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[German Version] In addition to the recension of Origen and Lucian of Antioch, Jerome mentions the existence, in his time, of the revision of both the LXX and the New Testament by Hesychius; Jerome states that it was used in “Alexandria and Egypt” ( Praefatio in libro ¶ Paralipomenon) and judges it as a corruption of the original text with respect to both Testaments ( Praefatio in Evangelio). Regarding the person, the question arises whether he is to be identified with the homonymous Egyptian bishop mentioned by Eusebius ( Hist. eccl. VIII 13.7; thus C. Baronius, Annales ecclesiastici ad a…

The Book of Daniel was the first apocalypse—and the only one to find its way into the OT canon. Other apocalypses exist but belong to the pseudepigrapha. Earlier forms in the OT prophets (Ezekiel, Zechariah, Isaiah 24–27) share with true apocalyptic (§2) only the means of presentation. Hence the origin of apocalyptic must be sought in terms of the theological and historical subject matter of the Book of Daniel, namely, the status confessionis of the religious persecutions under the Seleucid Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 b.c.). This setting explains the statements …

1. OT Apocrypha 1.1. Concept In common parlance, the term “Apocrypha” is used for the books or parts of books that appear in the Alexandrian canon of the LXX translation but are not found in the Masoretic canon. On the basis of the former tradition the Roman Catholic Church recognized these books as canonical from the Third Council of Carthage (397) and today ranks them as deuterocanonical. The designation of these books as Apocrypha in the churches of the Reformation goes back to 1520 to Carlstadt (ca. 1480–1541). When M. Luther included the books (apart from 1 Esdras, 3 Macca…

The Book of Esther, whose canonicity was long contested, was one of the last writings among the five Megilloth to be taken up into the Kethubim (writings) of the Palestinian canon. Telling the story of the origin of the Feast of Purim ( pur = “lot”), the book is a Jewish variation on the novel of antiquity (cf. Judith in the Apocrypha). In content it validates the Jewish diaspora as a guarantee of the Persian Empire. Esther, the ward of Mordecai, who had been deported (in 598 b.c., on one reading of Esth. 2:6), comes with other virgins (her origins are unknown) to the court of Ahasueru…