The New Testament contains quotes from, and allusions to, other literature. Some sources identify as many as 132 such influences. A question sometimes raised is whether Deuterocanonical books have influenced the New Testament.
1. What Are the Deuterocanonical Books?
The Deuterocanonical books are seven documents which appear as canonical Scripture in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles.
- The Book of Tobit was written between 225 and 175 BCE. It was composed in either Hebrew or Aramaic, as fragments in each language were found at Qumran. (See 4Q Tob.) The oldest complete copies of the text exist in Greek. See Codex Sinaiticus.
- The Book of Judith was written around 100 BCE. Linguistic analysis suggests that it was probably composed in Hebrew or in Aramaic, but there is no direct evidence to confirm it. The oldest manuscripts are in the Greek Septuagint: Codex Alexandrinus.
- 1 Maccabees was written about 100 BCE. Linguistic analysis suggests that it was probably written in Hebrew. The oldest text is to be found in the Greek Septuagint: Codex Alexandrinus.
- 2 Maccabees was written about 150–100 BCE. It was probably written in the Greek version which can be seen in the Septuagint: Codex Alexandrinus.
- The Book of Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon) was written in the first century BCE. It was probably composed in the Greek version which can be seen in the Septuagint: Codex Vaticanus.
- The Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) was written about 175–120 BCE. It was preserved in a Greek Septuagint version. (See Codex Sinaiticus.) However, it was probably originally written in Hebrew, as around 2/3 of a Hebrew version has been recovered from Qumran, Masada and the Cairo Genizah. (See Bensira.org.)
- The Book of Baruch was written about 200–100 BCE. It was probably written in Hebrew, as a Hebrew fragment of Chapter six (the Letter of Jeremiah) was discovered at Qumran. (See 7Q2.)
In the following sections we will look at possible examples of where the content of these Deuterocanonical texts may have influenced New Testament documents. However, there are wide differences of opinions between scholars about this matter.
2. The Book of Tobit
Examples of New Testament texts which may have been influenced by Tobit:
2A Matthew 7:12 – ‘Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.’
Tobit 4:15 – ‘Do to no one what you yourself hate.’
2B Matthew 22:25–26 – ‘There were seven brothers… The first married and died and, having no descendants, left his wife to his brother. The same happened with the second and the third, through all seven.’
Tobit 7:11 – ‘I have given her in marriage to seven husbands who were kinsmen of ours, and all died on the very night they approached her.’
2C Acts 10:31 – ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your almsgiving remembered before God.’ [So Peter is sent to baptize Cornelius.]
Tobit 4:10 – ‘For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps one from entering into Darkness.’
2D Revelation 8:3 – ‘Another angel…was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones.’
Tobit 12:12 – ‘When you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed, it was I [the angel] who presented the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord.’
3. The Book of Judith
Examples of New Testament texts which may have been influenced by Judith:
3A Matthew 9:36 – ‘For… they were… like sheep without a shepherd’
Judith 11:19 – ‘You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd…’
BUT both texts may be influenced by 1 Kings 22:17 (‘I see all Israel scattered… like sheep without a Shepherd’).
3B Luke 1:42 – ‘Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’
Judith 13:18 – ‘Blessed are you, daughter… above all the women on earth.’
BUT both texts may be influenced by Judges 5:24 (‘Most blessed of women is Jael’).
3C 1 Corinthians 2:11 – ‘Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person… ? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God.’
Judith 8:14 – ‘You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or grasp the workings of the human mind; how then can you fathom God…’
4. The Books of Maccabees
Examples of New Testament texts which may have been influenced by Maccabees:
4A James 2:23 – ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’
1 Maccabees 2:52 – ‘Was not Abraham found faithful in trial, and it was credited to him as righteousness?’
BUT, both texts may be influenced by Genesis 15:6 (‘Abram put his faith in the Lord who attributed it to him as an act of righteousness’).
4B Hebrews 11:35 – ‘Women received back their dead through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection.’
2 Maccabees 7:1, 7, 8, 13–14, 20 – ‘It also happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured… After the first brother had died… they asked him, “Will you… [give in]…” He said “Never…” The fourth brother… said… “It is my choice to die at the hands of mortals, with the hope that God will restore me to life.”… Most admirable… was the mother who, seeing her seven sons perish… bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.’
5. The Book of Wisdom
We know that the Book of Wisdom was popular in the Early Church. It appears on the oldest list of Canonical Books, the Muratorian Fragment (c. 170 CE). It was also quoted more than 340 times in the third century, and 930 times in the fourth century. (See The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity, Appendix, p. 412.)
Possible examples of influence might include:
5A Matthew 2:16 – ‘Herod… ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem…’
Wisdom 11:7 – [a prophecy] ‘ as a rebuke to the decree for the slaying of infants…’
5B Matthew 27:43 – ‘He trusted in God; let him deliver him… For he said, “I am the Son of God.”’
Wisdom 2:18 – ‘If the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him and deliver him.’
BUT both texts may be influenced by Psalm 22:9 (‘He relied on the Lord, let him deliver him’). However, the Early Church did in fact read Wisdom 2:12–20 as a Messianic prophecy of Christ’s passion, so it could well have influenced the text of the Passion narrative.
5C Luke 2:7 – ‘She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.’
Wisdom 7:4 – ‘In swaddling clothes and with constant care I was nurtured.’
5D John 5:18 – ‘[Jesus]… also called God his own father.’
Wisdom 2:16 – ‘[The righteous one]… boasts that God is his father.’
5E Romans 1:19–22 – ‘For what can be known about God is evident…Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes … have been able to be understood and perceived… As a result, they have no excuse… While claiming to be wise, they became fools.’
Wisdom 13:1 – ‘Foolish by nature were all who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing the one who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan.’
5F Romans 9:21 – ‘Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one?’
Wisdom 15:7 – ‘The potter… fashions out of the same clay both the vessels that serve for clean purposes and their opposites… As to what shall be the use of each vessel… the worker… is the judge.’
BUT both texts may be influenced by references to potters and clay in Jeremiah 18:6 or Isaiah 29:16.
5G Hebrews 1:3 – ‘[The son] … is the refulgence of his [God’s] glory, the very imprint of his being, … who sustains all things by his mighty word.’
Wisdom 7:26 – ‘For she [Wisdom] is the reflection of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of his goodness.’
6. The Book of Sirach
Examples of New Testament texts which may have been influenced by Sirach:
6A Matthew 6:14 – ‘If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.’
Sirach 28:2 ‘Forgive your neighbor the wrong done to you; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.’
6B Matthew 7:16 – ‘By their fruits you will know them.’
Sirach 27:6 – ‘The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had.’
6C Matthew 11:29 – ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…’
Sirach 51:26 – ‘Take her [Wisdom’s] yoke upon your neck; that your mind may receive her teaching.’
6D Mark 4:6 and 16 [Parable of the Sower] – ‘It was scorched and withered for lack of roots… These are the ones sown on rocky ground.’
Sirach 40:15–16 – ‘…for the root of the godless is on sheer rock… They are like reeds, withered before all other plants.’
6E Luke 1:52 – ‘He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.’
Sirach 10:14 – ‘God overturns the thrones of the proud and enthrones the lowly.’
6F James 1:19 – ‘Everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak…’
Sirach 5:11 – ‘Be swift to hear, but slow to answer.’
6G 1 Peter 4:8 – ‘Love covers a multitude of sins.’
Sirach 3:30 – ‘Almsgiving atones for sins.’
7. The Book of Baruch
Examples of New Testament texts which may have been influenced by Baruch:
7A Matthew 8:11 – ‘Many will come from the east and the west…’
Baruch 4:37 – ‘Here come your children…gathered in from east to west.’
7B John 1:14 – ‘And the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.’
Baruch 3:38 – ‘[Wisdom] has appeared on earth and is at home with mortals’
7C John 3:13 – ‘No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven.’
Romans 10:6 – ‘…“Who will go up to heaven?” (that is to bring Christ down).’
Baruch 3:29 – ‘Who has gone up to the heavens and taken… [wisdom], bringing her down from the clouds?’
7D 1 Corinthians 10:20 – ‘[They sacrifice] to Demons, not to God.’
Baruch 4:7 – ‘… you provoked your Maker with sacrifices to demons and not to God.’
BUT both these texts may be influenced by similar ideas in Deuteronomy 32:17 (‘They sacrificed to demons, to no-gods…’).
8. Conclusion
Do any of the examples of texts (above) show that the Deuterocanonical books influenced the New Testament? Maybe; maybe not. There are certainly some fascinating similarities of ideas. But those similarities could be due to coincidence. Or, they could be due to influences from other shared sources. Or, perhaps New Testament authors were indeed reading Deuterocanonical books and they were directly influenced by them?
Without asking the New Testament authors what they were influenced by, it is probably impossible to determine definitively whether the Deuterocanonical books influenced the writers of the New Testament.
This may seem a disappointingly agnostic conclusion, but it has important implications. Over the centuries Catholic and Protestant polemicists have argued about this matter. However, if it is impossible to determine whether the Deuterocanonicals influenced the New Testament, then that restricts what the polemicists can conclude. It means that Catholic polemicists cannot prove the canonical validity of the Deuterocanonicals, by claiming that they are accredited through their use by other New Testament documents. It also means that Protestant polemicists cannot disprove the canonicity of the Deuterocanonicals by claiming that they do not influence New Testament writers, or that New Testament writers do not approve of, or otherwise make use of, Deuterocanonical books.
The canonical status of the Deuterocanonical books is an important theological question, but it is not one that can be settled by appealing to their influence (or non-influence) in (or on) the rest of the New Testament.
11 thoughts on “Did the Deuterocanonical Books Influence the New Testament?”
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Great article! No one can read Wisdom 2 and not think that it is a direct reference to the plotting of the Pharisees against Jesus…
… And that was a view shared by many of the Early Church fathers.
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Thanks for this article, it is very helpful to me. I would like to hear your thoughts on the Matt 22, Tobit connection and how it relates to Enoch 15. It seems to me that the Sadducees offered a fairly obvious Tobit question, a resurrection question that the Pharisees would not have asked. Jesus’ answer, however, is too close to Enoch, yet too far from other scripture, making this an intriguing connection. Made even more so because so much of Enoch is specifically about the resurrection (Apocalyptic). I, for one, assume that the book of Enoch existed in the time of Jesus and that the Sadducees rejected it along with Tobit. It is very difficult to find an unbiased opinion. Thanks again!
Yes, the Tobit similarity is a particularly interesting one. There could be direct influencing, but we just can’t know for sure, because we do not know what other information the gospel writers may have had access to. So, to jump from the appearance of similarity to assume that there must be actual influencing would potentially be an instance of the “Post hoc propter hoc” fallacy, where the mere fact of sequencing leads to an assumption of causation.
On the specifics of Enoch, we know that the book was popular at the time of Jesus, as it is represented at Qumran, as well as referenced in the Epistle of Jude. Gospel writers may well have been aware of Enoch, but we just don’t know for sure.
Are there any connections between the Book of Sirach and New Testament passages, and what kind of moral and ethical teachings does Sirach provide? Telkom University
Sirach is a difficult book to summarize because it is the longest of the Deuterocanonicals. At almost 27,000 words it is longer than each of the Gospels (which are between 15-20,000 words). It was also a popular book in the Early Church era, as its pithy sayings offer some useful advice. It was so popular that it was often called ‘Ecclesiasticus’ (ie the ‘Church book’). If its popularity existed during the New Testament period, then it could well have influenced New Testament writers. But, as the article mentions, influences may also have come from other texts which share similarities to both Sirach and the New Testament. It’s hard to know for sure.
If you want to pursue matters more deeply perhaps it would be worth reading the 51 chapters of Sirach, looking at the footnotes which flag up similarities to other New Testament texts? If so, then 2 chapters per day for 25 days would be roughly 1000 words per day, ie almost 5 minutes reading at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute.
Dear Rory ,
What a magnificent ,scholarly commentary . As we Jews say ,Yasher Koach ,Well done !
Your referenced to Jeremiah 18 : 6 and Isaiah 64 : 7 bring to mind a beautiful piyyut ,or liturgical hymn composed in the twelfth century and sung on the eve of Yom Kippur. It is called Ki Hinei Kachomer . The first verse is
As clay in the hands of the potter,
Who expands or contracts it at will,
So are we in thy hand , gracious God:
Heed thy pact, heed not the accuser.
Various handicrafts are compared and set side by side with the composite nature of man created by God. So the following craftsmen are in the hymn :
mason, welder, seaman, glazier, draper and smith.
To emphasise the importance of this piyyut ,the Ark containing the Torah scrolls is open and the congregation stands.
Thank you Jock, that was a very interesting observation. In the Christian tradition the ‘potter and clay’ analogy often crops up in discussions of Free Will, especially in Post Reformation theology. Perhaps a better awareness of Piyyut (piyyutim) like this can help Christians to rediscover its role within Spirituality?