Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon

The Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon is a version of the Christian Bible used in the two Oriental Orthodox churches of the Ethiopian and Eritrean traditions: the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. At 81 books, it is the largest and most diverse biblical canon in traditional Christendom.

Western scholars have classified the books of the canon into two categories — the narrower canon, which consists mostly of books familiar to the West, and the broader canon, which includes nine additional books.

It is not known to exist at this time as one published compilation. Some books, though considered canonical, are nonetheless difficult to locate and are not even widely available in the churches' home countries of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Narrower biblical canon

Old Testament

The Orthodox Tewahedo narrower Old Testament canon contains the entire established Hebrew protocanon. Moreover, with the exception of the first two books of Maccabees, the Orthodox Tewahedo canon also contains the entire Catholic deuterocanon. In addition to this, the Orthodox Tewahedo Old Testament includes the Prayer of Manasseh, 3 Ezra, and 4 Ezra, which also appear in the canons of other Christian traditions. Unique to the Orthodox Tewahedo canon are the Paralipomena of Jeremiah (4 Baruch), Jubilees, Enoch, and the three books of Meqabyan.

The books of Lamentations, Jeremiah, and Baruch, as well as the Letter of Jeremiah and 4 Baruch, are all considered canonical by the Orthodox Tewahedo churches. Additionally, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Books of Ethiopian Maccabees are also part of the canon; while they share a common name they are completely different from the books of Maccabees that are known or have been canonized in other traditions. Finally, within the Orthodox Tewahedo tradition, 3 Ezra is called Second Ezra, 4 Ezra is called Ezra Sutu'el, and the Prayer of Manasseh is incorporated into the Second Book of Chronicles.

New Testament

The Orthodox Tewahedo narrower New Testament canon consists of the entire 27 book Christian protocanon, which is almost universally accepted across Christendom.

Broader biblical canon

Ethiopian Orthodox monk from Debre Damo Monastery with an illuminated Bible

Ethiopic Didascalia

The Ethiopic Didascalia, or Didesqelya, is a book of Church order in 43 chapters, distinct from the Didascalia Apostolorum, but similar to books I–VII of the Apostolic Constitutions, where it most likely originates.

Translation into English

There is a project underway to translate the complete Ethiopian canon into English for the benefit of Ethiopian expatriates.

List of books in the Orthodox Tewahedo Bible

Old Testament

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Ruth
9. I and II Samuel
10. I and II Kings
11. I Chronicles
12. II Chronicles (incl. the Prayer of Manasseh)
13. Jubilees
14. Enoch
15. I Ezra
16. II Ezra
17. Ezra Sutuel
18. Tobit
19. Judith
20. Esther
21. I, II and III Meqabyan (Similarly named, but not the same as the four Greek Books of the Maccabees)
22. Job
23. Psalms
24. Messalë (Proverbs ch 1–24)
25. Tägsas (Proverbs ch 25–31)
26. Wisdom of Solomon
27. Ecclesiastes
28. Song of Songs
29. Isaiah
30. Jeremiah (incl. Lamentations, Letter of Jeremiah, Baruch and 4 Baruch)
31. Ezekiel
32. Daniel
33. Hosea
34. Amos
35. Micah
36. Joel
37. Obadiah
38. Jonah
39. Nahum (or Nahium)
40. Habakkuk
41. Zephaniah
42. Haggai
43. Zechariah
44. Malachi
45. Sirach
46. Josippon

New Testament

1. Matthew
2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John
5. Acts
6. Romans
7. I Corinthians
8. II Corinthians
9. Galatians
10. Ephesians
11. Philippians
12. Colossians
13. I Thessalonians
14. II Thessalonians
15. I Timothy
16. II Timothy
17. Titus
18. Philemon
19. Hebrews
20. I Peter
21. II Peter
22. I John
23. II John
24. III John
25. James
26. Jude
27. Revelation
28. Sinodos
    • Ser`atä Seyon (30 canons)
    • Te'ezaz (71 canons)
    • Gessew (56 canons)
    • Abtelis (81 canons)
29. I-II Covenant
30. Ethiopic Clement
31. Ethiopic Didascalia

Further reading

• Curtin, D.P., ed. (2018). First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Press.
• Harden, J.M., ed. (1920). The Ethiopian Didascalia.
• Mikre-Sellassie, Gebre-Amanuel (1993). "The Bible and Its Canon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church". The Bible Translator. 44 (1): 111–123. doi:10.1177/026009359304400102.
• Platt, Thomas Pell, ed. (1834). The Ethiopic Didascalia; or, the Ethiopic version of the Apostolical constitutions, received in the church of Abyssinia. London: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
• Wanger, Anke (2011), The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (PDF), Euclid University
• Baynes, Leslie (2012). "Enoch and Jubilees in the Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church". In F. Mason, Eric; Coblentz Bautch, Kelley; Kim Harkins, Angela; A. Machiela, Daniel (eds.). A Teacher for All Generations: Essays in Honor of James C. VanderKam (2 vol. set). Vol. 2. Leiden, Boston: BRILL. pp. 799–818 – via Academia.edu.

External links

• Biblia Aethiopica—August Dillmann et al online edition of the Ethiopic Bible
• The Official Web Site of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible Project
• What's in Your Bible?—a chart comparing Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Protestant canons (Bible Study Magazine Nov–Dec 08.)
• Contantinus Siamakis, Biblical Canon of the Orthodox Christian Church, Studies 1, 2008