Books Jesus Read

Introduction

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Jewish rabbis, of course. But the Mediterranean world had become Greek in language and culture in the years following Alexander’s conquest, 11 and in most of the Diaspora Jewish communities, little Hebrew was spoken. Sometime in the late third century BC, the books of the Old Testament were translated into the international language. Perhaps, as the ancient Letter of Aristeas says, this was at the request of King Ptolemy II of Egypt, in order to help supply the Alexandrian Library with the world’s wisdom. Yet, the many ancient Septuagint manuscripts that have survived attest to the widespread need for a Bible in the language of Hellenized communities. Biblical scholars identify two broad, general categories of Greek-Jewish literature from this era: Apocryphal, with which this book is mainly concerned, and Pseudepigraphal. 12 Confusingly, the list of writings included in the Apocrypha vary between the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox—or Monophysite—canons of Scripture. Books Jesus Read offers selections from the Roman Catholic Apocrypha, which includes the following writings, scattered among the books of the Old Testament: Tobit, Judith, and 1–2 Maccabees are included among the “historical books” following Nehemiah; the books of Wisdom of Solomon and Wisdom of Sirach 13 are included with the “wisdom books” following the Song of Solomon. 11 Alexander the Great’s conquest began in 333 BC. 12 Pseudepigrapha – works falsely attributed to another author in order to boost the document’s acceptance and authority. The book of Enoch is an example of pseudepigrapha. However, not every document associated with the collection is written under a false name, and the literary distinctions between apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings have been exaggerated. 13 The Wisdom of Sirach is also called Ecclesiasticus.