Jerome and the Apocrypha

Jerome was already fluent in Greek and Latin, but to learn Hebrew he went to the source: Jewish teachers who taught him to read ancient Hebrew and Aramaic.  He learned it well, as he always did, but this connection to the Jews made some Christians suspicious of his translations; the more so since many believed that the LXX itself was inspired by God.

As Jerome sought out the most ancient Hebrew manuscripts, he made a startling discovery: not all of the LXX's Old Testament was actually from Hebrew sources.  He noted,

"I have found the first book of Maccabees in Hebrew, the second is in Greek, as may be proved from the language itself.” (Preface to Samuel and Kings, aka The Helmeted Preface)  Likewise, “The [Wisdom of Solomon] is nowhere found among the Hebrews; its very style smacks of Greek eloquence, and several ancient writers affirm it to be the work of Philo the Jew." (Prologue to the Books of Solomon)

He therefore concluded,

“What ever falls outside these must be set apart among the Apocrphyca.  Therefore Wisdom, which is commonly entitled Solomon’s, with the book of Jesus the son of Sirach, Judith, Tobias and the Shepherd [of Hermas] are not in the canon." (Helmeted Preface)  

It was Jerome who named these books the Apocryphya ("Hidden") and set them apart from the rest of the Old Testament.