[Heb-NACO] Jewish view of the Apocrypha

[Elhanan Adler]

Shalom all

I would like your input on the following idea - but first you need to forget your Christian-oriented cataloging rules which consider the Apocrypha (or at least various parts of it) to be canonized sacred scripture.

We are in the process of rewriting Israeli cataloging rules to adapt them to RDA. At the same time, we are also looking at adopting some rules which were already there in AACR, but never adopted in Israel (particularly regarding Jewish liturgy - but that is another story)

>From a purely Jewish point of view, there never was an official group of apocryphal books. When the Tanakh was officially 'closed' in Tannaitic times (and after some argument regarding Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs) various other books of the period were declared to be 'external books' (sefarim hitsoni'im) and some very strong statements were made against reading them. Most of these survived primarily because they were in the Greek Septuagint and became accepted as part of Christian Old Testament canon (although not all churches accepted the same books).

There are several collections of Jewish apocrypha in Hebrew but these are relatively recent attempts to translate back to Hebrew and group these works together, certainly not to 'canonize' the group.

Therefore, from a purely Jewish standpoint it seems to me that Apocrypha is similar to the Dead Sea Scrolls which consist of some titled works, some untitled fragments, and some collections from various works. What brings them together as 'Dead Sea Scrolls' is the fact that they were all found (presumably) in and around the Judean desert.

In RDA  this is a 'manuscript group' 6.2.2.7
6.2.2.7 Manuscripts and Manuscript Groups
For works contained in a manuscript or manuscripts (including manuscript groups), choose the preferred title by applying the instructions appropriate for the work at 6.2.2.4-6.2.2.6. If these instructions do not apply, choose one of these options as the preferred title (in this order of preference):

a)a title that has been assigned to the work subsequent to its creation or compilation
   EXAMPLE
Domesday book
Cancionero musical de palacio
Codex Amiatinus

   b)the name of the manuscript or manuscript group if the work is identified only by that name
   EXAMPLE
Book of Lismore
Dead Sea scrolls
Tell-el Amarna tablets

So a named work (e.g. Genesis Apocryphon) would stand alone under rule a, but a collection from various works would be 'Dead Sea Scrolls' under rule b

For Apocryphal works also it seems to me that individual titled works should be established under their own titles, and the heading Apocrypha should be used only for collections/selections from this literature.

Regarding apocryphal books RDA says:

RDA 6.23.2.6Apocryphal Books
An apocryphal book is one that is not included in the Catholic canon nor in the Protestant Apocrypha. Choose as the preferred title for an apocryphal book the title commonly found in sources in a language preferred by the agency creating the data.
   EXAMPLE
Book of Jubilees
Epistola Apostolorum
Gospel according to the Hebrews
   For compilations of apocryphal books, apply the instructions at 6.2.2.9.2.

Note that works which are not part of a 'canon' are to be entered under individual title. Since there is no Jewish Apocryphal canon, wouldn't it be correct from a purely Jewish outlook to enter each work (Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon, etc.) under its own title?

Comments welcome.

Best wishes


Elhanan

Elhanan Adler
Email: elhanana at savion.huji.ac.il
Mobile tel.: 972-54-6829657
Tel. (home) 972-2-6515977
Fax (home): 972-2-6517129

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