the Old Testament books both versions had in common.

The Septuagint version was the more common version among non-Hebrew speaking Jews living in the Diaspora. People who weren’t Jewish, but who worshiped Yahweh, the God described in the Jewish Scriptures, (and there were a fair number of those in the Roman Empire) were also more familiar with the Septuagint version.

When Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles, he referred to the Septuagint version frequently in his letters because it was the one Gentiles were likely to be more familiar with. As Christianity, partly due to the activism of Paul, became less and less of a sub-sect of Judaism, and more and more of a separate faith, the Septuagint version became the version adopted by the Christian church. And, for the same reason, Jews, whether Hebrew-speaking or not, came to regard the Masoretic version as their official Scripture, regarding the Septuagint version as tainted, for the non-Hebrew texts, and for its having been adopted by the Christians.

About 1,000 years later, the Eastern Churches and the Western Church split in the “Great Schism,” and one of the bones of contention is what books of the Old Testament should be regarded as Divinely Inspired. The Bible of the Eastern Orthodox churches includes 4 books from the Septuagint Old Testament, books not accepted by the Western Church. A number of Eastern Christians remain in union with the Western Church, but continue practicing their own rites. Others eventually reunite with the Western Church, also continuing their own rites. Eastern rites, whether Othodox or Catholic, are regarded as valid and holy by the Catholic Church. Eastern Rite Catholics use the accepted Catholic Bible.

500 years after that comes the Protestant Reformation, which has many causes, but breaking it down to absolute basics, hinges on 2 things:
1) whether we are justified by faith alone, or by faith combined with a good and virtuous life (i.e. “good works”). Protestants believe the former. Catholics the latter.
2) whether there is any teaching authority beyond Sacred Scripture. Protestants believe in the concept of Sola Scriptura, or “Scripture alone.” Catholics believe in Scripture combined with the teaching authority of the Apostolic Church and Sacred Tradition.

The Masoretic
One of the consequences of the Reformation is that protestants end up adopting the Masoretic Old Testament, mainly, as far as I can see (and there might be disagreement on this) to distance themselves from Catholics who had largely adopted the Septuagint. I think their justification (though I could be wrong) was that, since this was the version of the Old Testament widely accepted as the authoritative text by Jews, it must be the correct one. Ironically, one reason Jews rejected the Septuagint version was that it has become the preferred version for Christians.

{NOTE: The protestant focus on “faith alone” may also have contributed as well. In 2 Maccabees, soldiers are depicted as praying for the souls of their dead comrades. Praying for the dead supports the Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory, which was a position that struck at Luther’s “faith alone” assertion. If one could achieve salvation, but still need to atone for sins that were forgiven, still exist in a state they could be prayed out of, Luther’s whole position fell. It is a fact that Luther wanted to excise the Epistle of James for this reason, but, he didn’t have the dispute over the Masoratic and Septuagint versions of the OT to hang his hat on there. To get rid of 2 Maccabees, he might have been willing to sacrifice the other non-Hebrew texts from the Septuagint version.

What can I tell you? What goes around comes around.  So, the Catholic Old Testament has everything the Protestant and Jewish Old Testament does, with the addition of the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, as well as 3 extra chapters in Daniel, and 103 extra verses in Esther. The Eastern Orthodox Bible includes everything in the Catholic Old Testament, plus First Esdras (i.e. Ezra; they call what is referred to as the Book of Ezra in the Jewish, protestant, and Catholic Scriptures Second Esdras), 3rd Esdras, and 3rd & 4th Maccabees.

Jews and Protestants think of those extra books as “apocryphal.”  Catholics and Orthodox think of them as Sacred Scripture.  Who is corect?


https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_395.cfm

https://www.quora.com/When-did-the-Apocrypha-get-removed

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Protestants-remove-the-Apocrypha-from-the-King-James-Bible

https://crossexamined.org/why-the-apocrypha-isnt-in-the-bible/

https://earlyenglishbibles.com/miscpages/Apocrypha.html

i'm quite aware that 99.999% of all Christians - will say "oh, those are all bad sources".  The same way they SWOON over a saying that I quote ... then when I tell them it's Hitler, they are mad, and suddenly hate that saying (that they JUST swooned over!).  Then I do another quote - and they say "that's HORRIBLE!!  Then I tell them "That's Jesus".   I have to admit - this is not my idea - it's from the movie "Billy Jack" and recently, "The Life of David Gayle".  But it still works - to combat "confirmation bias".


The Jewish Old Testament

The Old Testament contains 39 (Protestant), 46 (Catholic), or more (Orthodox and other) books - divided, very broadly - into the Pentateuch (Torah), where there are 5 "books" ["penta"]: Devarim being the last writing. Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Bamidbar preceding it.


1    Genesis ("Bereshit")    (written in Hebrew)
2    Exodus ("Shemot")
3    Leviticus ("Vayikra")
4    Numbers ("Bamidbar")
5    Deuteronomy ("Devarim")
6    Joshua (Josue, Iesous, Yehoshua)
7    Judges (Shoftim)
8    1 Samuel (1 Kings, "1 Kingdoms") (Shmuel)
(8 - cont'd)        2 Samuel (2 Kings, "2 Kingdoms") (Shmuel)
9    1 Kings (3 Kings, "3 Kingdoms") (Melakhim(
(9 - cont'd)        2 Kings (4 Kings, "4 Kingdoms") (Melakhim)
10    Isaiah (Isaias, Yeshayahu)
11    Jeremiah (Jeremias,Yirmeyahu)
12    Ezekiel (Ezechiel) (Yekhezqel)
13    Hosea (Osee)  (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Joel  (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Amos  (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Obadiah (Abdias)  (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Jonah (Jonas)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Micah (Michaeas)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Nahum    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Habakkuk (Habacuc)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Zephaniah (Sophonias)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Haggai (Aggaeus)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Zechariah (Zacharias)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
(13 - cont'd)    Malachi (Malachias)    (The Twelve (Trei Asar)
14    Psalms    (Tehillim)
15    Proverbs  (Mishlei)
16    Job    (Iyov)
17    Song of Songs (Canticle of Canticles, Song of Songs (Aisma Aismaton), Shir Hashirim)
18    Ruth    (Rut)
19     Lamentations    (Eikhah)
20    Ecclesiastes    (Qohelet)
21    Esther (Ester)
22    Daniel  (Daniyyel)    (written in Aramaic and Hebrew)
23    Ezra  (Ezra–Nehemiah) (Ἔσδρας Βʹ) (written in Hebrew and Aramaic)
(23 - cont'd)    Nehemiah (Ἔσδρας Βʹ) (written in Hebrew and Aramaic)
24    1 Chronicles (1 Paralipomenon)    (Divrei Hayamim)
(24 - cont'd)   2 Chronicles (2 Paralipomenon)   (Divrei Hayamim)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament



Books in the appendix to the Vulgate Bible
Name in Vulgate ----- Name in Eastern Orthodox use
3 Esdras  ------ 1 Esdras
4 Esdras  ------ 2 Esdras
Prayer of Manasseh ----- Prayer of Manasseh
Psalm of David when he slew Goliath (Psalm 151) ----- Psalm 151


Early scholarship
Some of the stories of the Pentateuch may derive from older sources. Scholars such as Andrew R. George point out the similarity between the Genesis flood narrative and the Gilgamesh flood myth. Similarities between the origin story of Moses and that of Sargon of Akkad were noted by psychoanalyst Otto Rank in 1909 and popularized by century 20 writers, such as H. G. Wells and Joseph Campbell. Jacob Bronowski writes that, "the Bible is part folklore and part record. History is ... written by the victors, and the Israelis, when they burst through [Jericho (BC 1400)], became the carriers of history."

Recent scholarship
In 2007, a historian of ancient Judaism Lester L. Grabbe explained that earlier biblical scholars such as Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918) could be described as 'maximalist', accepting biblical text unless it has been disproven. Continuing in this tradition, both "the 'substantial historicity' of the patriarchs" and "the unified conquest of the land" were widely accepted in the United States until about the 1970s. Contrarily, Grabbe says that those in his field now "are all minimalists – at least, when it comes to the patriarchal period and the settlement. ... very few are willing to operate [as maximalists]."

In 2022, archaeologist Avraham Faust summarized recent scholarship arguing that while early histories of Israel were heavily based on biblical accounts, their reliability has been increasingly questioned over time. He continued that key debates have focused on the historicity of the Patriarchs, the Exodus, the Israelite conquest, and the United Monarchy, with archaeological evidence often challenging these narratives. He concluded that while the minimalist school of the 1990s dismissed the Bible’s historical value, mainstream scholarship has balanced skepticism with evidence, recognizing that some biblical traditions align with archaeological findings, particularly from BC century 9 onward.


The first 5 books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy - reached their present form in the Persian period (BC 538–332), and their authors were the elite of exilic returnees who controlled the Temple at that time. The books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel and Kings follow, forming a history of Israel from the Conquest of Canaan to the Siege of Jerusalem - BC 587. There is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work (the so-called "Deuteronomistic History") during the Babylonian exile of BC century 6.




- - - - -

2. Books of the Pseudepigrapha:

Books written under pseudonyms or "aliases". Typically people in later centuries would impersonate an author (such as Mary or one of the Apostles) to gain sway over the readers. Often these books would have some antibiblical doctrines, such as Gnosticism, mixed in with their content Peudipigraphal books also claim that Jesus said certain things that contradict his teachings in the New Testament.  Scholars have known about both groups of books for centuries. So, “lost books of the Bible” is a misnomer. These books weren’t lost. They were either condemned for being anti-Scripture or dismissed as not edifying. Although we can’t dive into every “Lost Book,” we’ll explore what happens in some of these books and how their ideas don’t align with Scripture.

-  Epistle of Barnabas
-  1 (and 2) Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
-  The letter of the Smyrnaeans (also known as The Martyrdom of Polycarp)
-  The Shepherd of Hermas
-  The Book of Enoch
-  The Gospel of Judas (130-170 AD)
-  The Gospel of Thomas (140-170 AD)
-  The Psalms of Solomon
-  The Odes of Solomon
-  The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
-  Second Baruch
-  The Books of Adam and Eve
-  The Acts of Phillip
-  The Apocalypse of Peter
-  The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary ("The Gospel of Mary")
-  The Gospel of Nicodemus
-  The Gospel of the Saviour's Infancy
-  The History of Joseph the Carpenter
-  The Acts of Paul (Including Paul and Thecla)
-  The Seven Epistles of Ignatius
-  The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

More about the above:
Also called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Infancy Gospel is a biographical gospel focused on the life of Jesus as a child. This gospel is believed to date back to Century 2 and to have been written by Gnostic Christians. Interest in the Infancy Gospel has exploded since its translation out of old Coptic because it details Jesus Christ’s childhood, a period of his life that is not described or depicted in the Canonical gospels. This gospel was considered heretical in part for its depiction of Jesus as a child. Rather than the wise teacher that the canonical gospels focus on, the young Jesus in the Infancy Gospels has a mischievous streak and takes delight in such simple childhood pleasures as crafting clay birds. [oh, how "horrible", right!]  The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is not the only apocryphal gospel that depicts portions of Jesus’s life as a child. The Syriac Infancy Gospel and Gospel of Psuedo-Matthew also deal with the life of a young Christ.

One example of MANY of the above:
The Revelation of Peter (The Apocolypse of Peter)
https://biblehub.com/library/unknown/the_apocalypse_of_peter/

1 Peter 5:13:
“She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.”
This passage has caused no small amount of discussion in the literature. It is widely assumed that Peter was writing from Rome and was referring to Rome as Babylon. We are told that the Jews called Rome Babylon, but what is commonly overlooked, but which I document in my Who Is This Babylon? book, is that the Jews did not call Rome Babylon until after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. And they did so because of that destruction.  In post-AD 70 Jewish writings references to Rome as “Babylon” focused on Rome as the destroyer of the Temple, whereas pre-AD 70 references focused on Babylon as the place of exile and bondage.




NOTE: Epistle - is a letter, or a literary composition in the form of a letter.
Back to the lost books of the Bible...

People have told me 'Those books were written by people who were NOT INSPIRED!"   OK - fair enough .... Enoch was one of 3 taken to Heaven while still alive (the other 2 were Abraham and JESUS, but we'll discount Enoc - God thought he was inspired, but you all know more than God. [yes, I'm being CYNICAL!]  OH - another one:  Jesus.  Was HE inspired??   The Book of Jesus isn't "inspired"???  Or do you just hate "questioning", and you say King James knows more than God??  [again, I'm being CYNICAL!]

- - -

The Gospel of Mary
Scholars do not always consider the Gospel of Mary to be a true “gospel” because the text does not have the same focus on the teachings of the adult Jesus as the Canonical ("Canon") gospels. The text is missing a total of 10 pages, six at the beginning and four in the middle of the text. The sections of the text that are intact depict a scene after the resurrection of Christ when Jesus appears to the disciples.  He gives Mary special or secret teachings through a vision. Mary shares these teachings with the other disciples, but the other disciples are skeptical that Christ would trust such important “teachings privately [to] a woman and not openly to [the male apostles].” Peter and Andrew in particular question Mary’s truthfulness while Levi defends her. It is likely for the same reason that the text was stricken from the Canon.  See the other side below...

Discovered in 1896 in a Century 5 papyrus codex written in Sahidic Coptic, the Gospel follows the idea of Jesus Christ as reminder to human beings of their bond with God and true identity, as well as the realization of the believer that redemption consists of the return to God and liberty from matter after death. The Gospel of Mary contains two of these discourses (7:1–9:4 and 10:10–17:7) including addresses to New Testament figures (Peter, Mary, Andrew and Levi)

"Mary (Magdalene) is accorded a high status among the apostles of Jesus." Levi actually acknowledges that Jesus loved her more than he loved all of the other apostles. Mary said she had a conversation with Jesus, and Andrew and Peter questioned this. "Four pages are lost from the manuscript", so there is really no way for anyone to know exactly what happened.  It also states that the Gospel stems from a monistic view of creation rather than the dualistic one central to theology and also that the Gospel’s views of both Nature and an opposite nature are more similar to Jewish and Christian beliefs.  She also says that the Gospel’s main purpose is to encourage fearful disciples to go out and preach the gospel.

Harvard professor Karen King writes:
it exposes the erroneous view that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute for what it is - a piece of theological fiction.

Ms King concludes that “both the content and the text’s structure lead the reader inward toward the identity, power and freedom of the true self, the soul set free from the Powers of Matter and the fear of death”. “The Gospel of Mary is about inter-Christian controversies, the reliability of the disciples’ witness, the validity of teachings given to the disciples through post-resurrection revelation and vision, and the leadership of women.”

King also sees evidence for tensions within Century 2 Christianity, reflected in "the confrontation of Mary with Peter, [which is] a scenario also found in The Gospel of Thomas, Pistis Sophia, and the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians. Peter and Andrew represent orthodox positions and reject the authority of women to teach."

The women followers in the Gospel of Mary are positive role models for the reader. They are frequently contrasted with the men who fall short of expectations. The women are shown to be fallible, as are the men, but this is implicitly forgiven.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mary


- - -

The Acts of Paul and Thecla (a [proudly virgin] woman)
The Acts of Paul and Thecla, also called the Acts of Paul or the Acts of Thecla, details the life and journeys of this young Christian convert, Thecla. Thecla was a young virgin who was engaged to a wealthy and powerful man in the city of Iconium. When she heard Paul preaching about chastity, however, she refused to marry the man and was sentenced to be burned at the stake. God, however, intervened and saved Thecla’s life.

Thecla joined Paul on his journey to Antioch where she ran afoul of the magistrate of the city when she refused to sleep with him. The magistrate ordered Thecla to be killed several times, but each time she was saved by God. In one of her final trials, Thecla threw herself into a body of water - filled with sharks. The sharks were killed by God, and Thecla baptized herself.

It is theorized that the Acts of Paul and Thecla was kept out of the official canon because Thecla’s actions were too powerful for a woman.  She acted with all the power of a man, something unacceptable at the time.  Now do you see how evil the people responsible for The Canon ("The Bible" as we know it) were???   Am *I* blasphemous - or are THEY??  (A: THEY are/were!!)

https://swisscows.com/en/web?query=The+Acts+of+Paul+and+Thecla

https://www.mojeek.com/search?q=The+Acts+of+Paul+and+Thecla


See more women of the Bible (kept out of it!) - in The Book of Mary.



The Apocalypse of Paul (Apocalypsis Pauli, literally "Revelation of Paul"; more commonly known in the Latin tradition as the Visio Pauli or Visio Sancti Pauli)
a Century 4, non-canonical apocalypse and part of the New Testament apocrypha.  You may ask: "Who wrote Revelation?"

Epiphanius tells us that the Caianites or Cainites had forged a book full of unspeakable matter in the name of Paul, which was also used by those who are called Gnostics, which they call the Anabaticon of Paul, Basing it on the words of the apostle -that he was taken up into the third heaven.

Acts of Paul
The Acts of Paul is one of the major works and earliest pseudepigraphal series from the New Testament apocrypha also known as Apocryphal Acts. This work is part of a body of literature either about or purporting to be written by Paul the Apostle, including letters, narratives, prayers, and ...

Revelation of Paul : Interfaith

Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas is probably one of the most infamous of the pseudepigrapha. This book not only supports gnostic ideals but goes as far as to say that women could not inherit the kingdom of God unless God made them into men.

Book of Jubilees
Although this book seems to have some insight into the historicity of Genesis and the classes of angels, it fails the canonicity test in several ways. It seems written in New Testament times but has no clear author. The fact that the early church was fighting against many heresies that arose during the period it was written also raises questions about the author’s motives.

The Book of Sirach and the Book of Tobit
These books are included in the apocrypha but "seem to support anti-scriptural ideas". Specifically, these books support the idea that if you pay indulgences, you can free dead souls into heaven.


What lost Books of the Bible are mentioned in Scripture ("The Bible")?
You may ask, “I know there are some books mentioned in the Bible that have become lost to time. What about those?”
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, let’s explore some books referenced in the Bible - that no copies exist of today:

The Book of Wars
Mentioned in Numbers 21:14, we can imagine this book held a lot of records of the wars of the Israelite people and how God came to their aid throughout their time in battle.

The Book of Annals of Kings
We have one specifically mentioned for Solomon (1 Kings 11), and then one of all the kings of Israel (1 Kings 14) and Judah (1 Kings 15). Likely, the Book of Annals of Kings kept detailed historical records of what the kings did during their reigns. Although there may be some overlap with what we see in Scripture, if this book ever resurfaces, we’ll probably discover some new details about events that took place during the Old Testament period.

Paul’s Other Letters to the Corinthians
Paul wrote four letters, but we only have access to two of them. Perhaps the other two delved into the Corinthian church’s specifics and logistics rather than giving spiritual advice, and audiences didn’t deem them inspiring. Maybe the two letters just became lost to time.


Would the Lost Books of the Bible Teach Us Anything New?
It would be interesting to see their contents if an archeological dig uncovered them. Most likely, they would have details about Biblical times that we don’t get in the books included in the Scriptural Canon. After all, the Gospel of John says outright that it couldn’t cover all of Jesus’ ministry (John 21:25). What if we suddenly could read about his other miracles? Would those details not enlighten us?

So how do we know that the books in Scripture are all of Scripture?
After all, Bible translation meetings now take hours to change the word “slave” to “bondservant” to ensure that the meaning of "doulos" is properly translated. Scholars would certainly take their time assessing a newly recovered text from the New Testament period.  Right??

One of the first Christians to consider what belonged in the canon was the scholar and bishop Eusebius.  Tasked by Constantine I in 331 AD to produce 50 Bibles, which had to be handwritten, Eusebius went to study precisely which books should be included and left out. He eventually settled on the 27 books using similar criteria to the above list. He researched other "Church Fathers" [that is CATHOLIC!] such as Ignatius, Clement, and Origen, and came to similar conclusions.

So, basically FIVE .... MEN .... decided what was good for everybody.  I don't accept their decisions.  Also, King James' translators were "in a hurry" to get these out.



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The Book of Enoch


The Book of Enoch
חֲנֹ֖וךְ
(actually pronounced "cha·no·vch")
The Book of Enoch - which is actually 3 groups of writings that were originally called "1 Enoch" (and yes, pronounced "one Enoch"...) through 3 Enoch.
The Book of Enoch was attributed to Enoch, the grandfather of Noah, and contains more traditionally "mythological" elements - like The Flood, dinosaurs, and the Nephelim.  The Niphilim are mentioned in the canonical versions of Genesis (6:4) and Numbers (13:33) and Deuteronomy (2:21), but Enoch expands greatly on their birth, rise to prominence and destruction. The Book of Enoch also details Enoch’s journey through Earth, Sheol and his interactions with both the angels of heaven and fallen angels.
NOTE: The Niphilim are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are described as being large and strong . The word "'Nephilim" is loosely translated as "giants" in most translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in others.  The Nephilim (Hebrew: נְפִילִים ) is sometimes translated as "giants", and other times taken to mean "the fallen ones".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephilim

נפילים
"nafilim"
Nephilim, Niphelim, Niphilim, Nephelem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO-sTClxIoI

Also called “Enoch 1”, Hebrew:   סֵפֶר חֲנוֹך
(in Greek, usually a letter follows, rather than a number, so it would be called "Enoch A".)
The Book of Enoch contains unique material on the origins of demons and Nephilim, why some angels fell from heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis flood was morally necessary, and a prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah. Three books written by Enoch, include  Enoch 2 and Enoch 3.  Composed partially in Aramaic and partially in Hebrew, no Hebrew version is known to have survived. Various Aramaic fragments have been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, are proof that the Book of Enoch was known by Jews and early Near Eastern Christians.

Those who agree that Enoch should NOT be in The Canon (“The Bible”) - are super-offending present-day and Jesus’ day Israeli Jews:
1) Genesis 5:22
(KJV (And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years)
חֲנֹ֜וךְ וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֨ךְ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵאֹ֖ות שָׁנָ֑ה
"Enoch      to come/to go/walk         God        three      a hundred          a year"
2)  Based on the number of copies found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Enoch was widely read during the Second Temple period. Today, the Ethiopic Beta Israel community of Haymanot Jews is the only Jewish group that accepts the Book of Enoch as canonical and still preserves it in its liturgical language of Geʽez, where it plays a central role in worship.

Demons
Dinosaurs
Giants (Nephilim, or sometimes "Nephelim")
Watchers (Angels)
The Flood
Predicted the thousand-year reign of the Messiah
(Hint: all but 2 in the list were covered in the Bible!  Oh, NOW you accept them.)

Who are the Irin?
The term "irin" is primarily applied to 200 disobedient Watchers and their leaders; but equally Aramaic iri ("watcher" singular) is also applied to the obedient archangels who chain them, such as Raphael (1 Enoch 22:6). Bad watchers in the Book of Enoch:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watcher_(angel)

Mystery of The Watchers and Book Of Enoch - ancient pages
Enoch tells that in ancient times, 200 heavenly Watchers rebelled against God in heaven.  Led by the angels Semyaza and Azazel, the Watchers came to Earth on Mount Hermon, where they mated with human women. This resulted in the birth of bloodthirsty hybrid giants and later led to the Great Flood.  Enoch describes them coming down to earth and mating with human females. Who then give birth to human/angel hybrids called Nephilims. One of these fallen angels was Azael. But they were stopped by warrior angels such as Gadriel.
https://www.ancientpages.com/2017/10/2[...]len-angels-and-their-secret-knowledge/

The names of the Watchers
According to the Book of Enoch, exactly 200 Watchers fell to Earth to take human wives/mates. It names 20 of these, explaining that each one was a leader in a group of 10.
http://echoes.devin.com/watchers/names.html



Books of Nephi:
Usually referred to as "First Nephi" or "1 Nephi", is the first book of the Book of Mormon, and 1 of 4 books with the name Nephi.  NOTE: I am AAINST Mormonism, except for no sex befoe mariage, the abstanance of alcohol and dugs, sweaing, gambling, homosexual, abotion, pornoraphy, coffee/tea/smoke.



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Magic

Books were taken out - because they used MAGIC???
-  Oh, you BET'CHA!  Magic is considered EVIL -  unless, of course, it's IN THE BIBLE - like in Exodus 7:8-13
Moses and Aaron peform "a miraculous sign" (MAGIC!!) - by turning their staffs into snakes.
How about the serpent talking? The donkey talking?  Dry, dead bones coming together ?  A man living in a whale? Parting of a huge sea?? A buning bush.  How about a virgin birth??

-  Bones:  Ezekiel 37:3-14
"...  Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

First, the Hebrew word  הָעֲצָמֹות֙
Pronounced "hā-‘ă-ṣā-mō-wṯ"
Meaning "bone/substance/self"

Next,
ר֖וּחַ
Pronounced "ru·ach"
Meaning "breath/wind"

גִּדִ֜ים
Pronounced "gheed"
Meaning "tendon" (by extension, "ligament"), but translated as "sinew".  WHAT is a "sinew"??  Go ahead, ask all of your Church friends.  Not ONE of them will know.  So WHY have it in the Bible????  CHANGE/UPDATE IT!!

"bring up flesh upon you" - is actually:
וְֽהַעֲלֵתִ֧י
Pronounced "ve·ha·'a·le·ti"
Meaning "to go up/ascend/climb"

וְקָרַמְתִּ֤י
ve·ka·ram·ti
"to spread or lay something over"


But Nooooo - "there is no magic in The Bible, and the Bible condems all forms of magic, and...  magic is discussed at length in both the OT and NT.

Luke 24:31
"And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight."



Tobit was stricken - because it talked of "magic" (Tobit 6:5-7). (Although The Bible has Satan in it MANY times - even God talked with Satan - to make bread from rocks, to plot against Job...)
For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life (Tobit 12:9).
In another place in Tobit it states.
So now, my children see what almsgiving accomplishes, and what injustice does it brings death! (Tobit 14:11).

Now, I have NO IDEA what "injustice does it brings death" means - but I'd have to see the original.  But here's my point: NOW, we say "OFFERINGS will bring much more your way".  Isn't this THE SAME THING???  Besides, in MY Church (The Lexicon Church), we do not even take offerings!

This book could possibly have been written in Aramaic before being translated into Greek. It is a story about a blind man named Tobit who sends his son to collect a debt for him. He is led on his journey by an angel who takes him to the house of a virgin who has been married 7 times. (Each of her husbands were slain by a demon on their wedding night.) Tobit's son marries the virgin and manages to drive away the demon by burning the heart of a fish in their bedroom on their wedding night. He then goes and collects his father's debt, and returns to Tobit with the money, his new bride and the remains of the fish. When he gets home he heals his father's blindness using some bile extracted from the fish.


Here are the definitions from above:
Miracle:
A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency. An unusual  _and mysterious_  event that is thought to have been caused by a god because it does not follow the usual laws of nature.  Events that defy natural laws and are considered to be direct interventions by a divine power.

Magic:
Practices that attempt to influence the natural world through mystical or supernatural means, often involving spells, rituals, or incantations.

Bottom-line:
Magic is an act of a human being; miracles are acts of God. ("force majeure".  But then, so is the weather.)


So, making staffs tun into snakes is NOT magic???  People, come ON.  "The book of Tobit" had magic in it".  OK - what about:
Don't foget about the talking donkey and the talking snake - in Numbers and Genesis!
-  The burning bush
-  Water from the rock in the desert
-  Lot's wife turned into salt (נְצִ֥יב - pronounced "ne·tziv" - means "a post", or "garrison")
-  Bitter waters of Marah - sweetened (Exodus 15:23-25)
-  Manna sent daily to feed the Israelites, except on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:14-35)
-  Water from a rock at Rephidim (Exodus 17:5-7)
-  Nadab and Abihu Consumed for offering “strange fire” (Leviticus 10:1-2)
-  Complainers consumed by fire at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3)
-  Earth opens and swallows Korah and his company. (Numbers 16:32-34)
-  250 men consumed by divine fire at Kadesh (Numbers 16:35-45)  (the actual number in Hebrew is "150".)
-  Deadly plague at Kadesh almost instantly killing 14,700 people (Numbers 16:46-50) (the actual number in Hebrew isַ   רְבָּעָ֥ה  , or "4".)
-  Fiery serpents (Numbers 21:6).
-  Mass healing from imminent death - by looking at a brass serpent on a pole in the Zin desert (Numbers 21:8-9)
-  Jordan River divided, so that Israel passed over dry land (Joshua 3:14-17)
-  Walls of Jericho fell down (Joshua 6:6-20)
-  Sun and moon stood still (Joshua 10:12-14)

Can we explain the “long days” of Joshua and Hezekiah?
Joshua 10:13  (KJV) "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day."
הַשֶּׁ֜מֶשׁ וַיִּדֹּ֨ם וְיָרֵ֣חַ עָמָ֗ד עַד־ הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ וַיַּעֲמֹ֤ד בַּחֲצִ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם אָ֥ץ לָבֹ֖וא תָּמִֽים׃ כְּיֹ֥ום
Literally means: "sun    to be [or grow] dumb/silent      moon      to take one's stand     as far as/up to     sun     to take one's stand     half     the heaven ("shah-MAH-yeem")     to make haste     to come in     complete [ta·mim]     day [yohm]"

So, the sun and mood didn't "stand still" - the sun grew dumb (dim?) or became silent.  The moon "took a stand" - and it states "until the nation avenged (NOT "forgive" - TAKE VENGANCE!!).  How many wars have been stopped in 1 day?  By the way, "yohm" means "the warm hours of a day", NOT "24 hours".  So, even IF the sun and moon stood still, it was for "the complete warm time of the day".
Bottom-line, the sun and moon DID NOT STAND STILL, and whatever DID happen, it was NOT for 24 hours, or even a whole daylight hours!!!

Miracle paces links:
https://christiananswers.net/dictionary/miracle.html
https://www.mojeek.com/search?q=miracles+in+the+bible


My addition to Talbot:  Although Tolbot states:
"For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life." (Tobit 12:9)
"So now, my children see what almsgiving accomplishes, and what injustice does it brings death!" (Tobit 14:11)

Now, I have NO IDEA what "injustice does it brings death" means - but I'd have to see the original - and to see if "aimsgiving" is actually what we think it is.  But here's my point: NOW, we say "OFFERINGS will bring much more your way".  Isn't this THE SAME THING???  Besides, in MY Church (The Lexicon Church), we do not even take offerings!


- - - -
A note on Satan:
Satan (meaning "an adversary") managed to change from "a lowly but clever talking serpent" to "a fire-breathing dragon";  a fictional creature (surprise, I know) that is sometimes depicted with horns, mostly by the early Chinese.  The Talmud mentions Satan numerous times, but in all those references Satan is just a rogue agent of God—with no independent existence of his own.  That’s an important historical note, because it means they understood Satan— i.e., Lucifer— to be no match for God—quite literally— in any way, shape, or form.  Lucifer and the many beings who followed into rebellion against God, have been incarcerated for nearly two thousand of our years.

Jesus terminated the Lucifer rebellion.  And this was the significance of Jesus’ personal experience, not long before his death in the flesh, when he one day exclaimed to his disciples, “And I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven.”  Satan had come with Lucifer to Urantia for the last crucial struggle, and when Jesus uttered the words, “Get you behind me, Satan.” that was, in principle, the real end of the Lucifer Rebellion.

Self-confessed Satan Woshippers:
-  Led Zeppelin
-  Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osborne, a faithful follower of Aleister Crowley.
-  Iron Maiden.  Leader: Bruce Dickenson honoured Aleister Crowley in a film.
-  Kiss
-  Marilyn Manson - High Priest of The Church of Sanan

ALL of the above were faithful - and EXTREME religious - followers of Aleister Crowley: "the great beast” - author of “do what thou wilt”. (although an Occultist, he founded the religion of Thelema - the Greek word for “will", but is a complicated set of magical, and mystical beliefs”)


A note on Calvinism:
Although the "getting ON YOUR KNEES, clasping your hands, and BOWING your head - are all Calvinism (!!!), did you also know:
Calvinism falsely teaches that God saves some and decides others will burn in the lake of Fire.
People are not "given faith".....they are given the option to BELIEVE.
"faith comes ... by... hearing"  =  THE GOSPEL."




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Finally...

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The Canon

There are other "Canons":
Canon in D (wedding entrance song)
Avicenna's "Canon of Medicine", 1483
Canonized Books ("The Bible")

History of the Canon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZYb3wLM0u4&ab_channel=Rediscovery

The term "canon" is from a Latin word meaning "rule, or measurement."also from a Hebrew-Greek word meaning “cane” or “measuring rod,” passed into Christian usage to mean “norm” or “rule of faith.”
"Canonicity" means "approved by the church for use as holy Scripture." The resolutions of the local and ecumenical councils are called "canons." Many churches today still use the term "canon" to mean "by-law." The term "Canon of Scripture" refers to whatever church by-law lists the books that the church endorses as Scripture.  Here is an example/metaphor:

--  What if the New Testament mentions a letter from Paul that is missing?
Paul instructs the Colossians to swap letters with the church in Laodicea, but there is no trace of that letter. The ancient church must have had a reason for not preserving it. Maybe it was too closely tied to the immediate situation to be of use for the general church. If we find it, it is not canonical, because the whole church did not endorse, approve, or use it as Scripture down through history.

--  What if we discover a genuine letter from Paul that no one knew about until now?
It is not canonical, because the whole church did not endorse, approve, or use it as Scripture down through history.

--  What if we find out for sure that Paul didn’t write Galatians?
It is still canonical, because the whole church has endorsed, approved, and used it as Scripture down through history.

--  What if we find a document that a part of the ancient church used as Scripture for a short period of time?
It is not canonical, because the whole church did not endorse, approve, or use it as Scripture down through history.

Notice how the phrase "the whole church has endorsed, approved, or used it as Scripture throughout history" keeps coming up?
We call it the canon of Scripture even though there really isn’t one in the literal sense. It was more like a consensus than a canon. As early as the end of Century 1, Christian leaders used the books that are presently in the New Testament as Scripture. Eventually, a local council in the east issued a list of New Testament books that was the same as the one we have today. Some time later, a local council in the west issued the same list. The issue never rose to the level of an ecumenical council.


The Biblical Canon, collection of sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity which, after being determined either by general agreement or by official religious bodies, are alone viewed as fully authoritative and truly beyond all further change or alteration. The works not admitted to the canons (apocryphal literature of semisacred or semicanonical character) may still be quite valuable as supplementary texts.

One of the first Christians to consider what belonged in the canon was the scholar and bishop Eusebius.  Tasked by Constantine I in 331 AD

What is canon?
The books of the Bible are like a series of pictures, some of them simple portraits, others more subtle sketches, still others highly abstract symbols. For that reason the determination of what does or does not belong in the canon was not an easy task. The translation of this variety of language and literature into a new language likewise creates difficulties. When a Protestant examines a Roman Catholic version of the Bible, it is apparent that certain books appear in one but not the other. “Why should this be so”?, the reader may ask, and “how did those books get into the Bible”? To answer these questions is the purpose of studies in the history of the biblical canon.

Faced with heresy and claims to late revelations, the early church was constrained to retain the historical dimension of its faith, the ephapax, or the “once for all,” revelation of God in Jesus Christ.  Although it wasn’t until Century 4 that the NT canon was officially decided, there is reason to have historical confidence in the process: These books were largely decided on by virtue of three factors: their divine qualities, reception by the churches, and connection to an Apostle. Most of the NT books were composed directly by one of the apostles (including Paul), and those that were not have close links to the testimony of the apostles themselves.

The single most decisive factor in the process of canonization was the influence of Marcion (flourished c. 140), who had Gnostic tendencies and who set up a “canon” that totally repudiated the Old Testament and anything Jewish. He viewed the Creator God of the Old Testament as a cruel God of retribution and the Jewish Law. His canon consisted of The Gospel, a “cleaned up” Luke (the least Jewish), and the Apostolikon (ten Pauline letters with Old Testament references and analogies edited out, without Hebrews, I and II Timothy, and Titus). This restrictive canon acted as a catalyst to the formation of a canon more in line with the thought of the church catholic (universal).

See:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/New-Testament-canon-texts-and-versions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Biblical-canon

https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-process-of-canonization

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/bible-canon-books.html

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-biblical-canon/

https://www.biblesprout.com/articles/bible/canon-books/

https://www.gotquestions.org/canon-Bible.html



The "Textus Receptus":

http://www.bible-researcher.com/dogma.html

https://www.logosapostolic.org/bibles/textus_receptus_king_james/greek_english_kjv_index.htm

http://textus-receptus.com/wiki/Main_Page




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The "Lost Verses" of The Bible

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My own note - which will ANGER all Chistians (but it's TRUE!!)

In a newspaper editorial, it is not uncommon to read "this writer is not impressed" instead of "I am not impressed." This kind of indirect self-reference is also in "the Gospel According to John". The person in the gospel who is obviously John is never mentioned by name, only by circumlocutions/self-reference, such as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." That is evidence that John is either the source or the writer.

A better way to describe these 27 contributions might be that The New Testament consists of over 25 independent pamphlets and letters written on parchment.  These writings penned in ancient Greek contained no spaces between letters or words, no chapter or verse divisions – not even punctuation. Instead, they are a continuous flow of letters.

THE NEW TESTAMENT & PAUL
The manuscripts of the New Testament were typically produced through one of two methods: either the author wrote them by hand, or they employed a scribe to transcribe their ideas. The language used here is intentionally gender-specific, referring only to men. This is because it is widely believed that the New Testament was written exclusively by men, with most of it attributed to one man or others writing under his name.

The man I am talking about is Paul. A Greek-speaking Jew from Asia Minor, born in Tarsus in Cicilia (now modern-day Turkey.) He is often considered the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity and is credited with authoring 13 letters of The New Testament (plus 4 in the Apocrypha), although the authorship of some of these is disputed:
--  Romans
--  Corinthians 1 and 2
--  Galatians
--  Ephesians
--  Philippians
--  Colossians
--  Thessalonians 1 and 2
--  Timothy 1 and 2
--  Titus
--  Philemon

The other 14:
--  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
--  Acts
--  Hebrews
--  James
--  Peter 1 and 2
--  John 1, 2 and 3
--  Jude
--  Revelation

…were written by a mysterious assortment of authors. 27 books make up the New Testament; as a whole, they are our earliest surviving Christian writings.


Peter, like all of the apostles, believed that Jesus’ Second Coming would take place during his lifetime. In addition, the author of 2 Peter comes up with a defense as to why Jesus hasn’t returned as the Messiah. To God, “one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are as one day.” So time is relative and just be patient. But such an argument wouldn’t have been necessary for a disciple writing so soon after Jesus’ crucifixion. The Second Coming was predicted “within this generation” (Mark 13:30) and before the disciples “tasted death” (Mark 9:1). At the time Peter lived, Jesus could have still been right on schedule.


Paul actually did write some of the books of the New Testament - well, 7 of the 13 attributed to him.
Good news! More than half of the letters attributed to Paul in the New Testament are authentic.
That means, of course, that six of the 13 are not. Almost all biblical scholars agree that these 7 letters were indeed written by the apostle Paul: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon.

In the other books of the Bible attributed to Paul, there are words and phrases and writing styles not found in those that have been verified. And there are points made about Paul’s religious philosophy that just don’t jibe with what we know about his beliefs. For instance, the man was anti-marriage (even though he himself got hitched). In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul preaches that people should remain single. Why worry about procreation when the Rapture is going to happen any day? But in the Pastorals (as 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are referred to), “Paul” is insisting that church leaders be married. Side note: Why has this not become an argument to end the tradition of priests being celibate?


You may ask: "Who wrote Revelation?"
John & The Book Of Revelation
Most Christians believe Jesus’ disciple John wrote the Book of Revelation, and in dramatic fashion no less, from the Greek Island of Patmos as a persecuted outcast at the end of Domitian’s reign. Some believe that perhaps even the prophet Jeremiah from the Old Testament was responsible for these texts.  Revelation scholar Dr. Craig Koester writes:
"Historical studies, however, suggest a different setting. The author of Revelation was probably an early Christian prophet who knew several Christian traditions but was not directly acquainted with John’s gospels or epistles"

While likely not the same man who caught fish with his brother James and father, it is more plausible than the belief that the other pseudonym, “John,” was the actual name of the author of Revelation and that he was a Jewish Christian prophet active in Asia Minor at the turn of Century 1.

Even though the book of Revelation was finally [and reluctantly] included in the New Testament canon because Christian leaders came to think it had been written by Jesus’ disciple, John the son of Zebedee, there were outspoken dissenters against its inclusion. Perhaps the most famous was Dionysius, a bishop of the city of Alexandria (Egypt) in mid-Century 4, whose remarks about the book have a surprisingly modern feel to them. Dionysius used the author’s self-presentation and his Greek writing style to show that he was not the writer of the Fourth Gospel (whom Dionysius assumed was the disciple John). His conclusion? There must have been two different early Christian leaders named John, both of whom were active in Asia Minor, whence both the Gospel and Revelation derived.

He calls himself "John", and we should believe him... But it is not clear which "John" he was. For he doesn’t call himself "the disciple whom the Lord loved" - as happens often in the Gospel - nor does he say that he was "the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast" or that he "was the brother of James", who both saw and heard the Lord. But surely he would have described himself in one of these ways if he had wanted to make himself clearly known.

I think [therefore] that there must have been another "John" living among the Christians in Asia Minor, just as they say that there are 2 different tombs in Ephesus, both of them allegedly "John’s".

The phrasing itself also helps to differentiate between the Gospel and Epistle [of John] on the one hand - - and the book of Revelation on the other. The first 2 are written not only without errors in the Greek, but also with real skill with respect to vocabulary, logic, and coherence of meaning. You won’t find any barbaric expression, grammatical flaw, or vulgar expression in them  I don’t deny that this other author had revelations - but I notice that in neither language nor style does he write accurate Greek. He makes use of barbaric expressions and is sometimes guilty even of grammatical error.  I don’t say this in order to _accuse_ him (far from it!), but simply to demonstrate that _the 2 books are not at all similar_ .

"St John The Devine" - in the Book of "Revelation" (The Apocalypse) - The term "divine" refers to something that is related to or emanating from a god or deity. It can be used to describe qualities, characteristics, actions, or experiences that are considered to have a divine origin or nature. “Devine” is a misspelling of “divine.” The correct term is “divine”.


Who wrote the new testament: a mystery or deception?
As for the non-Pauline words of Hebrews, James, Peter 1 and 2, John , 2 and 3, Jude -  authorship is shrouded in uncertainty amidst these relatively obscure contributions.  This leaves their words in relative obscurity. You likely won’t see many Christians tattooing “3rd John 3:16” on their biceps (because it doesn’t exist) nor hear something from Jude quoted by politicians scrambling for Christian votes on the campaign trail. Although, that would be a welcomed change.

The ugly truth, however, is that from the Gospels to the so-called 13 letters of the Apostle Paul, most New Testament authorship is a mystery at best and deceitful at worst. Don’t take my word for it; take Bart’s–he wrote about it in his book Forged: Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are.

Were non Pauline letters written by His Disciples?
There is a persistent Christian legend that some of the non-Pauline letters in the New Testament were written by Paul’s disciples rather than by Paul himself. This legend is propagated by some well-meaning Christians who want to give Paul’s teachings more authority.

The available evidence contradicts this notion. Essentially, determining the authors of the New Testament involves a lot of speculation. Evangelical Christians, in particular, are uneasy about non-apostolic authorship. They may believe that only Jesus’ closest associates and the prominent Christian missionary Paul could be responsible for “God’s Word” and the significant lessons on faith and life contained in these revered texts.

However, the reality is that the New Testament imparts valuable teachings on faith and life, and the impact of Jesus of Nazareth and the authorship of the texts play a relatively minor role in their overall influence.


Conclusion
The question of who wrote the New Testament can be summed up as “Paul of Tarsus and some other unknown authors.” Most authors’ true identities remain a mystery, as they did not leave any “About the Author” notes or other information that would aid historical research. I think it is hard to find fault with their missing signatures, as these men of mystery could not have been writing with modernity in mind.

Nonetheless, the New Testament preserves oral traditions about Jesus Christ and instructs the early Christian church. It contains messages intended for specific audiences during a specific historical period. Despite the obstacles faced during its creation and preservation, this ancient collection has remained relevant for over twenty centuries.

Its enduring influence is a remarkable achievement, given the many challenges it faced during the canonization process and beyond. It’s undeniable that the “New” Testament has remarkable staying power and mystique, considering we’re now more than two millennia past its publication.

Keith Long has an MDiv from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, and is the author of three books including "Doubting Faithfully: Confessions of a Skeptical Pastor." As a pastor and author, Keith pours his writing into messages intended to inform, inspire, and cultivate critical thinking among those interested in Jesus, the Bible, and early Christianity. He lives in St. Paul, MN.




Figuring out who wrote what
Today, if you want to find out who wrote a book, you just to look for the by line on the cover or the title page. Since it was the custom for ancient authors to write anonymously, it isn't so easy with the New Testament. There is no by line. Ancient readers or scholars may tell us who the author was, but since the writer is most often anonymous, even they could be mistaken. When we say, "traditionally, Paul wrote Jude," we mean that it’s so far back in the past that we can’t reconstruct the ancient scholarship. All we can do is report what they said.

In both the ancient and modern worlds, an author is a person who is the source of the document’s contents and has final control over the document. The author is not necessarily the person who does the physical writing. We know from the New Testament, for example, that Paul often dictated his letters to an amanuensis (a fancy word for "secretary") who actually put pen to papyrus. This is especially clear in Romans 16:22.

It’s obvious that the New Testament is an anthology of documents written by several people. The books have different vocabulary, usages, and turns of phrase, just as you would expect from a collection of books written by several people. Scholars analyze that to determine if two books were written by the same person or by different people.  Here’s how it works. Suppose your grandmother wants to write you a note congratulating you on some accomplishment, but because of her arthritis, she asks your mother to write it for her. When you read it, you can tell that it is your mother’s writing style but your grandmother’s message. Or suppose you have five books by the same author. You discover a sixth book that doesn’t say who the author is. How would you determine whether the sixth book was written by the same person as the first five? You’d know right away by the writing style.

Scholars examine New Testament writings the same way you would examine those six books. For example, they notice that the writing style in Luke and Acts is the same, but James speaks with a completely different voice, so they conclude that Luke and Acts were written by the same person, but James was written by someone else.

New Testament books are very short, so we often do not have other undisputed writings by the same authors that we can use for comparison. People can imitate other people’s writing style in a very short document and get away with it. That makes the work more difficult. Determining the authorship of New Testament books takes a lot of time and research, and in some cases, the author remains unknown.

Shortly before the year AD 325, the ancient church historian, Eusebius reported that no one knew who wrote the epistle to the Hebrews. One-third of the authors of the books of the New Testament — including the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - - were actually anonymous.  In fact, those texts remained anonymous for about a century. It wasn’t until around 180-185 CE that the Gospels were definitely named for the first time, by a church father named Irenaeus.  Sorry to "piss you off", Christians.

And how did those authors get chosen? To lend the Gospels authority (and help assure they made the cut when choosing what would go into the New Testament), the writers were declared to be 2 disciples and 2 close associates of disciples.  Matthew, for instance, was a Jew, and tradition held that he had written a Gospel. So the first was assigned to him since it was deemed the most “Jewish.”

Church leaders ascribed authors of the Gospels about 100 years after they were written - anonymously, no less. There’s no evidence Mark actually wrote the book that bears his name, for example.
The second Gospel was determined to be by Mark on the scantest of evidence; he seems to have been chosen because of his connection to Peter.
When you hear the reasons the Gospels were assigned authors, like the book of Luke, you’ll realize how flimsy the evidence really is.  The author of Luke also wrote the book of Acts, where he proclaims to be a companion of Paul’s. “Because Acts stresses that Christianity succeeded principally among Gentiles, the author himself may have been a Gentile,” Ehrman writes. “Since there was thought to be a Gentile named Luke among Paul’s companions, he was assigned the Third Gospel.” So it goes.

John, the son of Zebedee, was assigned the Gospel with his name by process of elimination. John, meanwhile, was supposed to be written by “the Beloved Disciple” it mentions (John 20: 20-24). In early tradition, the closest apostles to Jesus were Peter, James and John. Peter was named elsewhere in the book, and James had already been martyred. So that left John, the son Zebedee, as the author of the fourth Gospel.  Not the most convincing of evidence - but the Gospels couldn’t remain anonymous if they were going to become part of the Bible.

But wait - there’s more. In addition,“The anonymous book of Hebrews was assigned to Paul, even though numbers of early Christian scholars realized that Paul did not write it, as scholars today agree. And three short anonymous writings with some similarities to the Fourth Gospel were assigned to the same author, and so were called 1, 2 and 3 John. None of these books claims to be written by the authors to whom they were ultimately assigned.”



What about the "Banned Books of the Bible"?
There never was a formal church procedure to remove books from the Bible or to add any that weren’t previously there; ancient bishops only affirmed books that were already in use when heretics attacked them. If you see a book that claims to contain the "banned books of the Bible," it’s just a come-on to get you to buy the book. A more accurate title would be the "the books that kind of look like they could have been in the Bible, but aren’t," but that’s not good marketing.

The "banned" books are just Christian writings from ancient times. Some of them were held in high esteem, like C. S. Lewis’ books are today. Others were contrary to the teachings of the ancient church, and still others were obvious works of religious fiction. The "banned" books were never in the Bible, thus they were never actually banned.




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The Disciples

Historically, there were 12 original disciples of Jesus. This number was based on the 12 Tribes of Israel mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.  Some say there were only 12 disciples, while others claim there were up to 70. So, what is the truth? Let’s take a closer look at the different accounts to try and find an answer!

The most commonly cited number is 12, based on the 12 apostles mentioned in the New Testament. However, it’s possible that other disciples are not mentioned by name in the Bible. For example, Jesus is said to have had women followers - including Mary of Megdela, and some of his disciples may have been children.  Today, 2,000 years after his death, millions worldwide identify as Christians and follow His instructions. So, while we may not know precisely how many disciples Jesus had, we do know that his message has resonated with people for centuries.

The word “disciple” is derived from the Greek word μαθητής (mathētēs), meaning “a learner, pupil.”
it is worth noting that the term “disciple” can refer to "a follower of Jesus at any stage of their relationship with him". So, even though the Bible only mentions 12 disciples by name, there may have been many more people who considered themselves disciples of Jesus.

Here is a list of how the "12" died:
--  Simon Peter - a fisherman -  was crucified upside down.
--  Andrew - a fisherman - was crucified on an X-shaped cross.
--  James - a fisherman - was beheaded.
--  John - a fisherman - was boiled in oil but did not die, so he was exiled to the island of Patmos.
--  Philip- a missionary to Ethiopia - was crucified.
--  Bartholomew - a scribe who was skeptical of Jesus at first, but he eventually came to believe in him. He was also known as Nathanael. Bartholomew preached in India and Armenia. - was flayed alive and then beheaded.
--  Matthew - a tax collector by profession. He preached the teachings of Jesus in the state of Ethiopia -  was beheaded.
--  Thomas - He preached in India -  was stabbed with a spear.
--  James, son of Alphaeus - preached in Jerusalem and its surrounded areas -  was stoned to death.
--  Simon, the Zealot - a zealot, which means he was a Jewish nationalist who wanted to overthrow Roman rule - there are at least 6 traditions concerning how and where Simon the Zealot died. Depending on the tradition they followed, artists would sometimes depict Simon according to his method of martyrdom. He often holds a saw.  According to Justus Lipsius, the Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist, Simon the Zealot was sawed in half in Saunir, Persia.
--  Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus) - hung himself.
--  Matthias (who replaced Judas after his betrayal) - took the place of Judas Iscariot - was stoned and then beheaded.