ALLUSIONS & PROPHECY
New Testament allusions to the Deuterocanonical Books
and prophetic verses in those Books
Some of the allusions are stronger and more direct while others less so. While these allusions may not prove inspiration they do show that the apostolic men used these books when they wrote the New Testament. All the following verses are from the Revised Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
(KJVA - King James Version including the Apocrypha and NAB - New American Bible)
I have included below only those allusions containing concepts or ideas that could not be traced back to the Books listed in the Protestant canon. Some of these allusions are very strong. The Old Testament quotation is followed by the New Testament Book that alludes to it.
1 Maccabees 4:59
“Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of
John 10:22
“The feast of the Dedication was then taking place in
Jesus celebrates this feast mentioned in John’s Gospel. It was instituted by Judas Maccabees in 164 BC. It falls in November/December and is called Hanukkah today.
2 Maccabees 5:19
Nevertheless God did not choose the people for the place’s sake, but the place far the people’s sake. KJVA
Mark 2:27
And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: KJV
2 Maccabees 7: 1, 20-23
It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh… [20] The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord. She encouraged each of them … "… Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws."
Hebrews 11:35
Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life.
2 Maccabees 7:28
I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed.
John 1:3
…all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
2 Maccabees 13:4
“But the King of kings aroused the anger of Antiochus against the scoundrel.”
Revelation 17:14
“ … and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” Also see Revelation 19:16
(Ezra 7:12, Ezekiel 26:7, and Daniel 2:37 use this title, King of Kings, for the enemies of Israel, but only in the Deuterocanonicals is it used for God.)
Baruch 4:30-35
“Fear not,
31 Fearful are those who harmed you …
32 Fearful are the cities where your children were enslaved …
35 For fire shall come upon her
from the Eternal God, for a long time,
and demons shall dwell in her from that time on.”
Revelation 18:2
“And he called out with a mighty voice,
‘Fallen, fallen is
It has become a dwelling place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul and hateful bird’ ”
Sirach 2:1
My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for temptation.
2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…
Sirach 2:15
Those who fear the Lord will not disobey his words, and those who love him will keep his ways.
John 14:23
Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word…
Sirach 5:11
Be swift to hear; and let thy life be sincere; and with patience give answer. KJVA (see verse 13 in NAB)
James 1:19
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: KJV
Sirach 11:19
…when he says, "I have found rest, and now I shall enjoy my goods!"
he does not know how much time will pass until he leaves them to others and dies.
Luke 12:16-21
And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully….19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Sirach 15:11-12
Do not say, "Because of the Lord I left the right way"; for he will not do what he hates. Do not say, "It was he who led me astray"; for he had no need of a sinful man.
James 1:13
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one;
Sirach 27:6
The fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so the expression of a thought discloses the cultivation of a man’s mind.
Matthew 7:16
By their fruits you will know them. NAB
Sirach 28:2
Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
Matthew 6:9,12
“Pray then like this:
… And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors”
Sirach 29:10-12
“Lose your silver for the sake of a brother or a friend,
and do not let it rust under a stone and be lost.
11 Lay up your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High,
and it will profit you more than gold.12 Store up almsgiving in your treasury,
and it will rescue you from all affliction”
Matthew 6:20
“but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Sirach 51:23-27
23 Draw near to me, you who are untaught,
and lodge in my school. ...
26 Put your neck under the yoke,
and let your souls receive instruction;
it is to be found close by.
27 See with your eyes that I have labored little
and found myself much rest.”
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for your selves.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Wisdom of Solomon 9:1
"O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy, who hast made all things by thy word…
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and … all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
Wisdom of Solomon 9:16
We can hardly guess at what is on earth, and what is at hand we find with labor; but who has traced out what is in the heavens?
John 3:12
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Wisdom of Solomon 9:17
Who has learned thy counsel, unless thou hast given wisdom and sent thy holy Spirit from on high?
John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Wisdom of Solomon 13:1
“For all men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of
God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing
him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan”
Hebrews 11:10
“ … for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.”
In the Greek both passages above describe God as “tecnithV.”
Wisdom of Solomon 15:7
For when a potter kneads the soft earth and laboriously molds each vessel for our service, he fashions out of the same clay both the vessels that serve clean uses and those for contrary uses, making all in like manner; but which shall be the use of each of these the worker in clay decides.
Romans 9:21
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use?
Tobit 2:2
Upon seeing the abundance of food I said to my son, "Go and bring whatever poor man of our brethren you may find who is mindful of the Lord, and I will wait for you."
Luke 14:13-14
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed …
Tobit 4:15
And what you hate, do not do to any one…
Matthew 7:12
So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Tobit 12:8
Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness.
Matthew 6:2,5,16
2 When you give alms …
5 "When you pray …
16 "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites … they have received their reward. NAB
Tobit 12:8
Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than abundance with wickedness. NAB
Luke 11:39-42
And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness … But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. "But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Tobit 12:9
For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness of life;
1 Peter 4:8-10
Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins … As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. NAB
Tobit 12:12-15
And so, when you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with you. When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order to go and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from me, but I was with you... I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One."
Revelation 8:2-4
Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them… and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.
Judith 13:18
“… said to her: “Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth …”
Luke 1:42
“ … and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb [baby Jesus].”
PROPHETIC
WISDOM: CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO ARE TRULY PROPHETIC.
The writers of Sacred Scripture could not include everything that Jesus said and did, Cf. John 21:25. They had to chose what to include and what to leave out. I suggest that the Holy Spirit inspired them to include the following New Testament quotations because they are examples of fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament. These particular prophecies are only found in the Deuterocanonical Books.
Wisdom of Solomon 1:5
“For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.”
Mark 3:6
“The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him [Jesus] to put him to death.”
[The Pharisees are rebuked in Matthew 23. See below.]
Please compare the blue text of Wisdom below with the corresponding blue text in the New Testament.
Same for the red and green text.
Wisdom of Solomon 2:1, 12
1. “they [evil ones] who said among themselves, thinking not aright ...
12. Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training.”
Luke 6:7
“The scribes and the Pharisees watched him [Jesus] closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.”
Matthew 23:27-28
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
John 5:45-46
“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.”
Wisdom of Solomon 2:13
He professes to have knowledge of God…
John 8:55
But you have not known him (the Father); I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word.
Wisdom of Solomon 2:13
…and calls himself a child of the Lord.
John 10:36-38
…do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’ ? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Wisdom of Solomon 2:14
He became to us a reproof of our thoughts…
Matthew 9:4
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?"
Wisdom of Solomon 2:16
“He judges us debased;
he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.
He calls blest the destiny of the just
and boasts that God is his Father.”
John 5:18
“For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.”
Wisdom of Solomon 2:18 -20
…for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries…Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."
Matthew 27:40-43
“ ... save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’"
AN EXAMPLE OF PROPHESY IN SIRACH IS:
Sirach 15:1-3
“The man who fears the Lord will do this,
and he who holds to the law will obtain wisdom.
2 She will come to meet him like a mother,
and like the wife of his youth she will welcome him.
3 She will feed him with the bread of understanding,
and give him the water of wisdom to drink.”
John 6:35
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. NAB
John 4:10
Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." NAB