Apokryyfeihin

Apokryyfeihin is a Finnish term used in religious studies to denote a corpus of apocryphal writings associated with Judaism and early Christianity. These texts are not part of the canonical Hebrew Bible or New Testament but were circulated in antiquity and preserved in various manuscript traditions. The term is used in scholarly Finnish to refer to non‑canonical writings collectively, sometimes subdivided into Jewish pseudepigrapha and Christian apocrypha.

Etymology and usage: The word derives from the root apokryyfe- combined with Finnish inflection, and is used to identify writings outside the biblical canons. The precise spelling and scope vary by source, but apokryyfeihin commonly denotes the wider apocryphal literature rather than a single text.

Contents and examples: The apokryyfeihin include pseudepigraphic works such as 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, as well as New Testament apocrypha such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. They cover creation, angels, legends about biblical figures, and early church controversies.

Manuscripts and transmission: Many apocryphal texts survive in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Ge’ez, Armenian, and Ethiopian manuscripts, with translations in other languages. They were produced and circulated from the Hellenistic period to late antiquity, with dates ranging roughly from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE for some works.

Canonical status and scholarly use: These writings are generally not considered canonical by major religious communities, though some are recognized as deuterocanonical in certain traditions. They are studied for historical context, literary forms, theological ideas, and the development of early Christian and Jewish thought.

See also: apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, deuterocanonical books, biblical canon.