Which specific books are found in the Ethiopian Orthodox canon but absent from Catholic and Eastern Orthodox lists?
Executive summary
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo canon contains books not accepted as canonical by either the Roman Catholic Church or the larger Eastern Orthodox communions—most notably the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the three books called Meqabyan (1–3 Meqabyan), and the Paralipomena of Jeremiah (often called 4 Baruch); some Ethiopian lists also include expanded Ezra materials and other texts absent from Catholic and Eastern Orthodox lists [1] [2] [3]. This inventory reflects a uniquely broad 81‑book tradition preserved in Geʿez manuscripts and recognized by Ethiopian ecclesiastical authorities, even as precise lists and the availability of some texts vary within Ethiopian sources themselves [4] [5].
1. Canon size and why “unique” matters
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church traditionally counts 81 canonical books—46 Old Testament and 35 New Testament—which is larger than the Catholic 73‑book canon and most Eastern Orthodox canons, and that numerical and textual breadth explains why certain books show up in Ethiopian lists and not in other communions’ lists [4] [3] [1].
2. The headline exclusions: Enoch and Jubilees
Among the clearest examples of books present in the Ethiopian Old Testament but absent from Catholic and mainstream Eastern Orthodox canons are the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees; both are repeatedly named by Ethiopian sources as canonical and are highlighted in descriptions of the tradition’s distinctive holdings [1] [3] [6].
3. The Meqabyan books — same name, different content
Ethiopian lists include three books titled Meqabyan (1, 2 and 3 Meqabyan), sometimes rendered “Ethiopian Maccabees,” which are not the same as the Maccabean books known to other traditions and are treated as canonical in Ethiopia while having no counterpart in Catholic or standard Eastern Orthodox canons [1] [2].
4. Paralipomena of Jeremiah (4 Baruch) and expanded Baruch material
The Paralipomena of Jeremiah—often referred to as 4 Baruch in scholarship—is identified in Ethiopian canon lists and is explicitly cited as unique to the Orthodox Tewahedo tradition; while Baruch‑related material appears in other traditions in various forms, the Ethiopian incorporation and the naming of “4 Baruch” mark a canonical distinction [1] [2].
5. Expanded Ezra and other “extra” texts
Several reports note that the Ethiopian canon includes expanded materials connected to Ezra and other texts that are either fragmentary, variant, or absent in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox collections; Ethiopian authorities and projects emphasize that some of these books are difficult to locate or have historically circulated in differing lists, underlining the fluidity of the broader Ethiopian canon [2] [5] [7].
6. Scholarly caveats: “narrow” vs “broader” canons and availability
Ethiopian scholars and church documentation acknowledge two overlapping notions of the canon—a narrower core and a broader 81‑book corpus—and they also admit that manuscript variation and the sporadic printing of certain books mean that what is “present” can depend on which Ethiopian source or edition is consulted; this complicates exact one‑to‑one comparisons with Catholic or Eastern Orthodox canons [8] [5] [7].
7. Why the differences persist and what they imply
The persistence of these unique Ethiopian books reflects historical trajectories—early Geʿez transmission, nonparticipation in later ecumenical councils that fixed other canons, and local ecclesiastical decisions—so that texts like Enoch, Jubilees, the Meqabyan trilogy and 4 Baruch are not accidental extras but integral parts of a distinct canonical consciousness preserved by Ethiopian institutions [9] [3] [1].