Unit 2: Apocrypha

Expansions to Esther and Daniel

V54-56

1. What are the two ways that the word Apocrypha is used?

2. What basic additions does the Roman Catholic Bible have in it that most Protestant Bibles do not?

3. What books in addition to these do Orthodox Bibles have?

V85-88

1. Does the Catholic version of Esther look the same as the Protestant? What is different?

2. How do these additions affect the theological tone of Esther, how do they “tighten the ship”? Reflect on what Matthew and Luke may do to Mark.

V75-78

1. How many additions to Daniel appear in the Catholic Bible? What are they called?

2. How many versions of Susanna do we have?

3. How do the two versions differ in overall thrust?

4. What does Susanna have in common with Esther and Judith?

5. In what way does Susanna serve as a good introduction to the book of Daniel?

V133-134

1. What is the nature of the Prayer of Azariah?

V136-137

1. What is the overall point of Bel and the Dragon?

2. Where does Bel and the Dragon appear in the Greek versions of Daniel?

3. What happens to Daniel again in this story?

4. What is the historical preciseness of the story, even when thought of as historical fiction?

V 59-62

1. By what church is 1 Esdras considered authoritative?

2. 1 Esdras of the Greek Bible is equivalent to which Esdras of the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Bible made by Jerome in the 5^th century AD)?

3. From what three canonical Old Testament books does 1 Esdras excerpt?

V 69-71

1. How historical does Tobit seem to be?

2. In what language does Tobit seem to have been written?

3. What is a likely date for the writing of Tobit?

4. What is the basic plot of Tobit?

5. Does its picture of the future involve a messiah or destruction of the earth?

6. Where was the earliest manuscript of Tobit found?

V115-119

1. How important is the concept of covenant for Sirach—God’s unique relationship with Israel?

2. What is Sirach the first example of in Jewish literature?

3. What did Sirach run?

4. About when was Sirach written?

5. Does Sirach believe in free will?

6. What information does Sirach contribute to our knowledge of the development of the Hebrew canon?

7. What are some of Sirach’s most “jarring” comments on women and children?

V62-65

1. About when was 1 Maccabees written?

2. In what year did the agent of Antiochus IV plunder Israel? What kind of “desolating sacrilege” did they set up in the temple?

3. In what year was the temple rededicated? What festival celebrates this event?

4. What is the attitude of 1 Maccabees in general toward the Romans?

V65-69

1. Was 2 Maccabees written “from scratch” or from other sources?

2. What theme with regard to the temple is a central theme of 2 Maccabees?

3. Does 2 Maccabees teach a resurrection?

4. What kind of history writing is 2 Maccabees sometimes called?

5. Is the theology of 2 Maccabees deuteronomistic?

V124-128

1. What figure does the Wisdom of Solomon celebrate?

2. When does VanderKam think it was written?

3. What are the two sections of the book?

4. In what literary tradition is the book of Wisdom and how does its affirmation of the afterlife relate to that tradition?