Non-Canonical and Extra-Biblical Books and Letters Mentioned in the Bible

There are at least twenty-one extra-biblical books mentioned in the Bible. Each of these books may have been and probably were consulted by the Holy Spirit-inspired writers of the canonical books.  The Hebrews clearly had many other books than those included in the Bible. Some, such as the Book of Jasher, are mentioned in several verses.

"And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day." Joshua 10:13

"(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)" 2 Samuel 1:18

Jasher is not the name of a person. This is ספר הישר  Sefer (Book) Ha (the) Yashar (Upright, Correct, Just). The Latin Vulgate translates this as Book of the Just Ones while the Greek Septuagint translates the Hebrew as Book of the Upright.

This lost book was probably a collection of songs and poems about Hebrew battles and heroes. There are several books of Jasher which were composed much later than the biblical period and which are not the book mentioned in the Bible.

1. Sefer HaYashar: A collection of rabbinical theological writings which makes no claim to be the original book.
2. Pseudo-Jasher: ca 1625, a collection of Jewish legends.
3. Book of Jasher: 18th century. Claims to be a translation of the original book but most scholars consider this book to be an eighteenth century forgery.

Book Comment: In the beginnning

“The very first story in the Bible tells us that God made the world and everything in it. … our world did not simply begin by accident.”

In the beginning  (1984) is book number one in the Lion Story Bible (Lion Publishing plc, Oxford, England), It is a paraphrase suitable for elementary school aged children.  The book emphasizes God’s delight in the world which He created.  The gentle text of the book feels like a prose poem.

Here is a sample from the beautiful illustrations by Tony Morris.

Read this book to a child or, better yet, let those on a late second grade or early third grade reading level read it for themselves.

“That’s good,” said God.

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I believe that the illustration snippet above is a "fair use" of the artwork for the purposes of this blog post. If it is not, I will immediately remove the illustration upon notification.

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem intentionally built by the author. This is an ancient Hebrew literary form which is not evident in translation.  The poem is built on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in alphabetical order.



Verses 1 - 8 all begin with the letter Aleph.

Verses 9 - 16 all begin with the letter Beth.

Verses 17 - 24 all begin with the letter Gimel.

Verses 25 - 32 all begin with the letter Daleth.

Verses 33 -40 all begin with the letter He.

Verses 41 - 48 all begin with the letter Waw.

Verses 49 - 56 all begin with the letter Zayin.

Verses 57 - 64 all begin with the letter Heth.

Verses 65 - 72 all begin with the letter Teth.

Verses 73 - 80 all begin with the letter Yodh.

Verses 81 - 88 all begin with the letter Kaph.

Verses 89 - 96 all begin with the letter Lamedh.

Verses 97 - 104 all begin with the letter Mem.

Verses 105 - 112 all begin with the letter Nun.

Verses 113 - 120 all begin with the letter Samekh.

Verses 121 - 128 all begin with the letter Ayin.

Verses 129 - 136 all begin with the letter Pe.

Verses 137 - 144 all begin with the letter Tsadhe.

Verses 145 - 152 all begin with the letter Qoph.

Verses 153 - 160 all begin with the letter Resh.

Verses 161 - 168 all begin with the letter Sin/Shin.

Verses 169 - 176 all begin with the letter Taw.