Thursday, July 8, 2021

William Sanford LaSor on Writings from the Apocrypha (Deuterocanon) found at Qumran

  

DEUTEROCANONCIAL WRITINGS

 

The Roman Catholic Bible contains seven books, in addition to additions to Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah, which are not in the Hebrew Bible (or the canonical Bible of the Protestants). These writings are called “deuterocanonical” (i.e., the second canon) by some scholars, and “apocryphal” by others, which has led to some confusion, since other writings are considered “apocryphal” by both Protestants and Catholics. The seven in question are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with Ecclesiastes), Baruch, I and II Maccabees.

 

The fragments discovered at Qumran represent the following books:

 

Tobit. Three MSS in 4Q, one Hebrew, two Aramaic, one of which was on papyrus.

Judith. Not identified.

Wisdom of Solomon: Fragments from 2Q.

Epistle of Jeremy. Fragments on papyrus from 7Q.

Baruch, I and II Maccabees. Not identified. (William Sanford LaSor, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Faith [rev ed.; Chicago: Moody Press, 1962], 44-45)