Question 3 · The Bible

Which Old Testament books did the early Church use? Were Tobit, Wisdom and Maccabees Scripture to them?

What the sources show

Melito of Sardis c. 170 · Origen of Alexandria c. 235Hebrew books only

The earliest Christian lists, Melito's about 170 and Origen's about 240, give the books as the Jews counted them: twenty-two by the Hebrew reckoning. Melito leaves out Esther; Origen puts Maccabees outside the list. ¹²

Origen of Alexandria c. 240 · Cyprian of Carthage c. 249Wider canon

Yet the churches read the extra Greek books too. Origen defends the story of Susanna because every church of Christ reads it, and Cyprian quotes the Wisdom of Solomon alongside Deuteronomy. ³⁴⁵

Council of Laodicea c. 363 · Gregory of Nazianzus c. 385 · Hilary of Poitiers c. 365Hebrew books only

In the fourth century the Greek lists keep to the twenty-two books, as at Laodicea and in Gregory of Nazianzus. Hilary notes that some count twenty-four by adding Tobit and Judith. ⁶⁷⁹

Jerome c. 391–c. 398 · Rufinus of Aquileia c. 404 · Epiphanius of Salamis c. 375 · Augustine of Hippo c. 397

Around 400 the Latin West gave two answers. Jerome and Rufinus read Wisdom, Sirach, Tobit, Judith and Maccabees in church but would not use them to prove doctrine. Augustine counts them in the canon, forty-four books in all. Epiphanius, a generation earlier in the East, had put Wisdom and Sirach in the same middle place: useful, but not counted. ^810111213

Council of Trent (Catholic) 1546 · Thirty-Nine Articles (Anglican) 1571 · Westminster Confession (Reformed) 1646

Both answers lasted. Trent in 1546 defined the wider canon, the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1571 follow Jerome, and the Westminster Confession of 1646 says those books are no part of Scripture. ¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶

The answers given:

ApostolicBefore NicaeaNicaea and afterMiddle AgesReformation to today

Scroll through the centuries, or tap a dot. J K move between witnesses.

Before Nicaea

150–325

170c. AD

Hebrew books onlyKnown through a later writer

Melito of Sardis d. c. 180 ADExtracts, preserved in Eusebius, Church History 4.26.13–14

So I went to the East, to the place where these things were preached and done. When I had learned exactly the books of the Old Covenant, I set them down and send them to you. Their names are these. Five of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy. Joshua son of Nun, Judges, Ruth. Four of Kingdoms, two of Chronicles. The Psalms of David. Solomon's Proverbs, which is also called Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job. The prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Twelve in one book, Daniel, Ezekiel. Ezra.

The oldest Christian list of Old Testament books. Melito travelled to Palestine to find out which books the Jews used. Esther is missing. "Wisdom" here is a second name for Proverbs, not the Wisdom of Solomon.

Full English of this work is being translated

235c. AD

Hebrew books onlyKnown through a later writer

Origen of Alexandria c. 185–c. 254 ADCommentary on Psalm 1, preserved in Eusebius, Church History 6.25.1–2

It should be known that the books of the covenant, as the Hebrews hand them down, are twenty-two, the number of letters in their alphabet. ... These are the twenty-two books according to the Hebrews: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua son of Nun, Judges and Ruth in one, First and Second Kingdoms in one, Third and Fourth Kingdoms in one, First and Second Chronicles in one, First and Second Ezra in one, the Psalms, Solomon's Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah with Lamentations and the Letter in one, Daniel, Ezekiel, Job, Esther. Outside these are the books of Maccabees.

Origen reports the Jewish list, with each book's Hebrew name (left out here). Twelve minor prophets are missing from the copy Eusebius gives, probably by a slip. Origen also read the extra Greek books as Scripture: see his letter to Africanus.

Full English of this work is being translated

240c. AD

Wider canon

Origen of Alexandria c. 185–c. 254 ADLetter to Africanus 2, 7

Consider what we ought to do, not only about the story of Susanna, which is read in the Greek in every church of Christ but is not found among the Hebrews ... Look at this, and see whether it would not be good to remember the saying: "You shall not move the ancient boundary stones that those before you set" (Proverbs 22:28).

Julius Africanus argued that Susanna was a late Greek forgery. Origen answers that the churches' Greek Bible, with Susanna and Bel and the Dragon, is the Bible God gave them, and should not be swapped for the Jewish copies, even though he studied those copies closely.

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240c. AD

Wider canon

Origen of Alexandria c. 185–c. 254 ADLetter to Africanus 6

Is it time, then, if such things do not escape us, to set aside the copies in use in the churches, and to lay down the law for the brotherhood that they should put away the sacred books they carry about with them, and flatter the Jews and persuade them to share with us their pure copies, which have no forgery in them?

The rhetorical question at the heart of the letter. Origen has just catalogued how the churches' copies differ from the Hebrew in Daniel, Job, Jeremiah and Genesis, and his answer is no: Providence, which gave the holy Scriptures for the building up of all Christ's churches, did not forget those bought at a price. The next sentence quotes Proverbs 22:28 (see origen-africanus). The library's working Greek skips these lines; the text here is the Migne print (PG 11.57-60), fetched as a witness.

Full English of this work is being translated · Source text

249c. AD

Wider canonIndirect: does not say it outright

Cyprian of Carthage c. 200–258 ADTestimonies to Quirinus 3.15

Again in Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God tests you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul" (Deuteronomy 13:3). Again in the Wisdom of Solomon: "Though they suffered torments in the sight of men, their hope is full of immortality. Having been troubled a little, they will be greatly rewarded, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself. Like gold in the furnace he tried them" (Wisdom 3:4–6).

Cyprian's Testimonies is a handbook of proof texts. He gives Wisdom the same "again in" as Deuteronomy, and quotes Tobit and Sirach the same way elsewhere. He makes no list, so this shows his use, not a ruling.

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Nicaea to Chalcedon

325–451

363c. AD

Hebrew books only

Council of LaodiceaCanons 59–60

Psalms composed by private persons must not be read in the church, nor books outside the canon, but only the canonical books of the New and Old Covenant. These are the books of the Old Covenant that are to be read: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua son of Nun, Judges and Ruth, Esther, First and Second Kingdoms, Third and Fourth Kingdoms, First and Second Chronicles, First and Second Ezra, the Book of 150 Psalms, Solomon's Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the Twelve Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Baruch, Lamentations and the letters, Ezekiel, Daniel.

A local council in Asia Minor. The list in canon 60 keeps to the Hebrew books, with Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah joined to Jeremiah. Some old manuscripts and translations lack canon 60, so it may have been added later.

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365c. AD

Hebrew books only

Hilary of Poitiers fl. c. 350–368 ADInstructions on the Psalms Prologue 15

This is why the law of the Old Testament is counted as twenty-two books: to agree with the number of letters. Following the tradition of the ancients they are counted so: five books of Moses, Joshua son of Nun the sixth, Judges and Ruth the seventh, First and Second Kingdoms the eighth, Third and Fourth the ninth, the two of Chronicles the tenth, the words of the days of Ezra the eleventh, the Psalms the twelfth, Solomon's Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs the thirteenth to fifteenth, the twelve minor prophets the sixteenth, and then Isaiah, Jeremiah with Lamentations and the Letter, Daniel, Ezekiel, Job and Esther complete the twenty-two. Some have chosen to add Tobit and Judith and count twenty-four books, after the number of Greek letters.

Hilary follows Origen closely here. He reports the alternative count with Tobit and Judith without ruling on it.

Full English of this work is being translated

375c. AD

Read, not for doctrine

Epiphanius of Salamis c. 310/320–403 ADOn Weights and Measures 4-5

And so the twenty-two books were completed, matching the number of the twenty-two letters among the Hebrews. ... The two books in verse, Solomon's, called the Panaretos (the All-Virtuous), and the book of Jesus son of Sirach... these are useful and beneficial, but they are not counted in the number of the spoken books. For that reason they were not placed in the ark either, that is, in the ark of the covenant.

Epiphanius counts the Old Testament in four sets of five plus Ezra and Esther: twenty-two books for the twenty-two Hebrew letters. Wisdom (Solomon's Panaretos, that is, the book of Proverbs-like sayings gathered as Wisdom) and Sirach stand outside the count: useful and beneficial, but not in the ark. He says the same in the Panarion (8.6). The text is Migne PG 43, fetched as a witness; the Panarion witness in the store covers PG 41-42 and does not include this work.

Full English of this work is being translated · Source text

385c. AD

Hebrew books only

Gregory of Nazianzus c. 329/330–390 ADPoems on Doctrine 1.1.12, On the Genuine Books of Scripture lines 5–30

First Genesis, then Exodus and Leviticus; then Numbers, then the Second Law. Then Joshua and Judges; Ruth is eighth. The ninth and tenth books are the Acts of the Kings, and Chronicles. Last you have Ezra. The books in verse are five: Job first, then David, then three of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song and Proverbs. And five likewise of the prophetic Spirit: the Twelve make one book, ... Isaiah the second, then Jeremiah, called from the womb, then Ezekiel, and the grace of Daniel. I have set down twenty-two ancient books, to match the letters of the Hebrews.

A verse list to help readers remember. Like Melito, Gregory leaves out Esther, and he names none of the extra Greek books.

Full English of this work is being translated

391c. AD

Hebrew books only

Jerome c. 340/345–420 ADPreface to Samuel and Kings (the "Helmeted Prologue") end

This prologue can stand like a helmet at the head of all the books I have translated from Hebrew into Latin, so that we may know that whatever is outside these must be set aside among the apocrypha. So the Wisdom commonly called Solomon's, the book of Jesus son of Sirach, Judith, Tobit and the Shepherd are not in the canon. The first book of Maccabees I found in Hebrew; the second is Greek, as its very style proves.

Jerome learned Hebrew in Bethlehem and translated the Old Testament from it. He still translated Tobit and Judith later, at friends' request.

Full English of this work is being translated

397c. AD

Wider canon

Augustine of Hippo 354–430 ADOn Christian Teaching 2.8.13

The whole canon of the Scriptures is contained in these books: five of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four of Kingdoms and two of Chronicles. There are others of a different order: Job, Tobit, Esther, Judith, the two books of Maccabees and the two of Ezra. Then the prophets: David's one book of Psalms, and three of Solomon. As for the two books called Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, they are said to be Solomon's because they are like his. ... Since they have been counted worthy to be received into authority, they are to be numbered among the prophetic books.

Augustine counts forty-four Old Testament books, the list the North African councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) also gave. The omitted lines, which name the prophets, are left out here for length.

Full English of this work is being translated

398c. AD

Read, not for doctrine

Jerome c. 340/345–420 ADPreface to the Books of Solomon Preface

The Church reads Judith, Tobit and the books of Maccabees, but does not receive them among the canonical Scriptures. In the same way let it read these two volumes [Wisdom and Sirach] for the building up of the people, not to confirm the authority of the Church's teachings.

This sentence is the source of the Anglican rule. Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles quotes Jerome by name.

Full English of this work is being translated

404c. AD

Read, not for doctrine

Rufinus of Aquileia c. 345–411 ADCommentary on the Apostles' Creed 38

It should be known, though, that there are other books, which our forebears called not canonical but ecclesiastical: the Wisdom said to be Solomon's, and the other Wisdom, of the son of Sirach, which the Latins call Ecclesiasticus, a name that marks what kind of writing it is, not who wrote it. Of the same order are Tobit and Judith and the books of Maccabees. ... They wanted all these read in the churches, but not brought forward to confirm the authority of the faith. The other writings they named apocrypha, and these they did not want read in the churches. This is what the Fathers handed down to us.

Rufinus names three tiers: canonical books, "ecclesiastical" books read in church, and apocrypha not read at all.

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Reformation

1500–1700

1546AD

Wider canon

Council of Trent (Catholic)Session 4 Decree on the Canonical Scriptures

Tobias, Judith, Esther, Job, the Davidical Psalter, consisting of a hundred and fifty psalms; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus

Trent defines the forty-six-book Old Testament for Catholics, including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and First and Second Maccabees. The Orthodox (Jerusalem, 1672) and the Ethiopian church (81 books in all) keep a wider canon too.

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1571AD

Read, not for doctrine

Thirty-Nine Articles (Anglican)Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion Article VI

And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine

"Hierome" is Jerome. Luther's Bible of 1534 also printed these books between the Testaments, as "not equal to Holy Scripture, yet useful and good to read."

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1646AD

Hebrew books only

Westminster Confession (Reformed)Westminster Confession of Faith 1.3

The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture

Reformed, Presbyterian and most Baptist and evangelical churches hold the thirty-nine-book Old Testament, the same books as the Hebrew Bible.

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Witnesses not in the library yet

These writers also matter for this question. Their texts will join the timeline above once they are translated.

367
Athanasius of Alexandria, Festal Letter 39
The best-known early list: the Hebrew books plus Baruch, with Wisdom, Sirach, Esther, Judith and Tobit "not canonized but appointed to be read" by new believers. Survives in Greek fragments and in Coptic.
350
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 4.33–36
Gives the twenty-two books and tells catechumens to read nothing of the apocrypha.
397
Council of Carthage (397) / Hippo (393), Canon on the Scriptures
The African list that matches Augustine's forty-four books.
394
Amphilochius of Iconium, Iambics to Seleucus
A verse list that notes some add Esther.
740
John of Damascus, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.17
The twenty-two books; Wisdom and Sirach "noble and good, but not counted".
240
Origen of Alexandria, Letter to Africanus 4-6

How this page was made

Every early quote was read in its Greek or Latin and translated for this page by Claude (Opus 5.5) on 13 October 2026. Each line names the printed edition it was read from. A quote marked indirect does not state the answer outright; read its note. A writer's silence is never counted as an answer.