The term "apocrypha" was coined by the fifth-century biblical
scholar St. Jerome and refers to the biblical books included as
part of the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament),
but not included in the Hebrew Bible.
Several works ranging from the fourth century B.C.E. to New
Testament times are considered apocryphal--including Judith, the
Wisdom of Solomon, Tobit, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, First
and Second Maccabees, the two Books of Esdras, various
additions to the Book of Esther (10:4-10), the Book of Daniel
(3:24-90;13;14), and the Prayer of Manasseh.
The apocrypha have been variously included and omitted from
bibles over the course of the centuries. Protestant churches
generally exclude the apocrypha (though the King James version of
1611 included them). The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches
include all of the apocrypha (except for the books of Esdras and
the Prayer of Manasseh), but refer to them as "deuterocanonical"
books. In this context, the term "apocrypha" generally refers to
writings entirely outside of the biblical canon and not considered
inspired (such as the Gospel of Thomas). These same books are
referred to by Protestants as the "pseudoepigrapha."