Books Mentioned in the Bible

by Mike James

Whenever you get into a discussion about whether apocryphal or pseudepigraphal books should be in the Bible, some will mention books mentioned in the Bible. The question will be why these books in the Bible aren't part of the canon if the Bible itself mentions them. Let me provide a few examples of what I'm talking about.

In Numbers 24:14, we read the following: "Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon."

In 1 Kings 11:41, we read this: "And 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?"

In 1 Chronicles 29:29: "Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer."

Another is 2 Chronicles 12:15: "Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually."

Yet another is 2 Chronicles 20:34: "Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel."

There are a few more examples like this in the Old Testament, but I think you get the picture. The reason the above books are not in the Bible is that they are known as true "lost books of the Bible." In other words, we have no valid copies of these books that exist today. Therefore, with no copy of the book, no evaluation could be made to determine if it was canonical.

These books obviously existed at a time in history, but they no longer exist, so they are not in our Bible. As I was doing research for this blog, I found that you could purchase copies of some of these so-called "lost books" on the internet. How could that be if these books are lost to history?

The reason you can find printed versions of some of the above books is because the printed copies are using translations or compilations of texts that reference these books. But there are no complete copies of any of these books still in existence.

Scholars and historians often reproduce excerpts or summaries of lost texts in their works, which can lead to printed versions.

Some mention the book of the records, which is mentioned in the book of Ezra 4:15. But the context here seems to indicate that the book of records refers to official documents or genealogical records that were used to verify the lineage and rights of individuals, in relation to the priesthood and land ownership. It is believed to have been a governmental or administrative document rather than a religious document.

The books I have mentioned thus far are different from apocryphal and pseudepigraphal books because we do have full copies of these books. The reasons we do not include the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha in the Bible include the following:

They contain contradictions with what is in the canonical books of the Bible.

Their authors didn't claim divine inspiration.

The Jews did not, as a community, accept them as holy scriptures.

They also contain historical errors which would disqualify them as inspired scriptures.

There is historical evidence that some of these books were not written by their stated authors.

Some still argue that if it is mentioned in the Bible, it must be considered scripture. But let us critically think about that for a moment. Paul refers to pagan authors in the New Testament (Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Titus 1:12). Should we include the works of these pagan authors in the Bible? Of course not. Satan, the Devil, is quoted in the Bible. Should we listen to what he has to say? I think you get my point.

Sources: "Outside the Canon: 10 Books Cited in the Bible, But Not Included," by Akande Happy, Church Equips, https://churchequips.com/outside-the-canon-10-books-cited-in-the-bible-but-not-included/

"Book of the Wars of the Lord," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Wars_of_the_Lord

"Acts of Solomon," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Solomon

"Book of Nathan the Prophet," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nathan_the_Prophet

"Book of Gad the Seer," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Gad_the_Seer

"Book of Shemaiah the Prophet," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Shemaiah_the_Prophet

"Book of Jehu," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jehu