What are the deuterocanonical books?
"Deuterocanonical" (literally "second canon") refers to OT books — Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel — accepted by Catholic and Orthodox traditions but not by Protestants, who call them the Apocrypha.
These books were written between the testaments (roughly 300 BC – AD 100) and reflect Second Temple Jewish piety. They appear in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew canon used by Jesus and the apostles.
Protestants follow the Jewish canon (and the early church usage that distinguished these books): they are useful for historical reading but not authoritative for doctrine.
Catholics and Orthodox accept them as Scripture (with some differences in the Orthodox list). The Reformation reaffirmed the Protestant position; the Council of Trent (1546) reaffirmed the Catholic position.
Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.