THE BIBLE

The Apocrypha, Part 2

Baruch, Manasseh, Susanna, the Maccabees. What does the Apocrypha have to do with the Bible? Should we read the Apocrypha?

The Apocrypha, Part 1

Day One: The Book of Baruch
...Within the Book of Baruch, the central themes are Israel's disobedience to God, God exiling Jews to Babylon due to their behavior, God's just action, the need to repent and honor and obey God's Word, and begging for God's mercy...
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See Also: "What is the Letter of Jeremiah?"

Day Two: The Prayer of Manasseh
The Prayer of Manasseh is a part of the Apocrypha. It is a short work, containing just 15 verses. It purports to be a prayer by King Manasseh of Judah (697-642 B.C.), but it was pseudonymously written as early as the second century or just before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70...
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See Also: "What is repentance and is it necessary for salvation?"

Day Three: The Book of Susanna
...Susanna is among the additions to the book of Daniel (as are Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews) and was most likely composed between 200–100 B.C...
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See Also: "What does it mean that God is a God of justice?"

Day Four: Bel and the Dragon
Bel and the Dragon is one of several additions to the book of Daniel. The original book of Daniel ends after chapter twelve. The extra material is found only in later translations, such as the Septuagint, but not in the older Masoretic Text...
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See Also: "What does the Bible say about dragons?"

Day Five: The Books of 1 & 2 Maccabees
The books of 1 and 2 Maccabees are early Jewish writings detailing the history of the Jews in the first century BC...The books outline the history of the Maccabees, Jewish leaders who led a rebellion of the Jews against the Seleucid Dynasty from 175 BC to 134 BC...
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See Also: "What were the 400 years of silence?"

Image Credit: Gustave Dore; "Baruch"; 1658; Public Domain