The non-canonical books referenced in the Bible includes non-Biblical cultures, and lost works of known or unknown status. By the "Bible" is meant those books recognised by most Christians and Jews as being part of

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

(or

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Biblical apocrypha The biblical apocrypha (from the grc, ἀπόκρυφος, translit=apókruphos, lit=hidden) denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and AD 400. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Ort ...

or of the Deuterocanon. It may also include books of the Anagignoskomena () that are accepted only by Eastern Orthodox Christians. For the purposes of this article, "referenced" can mean direct quotations, paraphrases, or allusions, which in some cases are known only because they have been identified as such by ancient writers, or the citation of a work or author.

Hebrew Bible

The following are mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

: * The

Book of Jasher Sefer haYashar is a reference to the Five Books of Moses, Joshua 10:13, see Targum Jonathan, "sifra d'oriaitho"; named on behalf of the Patriarchs who were call "Yesharim", see Numbers 23:10. Sefer haYashar (Hebrew ספר הישר) means "Book of ...

is mentioned in and and also referenced in . From the context in the Book of Samuel, it is implied that it was a collection of poetry. Several books have claimed to be this lost text, some of which are discounted as

pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

. Certain members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

secured the copyright to a particular English translation of one of these and republished it in 1887 in Salt Lake City. * The Book of the Wars of the Lord is mentioned in . It is speculatively associated with one of the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

, the '' War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness''. The Book of the Wars of the Lord is also cited in the

(trans.

Moses Samuel Moses Samuel was a clockmaker, translator of Hebrew works and writer. Life His parents were Emanuel Menachem Samuel and Hanna Hinde; his father moved from Kempen in Posen in Silesia (now Kępno in Poland) to London. Moses with his mother moved t ...

c. 1840, ed. J. H. Parry 1887) Chapter 90:48 as being a collaborative record written by Moses, Joshua and the children of Israel. * The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Chronicles of the Kings of Judah are mentioned in the

Books of Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

(). They are said to tell of events during the reigns of Kings

Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , ; , ; la, Roboam, ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the last monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel and the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the former's split. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a gr ...

of Judah, respectively. The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is again mentioned in regarding King Zimri, and many other times throughout 1 and 2 Kings. * The ''

Book of Shemaiah the Prophet The Book of Shemaiah the Prophet is one of the non-canonical books referenced in the Bible. It was probably written by the biblical prophet Shemaiah, who lived at the time of Rehoboam. This text is sometimes called ''Shemaiah the Prophet'' or ''Th ...

'' and ''

Visions of Iddo the Seer The Story of the Prophet Iddo (also called the Midrash of the Prophet Iddo and Visions of Iddo the Seer) is a lost work mentioned in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Iddo who lived at the time of King Rehoboam. Biblical references ...

'' (also called ''

Story of the Prophet Iddo The Story of the Prophet Iddo (also called the Midrash of the Prophet Iddo and Visions of Iddo the Seer) is a lost work mentioned in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Iddo who lived at the time of King Rehoboam. Biblical reference ...

'' or ''The Annals of the Prophet Iddo'') is mentioned in the 2nd Book of Chronicles. (, , ). This book has been completely lost to history, save for its title. * The Manner of the Kingdom.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Acts of Solomon :''The similarly named Biblical book is located at Song of Solomon.'' The ook of theActs of Solomon is a lost text referred to in , which reads: :''And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Annals of King David The ''Annals of King David'' (alternatively translated as the ''Chronicles of King David'') is a lost work A lost work is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia produced some time in the past, of which no surviving copies are known to ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Book of Samuel the Seer The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshu ...

. Also called ''Samuel the Seer'' or ''The Acts of Samuel the Seer'', which could be the same as 1 & 2 Samuel.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Book of Nathan the Prophet The Book of Nathan the Prophet and the History of Nathan the Prophet are among the lost books quoted in the Bible, attributed to the biblical prophet Nathan. They may be the same text, but they are sometimes distinguished from one another. No such ...

. Also called ''Nathan the Prophet'' or ''The Acts of Nathan the Prophet'' or

History of Nathan the Prophet The Book of Nathan the Prophet and the History of Nathan the Prophet are among the Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible, lost books quoted in the Bible, attributed to Nathan (Prophet), the biblical prophet Nathan. They may be the same text, b ...

.
''Referenced at , and also ''. * The

Book of Gad the Seer The Book of Gad the Seer () is a presumed Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible, lost text, supposed to have been written by Gad (prophet), the biblical prophet Gad, which is mentioned at 1 Chronicles (). The passage reads: "Now the acts of Da ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Prophecy of Ahijah The Prophecy of Ahijah is a lost text which may have been written by the biblical prophet Ahijah the Shilonite. The book is referred to in . The passage reads :"Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book ...

, might be a reference to 1 Kings 14:2–18.
''Referenced at ''. * The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
''Referenced in , and ''. Might be the same as 1 & 2 Kings. * The

Book of Jehu The Book of Jehu is a lost text that may have been written by the Biblical prophet Jehu ben Hanani, who was one of King Baasha's contemporaries. The book is described in : "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are w ...

, could be a reference to 1 Kings 16:1–7.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Story of the Book of Kings The Story of the Book of Kings, also called the Midrash on the Book of Kings, is a lost work mentioned in the Bible. The book is found nowhere in the Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Chris ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Acts of Uziah The Acts of Uzziah is a lost text that may have been written by Isaiah, who was one of King Uzziah's contemporaries. The book is described in . The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son o ...

. Also called ''The Book by the prophet Isaiah''. Perhaps the same as the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Vision of Isaiah Isaiah 1 is the first Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the Book of Isaiah, one of the Nevi'im, Book of the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, which is the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible.J. D. Davis. 1960. ''A Dictionary ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Acts of the Kings of Israel :''The similarly named Biblical books are located at Books of Kings.'' The Acts of the Kings of Israel is a non-canonical work described in . The passage reads: "Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of th ...

. Also called ''The Acts and Prayers of Manasseh''. May be identical to ''The Book of the Kings of Israel'', above.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Sayings of the Seers The Sayings of the Seers (or Sayings of Hozai, , in the Masoretic Text) is a lost text referred to in . The passage reads: ''"His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high ...

.
''Referenced at ''. * The

Laments for Josiah Laments for Josiah is the term used in reference to . The passage reads: "And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, ...

. Also called ''Lamentations''. This event is recorded in the existing '' Book of Lamentations''.
''Referenced at ''. * The Chronicles of King Ahasuerus.
''Referenced at , , , and ''.

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

* ''Book (or Wisdom) of Ahikar'' referenced by , , , *

Aesop's fable Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...

of ''The Two Pots'' referenced at See footnote to the Biblical passage in ''The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1966 * ''The Egyptian Satire of the Trades'', or another work in that tradition referenced at * "The archives" referenced by *Memoirs of Nehemiah referenced by , could be the same as the

Book of Nehemiah The Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, largely takes the form of a first-person memoir concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedic ...

. * "letters of the kings" referenced by * "five books by Jason of Cyrene" referenced by : the author of 2 Maccabees here tells us that the work is abridged from the history by Jason. * "the king's letter" referenced by

New Testament

Mennonite scholar David Ewart has mentioned that Nestle's Greek New Testament lists some 132 New Testament passages that appear to be verbal allusions to paracanonical books. Pagan authors quoted or alluded to: *

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...

, ''Thais'' 218 () *

Epimenides Epimenides of Cnossos (or Epimenides of Crete) (; grc-gre, Ἐπιμενίδης) was a semi-mythical 7th or 6th century BC Greek seer and philosopher-poet, from Knossos or Phaistos. Life While tending his father's sheep, Epimenides is said to ...

, ''de Oraculis,'' (, where Paul introduces Epimenides as "a prophet of the Cretans," ''see

Epimenides paradox The Epimenides paradox reveals a problem with self-reference in logic. It is named after the Cretan philosopher Epimenides of Knossos (alive circa 600 BC) who is credited with the original statement. A typical description of the problem is given ...

'') * Aratus, ''Phaenomena'' 5, (, where Paul refers to the words of "some of your own poets") Non-canonical books quoted or alluded to: * Book of Enoch (, , , , ; , and ). *''

Book of Jannes and Jambres The ''Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres'' (also called the ''Book of Jannes and Jambres'') is a Ancient Greek language, Greek text composed between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, probably in Roman Egypt. It is a pseudepigraphic account of the legend ...

'', according to

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...

( "... as Jannes and Jambres withstood

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

") * Epistle to the Laodiceans ( "read the epistle from Laodicea") * Life of Adam and Eve ( "Satan as an angel of light", "Third Heaven") *A lost section of the Assumption of Moses (, Jude 9 "Michael.. body of Moses") *

Martyrdom of Isaiah The ''Ascension of Isaiah'' is a pseudepigraphical Judeo-Christian text. Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. Scholarly estimates regarding the date of the Ascension of Isaiah range from 70 AD to 175 AD.Hurta ...

( "they were sawn in two") *Paul's letter to the Corinthians before

1 Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

( "I wrote to you in my letter...") *Paul’s letter to the Ephesians before Ephesians ( “As I wrote afore in few words...”) *An unknown messianic prophecy possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Matthew 2:23 that states "...he will be called a Nazorian." ("ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται"). "Nazorian" is typically rendered as "Nazarene" ("from

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

"), as in , where Christians are referred to as "the sect of the Nazorians/Nazarenes" ("τῶν Ναζωραίων αἱρέσεως"). This is speculated to be a vague allusion to a quote about Samson in Judges 13:5 that uses a similar-sounding word: "the child shall be a Nazirite" (ναζιρ) *An unknown version of Genesis (possibly a targum, midrash or other commentary), quoted by Paul in , as a reference to Christ's being "the

Last Adam The Last Adam, also given as the Final Adam or the Ultimate Adam, is a title given to Jesus in the New Testament. Similar titles that also refer to Jesus include Second Adam and New Adam. Twice in the New Testament an explicit comparison is m ...

who became a life-giving spirit" (οὕτως καὶ γέγραπται· Ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν· ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδὰμ εἰς πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν.). It has been speculated that Paul is simply paraphrasing , but there is no clear indication that this is not a complete quote. *An unknown text quoted by Paul in , suggested by Origen to be a lost apocryphal book: "But as it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." This may also be an allusion to the similar , "For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.'". *An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in , speculated to be a vague allusion to : "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." *An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in , speculated to be a vague allusion to

Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 through 55 are ...

: "and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought."

Notes

{{Authority control Bible content Lists of books about religion Old Testament apocrypha New Testament apocrypha Ancient Hebrew texts

Hebrew Bible

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

New Testament

See also

Notes