In most Protestant Bibles
The Apocrypha is usually placed in a separate section or omitted from the standard Old Testament canon. Many Protestants still read these books as valuable historical and devotional writings.
What these books are
“Apocrypha” is a term commonly used in Protestant settings for a collection of ancient writings associated with the Old Testament period. Catholic Christians often call several of these writings the Deuterocanonical books. Orthodox Christian Bibles may contain a broader collection. Jewish and Christian communities have not all used exactly the same biblical canon.
How traditions differ
In Catholic Bibles
Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and the additions to Esther and Daniel are treated as Deuterocanonical Scripture.
In Orthodox Bibles
The canon may include additional books or material beyond the Catholic collection, and the exact list varies between Orthodox traditions.
In Jewish tradition
These writings are generally not part of the Jewish Tanakh, although many are important sources for understanding Jewish history and thought during the Second Temple period.
Additional Orthodox books
Some Orthodox Bibles also include writings such as 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees (often as an appendix), Psalm 151, and the Odes. Not every Orthodox tradition uses the same list, so these should be described as belonging to particular traditions rather than to Christianity as a whole.
Reading respectfully
An important noteDuncan Survival Hub does not attempt to settle centuries of disagreement about the biblical canon. The goal is to explain what the books contain, how different communities use them, and why they matter historically and spiritually.