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The Apocrypha (1769)

The Apocrypha is the collection of books and additions printed between the Old and New Testaments in the 1611 King James Bible under the heading “The Books called Apocrypha.” This page presents the traditional KJV collection in standardized 1769 wording rather than a modern translation.1 These writings remained part of the biblical world inherited by early English-speaking Americans even where they were not granted the same canonical status as the Old and New Testaments.

Why this matters to Mormonism: The Apocrypha entered Mormon history directly. While Joseph Smith was working on his revision of the Bible in 1833, he asked whether he should also translate the Apocrypha. The response now published as Doctrine and Covenants 91 said a separate translation was unnecessary and described the collection as containing both true material and interpolations, with spiritual discernment required. The Apocrypha also mattered in the wider biblical culture surrounding early Mormonism. Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews, for example, cites 2 Esdras while developing its argument about the lost tribes of Israel and the Americas.

For related discussions of biblical and extra-biblical language in early Mormon scripture, see Common Book of Mormon Criticisms. The Common Old Testament Criticisms page covers many of the textual, historical, and interpretive questions that also arise when ancient Jewish writings are evaluated.

The Apocrypha

King James Version

Sources

  1. eBible.org, King James Version + Apocrypha, standardized 1769 text, current source files dated August 19, 2026.
  2. GetBible, current translation metadata and JSON API V2 documentation, KJVA distribution version 3.1, source fingerprint 615f7414236a3695ec20e95c3244e08a9c018725, CrossWire source.
  3. CrossWire Bible Society, CrossWire KJV project documentation and KJVA module information, documenting the 1769 Oxford reference basis, verification history, KJVA 3.1, and known deuterocanonical audit items.

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