When introducing his discussion of the Deuterocanonical books (the “Apocrypha”), Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft wrote:
The following books and parts of books are listed separately because they are “Deuterocanonical”. This means they are the “second canon (list of sacred writings).” They were added later to the canon of the Old Testament, both by the Jews (in Greek Alexandria) and the early Christian Church. (Peter Kreeft, You Can Understand the Bible: A Practical and Illuminating Guide to Each Book in the Bible [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005], 162, emphasis added)
Notwithstanding the appeal to the Jews at Alexandria and the claim (which remains disputed in scholarly circles) they accepted these books, Kreeft elsewhere writes:
Apocrypha
The First and Second Book of Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh are not part of the seventy-two books the Catholic Church accepts as the canon or list of books of Scripture (that is, divinely inspired, authoritative, and infallible). But they are wise and useful reading. The reason they are included as part of the Apocrypha in many Catholic and Protestant Bibles is that the Jews in Alexandria, Egypt, who made the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament did include them . . . (Ibid., 172, italics in original, bold emphasis added)
You live by the Alexandrian Jews, you die by the Alexandrian Jews . . .
For more on the debate about the Deuterocanonical books, see, for e.g.:
Be sure to also check out the following book:
Jared W. Ludlow, Exploring the Apocrypha from a Latter-day Saint Perspective (Springville, Utah: CFI, 2018)
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