The Deuterocanon

A set of ancient books that have traveled with the Bible for two thousand years — received by some traditions as Scripture, by others as worthy history. Here is the honest picture, so you always know what you are reading.

New to this? Start with: What is the Septuagint? →

When you open a Catholic or Orthodox Bible, you find books a Protestant Bible does not have: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel. They are called the deuterocanon (“second canon”) — or, in Protestant tradition, the Apocrypha (“hidden”). The different names already tell you these books have been received in different ways.

They are not late inventions. They stood in the Septuagint — the Greek Old Testament that Greek-speaking Jews used, and the version the New Testament most often quotes from — and they remained in Christian Bibles for centuries, including the 1611 King James Version, and were not fully removed from Protestant Bibles until the 1800s. The Reformation had reopened the question of their place in the canon.

One faith, different tables of contents

There is no single list all Christians share. The major traditions receive these books differently — and the honest thing is to show you all three, not to decide for you:

CatholicFully canonical, inspired Scripture — settled at the Council of Trent (1546), read in the Mass and cited for doctrine.

OrthodoxReceived as Scripture and read in the liturgy — the Orthodox canon is a little broader still (and varies among the Orthodox churches), including a few books beyond the Catholic list.

ProtestantSet apart as the “Apocrypha” after the Reformation — valued to read for example and history, but not used to establish doctrine.

Where the AIT stands

We include them, translated from the Greek with the same two-layer verification as every other book, and labeled clearly so you always know how each tradition receives it. We do not rule on the canon for you. We put the book in front of you, in context, with the facts — and let you, and your tradition, receive it accordingly.

The books

Catholic & Orthodox Scripture · also the Protestant Apocrypha:

Tobit Judith Additions to Esther Wisdom of Solomon Sirach Baruch Letter of Jeremiah The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Susanna Bel and the Dragon 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees

Eastern Orthodox (broader canon):

1 Esdras 3 Maccabees

“What you hate, do to no one.”
Tobit 4:15 — the Golden Rule, three centuries before the Sermon on the Mount

This introduction © 2026 Jeff Stoner. All rights reserved. · The translated text of these books is the AIT (public domain, CC0).