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Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible

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The non-canonical books referenced in the Bible includes non-Biblical cultures and lost works of known or unknown status. By the "Bible" is meant those books recognized by Christians and Jews as being part of Old Testament (or Tanakh) as well as those recognized by most Christians as being part of the Biblical apocrypha or of the Deuterocanon.

It may also include books of the Anagignoskomena (Deuterocanonical books § In Eastern Orthodoxy) that are accepted only by Eastern Orthodox Christians. For the purposes of this article, "referenced" can mean direct quotations, paraphrases, or allusions, which in some cases are known only because they have been identified as such by ancient writers, or the citation of a work or author.

Hebrew Bible

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The following are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:

  • Epic of Gilgamesh, “A three-ply rope cannot be cut” compared with Ecclesiastes 4:12,[1] “A threefold cord is not quickly broken”

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

Further information: Deuterocanonical books, Biblical apocrypha, and Book of Sirach § References in Sirach and pre-modern texts

New Testament

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Mennonite scholar David Ewart has mentioned that Nestle's Greek New Testament lists some 132 New Testament passages that appear to be verbal allusions to paracanonical books.[49]

Pagan authors quoted or alluded to are:[50][51]

  • Epimenides, de Oraculis, (Titus 1:12-13[56] where Paul introduces Epimenides as "a prophet of the Cretans"; see Epimenides paradox)
  • Aratus, Phaenomena 5, (Acts 17:28,[57] where Paul refers to the words of "some of your own poets")

Non-canonical books quoted or alluded to are:[50]

  • Book of Enoch (Jude verses 4,[58] 6,[59] 13,[60] 14–15,[61] 2 Peter 2:4[62] and 3:13,[63][64][65] and John 7:38).[66][67]
  • Book of Jubilees (Matthew 26:52[68]); “For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tablets; the instrument with which a man kills his neighbor with the same shall he be killed.” Not a word for word quote. May have been a common colloquialism. However, Jubilees interprets this as an extension of the law give in Exodus 21:23.[69]
  • Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres, according to Origen (2 Timothy 3:8[70] "... as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses")
  • Epistle to the Laodiceans (Colossians 4:16,[71] "read the epistle from Laodicea")
  • Life of Adam and Eve (2 Corinthians 11:14,[72] "Satan as an angel of light", and 12:2,[73] "Third Heaven")[74]
  • A lost section of the Assumption of Moses (Jude 9[75] "Michael... body of Moses")
  • Ascension of Isaiah (Hebrews 11:37,[76] "they were sawn in two")
  • Paul's letter to the Corinthians before 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:9,[77] "I wrote to you in my letter...")
  • Paul's letter to the Ephesians before Ephesians (Ephesians 3:3,[78] "As I wrote afore in few words..."); this is disputed as many translations of the Greek term προγραφω ("to write before[hand]") interpret it as referring to what has been written earlier in Ephesians itself[79]
  • An unknown messianic prophecy possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Matthew 2:23 that states "he will be called a Nazorian" (ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται). "Nazorian" is typically rendered as "Nazarene" ("from Nazareth"), as in Acts 24:5,[80] where Christians are referred to as "the sect of the Nazorians/Nazarenes" (τῶν Ναζωραίων αἱρέσεως). This is speculated[by whom?] to be a vague allusion to a quote about Samson in Judges 13:5 that uses a similar-sounding word: "the child shall be a Nazirite" (ναζιρ)
  • An unknown version of Genesis (possibly a targum, midrash or other commentary), quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:45,[81] as a reference to Christ's being "the Last Adam who became a life-giving spirit" (οὕτως καὶ γέγραπται· Ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν· ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδὰμ εἰς πνεῦμα ζῳοποιοῦν). It has been speculated[by whom?] that Paul is simply paraphrasing Genesis 2:7,[82] but there is no clear indication that this is not a complete quote.
  • An unknown text quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9,[83] suggested by Origen to be a lost apocryphal book:[84] "But as it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." This may also be an allusion to the similar Isaiah 64:4,[85] "For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.'".
  • An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Luke 24:46,[86] speculated to be a vague allusion to Hosea 6:2:[87][88] "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day."
  • An unknown messianic prophecy, possibly from a non-canonical source, quoted in Mark 9:12,[89] speculated[by whom?] to be a vague allusion to Isaiah 53: "and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought."

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