The
Good Book mentions non-Biblical books within its pages. Many will say that the
Bible therefore draws on resources that are not inspired. Some will claim they
should’ve been included because they are referenced. This is like saying that
we should include all people in the military solely because they exist. Never
mind the fact that many are not qualified such as children, the old or infirm,
the mentally impaired, etc…so too the books mentioned in the Bible as they too
do not equally qualify as Scripture. They are merely reference points in the culture, history or
surrounding world at the time of the writing of the inspired biblical texts
that these worldly books are mentioned in. In the end the Bible is the
inspired, infallible word of God. Therefore, it is important to know just which
books belong in the Bible and which books do not. The following list is of
books that are mentioned in the text of Scripture but should never be
considered part of God’s inspired word. Although God had is purposes for allowing their mention, the books referenced are not inspired of the Holy Spirit as part of our canonized Bible.
As
such I will provide the Biblical verse that a few of these ancient books show
up in and perhaps comment about them where information on these obsolete and
mysterious books is available.
Numbers
21:14-15 ~ “Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord, “Waheb in
Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon, and the slope of the valleys that extends
to the seat of Ar, and leans to the border of Moab.”
This
book appears to have contained an anthology of poems describing the victories
of the Lord over the enemies of Israel. According to Aramaic Targums the words
"The Wars of the Lord" are the beginning of the poetic quotation and
are not part of the name of the book itself. The book referred to then would be
the Torah. There is a geographical reference but tells us virtually nothing
about the book. Arnon was in the desert and is the border of Moab, between Moab
and the Amorites.
Joshua
10:13 ~ “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took
vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun
stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.
2
Samuel 1:17 ~ “And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan
his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is
written in the Book of Jashar. He said…
The
Book of Jasher is a work known in the original Hebrew as ספר הישר or sefer ha yashar.
The original Hebrew translates as "Book of the Upright". The book of
the upright means a book of righteous men or true members of the theocracy, or
godly men. Similar to the Chronicles is can be implied that this book was
verses or elegies in praise of certain heroes of the theocracy, interwoven with
historical notices of their achievements. Since we see the book’s reference in
an elegy to Jonathan and Saul by David, this fact should not surprise us.
As
seen above, the book was important enough to have been referenced in the Bible
twice. As stated in my introduction, often times secular non-canon books are
mentioned to use as reference points in the culture or surrounding world. In
this case it could be to show the unbeliever of Joshua’s time (or now) the truth of a
supernatural event as in the case of the sun standing still in battle. It can
also be used as a connection to history to show conclusive fact of God acting
supernaturally in a historical event. This is to show that supernatural events
of God happen in real human history. In other words it shows supernatural
events recorded by someone other than Joshua who would have a clear God-centered bias.
1
Kings 11:41 ~ “Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and
his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon?”
The
Book of the Acts of Solomon probably served as a source material for the
compiler of the book of Kings. It is also probable that the source material
very likely contained court or temple records, treaties, private journals for
the reign of Solomon (Brian Roberts). As much as many will attempt to imply
that books like this should’ve been included in the Scripture, it is clear they
disqualified themselves or they would already be in the Bible as God would’ve
assured they were there. The very fact that they are not shows God himself
through their obsolescence discounted them in history.
The
name Solomon and allusion to his reign has yet been found in any contemporary
extra-biblical source. This means we have to rely solely on the biblical
sources for reconstruction of the Solomon period. Scholars treat some passages
in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings 1–11 as primary sources. Other than this we know little
of this book.
1
Chronicles 29:29 ~ “Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written
in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the
prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer”
The
Chronicles of Samuel more than likely refer to the canonical books of 1 and 2
Samuel but in 1 Samuel 25:1 we see that Samuel dies. We therefore know that he
could not have entirely written even the first Book that bears his name,
because it goes on for another 6 chapters after his death. When we get to 1
Samuel 22:5, we find that it is the prophet Gad, not Samuel that is giving
instructions to David. “Then the prophet Gad said to David…” It is
possible to have other prophets guiding David, it’s just not possible that
their writings are canonized…or they’d already be in our Bible. Therefore it is
possible that there were other books…just not in the Bible. This means the Chronicles
of Nathan the prophet and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer are not biblical as
we would expect.
2
Chronicles 12:15 ~ “Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they
not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the
seer? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam”
This
book was also called the Story of the Prophet Iddo or The Annals of the Prophet
(2 Chronicles 9:29, 12:15, 13:22). Iddo was a seer who lived during the reigns
of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. His deeds were recorded in this book, which
has been completely lost to history. It is clear Iddo was a minor prophet but
there are no biblical books attributed to him. In a blurb from Barnes Notes, Iddo
seems to have been the author of three works: A visions against Jeroboam, a
book of genealogies and commentary or history.
The
remaining books I will mention without detail other than maybe the passage they
are found in for reference.
Joshua
18:9 ~ “So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book
a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to
the camp at Shiloh”
1
Samuel 10:25 ~ “Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the
kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then
Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.”
The
Book of Records
Ezra
4:14-16 ~ Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for
us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, in
order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You
will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious
city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it
from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. We make known to the
king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no
possession in the province Beyond the River.”
The
Deeds of Uzziah by Isaiah the Prophet
2
Chronicles 26:22 ~ “Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah
the prophet the son of Amoz wrote.
2
Chronicles 32:32 ~ “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds,
behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz,
in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
The
Book of Jehu
2
Chronicles 20:34 ~ “Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to
last, are written in the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are
recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
The
Record book of Ahasuerus
Esther
2:23 ~ “When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both
hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the
presence of the king.
Esther
6:1 ~ “On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book
of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.
The
Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia
Esther
10:2 ~ “And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the
high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in
the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?”
The
Book of Remembrance
Malachi
3:16 ~ “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid
attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him
of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.
The
Book of Judgment
Daniel
7:10 ~ “A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served
him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court
sat in judgment, and the books were opened [of judgment].
Revelation
20:12 ~ “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And
the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they
had done.”
Not
really a book per se but worthy of mention is Paul's first letter to Corinth,
that predated the present "1 Corinthians"? "I wrote you in my
letter not to associate with immoral people" 1 Corinthians 5:9…or this
could merely be a reference to the present letter of 1 Corinthians.
Paul’s
letter to the Laodiceans in Colossians 4:16
The
Seven-Sealed Book
Revelation
5:1 ~ “Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a
scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals”
An
Angel's Book
Revelation
10:2 ~ “He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on
the sea, and his left foot on the land…”
…and
how can we forget the Lamb’s Book of Life in which all the saved are recorded
by God. It is referenced all over the Old and New Testament.
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