The Ethiopian Bible is the Bible used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, one of the oldest continuous biblical traditions in Christianity, rooted in the ancient Ge’ez language tradition. It contains 81 books, the most of any major denominational Christian Bible — 15 books more than Protestant Bibles and 8 more than Catholic Bibles.
Its long history and difference from Western Bibles make the Ethiopian Bible especially intriguing to many Christians (and non-Christians) today. And for good reason: Ethiopian Christianity has a fascinating history and valuable testimony to contribute to the wider Christian world.
However, misinformation can also arise, including claims that the Ethiopian Bible represents a “secret” or even “original” Bible. Neither of these are true.
In this article, I will explain what the Ethiopian Bible is, how it came to be, how it differs from our Western Bibles, and why these differences arose. I’ll also discuss the additional books it includes and where curious readers can find them in English. And I will dispense with some of the erroneous claims that float around online about all of these topics.
What Is the Ethiopian Bible?
The Ethiopian Bible refers to the canon used by the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, an autocephalous (or independent) Orthodox Church not affiliated with Eastern Orthodoxy. It is often described as the broadest canon in Christendom, typically counted as 81 books — although they are counted somewhat differently than in English Bibles. (A “canon” is an official list of books approved as Scripture by church authorities.)
It’s not only extra books, though. Translated into the ancient Ge’ez language in the first centuries after Christ, the Ethiopian Bible preserves a close but slightly different manuscript transmission than Western Bibles.
A Brief History of the Ethiopian Bible and Church
Ethiopia is one of the oldest continually Christian regions of the world. It’s said to have been first evangelized by Matthew and Bartholomew — two of the twelve apostles — shortly after Pentecost, with the eunuch of Acts 8:27–39 named as the first Ethiopian convert.
Evangelism continued until the early 4th century AD, when King Ezana was baptized into the faith and made Christianity the official state religion — about 50 years before the Edict of Thessalonica did the same for Rome in 380 AD.
The Birth of the Ethiopian Bible
At that time most of the Scriptures were still read in Greek — including the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, and the New Testament, which was written in Greek. So work soon began on translating all of those books into the Ethiopian language of Ge’ez.
Today, most scholars believe the Ethiopian canon was finalized sometime around the 5th or 6th century AD. That translation has remained the official liturgical Bible of the Ethiopian church ever since.
The Separation of the Western and Ethiopian Churches
The Western and Ethiopian churches experienced a major schism during the Christological controversy of 451 AD, when the Council of Chalcedon declared that Jesus Christ had two separate natures, human and divine, united in his person. The Ethiopian church (together with other Oriental Orthodox churches) disagreed, arguing that he had only one, inseparable human-and-divine nature.
In other words, both sides agreed Jesus was human and God, they just disagreed on how he was human and God.
To many of us today, that might seem like hair-splitting, or at least an insufficient reason to excommunicate each other and never speak again! But, unfortunately, it’s exactly the sort of issue that has led to many, many divisions in the Christian church throughout its history.
And, because the churches were no longer communicating, it enabled them to decide separately what the final canon ought to be. Of course, they agreed on all the core books — everything in Protestant and Catholic Bibles today — but not on some of the other antilegomena, or disputed books of the time.
The Ethiopian Church Today
The Ethiopian and Western churches were completely cut off from one another for over a thousand years. Finally, in the 15th-16th centuries, the first few efforts were made to resume dialogue — mostly unsuccessfully.
It wasn’t really until the 20th century that conversations between these estranged churches began resuming, especially following Vatican II and with the rise of evangelical missionary movements in the latter half of the 1900s. Still, many tensions remain.
Remarkably, despite enduring periodic persecution over the centuries, Ethiopia remained majority Christian, even as many of its neighbors fell to Islam. Today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church makes up about 43% of Ethiopia’s population — over 35 million people, with many more adherents worldwide.
How Many Books Are in the Ethiopian Bible?
There are 81 books in Ethiopian Bibles, compared to 66 in Protestant Bibles, 73 in Catholic Bibles, and about 76 in Eastern Orthodox Bibles.
A few of these books — five, to be exact — have come to called the “broader canon.” These books are understood to inform doctrine, but are not used in worship — sort of how the Apocrypha are understood in Lutheran and Anglican tradition. Some of these additional books are hard to find, even in Ethiopia.
Complete List of Books in the Ethiopian Bible
The Ethiopian Bible contains all 66 books included in every Protestant Bible, in the same order. This includes the 39 Old Testament books from Genesis to Malachi, and the 27 New Testament books from Matthew to Revelation. It also has the Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, plus a few more, mixed in throughout the Old Testament.
Here is a complete, annotated list of the books in the Ethiopian Bible. Books also in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles are in bold, while books unique to the Ethiopian Bible are bold and highlighted.
The Old Testament
- Genesis through 2 Kings (same across all traditions)
- 1 & 2 Chronicles (with Prayer of Menasseh, also in Orthodox Bibles)
- Jubilees (unique to Ethiopian)
- Enoch (unique to Ethiopian)
- 1 Ezra (same as Ezra-Nehemiah in Protestant/Catholic Bibles)
- 2 Ezra (same as 1 Esdras in Orthodox Bibles)
- 3 Ezra (same as 3 Esdras in some Orthodox Bibles)
- Tobit (also in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles)
- Judith (also in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles)
- Esther
- 1, 2, & 3 Meqabyan (unique to Ethiopian, not the same as 1-3 Maccabees in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles)
- Job
- Psalms (with Psalm 151, also in Orthodox Bibles)
- Messale (Proverbs 1-24) & Tagsas (Proverbs 35-31)
- Wisdom of Solomon (also in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles)
- Ecclesiastes
- Song of Songs
- Sirach (also in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles)
- Isaiah
- Jeremiah (with Lamentations; with Baruch & Letter of Jeremiah, also in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles; and with 4 Baruch, unique to Ethiopian)
- Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets
The New Testament
The New Testament books are the same across all biblical traditions.
The ‘Broader Canon’
The remaining books in the Ethiopian Bible are not found anywhere else. Indeed, they are rarely used and difficult to obtain even in Ethiopia, but the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church lists them as part of its “broader canon.”
- Josippon
- Sinodos (with Ser’ata Seyon, Te’ezaz, Gessew, and Abtelis)
- 1 & 2 Dominos
- Ethiopic Clement
- Didascalia
Ethiopian Bibles vs. Western Bibles Compared
Perhaps the easiest way to think about the difference between the various types of Bibles is this:
- Protestant Bibles have the narrowest canon, with the same 39 Old Testament books used by Jews, and the 27 New Testament books.
- Catholic Bibles include all of those books, plus an additional 7 Old Testament books, for a total of 46, along with additions to Esther and Daniel.
- Eastern Orthodox Bibles include all of those books, plus an additional 3 Old Testament books, for a total of 49, along with the Prayer of Menasseh and Psalm 151.
- Ethiopian Orthodox Bibles include all of those books, minus 1-3 Maccabees, plus an additional 5 Old Testament books. They count books differently, however (such as combining 1 & 2 Kings and splitting Proverbs into two books), ending with a total of 45. Plus, the broader canon includes an additional 9 books, for a grand total of 81.
Which Ethiopian Bible Books Are Not in Western Bibles?
There are six books in the Ethiopian Bible’s narrower canon that do not appear in other biblical canons: Enoch, Jubilees, 1-3 Megabyan, and 4 Baruch. Then, there are nine more in the broader canon.
The Book of Enoch
For most westerners, the book of Enoch is the best-known and most-discussed book unique to the Ethiopian Bible. In this book, Enoch, one of the patriarchs from Genesis, describes the fall of the angels and their coupling with human women, ultimately producing the Nephilim.
Though not canonical in Protestant, Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox traditions, Enoch was quite popular before and during the time of Jesus. In fact, Jude quotes it directly as Scripture — though only briefly, in verses 14-15.
Despite its influence on some of the New Testament writers, both the Jewish rabbis and early Christian councils ultimately determined Enoch, although containing some truthful elements, could not be considered God’s inspired Word. It’s not known why Ethiopian Orthodox authorities disagreed with that consensus.
Jubilees
Jubilees is another major book recognized in the Ethiopian canon but excluded from Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox canons. It retells the stories of Genesis and Exodus with additional details, based around a structured sacred calendar of 49-year intervals, or jubilees.
Like Enoch, it is helpful for understanding Second Temple Jewish thought. But also like Enoch, Western churches followed the Jewish rabbis in asserting it was not the Word of God.
Meqabyan
The three books of Meqabyan are a curious case, because they are not the same as the books of Maccabees included in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles. The books of Meqabyan do not cover the actual history of the Maccabees but focus on more general themes of righteous heroes resisting idolatrous pagan kings, and provide broader commentary on salvation and punishment across the biblical timeline.
These books are difficult to find in English; 3 Meqabyan in particular has never been translated.
Fourth Baruch
Also known in Greek as the Paralipomena of Jeremiah, 4 Baruch is believed by most Jews and Christians to be a later pseudepigraphal work attributed to Jeremiah. But the Ethiopian version is instead attributed to Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe (see Jer. 36:1-4).
Fourth Baruch tells a fable-like story involving Ebed-Melek the Cushite (i.e., Ethiopian) palace official from Jeremiah 38:7-13, in which he falls asleep for 66 years before announcing the end of the exile to Jeremiah in Babylon.
The Broader Canon
The broader canon of the Ethiopian Bible includes nine books not found elsewhere, four of which are often combined into one:
- Josippon: A Medieval-period Jewish history.
- Sinodos (incl. Ser’ata Seyon, Te’ezaz, Gessew, and Abtelis): Quotes and sayings of the apostles.
- 1 & 2 Dominos: Ancient liturgical instructions.
- Ethiopic Clement: Not the same as either Epistle of Clement known to the early Greek church; said to have been written by Peter.
- Didascalia: Further liturgical instructions.
Where Can you Read the Ethiopian Bible in English?
Unfortunately, no complete Ethiopian Bible currently exists in English. The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible Project (EOBP) is gradually working on a full translation from Ge’ez and Amharic, but it’s a huge undertaking and may be several more years before it releases.
The EOBP has warned consumers to be wary of “complete Ethiopian Bibles” sold online, as they do not actually contain the complete canon listed above. Indeed, one popular example claims to include all Apocryphal books and commentary … in only 81 pages! If you’ve ever seen a Bible (and you know now that the Ethiopian Bible is longer than Western Bibles), you know how implausible that is.
Of course, the core 66 books are in every English Bible version, whether NIV, KJV/NKJV, ESV, NRSVue, NASB, NLT, and so on. And most of the other books (Apocrypha) are in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. It’s likely that there are variations between the Western and Ethiopian text of these books, just as there are between the Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament used in Protestant and Catholic Bible translations, and the Greek Septuagint used by Eastern Orthodox churches. But until they are translated directly from the Ge’ez version, we can’t know for sure.
Where to Find Enoch and Other Ethiopian Bible Apocrypha in English
Although there is no complete Ethiopian Bible available in English, most of the additional books are available individually in English, though they can be hard to find. These translations are generally by scholars or aficionados, not by Ethiopian Christians.
Enoch
Enoch is the easiest Ethiopian book to find, as it is attested in a few Greek manuscripts and other languages in addition to the Ge’ez, and has held a longstanding fascination among both conspiracy-minded occultists and serious Bible scholars, though for different reasons.
The first complete English edition of Enoch was publishing in 1812 by Richard Laurence and is now public domain. Many other public-domain versions have followed, of varying quality.
Today, the best, most complete, and most accurate translation of Enoch is 1 Enoch: The Hermeneia Translation by Dr. George W. E. Nickelsburg and Dr. James C. VanderKam.
Jubilees
The book of Jubilees has also had many English versions, especially after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed 15 Hebrew manuscripts of it — one of the highest of any book in the collection. The best complete English version of Jubilees is Jubilees: The Hermeneia Translation by Dr. James C. VanderKam.
1-3 Meqabyan
Unlike Enoch and Jubilees, the books of Meqabyan are very hard to find in English. They were written in Ge’ez (rather than translated from Greek or Hebrew) and have only recently received any attention from Western Christians and scholars.
In fact, there is only one* English translation of 1 and 2 Meqabyan, and none of 3 Meqabyan, though the translator of the first two books is presumably at work on the third:
- First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees, trans. D.P. Curtin
- Second Book of Ethiopian Maccabees, trans. D.P. Curtin
*Technically two, but one of them is in Rastafarian dialect.
Fourth Baruch
Fourth Baruch, also known in Greek as the Paralipomena of Jeremiah, is available in two English translations. A public domain version is available online for free, while a more comprehensive edition was published by the Society of Biblical Literature. Both are from the Greek text, though, which may differ from the Ethiopian version.
The Broader Canon
Only a few of the books from the broader canon have been translated into English. The EOBP hosts a listing of where you can find them.
Is the Ethiopian Bible Christian?
Yes, the Ethiopian Bible is used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which is a Christian liturgical tradition that traces its roots back to the time of the apostles.
However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church differs radically on certain points of doctrine compared to most Western churches — even more so than the differences between Catholic and Protestant churches.
And, remember that the additional books in the Ethiopian Bible were rejected by both Jewish and Christian authorities as not being the inspired Word of God.
But that does not mean these books were “lost” or “buried” in the West.
Books like Enoch and Jubilees were generally not themselves regarded as heretical by early church authorities — though they came to inspire various streams of thought that were heretical. Instead, after careful study, rabbinical and church authorities determined that they were unlikely to have been actually written by Enoch or another patriarch or inspired author, and therefore could not be included in the canon of Scripture. So, over time, they fell out of use.
Why the Ethiopian Bible Matters for Christians Today
The Ethiopian Bible represents a parallel but distinct scriptural tradition from the one that emerged in the West through the Orthodox, Catholic, and eventually Protestant churches. While it overall shares far more in common with Western Christianity than it has differences, Ethiopian Christianity contains enough unique features to remain interesting to scholars, theologians, and other Christians who want to better understand the breadth of Christian thought and practice throughout history and around the world.
It can certainly be worthwhile to explore new ideas and see how other Christians practice and experience their faith — but always be careful that you’re doing so from a reputable, trustworthy source. Any time you find something outside of the core biblical canon you’re familiar with, always check it against the familiar Bible you know and trust. When in doubt, it’s best to consult with a trusted priest or pastor.
Learning more about our shared faith is never a bad thing, but you must avoid the temptation to wander away from the fold because something else seems more exotic or exciting. In the end, old forgotten books won’t save you — only Jesus will.
Want to go deeper into every book of the Bible — including the Apocrypha — right from your phone or computer? Bible Gateway Plus offers dozens of study Bibles, dictionaries, commentaries, and other resources to go deeper into every aspect of God’s Word. Start your free trial today!
Jacob Edson is Editorial Director of Bible Gateway. He holds a Master of Theological Studies in Early Christian Thought from Harvard Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Religious History from Memorial University of Newfoundland, though with most of his coursework from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. His work has previously appeared in Ekstasis and Geez Magazine. He lives with his wife and children in New England.
