Pseudepigrapha

Term and Scope

The Korean term for the pseudepigrapha, wigyeong (僞經), means "false scriptures." It renders the Greek pseudepigrapha (ψευδεπίγραφα, "writings bearing false names") and refers to writings that present ancient figures such as Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and Solomon as their authors. The word does not appear in the text of the Bible. Representative works include 1 Enoch, Jubilees, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Psalms of Solomon, the Assumption of Moses (Testament of Moses), and the Life of Adam and Eve. Which books are classed as pseudepigrapha varies somewhat among scholars and collections.

Traces in the Bible

• Jude 1:14-15 quotes the prophecy of "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam." This passage is nearly identical to 1 Enoch 1:9.
• Jude 1:9 describes the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses. This scene does not appear in the Old Testament, and Church Fathers such as Origen reportedly regarded it as drawn from the Assumption of Moses.
• Jannes and Jambres, mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:8, are Egyptian magicians who are not named in Exodus. Their names were handed down in Jewish tradition.

Background

Most of the pseudepigrapha are thought to have been written around the intertestamental period, commonly dated from roughly the third century BC to the first century AD, though some were written later. Many are strongly marked by the features of apocalyptic literature, dealing with visions, angels, and the end times. The discovery of fragments of Enoch and Jubilees among the Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed that these books were widely read within Judaism at the time. 1 Enoch contains a scene in which Enoch passes revelations on to his son Methuselah, as well as a scene in which Methuselah goes to consult Enoch at the birth of his grandson Noah. Neither account appears in Genesis.

Relationship to the Canon and Differences in Terminology

Protestants call books such as Tobit, Judith, and Maccabees—which are included in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Old Testament—the "Apocrypha," and call other pseudonymous writings the "Pseudepigrapha." The Catholic Church calls the former books "deuterocanonical" and includes them in the canon, while it calls the writings Protestants term pseudepigrapha the "apocrypha." The same word thus refers to different books depending on the tradition. Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches all decline to accept the pseudepigrapha as canonical. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, however, includes 1 Enoch and Jubilees in its canon.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Regarding Jude's quotation of Enoch, most Protestant and Catholic commentators hold that Jude affirmed the truth of a particular passage in Enoch without recognizing the entire book as canonical. In support, they point to Paul's quotations of pagan poets (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12). On the other hand, some in the early church, such as Tertullian, are known to have defended the authority of Enoch. In addition, much of the detailed interpretation of the "sons of God" and the Nephilim in Genesis 6 as an account of the fall of angels derives from Enoch, and some therefore argue that such material should be distinguished from what the text of Genesis itself states. Gospels and acts written after the New Testament period under the names of apostles are called "New Testament apocrypha" or "New Testament pseudepigrapha," and some of them are associated with Gnosticism.

In the Korean Church

Korean Protestants generally distinguish between the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha. The pseudepigrapha are mainly discussed in seminary introductions to the Bible or in Bible studies when explaining the extent of the canon. The New Korean Revised Version contains neither the Apocrypha nor the Pseudepigrapha. The Catholic edition of the Common Translation Bible includes the deuterocanonical books.