Description:
The category of “Apocrypha” depends on a perception of the canonical Bible as a closed and definitive book of sacred texts, set apart from other writings. But before the biblical canon was established, early Jewish writers imagined Scripture in radically different ways, as vast bodies of heavenly writing that were never fully accessible. Considering evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls and other literature reveals this surprisingly widespread belief about sacred writing: it is not contained in any specific collection, but much of it is hidden from view—illustrating a different way that texts could be “apocryphal” in the religious imagination.