What are the External Books?

Hello

In the Bible, only books written through prophecy or divine inspiration are included. The books you mentioned were not written in divine inspiration, and therefore they were not included in the sacred writings. In truth, during the time of the First Temple, these scrolls were written in Hebrew. However, when the prophets established the canon of sacred writings at the beginning of the Second Temple, they excluded these books from the collection and warned against studying these texts that were not written in divine inspiration, except perhaps to learn some ethical lessons from them. This is elucidated in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 100b). Consequently, these books were not written like the others, and as a result, today we only have the Greek translation of these texts. The Talmudic Encyclopedia, Vol. 15, compiles all that is said regarding this matter in the words of our sages. Behold:

"Rabbi Yosef said that the Book of Ben Sirach is forbidden to read, and one who reads it is like one who reads heretical books. So too, it was said in the Jerusalem Talmud: one who reads external books such as the Book of Ben Sirach or the books of Ben Lameh, or Ben Talga, about whom it is said, 'And more than these, my son, beware to make many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh,' for anyone who brings into their home more than twenty-four books is considered to bring chaos into their home. And it was said:

Hashem said, "I have permitted you twenty-four books; be careful not to add to them. Why make many books? There is no end; anyone who reads a verse - or a book - that is not one of the twenty-four books is as if they are reading external books, and is included in what was said: one who reads external books has no share in the World to Come.

In the Babylonian Talmud, it was stated that the reason for the prohibition against reading the Book of Ben Sirach is that it contains things like signs indicating a person's character, leading to superstition, and they distract a person to the point of negligence. Even though it does not contain statements that lead a person to outright heresy, since it includes things that lead to negligence and reliance on one's own understanding instead of on Hashem, it is forbidden to read it. Some have stated that there is no reason or benefit from it, but rather it is a waste of time on trivial matters.

Early scholars wrote that there were those who made a mistake regarding the Book of Ben Sirach and included it in the Bible because it contains verses similar to those in Proverbs, and this causes a disgrace to the sacred texts, for we only have twenty-four sacred texts that were given through divine inspiration. Later scholars explained that the followers of heresy associated the Book of Ben Sirach with the Biblical texts because it contains themes and verses like those in the Proverbs of Solomon. Nonetheless, it is not comparable; it is similar to a monkey before a human, where one was said through divine inspiration and the other from personal opinion. Therefore, these books are referred to as external books, and we only have the twenty-four sacred texts. It is a violation to add even one chapter outside of them, and therefore one has no share in the World to Come, as this brings disgrace to the sacred writings."

Good luck – Menashe Israel