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  • pseudepigrapha
    pseudepigrapha
    noun
    certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character.
  • Pseudepigrapha
    Pseudepigrapha
    plural noun
    various Jewish writings from the first century bc to the first century ad that claim to have been divinely revealed but which have been excluded from the Greek canon of the Old Testament

pseudepigrapha

American  
[soo-duh-pig-ruh-fuh] / ˌsu dəˈpɪg rə fə /

noun

(used with a plural verb)
  1. certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character.


Pseudepigrapha British  
/ ˌsjuːdɛpɪˈɡræfɪk, ˌsjuːdɪˈpɪɡrəfə /

plural noun

  1. Also called (in the Roman Catholic Church): Apocrypha.  various Jewish writings from the first century bc to the first century ad that claim to have been divinely revealed but which have been excluded from the Greek canon of the Old Testament

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of pseudepigrapha

1685–95; < New Latin < Greek, neuter plural of pseudepíigraphos falsely inscribed, bearing a false title. See pseud-, epigraph, -ous

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Dr. Charles Francis Potter, Manhattan Humanist and Bible expert, has worked for years, will work for years more, on a psychological study of Jesus in which the pseudepigrapha will figure.

From Time Magazine Archive

The only essential difference is that the Midrashic form prevails in the Haggadah, and the parenetic or apocalyptic form in the pseudepigrapha.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

The pseudepigrapha originated in circles that harbored the germs from which Christianity developed later on.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

The use of these pseudepigrapha requires great caution.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

However, in the appreciation of Jewish Legends, it is the Rabbinic writers that should form the point of departure, and not the pseudepigrapha.

From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Szold, Henrietta

He gathered a team of 20 scholars, got a grant from Manhattan's Littauer Foundation, and began translating into English the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha, a series of ancient noncanonical writings closely connected to the Bible.

From Time Magazine Archive

The "Pseudepigrapha" is a collection of historical biblical works that are considered to be fiction.

From First Book of Adam and Eve by Platt, Rutherford Hayes

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