Which books in the Ethiopian canon are not included in the Orthodox Study Bible?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church possesses the broadest biblical canon in Christendom, consisting of 81 books. While the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) includes the 76 books shared by the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox families, it does not include several books found specifically in the Ethiopian tradition.

The following books are in the Ethiopian canon but not in the Orthodox Study Bible:

From the Old Testament

1. The Book of Enoch (Metsihafe Henok): This is perhaps the most famous inclusion. While the Coptic Church and other Orthodox churches respect Enoch and it is quoted in the New Testament (Jude 1:14-15), the Ethiopian Church is the only one to preserve it fully in its Bible.
2. The Book of Jubilees (Metsihafe Kufale): This book provides a detailed account of Genesis, divided into "jubilee" periods.
3. The Ethiopian Maccabees (Meqabyan/Ethiopic Maccabees): These are not the same as the 1, 2, and 3 Maccabees found in the OSB. The Ethiopian books of Meqabyan tell different stories of martyrs and have a distinct historical focus.
4. The Ethiopic Ezra/Ezra Sutuel: While the OSB contains 1 Ezra (usually called 2 Esdras in Russian Bibles) and 2 Ezra (the standard Ezra-Nehemiah), the Ethiopian canon includes additional Ezra material.

From the New Testament (The "Broader" Canon)

The Ethiopian Church sometimes classifies its canon into the "Narrow" (72 books) and "Broader" (81 books) versions. To reach the count of 81, they include several books of Church Order and Law known as the Collectio Canonum, which include:

1. Sirate Tsion (The Order of Zion)
2. Tizaz (The Commandments)
3. Gitsiw
4. Abtilis
5. The I and II Books of Dominos
6. The Book of Qalëmentos (The Ethiopic Clementine)
7. The Didascalia (Ethiopic Didascalia)

Why the Difference?

The Coptic Orthodox Church traditionally follows the 76-book canon (the same used as the basis for the OSB). While the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches share nearly two millennia of deep ecclesiastical bonds, the Ethiopian Church—due to its unique geographical isolation and development—preserved several ancient Jewish and Christian texts that other traditions eventually categorized as extrabiblical or "apocryphal," though they remain edifying.

In our Coptic tradition, we rely heavily on the Didascalia and the Canons of the Apostles for our Church law and rite, but we generally do not bind them into the same physical volume as the Holy Scriptures.