Behind | Deuterocanonical Books

The 66 core books of the Bible are sometimes called the protocanonical books, meaning “first” or “earliest” canon. Other texts that have also been received in Christianity as authoritative, but not as universally or early as the first 66, are known as deuterocanonical books, meaning “second” or “later on.” Because of their status and the nature of their inclusion in the canon, deuterocanonical texts may at times be less familiar, to both Jews and Christians, than protocanonical ones.       

Even if you’re familiar with the story of Daniel and his time in the lions’ den, you may not have heard the story where he kills a dragon by feeding it toxic cakes until its stomach bursts. This is one of the Bible’s bonus texts, appearing in the Book of Daniel in some Bibles.

If you pick up a Roman Catholic Bible, you will find the deuterocanonical books Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, and 1 and 2 Maccabees along with additions to the books of Daniel and Esther. In Eastern Orthodox Bibles, you will likely find all of these books plus a few more additions, like the Prayer of Manasseh in 2 Chronicles and an extra chapter in the Book of Psalms.

Modern Protestant Bibles tend to restrict themselves to protocanonical books, though the first King James Bibles did include many deuterocanonical texts. Jewish Bibles also exclude deuterocanonical texts. As you know, in Bible Journey we’re confining our study to the core 66 books of the Bible, but it’s good to remind ourselves that there are other edifying books to explore.