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Part I:
Defining The Terms, Introduction, The Canon In Different Traditions, Divine Providence and The Canon, The Formation of the Canon... The Old Testament, Jesus and The Apostles' View of the Old Testament Scriptures, Limits of The Hebrew Canon... Order, and Number of Books, Why Consider the Hebrew Canon?, Jesus and The Canon of the Old Testament
ON THIS PAGE
Emphasis Mine In All Bible Verses
Part II
The Apocrypha
Was The Apocrypha Added to or Deleted from the Canon?
The Apocryphal Books Were Not "God-breathed"
The Apocryphal Books Were Never Authoritatively Quoted in The New Testament
Historical Errors in the Apocrypha.
Judith and Tobit
The Book of Baruch
Bel and the Dragon
Doctrinal Errors
The Book of Tobit
The Book of Wisdom
The Book of Sirach
The Book of 2 Maccabees
Conclusion - The Canon Is Complete
Was The Apocrypha Added to or Deleted from the Canon?
It is often claimed that primarily for doctrinal reasons, Protestants "removed" seven books from the Old Testament. However the sheer weight of evidence indicates that, irrespective of what any council decreed, the apocrypha was never part of the canon. In fact the boot seems to be squarely on the other foot, with the church of Rome adding in books that were never included in the Hebrew Scriptures and which were obviously ignored by Jesus and the apostles.
The Council of Trent, the 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church, held at Trent in northern Italy between 1545 and 1563, showed absolutely no regard for Jesus' clear indication of the limits of the canon, but made their own determination as to which books were to be accepted as God's Word. So one has to wonder why, in the 16th century, the Catholic church officially declared many of the apocryphal books as canonical.
Sola-Scriptura
The term Sola-Scriptura (Scripture alone - the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation) simply means that the Scriptures alone are the benchmark - the standard by which all Christian doctrine must be measured or judged. This makes one wonder whether the Apocryphal books were canonized in order to provide Scriptural "proof" for some un-Scriptural teaching.
For example, two passages under gird the Catholic doctrines of indulgences (Sirach 3:30 and Tobit 12:9), and prayers for the dead in purgatory (2 Maccabees 12:38-46)
In the Maccabees passage, Judas Maccabee collected two thousand silver drachmas from his soldiers, that he sent to Jerusalem to provide a "sin offering" for the Jewish soldiers who were slain because they had on their person things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites.
However, this is not all. Other reasons the apocrypha was not included in the canon is because they contain absurd stories, clearly heretical doctrines, as well as historical and geographical errors.
The Apocryphal Books Were Not "God-breathed"
Although they do contain some useful information especially regarding the time period between Malachi and Matthew, both the Jews and the Protestant Church consider that without prophets and prophecy there can be no inspired writings, yet the apocryphal books give no internal evidence of being inspired or "God-breathed".
That the prophets of the Hebrew canon were Divinely appointed is seen in the fact that many of the prophetic books start with words "The word of the Lord that came unto..." or something similar. A search on the phrase "Thus saith the Lord" in the King James version of the Old Testament brings up 415 matches. Unlike the canonical books of the Old Testament the apocryphal books make no claims to be being inspired of God or even written by a prophet. There is not a single instance of a "thus says the Lord,” or "the word of the Lord came unto me...”.
Josephus said that the Jews recognized the Old Testament canon as being complete after their return from Babylon in the time of Ezra who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:1, 8 2) around 400 B.C. In other words, there was no direct revelation from God during the inter-testamental period.
Besides which, three verses in 1 Maccabees make it clear that, at the time of writing, there hadn't been a prophet in Israel for a while...
So was there a great affliction in Israel, the like whereof was not since the time that a prophet was not seen among them. (1 Maccabees 9:27)
And laid up the stones in the mountain of the temple in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to shew what should be done with them. (1 Maccabees 4:46)
Also that the Jews and priests were well pleased that Simon should be their governor and high priest for ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet; (1 Maccabees 14:41)
Additionally, the test of a true prophet was that anything they foretold had to come true, otherwise the prophet was put to death. However, there is no predictive prophecy in the Apocrypha by which to test their words.
One other factor to be taken into consideration is that the Apocryphal Books were never authoritatively quoted in the New Testament
With the exceptions of Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, all the books of the Hebrew canon were authoritatively (used in the sense of being an accepted source of Divine truth) quoted some 250 times by Jesus and the New Testament authors. However, they never cited any of the Apocryphal books. See Footnote I - Non-Canonical Books Mentioned in the Bible
Historical Errors in the Apocrypha... Ex. Judith and Tobit
The books of the Bible were written was to provide us with all the knowledge necessary to walk in God's paths. However, they were written against a background of verifiable history something that largely factors in the argument for the truth of the Scriptures. See Historical Corroboration of the New Testament. While historical accuracy does not "prove" the Bible's spiritual authority it does enhance its credibility in non-historic areas, thus helping to substantiate its reliability.
However, the books of the Apocrypha are often doctrinally and historically way off base. As said by M. R. James provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and Eton College (1918–1936).
There is no question of any one's having excluded them from the New Testament: They have done that for themselves. [01]
In the Introduction to Tobit, Judith, and Esther even the Catholic New Jerusalem Bible (1) says
The books all belong to the same type of literature. These stories treat history and geography with a good deal of freedom. (Pg. 622)
The Apocrypha being accepted as Scripture completely undermines the Biblical inerrancy.
Judith
is a story in two parts. Chapters 1-7 tell the story of the war of the Assyrians against the Jews, during which the legendary city of Bethulia stood in the way of Assyrian conquest. Rather than using his armies to crush the city, by cutting off the water supply general Holofernes decided to bring the people of this tiny community to their knees.
The second part (Chapters 8-16) tells of the deliverance by Judith, a widow as attractive as she is brave, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign would-be conquerors. She, and a loyal maid, go to General Holofernes' camp. She tells Holofernes that because the Israelites were under siege they were getting desperate and were determined to eat those things that were forbidden by God's law. She had therefore fled from their presence. She added that she would pray every night until God revealed to her when they had committed their sin, upon which Holofernes could take his army into the town, and there would be none to resist him. (Chapter 11). Gaining his trust, she was allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen in Bethulia. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved.
However, the book mistakenly identifies Nebuchadnezzar as king of the Assyrians who was in reality the King of Babylon, who never ruled from Nineveh.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineve, the great city; in the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane...Then Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians sent unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that dwelt westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia, and Damascus, and Libanus, and Antilibanus, and to all that dwelt upon the sea coast, (Judith 1:1,7)
About this the New Jerusalem Bible says.
"The book of Judith in particular shows a bland indifference to history and geography. The scene is set in the time of "Nebuchadnezzar who reigned over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh" (Judity 1:1), but Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia and Nineveh had been destroyed by Nabopolassar, his father. Despite this the return from exile under Cyrus is regarded as already having taken place (Judith 4:3, 5:19).
Whereas Holofernes and Bagoas have Persian names, there are also obvious allusions to Greek customs (3:7-8. 15:13).
We may add that the itinerary of Holofernes (Judith 2:21-28) is a geographical impossibility. Even when Holofernes reaches Samaria where we are on more familiar ground, the place names, though increasing in number, are largely unknown and have an unusual ring. Bethulia itself, the town around which the drama revolves, defies identification despite the apparent concern for details that should help us locate it.
The only explanation for this surprising indifference is that the authors are not trying to write history. No doubt they build on actual events, but we have no means of knowing what these were since the superstructure conceals them. But it is precisely this superstructure that is the real work of the author and conveys his message. The important thing is to discover the exact purpose of each book and to extract the teaching contained in it. [02]
Jacob himself condemns the murder of the men of Shechem by two of his sons... Symeon and Levi, an incident related in Genesis 49
Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. “May my soul not enter into their council; May my glory not be united with their assembly; For in their anger they killed men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob, And disperse them among Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7 NASB)
However, Judith 9:2 describes the murder as God's vengeance
O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou gavest a sword to take vengeance of the strangers, who loosened the girdle of a maid to defile her, and discovered the thigh to her shame, and polluted her virginity to her reproach; for thou saidst, It shall not be so; and yet they did so:
Tobit
The book of Tobit tells the story of a pious man of the tribe of Naphtali who remained faithful to Jerusalem when his tribe followed Jeroboam who set up two golden calves for people to worship so that they would not go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. Jeroboam felt that if they did their loyalties would once again switch to Rehoboam, king of Judah (1 Kings 25-33). Tobit was supposedly taken captive and deported to Nineveh in the time of Enemessar (Shalmaneser) King of Assyria.
Although there is very little in the book of Tobit that can be considered genuine history, defenders of Tobit have ascribed every historical error to either scribal error or the condition of the texts we have.
Tobit claims to have been alive at the time Jeroboam became the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel after the revolt. He reigned from about 931 to 910 BC however, the deportation to Nineveh occurred around 740 BC - some 200 odd years after Jeroboam's apostasy. Yet, Tobit only lived for about 158 years
Wherefore now, my son, consider what alms doeth, and how righteousness doth deliver. When he had said these things, he gave up the ghost in the bed, being an hundred and eight and fifty years old; and he buried him honourably. (Tobit 14:11)
Again, acknowledged by the new Jerusalem Bible is the fact that Tobit 5 says Sennacherib was the immediate successor of Shalmanseser. However, Sennacherib was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria.
The New Jerusalem Bible claims ”Tobit is an edifying story” (Pg. 623) however, any parts of the Bible that claimed to be based on historical fact, were. If the whole purpose of the book was an "edifying" message why base it on fictitious historical details. Incidentally, the book of Jonah never claims to be merely a "morally instructive parable". Jonah wrote something that actually happened whether our modern sensibilities can handle a large fish or not
Daniel
Critics claim that the book of Daniel also suffers from "similar glaring historical inaccuracies, and point to Daniel 1:1 as an example.
Critics using this argument see a conflict between this verse and Jeremiah 25:1, where he refers to "the fourth year of Jehoiakim," whereas Daniel 1:1 refers to the same event occurring in the "third year of the reign of Jehoiakim." This apparent error is actually a cultural difference of dating systems. Jeremiah, a Palestinian, naturally uses the Palestinian dating system, which would place Jehoiakim's fourth year in 605 BC Daniel, using the Babylonian system, places Jehoiakim's third year in 605 BC (Harrison, pg. 1112). [03]
Much has also been made of the fact that Belshazzar was not the ruler as the book of Daniel claims (See Daniel 5:1-2), and he was certainly never the king. But it has been clear since 1924 that though Nabonidus was the last king of Babylon, Belshazzar was effectively ruling. In ancient documents ‘son’ does not always mean ‘biological child’ (See Daniel And Belshazzar (Scroll down slightly)
Similarly
The Book of Baruch
Baruch is an apocryphal book which claims to be the work of Baruch written during the Babylonian exile shortly after the fall of Jerusalem, but was it?
Baruch 6:2 says the Jews would remain captive in Babylon for 7 generations, whereas Jeremiah specifically says 70 years..
Because of the sins which ye have committed before God, ye shall be led away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor king of the Babylonians. So when ye be come unto Babylon, ye shall remain there many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations: and after that I will bring you away peaceably from thence. (Baruch 6:2-3)
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate for ever. (Jeremiah 25:11-12)
For thus saith Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10)
In fact, it was his reading of Jeremiah's prophecy of 70 years that caused Daniel to realize that the time was almost up, which led to his prayer recorded in Daniel 9. In fact, the influence of Daniel 9:4-19 on Baruch's penitential prayer (1:15-3:8) is impossible to miss. In fact Baruch's prayer can be considered an expanded version of Daniel's prayer following, as it does the same format and, in many cases, using exactly the same or very similar words. Note the following four examples.
Daniel: neither have we hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by the hands of his servants the prophets. (Daniel 9:10 KJV)
Baruch: Nevertheless we have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he sent unto us: (Baruch 1: 21)
Daniel: And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us great evils, such as have not happened under the whole heaven, according to what has happened in Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all these evils have come upon us: (Daniel 9:12)
Baruch: Therefore the Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced against us, and against our judges that judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Juda, To bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that were written in the law of Moses; (Baruch 2:1-2)
Daniel: To thee, O Lord, belongs righteousness, and to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Juda, and to the dwellers in Jerusalem, and to all Israel, to them that are near, and to them that are far off in all the earth, wherever thou has scattered them, for the sin which they committed. (Daniel 9:7)
Baruch: And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come to pass this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, (Baruch 1:15)
Daniel: And now, O Lord our God, who broughtest thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and madest to thyself a name, as at this day; we have sinned, we have transgressed. (Daniel 9: 15)
Baruch: And now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day: (Baruch 2:11)
Considering that Revelation is filled with imagery largely from the book of Daniel, and the Savior Himself referred to the book of Daniel, are we really prepared to believe that it was the prophet Daniel who copied from the book of Baruch?
Date
One clue as to when Baruch was written is to be found in Baruch 2:26 which states that at the time of writing the Temple was in ruins
And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as it is to be seen this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Juda. (Baruch 2:26)
As the Jewish encyclopedia says Baruch's statement fits in with only two periods...
the Babylonian conquest which took place around 600 BC, and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus about 70 AD. As the former period is out of the question, certain scholars, such as Kneucker, for example, assign this part of the book to a time later than the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. [04]
Bel and the Dragon
The narrative of Bel and the Dragon is included in the apocrypha as chapters 13 and 14 of the book of Daniel, consists of two separate stories: the first relating to Bel, the second to the Dragon. These stories, which are fanciful and come across as pure fiction, exist only in the Septuagint.
In the first story, Daniel, cleverly exposes the lie, propagated by the priests of Bel, that the idol actually consumed the food and drink set before it. After the priests leave in the presence of the king Daniel scatters ashes over the floor of the temple. The temple's door is then sealed with the king's own signet. The next morning, Daniel calls attention to the footprints in the ashes, thereby proving that the sacred meal of Bel is actually eaten during the night by the priests and their families who enter through a secret door. The king's reaction was to slay all the priests, and turn Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed him and his temple." (Daniel 14:22).
In the second story, Daniel slays the Dragon-god by feeding it cakes made of pitch, fat, and hair, which causes it to burst asunder. Daniel is supposed to have said " Lo, these are the gods ye worship". (Daniel 14:27). As a result, the Babylonians indignantly say "The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, and killed the dragon, and slaughtered the priests," and demand that Daniel be handed over to them (Daniel 14:28). Daniel is thereupon cast into a den of lions, but is not only unharmed by the beasts but fed by the prophet Habakkuk, who is miraculously transported from Judea for that purpose.
Doctrinal Errors
The historical errors are not the only difficulties with the Apocrypha. In several instances they flatly contradict the Scriptures.
Tobit
Not only does the book of Tobit contain doctrinal errors but it also encourages rank superstition
Sins Of The Fathers
Remember me, and look on me, punish me not for my sins and ignorances, and the sins of my fathers, who have sinned before thee: (Tobit 3:3)
And now thy judgments are many and true: deal with me according to my sins and my fathers': because we have not kept thy commandments, neither have walked in truth before thee. (Tobit 3:5)
Apparently Tobit was not familiar with the book of Ezekiel, in which the Lord explicitly tells the Israelites that each person pays for their own sins...
Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall certainly live. “The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:19-20 NASB)
Use of A Talisman
Tobit 6 endorses the superstitious use of fish heart and liver to ward off demons.
Tobit's son Tobias meets a widow who had been married seven times, but had never consummated any of these marriages because an evil spirit had killed each husband on their wedding night. Tobias marries this widow and by burning the fish's heart and liver drives off the evil spirit called Asmodeus. He then uses the gall from that fish to cure his father's blindness
Then the young man went down to wash his feet in the Tigris river. Suddenly a large fish leapt up from the water and tried to swallow the young man’s foot, and he cried out. But the angel said to the young man, 'Catch hold of the fish and hang on to it!’ So the young man grasped the fish and drew it up on the land. Then the angel said to him, 'Cut open the fish and take out its gall, heart, and liver. Keep them with you, but throw away the intestines. For its gall, heart, and liver are useful as medicine.’ So after cutting open the fish the young man gathered together the gall, heart, and liver; then he roasted and ate some of the fish, and kept some to be salted. The two continued on their way together until they were near Media.* Then the young man questioned the angel and said to him, ‘Brother Azariah, what medicinal value is there in the fish's heart and liver, and in the gall?’ He replied, 'As for the fish's heart and liver, you must burn them to make a smoke in the presence of a man or woman afflicted by a demon or evil spirit, and every affliction will flee away and never remain with that person any longer. And as for the gall, anoint a person's eyes where white films have appeared on them; blow upon them, upon the white films, and the eyes* will be healed (Tobit 6:3-9)
Almsgiving Delivers From Death
Tobit also says
For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life: (Tobit 12:9)
The Book of Wisdom
teaches the pre-existence of souls,
For I was a witty child, and had a good spirit. Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled. (Wisdom 8:19-20)
and that God made the world out of formless matter which is not what the book of Hebrews teaches
For thy Almighty hand, that made the world of matter without form, wanted not means to send among them a multitude of bears or fierce lions, (Wisdom 11:17)
By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:3 NASB)
Sirach
makes some very interesting even bizarre statements that, in some cases, contradict the inspired books of the Old Testament. For example...
Wickedness comes from women and the churlishness of man is better than the courtesy of women.
For from garments cometh a moth, and from women wickedness. Better is the churlishness of a man than a courteous woman, a woman, I say, which bringeth shame and reproach. (Sirach 42:13-14)
Pamper a child, and he will terrorize you; play with him, and he will grieve you. (Sirach 30:9) Whatever that means
Divorce your wife if she does not obey you
If she go not as thou wouldest have her, cut her off from thy flesh, and give her a bill of divorce, and let her go. (Sirach 25:26)
Sirach also says honoring ones father and almsgiving make atonement for sin...
Water will quench a flaming fire; and alms maketh an atonement for sins. (Sirach 3:30)
Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins: (Sirach 3:3)
2 Maccabees
endorses prayers for the dead and can be seen as providing some support to the doctrine of purgatory.
And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and honestly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection: For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin. (2 Maccabees 12:43-45)
The Bible clearly states
And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, `(Hebrews 9:27 NASB)
Conclusion - The Canon Is Complete
Two New Testament verses assure us that the Bible we have today is complete. In his letter to Timothy Paul told his protégé that the Scriptures can completely furnish the man of God. (The KJV says “thoroughly furnished”)
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NASB)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 BSB)
Jude wrote
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints. (Jude 1:3 NASB)
In other words, the Scriptures are complete. Nothing needs to be added to it. There are no secret or lost manuscripts waiting to be discovered and no people who have a special revelation that can enlighten the rest of us. It is done
When the New Testament is put together with the Hebrew Canon the narrative begins with the creation of this world in Genesis and concludes with the end of this world as we know it (See The End of The Age). Everything in between is designed to save us from eternal death by allowing us to choose whether we wish to live in His kingdom for all eternity and, if we make that choice, to teach us how to do so.
Should we ignore the fact that the Jews, Jesus, and the New Testament apostles rejected the apocrypha we risk believing in some erroneous doctrine that could very well jeopardize our salvation. See Salvation
Perhaps the last word should go to the author of the truthortradition web site
Before addressing the issue of whether or not any God-breathed books were left out of the Bible, I would like to make a personal observation. In my years in the ministry I have had the opportunity to personally speak with perhaps twenty people who subscribe to the theory that there are lost books of the Bible, and I have noticed something interesting: those who criticize the Bible by claiming it is incomplete do not conduct their lives according to the books that are included in the Bible.
This is hypocritical because if the Bible is missing books, then the parts we do have become even more valuable. If pirates have most of a treasure map, they do not throw it out because it is missing a piece. Instead, the part they have becomes even more valuable, and they study it with great intensity. Critics of the canon do not live by the books that are included in Scripture. Almost without exception they use the theory of the “missing books” to ignore the Bible altogether. It is clear to me they are not trying to restore a faulty document. Instead, they are looking for an excuse to ignore the Bible and they find that excuse by questioning the canon [05]
Footnote I - Non-Canonical Books Mentioned in the Bible
The Book of Wars -
Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, (Numbers 21:14)
The Book of Jasher -
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. (Joshua 10:13)
The Chronicles of David -
Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David. (1 Chronicles 27:24)
The Book of Samuel the Seer, Nathan the Prophet, and Gad the Seer -
1 Chronicles 29:29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
The Story of the Prophet Iddo -
And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo. (2 Chronicles 13:22)
The Book of Shemaiah the Prophet -
Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. (2 Chronicles 12:15)
The Book of Jehu -
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. (2 Chronicles 20:34)
The Record book of Ahasuerus -
And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. (Esther 2:23)
On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. (Esther 6:1)
End Notes
[01] The New Testament Apocrypha edited by M. R. James. Apocryphile Press (November 1, 2004) Pg. 12
[02] The Catholic Encyclopedia, African Synods. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01199a.htm
[03] Jeramy Townsley Historical Dating of the Book of Daniel. http://www.jeramyt.org/papers/daniel.html
[04] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2565-baruch-book-of
[05] TruthOrTradition.com. https://tinyurl.com/39d2sjhk
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