Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

publication, history, of, robert, the, tables, citations, biblicalia, surprise, find, in, my, notes, repentance, purity, perfection, prayer, an, apocrypha, preface, graves, foreboding, sad, news, back, again, complete, guide, to, middle, earth, by, foster, peshitta, canon, with, eusebian, and, index, charlesworth, otp, corrigenda, posts, pagination,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (468), and (158), that (58), with (52), was (50), for (39), them (33), but (29), canon (28), have (25), this (25), new (25), from (23), books (23), #apocrypha (23), testament (22), book (21), edition (21), posted (20), which (20), not (20), #biblical (19), are (19), more (18), were (18), 2025 (17), his (17), had (17), first (17), their (16), there (16), bible (16), oxford (16), they (16), davidic (15), old (14), may (14), all (14), one (14), published (14), some (14), volume (13), found (13), text (13), part (13), tables (12), these (12), version (12), when (12), what (12), later (12), early (12), april (11), eusebian (11), here (11), history (11), second (11), hebrew (11), kevin (10), edgecomb (10), complete (10), modern (10), any (10), who (10), been (10), included (10), helps (10), god (10), lectionaries (10), citations (9), index (9), another (9), then (9), just (9), same (9), would (9), than (9), rev (9), canonical (9), church (9), western (9), notes (9), copy (9), its (8), into (8), time (8), various (8), other (8), last (8), jews (8), even (8), century (8), revised (8), partly (8), upon (8), heart (8), those (7), page (7), pseudepigrapha (7), foster (7), tolkien (7), though (7), several (7), 1893 (7), being (7), origin (7), josephus (7), about (7), yet (7), leave (6), comment (6), studies (6), peshitta (6), well (6), publication (6), little (6), thing (6), hardcover (6), after (6), should (6), also (6), much (6), like (6), our (6), revelation (6), form (6), sacred (6), literature (6), esdras (6), historical (6), latter (6), approach (6), ezra (6), christians (6), divine (6), doth (6), king (6), creation (6), david (6), scion (6), biblicalia (5), patristica (5), verse (5), following (5), end (5), guide (5), middle (5), earth (5), robert (5), interesting (5), three (5), until (5), now (5), find (5), him (5), back (5), think (5), everything (5), others (5), has (5), poetry (5), written (5), commentary (5), apocryphal (5), seems (5), having (5), earlier (5), university (5), between (5), hellenistic (5), records (5), authority (5), accepted (5), israel (5), jerome (5), wisdom (5), thus (5), ridgway (5), series (5), cruden (5), repentance (5), prayer (5), jesus (5), lectionary (5), search (4), posts (4), pages (4), edited (4), listing (4), chapter (4), out (4), itself (4), many (4), called (4), over (4), number (4), people (4), editions (4), recently (4), apparently (4), look (4), include (4), read (4), comments (4), again (4), things (4), work (4), author (4), vision (4), your (4), own (4), preface (4), introduction (4), passage (4), canons (4), present (4), bibles (4), earliest (4), scriptures (4), tradition (4), press (4), expression (4), subsequent (4), opinion (4), annotated (4), study (4), greek (4), captivity (4), most (4), centuries (4), phraseology (4), especially (4), world (4), appears (4), rather (4), least (4), received (4), lxx (4), life (4), rose (4), esteem (4), roman (4), plates (4), gilt (4), due (4), lost (4), purity (4), perfection (4), sense (4), dynasty (4), likely (4), writings (4), leading (4), how (4), eastern (4), comparison (4), versification (4), orthodox (4), charlesworth (3), texts (3), two (3), volumes (3), james (3), compiled (3), set (3), parallels (3), simply (3), through (3), order (3), system (3), use (3), syriac (3), gospels (3), copies (3), fun (3), available (3), works (3), law (3), did (3), namely (3), large (3), journal (3), managed (3), print (3), different (3), themselves (3), since (3), case (3), lord (3), administrivia (3), few (3), sure (3), anti (3), graves (3), foreboding (3), reading (3), either (3), year (3), turned (3), thought (3), tears (3), english (3), deuterocanonical (3), precise (3), origins (3), led (3), bishop (3), better (3), alexandrian (3), ancient (3), septuagint (3), product (3), era (3), babylonia (3), perhaps (3), prophecy (3), oracles (3), direct (3), ceased (3), link (3), linguistic (3), value (3), connexion (3), ecclesiasticus (3), narratives (3), religious (3), teaching (3), care (3), only (3), reject (3), differed (3), respecting (3), generally (3), melito (3), referring (3), separated (3), authoritative (3), while (3), hidden (3), secret (3), affirming (3), speaking (3), example (3), instruction (3), manners (3), apply (3), establish (3), doctrine (3), gradually (3), council (3), trent (3), affirmed (3), canonicity (3), treated (3), critical (3), divines (3), overseen (3), right (3), remains (3), augustine (3), paragraphs (3), christian (3), expanded (3), separate (3), given (3), additions (3), held (3), former (3), point (3), shall (3), original (3), undated (3), black (3), acquired (3), edges (3), bear (3), both (3), fathers (3), need (3), meaning (3), involved (3), compassion (3), heir (3), firstborn (3), son (3), prophets (3), power (3), herod (3), romans (3), jerusalem (3), chart (3), nrsv (3), eagle (3), biblica (3), readings (3), privacy (2), policy (2), older (2), otp (2), corrigenda (2), added (2), parabiblical (2), lengthy (2), image (2), missing (2), will (2), every (2), gospel (2), each (2), table (2), clear (2), passed (2), became (2), provided (2), full (2), article (2), quite (2), research (2), fascinating (2), very (2), publishing (2), ace (2), copyright (2), therefore (2), paperback (2), course (2), publishers (2), come (2), appreciation (2), bob (2), teenager (2), high (2), school (2), society (2), eventually (2), 1978 (2), including (2), illustrations (2), around (2), contact (2), get (2), actually (2), known (2), buy (2), forward (2), years (2), represented (2), title (2), tales (2), hope (2), next (2), broken (2), stuff (2), reconstruct (2), post (2), sad (2), news (2), before (2), passing (2), away (2), roots (2), theological (2), semitism (2), interpretation (2), antisemitism (2), 2023 (2), german (2), never (2), speech (2), you (2), late (2), open (2), window (2), name (2), letters (2), word (2), paper (2), self (2), gaze (2), 1931 (2), must (2), questions (2), single (2), appendix (2), 1718 (2), holy (2), appended (2), immediately (2), bruce (2), metzger (2), standard (2), exception (2), interspersed (2), palestine (2), egypt (2), countries (2), belong (2), light (2), allegorical (2), extent (2), paraphrase (2), poetical (2), prophetical (2), paraphrases (2), often (2), near (2), heathen (2), whole (2), authenticity (2), disputed (2), 170 (2), origen (2), 230 (2), daniel (2), among (2), susanna (2), speaks (2), ambiguously (2), maccabees (2), uncertain (2), greater (2), distinction (2), revision (2), 1884 (2), william (2), above (2), college (2), section (2), churton (2), baruch (2), 1880 (2), considered (2), images (2), selection (2), thompson (2), british (2), museum (2), alfred (2), antiquities (2), question (2), largely (2), belonging (2), prophetic (2), spiritual (2), kingdom (2), suggests (2), hebraic (2), material (2), christ (2), however (2), cir (2), recent (2), authorised (2), small (2), size (2), leather (2), bound (2), cover (2), binding (2), spine (2), descendant (2), unfortunately (2), move (2), certainly (2), higher (2), larger (2), neither (2), date (2), mere (2), june (2), thanks (2), said (2), translated (2), chosen (2), isaac (2), see (2), mind (2), someone (2), humility (2), consists (2), visible (2), invisible (2), replied (2), animals (2), result (2), harm (2), does (2), entire (2), surprise (2), august (2), 2026 (2), adam (2), solomon (2), groups (2), always (2), note (2), described (2), stage (2), christianity (2), throne (2), needs (2), zerubbabel (2), focus (2), brook (2), priestly (2), death (2), populace (2), diaspora (2), info (2), messiah (2), such (2), religion (2), jude (2), reliance (2), way (2), believers (2), beliefs (2), sometime (2), adapted (2), heavenly (2), greco (2), thunder (2), lightning (2), app (2), lists (2), please (2), posting (2), judaica (2), blog (2), great (2), letter (2), prologues (2), translations (2), philokalia (2), douai (2), rheims (2), sirach (2), psalms (2), dates (2), hippo (2), east (2), syrian (2), forty (2), martyrs (2), azīzā (2), mardin (2), armenian (2), alia (2), proudly, powered, wordpress, pagination, interested, download, list, providing, corrections, doubleday, 1983, 1985, enjoy, trust, useful, addition, privelege, ammonian, sections, corresponding, citation, worked, pusey, compile, adaptation, detailed, sectioning, improvement, unfortunate, didn, spread, replace, instead, intimately, integrated, harklean, preferring, apparatus, favored, fortunately, manuscripts, survived, establishhed, tetravengelium, sanctum, juxta, simplicem, syrorum, versionem, vol, online, write, dig, intersects, episode, 1965, affair, manufacturing, clause, posited, protected, publisher, donald, walheim, decided, meant, relatively, effectively, public, domain, young, particularly, enthusiastic, fiction, york, city, friend, dick, plotz, founded, started, absorbed, began, milieu, entries, fanzine, meškys, ted, nasmith, harpercollins, turn, millennium, dropped, touch, hadn, still, able, couple, cups, coffee, overdue, royalty, checks, working, something, aside, updating, references, definitions, remained, instance, aren, accurate, somewhat, misleading, today, details, children, húrin, unfinished, silmarillion, niekas, mythlore, rings, comes, busy, share, lose, backups, site, current, currently, piecing, together, request, grace, days, corrective, links, unexpected, address, below, website, down, apologize, begun, stand, done, salvation, judaism, jewish, exegesis, eliminationist, learned, sadly, anders, gerdmar, masterpiece, summer, battling, cancer, obituary, herder, semler, kittel, bultmann, youtube, recording, why, warning, love, cruelly, gave, could, already, too, bait, swallowed, hook, fast, tomorrow, false, knew, angrily, aghast, yours, printed, bemusedly, pore, protest, desire, naked, nothing, suddenly, die, cold, corpse, farewell, pen, moved, slowly, fell, looking, chance, saw, seated, chair, abstracted, furrowed, forehead, unkempt, hair, provide, developments, field, regarding, admitted, surfeit, learning, resulted, fewer, regards, development, existent, past, delight, deeper, involvement, alma, mater, initially, separately, quarter, 19th, mention, richard, cumberland, peterborough, 1691, vivat, 1631, scripture, measures, weight, coins, 1715, helpful, continuing, herbert, appeared, completion, 1977, roland, murphy, 1991, annotations, essays, updated, replaced, whether, worse, phrase, revealing, teachers, throw, growth, palestinian, purely, apocalyptic, half, deutero, make, stubbs, prompted, 1885, george, frederick, maclear, warden, canterbury, lovely, view, ralph, fellow, cambridge, london, whitaker, tobit, judith, promoting, knowledge, reviser, printings, presenting, discovered, art, archaeological, excavations, manuscript, 124, plate, 1896, thereon, sir, edward, maunde, principal, librarian, renowned, ernest, wallis, budge, keeper, egyptian, assyrian, once, label, properly, sixth, walter, frank, blunt, bradford, subtle, correction, dating, illustrating, versions, uncanonical, translation, wholly, commencement, during, differ, marked, absence, eternal, account, exodus, existence, traditionary, besides, contained, pentateuch, certain, stephen, derived, formed, mould, hebraisms, manifest, originally, cast, applied, composition, become, habitual, spurious, major, earler, 1876, hon, lacking, promptly, 1877, 1878, haven, seen, accomplished, making, printing, recall, abridged, concordance, 2005, upper, imitated, lines, positively, minuscule, doubt, nature, teenage, obviously, representative, format, board, albeit, texture, indented, outlining, covers, gilding, blue, initial, teenaged, 1990s, felt, loss, far, lovelier, beautifully, textured, almost, belonged, slightly, opposed, matches, nor, paged, receipt, curious, short, findings, quote, bibliomancy, picked, give, flipped, randomly, stopped, predominated, selections, skilfully, compassionately, recommend, reminder, nineveh, 250, 251, introduced, sebastian, brock, cistercian, publications, 1987, discourse, lxxiv, emptying, belongs, completely, longing, future, whosoever, departs, ideal, sows, mixed, seed, furrow, ploughs, ass, profound, abandoning, senses, thinking, elder, asked, occasion, embracing, voluntary, mortification, regard, merciful, burning, cration, human, beings, birds, demons, recollection, sight, eyes, gush, forth, owing, force, constrains, abundant, mercy, shrinks, cannot, hear, examine, suffering, anything, reason, offers, times, irrational, enemies, truth, preservation, forgiven, immense, infused, without, measure, reptiles, nutshell, natural, desisting, sins, feeling, pain, sum, ascetic, genesis, correct, traditional, notions, reality, followed, wife, concubine, explains, gymnastics, ishmael, slave, exiled, esau, edom, stole, simeon, levi, violent, judah, gets, etc, nations, tribal, verified, manner, suggesting, sons, whom, delivered, rest, promise, fail, nearly, ubiquitous, depiction, priests, dilatory, notably, aaron, eli, lengthier, accounts, accorded, reaction, against, veneration, circles, seldom, noticed, equation, resurrection, timing, wave, sheaf, ritual, pascha, octave, anyhow, termed, variously, hagiographa, deuterocanonicals, taken, granted, accurately, titles, narrative, collected, widespread, less, variations, local, welcome, returning, transitional, approached, interpreting, chrisitans, acceptance, attenuated, rightful, judea, beyond, information, hinting, explicitly, describing, believe, sort, dynastic, apology, succession, justification, somesuch, snappier, descriptor, ending, kings, crowning, land, everyone, praising, wealth, ages, expanding, immensely, isaiah, contributes, moving, hopes, seemed, extinct, hezekiah, ill, produced, haggai, zechariah, opinions, person, core, document, persians, claimants, eliminated, demotion, transfer, execution, leaving, descendants, citizens, bore, genealogy, persian, period, priest, ultimately, hasmonean, converted, jew, herodian, claims, expense, mess, antipas, stepped, administer, dividing, smaller, administrative, regions, suited, ethnic, makeup, reports, dealt, pretenders, altered, description, midst, bar, kokhba, rebellion, element, revolt, temple, gains, status, telling, vespasian, prophesied, ruler, imply, rebel, leaders, messianic, inspiration, proto, rabbinic, altogether, anointed, successor, expectations, took, ran, turning, scandalized, auditors, generation, epistles, gently, firmly, dismissed, academic, settings, graduate, experience, confessional, membership, academics, problem, berkeley, undergraduate, program, milgrom, department, perspective, state, institution, preference, scholars, refreshing, academically, honest, scholarship, compilation, 1st, documents, occasionally, claimed, outliers, 1pt, 2pt, presumed, concepts, expressed, sometimes, acts, mason, professors, nineteenth, based, criticism, rooted, ugh, whatever, patristic, writers, expressing, endowed, rulership, supposed, line, used, majesty, take, leaning, toward, towards, position, traces, remain, conception, seem, unaltered, stands, transcendant, essentially, pharisee, adjacent, potential, rabbi, claimant, semi, figure, amongst, depicted, developing, further, particular, paganistic, somehow, begotten, acknowledged, legitimate, ended, syncretistic, desires, mithras, serapis, isis, joseph, biological, father, legitimated, because, diatessaron, required, related, terminology, saturday, hymnography, assigned, baptism, ceremony, scheduled, night, catechumens, approval, qumran, brontology, contemporary, mary, family, keep, lot, handwritten, apple, devices, cleaning, scattered, grocery, lots, duplicaation, longer, typically, commit, forgive, lack, attempt, regular, dear, friends, went, radio, silent, parents, sorts, adapting, menu, theobabble, review, philosophia, orthodoxia, historiography, esoterica, culture, arts, classics, category, bibliophilia, assyriology, archaeology, categoria, chronological, quranic, surahs, cos, anet, anchor, dictionary, etcetera, damasus, sayings, vulgate, victorinus, apocalypsin, justin, martyr, dialogue, trypho, clement, class, didascalia, apostolorum, hippolytus, apostolic, orders, pharisees, mishnah, coverage, judaic, 1582, 1609, kitto, kephalaia, weber, vulgata, ziegler, rahlfs, rsv, pericope, listings, eusebius, carpianus, versificationn, timeline, chronology, paul, twelve, minor, rulers, damascus, multiplication, subjects, muratorianus, ethiopian, historically, guthrie, allusions, apocalypse, elijah, structure, parabiblica, plans, psalm, plan, coptic, katameros, missale, ambrosianum, tridentine, gallican, hispano, mozarabic, liber, comicus, dated, ambrose, milan, maclean, burkitt, parallel, monastery, conybeare, renoux, georgian, tarchnischvili, lectionaria, collapsed, close, skip, content,

Text of the page (random words):
were adapted towards that later position sometime then what traces remain in the nt of that earlier conception james and jude seem unaltered perhaps even revelation the heavenly jesus stands not as god but as the transcendant son of david king of all creation essentially there is no way a pharisee adjacent potential rabbi and claimant to the davidic throne in the first century would have been accepted as a divine or semi divine figure amongst the various groups who are depicted to have received him even or especially the populace but developing that further into a particular son of god not in the davidic sense but in a greco roman paganistic sense one who is actually somehow begotten by god rather than acknowledged as the legitimate davidic king is a later stage and what we have ended up with another syncretistic eastern religion adapted to the needs desires of greco romans like that of mithras serapis and isis joseph as a descendant of david must have been his biological father in order to be scion of david legitimated by thunder and lightning lightning because there was thunder but also found in diatessaron and required as the origin for light related terminology in holy saturday hymnography all assigned for the ancient baptism ceremony that was scheduled that night for catechumens heavenly approval see the qumran brontology for such beliefs being contemporary as mary was apparently of a priestly family i found that such questions are generally gently yet firmly dismissed even in academic settings at least in my graduate school experience which likely should have been at hebrew university due to the christian confessional membership of academics this was not a problem at berkeley for my undergraduate studies with the program being led by milgrom but also with a no religion department perspective at that state institution and by the preference of the scholars there a very refreshing approach and an academically honest approach it remains a given in scholarship that the nt is largely a compilation of 1st century ce documents with a few occasionally claimed outliers 1pt 2pt and jude due to presumed later concepts expressed and reliance one way or the other and sometimes acts as mason suggests reliance on josephus these professors are christian believers as well as believers in the nineteenth century german based higher criticism rooted in antisemitism ugh whatever in any case a new approach is or should be always welcome how about returning to how the transitional stage of earliest christianity approached interpreting the biblical texts these were jews not chrisitans and their acceptance of jesus as christ was not as a new god however attenuated but as the scion of david rightful heir to the throne of judea israel the entire world and all creation beyond they would search the writings for information hinting at or more explicitly describing the davidic king now as i believe a first edition of hebrew writings a sort of ur bible was written as a davidic dynastic apology or succession justification or somesuch it needs a snappier descriptor leading from creation through the former prophets ending early in 1 kings with the crowning of solomon and how well things were in the land with everyone praising him for wealth and wisdom later ages added to that material expanding it immensely isaiah contributes some moving commentary on hopes for the davidic dynasty just when it seemed about to go extinct when hezekiah was ill and had not yet produced an heir haggai and zechariah are quite clear on their opinions on a davidic scion in the person of zerubbabel later with the focus on law much of it later additions to the core document that davidic focus was lost the persians would brook no claimants and zerubbabel was likely eliminated by them either by demotion transfer or execution leaving his descendants as mere citizens they bore an interesting genealogy but no power in the later persian and into the hellenistic period the priest rose in power leading ultimately to the hasmonean priestly dynasty and then the converted jew herod s herodian dynasty neither of those would brook any davidic claims at the expense of their own power with the death of herod and the mess of antipas the romans stepped in to administer herod s kingdom dividing it into various smaller administrative regions suited to the ethnic makeup of the populace josephus reports how the romans dealt with davidic pretenders included a much altered description of the death of jesus in their midst as in the case of the bar kokhba rebellion there may have been a davidic element involved in the first revolt and second diaspora need more info on that one leading to the end of the jerusalem temple as josephus gains status by telling vespasian that he is the prophesied ruler of the world this may imply that one or more of the rebel leaders had considered themselves the same namely the davidic scion was there a messianic inspiration in the second diaspora need more info on that one after that the proto rabbinic jews turned altogether from davidic scion messiah the anointed successor expectations christians took it and ran with it turning the king into god likely in the second century certainly the nt gospels as they are would have scandalized any auditors in the first generation of christians as would many of the epistles so anyhow the earliest approach of those who would later be termed christians was to search through the writings the old testament especially but even those other parabiblical writings known now variously as hagiographa or deuterocanonicals and apocrypha or pseudepigrapha early on it was taken for granted that the origins of these works were accurately described by their titles and narrative and so were collected different books were more widespread others less so leading to the variations in local biblical canons over the centuries that early search for meaning may be what led to the seldom noticed equation of jesus resurrection timing and the wave sheaf ritual early in the pascha octave genesis written to correct various traditional notions of who is the chosen heir the firstborn of adam which in the author s mind and their reality was david followed by solomon son of a wife not a concubine this explains all the various gymnastics ishmael firstborn but of a slave and exiled esau edom first but isaac stole the right simeon and levi were violent so judah gets it etc i m sure the various nations around israel had different tales for all of these as did tribal groups in israel itself always these were verified in a manner prophetic suggesting the sons of the prophets one of whom delivered and the rest held to the davidic promise from y your dynasty shall never fail were involved note the nearly ubiquitous depiction of priests as dilatory most notably aaron and eli due to the lengthier accounts accorded them likely a reaction against their veneration in other circles posted by kevin p edgecomb august 14 2026 august 14 2026 posted in biblical studies 2 comments on a surprise find in my notes repentance purity perfection prayer the sum of the entire ascetic course consists in these three things repentance purity and perfection what is repentance desisting from former sins and feeling pain at them what is purity in a nutshell a heart which has compassion on every natural thing in creation what is perfection profound humility which consists in the abandoning of everything visible and invisible visible meaning everything involved with the senses invisible meaning all thinking about them the same elder was asked on another occasion what is repentance and he said a broken heart and what is humility he replied embracing a voluntary mortification with regard to everything and what is a merciful heart he replied the heart s burning for all cration for human beings for birds and animals and for demons and everything there is at the recollection of them and at the sight of them his eyes gush forth with tears owing to the force of the compassion which constrains his heart so that as a result of its abundant sense of mercy the heart shrinks and cannot bear to hear or examine any harm or small suffering of anything in creation for this reason he offers up prayer with tears at all times even for irrational animals and for the enemies of truth and for those who harm him for their preservation and being forgiven as a result of the immense compassion infused in his heart without measure like god s he even does this for reptiles what is prayer the emptying of the mind of all that belongs here and a heart which has completely turned its gaze to a longing for that future hope whosoever departs from this ideal is like someone who sows mixed seed in his furrow or like someone who ploughs with an ox and an ass at the same time isaac of nineveh discourse lxxiv see pp 250 251 in the syriac fathers on prayer and the spiritual life introduced and translated by sebastian brock cistercian publications 1987 this quote appears thanks to bibliomancy i picked up the book said fathers give me a word flipped the pages and randomly or was it stopped on the pages predominated by the selection above the selections included in the book are not only skilfully translated but compassionately chosen i recommend it to all who like my own self may need a reminder to care posted by kevin p edgecomb june 21 2025 june 21 2025 posted in patristica 9 comments on repentance purity perfection prayer publication history of an apocrypha preface i had when i was a teenager a recent printing at that time of a little black hardcover volume of the biblical apocrypha of the english tradition in the authorised version text this small hardcover volume was my first introduction to those interesting books this little volume was part of a series in the same size published for some time by the oxford university press i recall a page at the end of the book listing a number of other volumes in the series belonging apparently to this same series i have a much older undated copy of an abridged cruden s concordance acquired in 2005 hardcover leather bound with gilt page edges and title on the upper cover with gilt imitated binding lines and oxford on the spine and with a positively minuscule print in the text itself no doubt due to the nature of the text my teenage copy of the apocrypha was obviously a descendant representative of the format represented by this cruden volume though it was simply a black board cover albeit with the same texture and indented outlining on the covers with no gilding and with blue page edges i think this latter edition my initial teenaged one was available into at least the 1990s it seems to be out of print now as i unfortunately lost my little copy of the authorised version of the apocrypha in a more recent move and having felt its loss i thought to buy another therefore i recently acquired another copy far lovelier than my earlier one a hardcover bound in a beautifully textured black leather with gilt page edges and gilt apocrypha and oxford on the spine this almost certainly belonged to the same series as my earlier apocrypha and cruden if a higher end of it the binding is better the paper is better the text is larger and the volume itself is slightly larger 15 8 x 10 5 cm 6 1 4 x 4 1 8 in as opposed to the size of the cruden which i think matches my earlier copy 13 6 x 9 3 cm 5 3 8 x 3 3 4 in unfortunately neither the cruden nor my recently acquired apocrypha bear any date more to the point both my old copy and new copy include d a single paged preface to the apocrypha upon receipt of my new copy i became curious as to the origins of this short preface a mere two paragraphs i present here my findings first here is the text in my undated volume these books form part of the sacred literature of the alexandrian jews and with the exception of the second book of esdras are found interspersed with the hebrew scriptures in the ancient copies of the septuagint or greek version of the old testament they are the product of the era subsequent to the captivity having their origin partly in babylonia partly in palestine and egypt and perhaps other countries most of them belong to the last three centuries b c when prophecy oracles and direct revelation had ceased some of them form an historical link between the old and new testament others have a linguistic value in connexion with the hellenistic phraseology of the latter the narratives of the apocrypha are partly historical records and partly allegorical the religious poetry is to a large extent a paraphrase upon the poetical and prophetical books of the hebrew canon in the paraphrases upon the latter there is often a near approach to new testament teaching especially upon god s care for the heathen world as to their canonical authority josephus seems to reject it as a whole but appears from his use of i esdras rather than our canonical ezra to have accepted the authenticity of at least that work the early christians differed in opinion respecting them but received them as part of the sacred literature of israel several of the books of the apocrypha were more generally accepted than the disputed books of the new testament canon melito cir 170 referring to the hebrew canon separated them from the authoritative and divine records while origen cir 230 following the lxx included in daniel and so among the canonical books the history of susanna and speaks ambiguously about the books of the maccabees jerome a century later called them apocryphal hidden secret and so of uncertain origin and authority affirming when speaking of wisdom and ecclesiasticus that the church doth read them for example of life and instruction of manners but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine in the western church they gradually rose in esteem until the council of trent affirmed the canonicity of the greater part but they are treated by the more critical roman divines as deuterocanonical thus making some distinction between them and the books of the hebrew canon this precise expression of the material first appears in the 1893 edition of helps to the study of the bible oxford university press 1893 yet there was an earler version the first edition 1876 of helps to the study of the bible was written by the rev james ridgway b d hon canon of christ church yet did not include a separate section on the apocrypha and thus our two paragraphs are lacking in that edition ridgway promptly revised and expanded the edition in 1877 or 1878 which may be the origin of the passage in question though i haven t seen a copy of this revised edition however it is found in a revised edition of the helps from 1880 the last accomplished by ridgway here is the original text of the passage these books form part of the sacred literature held in high esteem by the alexandrian jews and appended by them to the lxx translation of the old testament they are for the most part if not wholly the product o...