The Dead Sea Scrolls - Missing Scriptures

Why isn't the book of Enoch in a traditional Tanakh along with the longer versions of Psalms that are in the dead sea scrolls? How come scriptures in the dead sea scrolls aren't included in a modern Tanakh?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

I would like to begin with a few words on the “apocrypha.”

The word “apocrypha” originates from the Greek word for “secret” or “non-canonical” and used to refer to biblical-style books that were never included in the Jewish canon. Such books include: Ben Sira, Maccabees, Judith, Enoch, Jubilees, and Baruch, among others.

We believe that the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, the canon, were written with Divine inspiration while the books of the apocrypha were not, which is one reason they were not included in the canon. Other reasons that the books of the apocrypha were not accepted include: they contain inaccuracies in Jewish law, their authors are often unknown or suspect, and some of the ethical teachings in them are objectionable.

Nevertheless, the books of the apocrypha are referred to in rabbinic literature on occasion as they do have some value. For example, the Book(s) of Maccabees contains important historical facts, context, and information surrounding the Chanuka story. So too, the book of Ben Sira contains words of wisdom deemed of value to the sages and it is occasionally quoted in the Talmud.

Along these lines, many of the scrolls found as pat of the “Dead Sea Scrolls” are works that were not accepted in the Jewish canon. This is why they cannot be found in a Jewish bible. So too, the “longer versions” of books like Psalms and Esther were not accepted as pat of the canon, either.