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The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha
Building on the success of the Jewish Annotated New Testament (JANT) and the Jewish Study Bible (JSB), Oxford University Press now proceeds to complete the trilogy with the Jewish Annotated Apocrypha (JAA). The books of the Apocrypha were virtually all composed by Jewish writers in the Second Temple period. Excluded from the Hebrew Bible, these works were preserved by Christians. Yet no complete, standalone edition of these works has been produced in English with an emphasis on Jewish tradition or with an educated Jewish audience in mind. The JAA meets this need.
The JAA differs from prior editions of the Apocrypha in a number of ways. First, as befits a Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, the volume excludes certain texts that are widely agreed to be of Christian origin. Second, it expands the scope of the volume to include Jubilees, an essential text for understanding ancient Judaism, and a book that merits inclusion in the volume by virtue of the fact that it was long considered part of the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (the text is also revered by Ethiopian Jews). Third, it has restructured the order of the books so that the sequencing follows the logic that governs the order of the books in the Jewish canon (Law, History, Prophecy, Wisdom and Poetry).
Using the NRSV translation (plus Jubilees), each book of the Apocrypha is annotated by a recognized expert in the study of ancient Judaism. An Introduction by the editors guides readers though the making of the volume and its contents. Thematic essays by an impressive array of scholars provide helpful contexts, backgrounds and elaborations on key themes.
The JAA differs from prior editions of the Apocrypha in a number of ways. First, as befits a Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, the volume excludes certain texts that are widely agreed to be of Christian origin. Second, it expands the scope of the volume to include Jubilees, an essential text for understanding ancient Judaism, and a book that merits inclusion in the volume by virtue of the fact that it was long considered part of the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (the text is also revered by Ethiopian Jews). Third, it has restructured the order of the books so that the sequencing follows the logic that governs the order of the books in the Jewish canon (Law, History, Prophecy, Wisdom and Poetry).
Using the NRSV translation (plus Jubilees), each book of the Apocrypha is annotated by a recognized expert in the study of ancient Judaism. An Introduction by the editors guides readers though the making of the volume and its contents. Thematic essays by an impressive array of scholars provide helpful contexts, backgrounds and elaborations on key themes.
744 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 31, 2021
This was a monster of a book that took me about a year to read. There are 20 apocryphal texts in the book, each with copious notes, and 24 lengthy essays in the appendix. This is not so much a book as a reference text/encyclopedia.
I decided to read this book first because of the allure of "apocrypha", and second because the apocryphal texts fill a gap in Jewish history that is largely overlooked by the canonical texts (the Maccabean/Herodian periods, from around 200 BC - 50 AD). Unfortunately, most of the apocrypha are not nearly as cool as their name suggests. Most of them are just mediocre, run-of-the-mill texts that would be long forgotten had they not managed to get preserved in Christian bibles. However, there are a handful of texts that are just awesome. These are Jubilees, Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, and Susanna (this book did not included Enoch, which should be included in every list of awesome apocrypha).
Jubilees in particularly amazing. First of all, it is canonical in the Ethiopian Christian church and among Ethiopian Jews, and there are ancient versions of it in Ge'ez, an Ethiopian script. Second of all, the text is basically a remastered version of Genesis and Exodus, in which all of the inconsistencies have been scrubbed out and the entire tangled timeline has been neatly wrestled into a single, coherent timeline (hence the name "Jubilees", as a jubilee is a period of 49 years). It's pretty awesome because it lets you see exactly how long the Jews were in Egypt, for example, and exactly how long they were actually slaves, about 80-107 years - basically, Moses's lifetime, which is not as long as I thought. In fact, Jewish slavery in Egypt was relatively brand new when Moses was born. Another example is that Noah, the 10th generation of patriarch, had already been born by the time Adam died.
Another very fun thing about Jubilees is that it expands on some stuff that the Torah purposefully elides. For example, of Enoch the Torah only mysteriously says that he "walked with God." Jubilees expands on this, saying that "he was taken from human society, and we brought him into the garden of Eden for greatness and honor. Behold, he is there, writing down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of humanity." Basically he is writing a testimony on the deeds of man that will be used against us on Judgment Day.
Jubilees also goes into great depth on the giants and the 3 corrupt generations preceding the Flood, to which the Torah devotes a single cryptic sentence. God sent angels, or Watchers, to watch over mankind. However, the angels mated with human women and produced monsters called Nephilim. "They begat sons, the Nephilim. They were all different from one another and would eat one another. The giants killed the Naphil, the Naphil killed the Elyo, the Elyo humankind, and people one another." Another very cool thing is that apparently after the flood had destroyed all of the Nephilim and co, some of their evil magic still lived on, as the founder of the Chaldeans "discovered an inscription, which people long ago had carved on a rock. He read what was on it and copied it. He acted wickedly because of what on it, as it had on it the teaching of the watchers, according to which they would observe the omens of the sun, the moon, and the stars - on it was every sign of heaven." I love the idea of forbidden magic being discovered from a drowned civilization.
Jubilees also talks about Abraham's background in Ur, namely about how he hated idols and burned the temple of idols, which his brother died trying to save.
The Book of Tobit is also great. It's a wacky story about a man named Tobit who goes blind when a bird poops in his eyes. Meanwhile, his relative Sarah is plagued by a jealous demon named Asmodeus who kills everyone she marries. Tobit sends his son Tobias to collect money from a town in Media. Tobias is guided by the angel Raphael disguised as a man, and to make a long story short, Tobias finds a cure for both demons and blindness, marries Sarah, and cures his dad's blindness.
The Book of Judith is a Christian classic, although it was originally a Jewish story. Judith is an enterprising widow living in Bethulia who seduces and kills the fictitious Assyrian general Holofernes.
1 Maccabees is a Greek-style history of the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. One interesting aspect of the Maccabees is that there were 5 Maccabee brothers and together they were unstoppable, in that even when one was killed, there was another to take his place. Maccabee seems to mean "hammer", so the head Maccabee bro, Judas, was basically "Judas the Hammer." Another interesting aspect of the book is its non-focus on religion. In fact, it starts off by telling how many of the Jews died because they refused to fight on the Sabbath; the Maccabee bros decided "Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding places." The book also talks about the foundation of the holiday of Chanukah; however, it does not mention the miracle of the oil that lasted 8 days.
Lastly, Susanna, an additional chapter in the Book of Daniel, is interesting because it features yet another strong heroine. She is spied on by two creepy old men while she's bathing, and they tell her to have sex with them, otherwise they will accuse her of having an affair with a young man. She refuses to give in to their blackmail and they put her on trial. Daniel cross-examines the two old men, and they reveal their guilt by giving differing accounts of her supposed affair - one says she was with the young man under a small mastic tree, while the other says she was under a large oak.
I decided to read this book first because of the allure of "apocrypha", and second because the apocryphal texts fill a gap in Jewish history that is largely overlooked by the canonical texts (the Maccabean/Herodian periods, from around 200 BC - 50 AD). Unfortunately, most of the apocrypha are not nearly as cool as their name suggests. Most of them are just mediocre, run-of-the-mill texts that would be long forgotten had they not managed to get preserved in Christian bibles. However, there are a handful of texts that are just awesome. These are Jubilees, Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, and Susanna (this book did not included Enoch, which should be included in every list of awesome apocrypha).
Jubilees in particularly amazing. First of all, it is canonical in the Ethiopian Christian church and among Ethiopian Jews, and there are ancient versions of it in Ge'ez, an Ethiopian script. Second of all, the text is basically a remastered version of Genesis and Exodus, in which all of the inconsistencies have been scrubbed out and the entire tangled timeline has been neatly wrestled into a single, coherent timeline (hence the name "Jubilees", as a jubilee is a period of 49 years). It's pretty awesome because it lets you see exactly how long the Jews were in Egypt, for example, and exactly how long they were actually slaves, about 80-107 years - basically, Moses's lifetime, which is not as long as I thought. In fact, Jewish slavery in Egypt was relatively brand new when Moses was born. Another example is that Noah, the 10th generation of patriarch, had already been born by the time Adam died.
Another very fun thing about Jubilees is that it expands on some stuff that the Torah purposefully elides. For example, of Enoch the Torah only mysteriously says that he "walked with God." Jubilees expands on this, saying that "he was taken from human society, and we brought him into the garden of Eden for greatness and honor. Behold, he is there, writing down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of humanity." Basically he is writing a testimony on the deeds of man that will be used against us on Judgment Day.
Jubilees also goes into great depth on the giants and the 3 corrupt generations preceding the Flood, to which the Torah devotes a single cryptic sentence. God sent angels, or Watchers, to watch over mankind. However, the angels mated with human women and produced monsters called Nephilim. "They begat sons, the Nephilim. They were all different from one another and would eat one another. The giants killed the Naphil, the Naphil killed the Elyo, the Elyo humankind, and people one another." Another very cool thing is that apparently after the flood had destroyed all of the Nephilim and co, some of their evil magic still lived on, as the founder of the Chaldeans "discovered an inscription, which people long ago had carved on a rock. He read what was on it and copied it. He acted wickedly because of what on it, as it had on it the teaching of the watchers, according to which they would observe the omens of the sun, the moon, and the stars - on it was every sign of heaven." I love the idea of forbidden magic being discovered from a drowned civilization.
Jubilees also talks about Abraham's background in Ur, namely about how he hated idols and burned the temple of idols, which his brother died trying to save.
The Book of Tobit is also great. It's a wacky story about a man named Tobit who goes blind when a bird poops in his eyes. Meanwhile, his relative Sarah is plagued by a jealous demon named Asmodeus who kills everyone she marries. Tobit sends his son Tobias to collect money from a town in Media. Tobias is guided by the angel Raphael disguised as a man, and to make a long story short, Tobias finds a cure for both demons and blindness, marries Sarah, and cures his dad's blindness.
The Book of Judith is a Christian classic, although it was originally a Jewish story. Judith is an enterprising widow living in Bethulia who seduces and kills the fictitious Assyrian general Holofernes.
1 Maccabees is a Greek-style history of the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. One interesting aspect of the Maccabees is that there were 5 Maccabee brothers and together they were unstoppable, in that even when one was killed, there was another to take his place. Maccabee seems to mean "hammer", so the head Maccabee bro, Judas, was basically "Judas the Hammer." Another interesting aspect of the book is its non-focus on religion. In fact, it starts off by telling how many of the Jews died because they refused to fight on the Sabbath; the Maccabee bros decided "Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding places." The book also talks about the foundation of the holiday of Chanukah; however, it does not mention the miracle of the oil that lasted 8 days.
Lastly, Susanna, an additional chapter in the Book of Daniel, is interesting because it features yet another strong heroine. She is spied on by two creepy old men while she's bathing, and they tell her to have sex with them, otherwise they will accuse her of having an affair with a young man. She refuses to give in to their blackmail and they put her on trial. Daniel cross-examines the two old men, and they reveal their guilt by giving differing accounts of her supposed affair - one says she was with the young man under a small mastic tree, while the other says she was under a large oak.
May 3, 2022
The book is full of excellent contributions, including introductory material, annotations, and cogent essays for context. The translations all come from the well-known New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, but the introductions and annotations are all new. Each introduction situates the work in a number of ways, including information about contents, literary features, authorship, date of composition, historical contexts, interpretation, and role in Judaism. Annotations throughout provide fresh commentary on detailed issues of language, connections to biblical passages elsewhere, and interpretation, as well as general aids for contexts and interpretations. All of this is welcome for those who want to dig deeper than is possible with other translations of the deuterocanonical works, often paired with other biblical content that tends to take priority.
For a full review see https://brandonwhawk.net/2021/05/26/r...
For a full review see https://brandonwhawk.net/2021/05/26/r...
July 20, 2025
NRSV bad but the essays and annotations are v v good.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews