Jesus and Apostles Using Extrabiblical Examples in Scripture
The New Testament writers occasionally reference events, figures, or sayings not recorded in the Old Testament canon, demonstrating that apostolic teaching drew on a broader cultural and religious context than Scripture alone. Jude 9 alludes to a dispute between Michael and Satan over Moses's body, an episode found in the extracanonical Assumption of Moses. Jude 14–15 quotes directly from 1 Enoch, attributing prophecy to "Enoch, the seventh from Adam." Paul's speech in Athens cites pagan poets—"In him we live and move and have our being" from Epimenides, and "We are his offspring" from Aratus (Acts 17:28). In 2 Timothy 3:8, Paul names Jannes and Jambres as Pharaoh's magicians who opposed Moses, figures identified in Jewish tradition but absent from Exodus.
These citations do not confer canonical authority on the extrabiblical sources. The apostles employed culturally recognizable examples to communicate truth, much as Jesus used parables drawn from everyday life without endorsing every detail of the narrative [2]. When Paul quotes pagan poets, he affirms a particular insight about human dependence on God, not the theological framework of Stoic philosophy. Similarly, Jude's use of 1 Enoch validates the specific point about divine judgment, not the entire apocalyptic work.
The practice reflects the rhetorical conventions of Second Temple Judaism, where teachers regularly cited non-canonical texts to illustrate theological arguments. Jewish writers like Philo and Josephus referenced Greek philosophy and apocryphal traditions without implying scriptural status [1]. The apostles, writing under the Spirit's inspiration, exercised discernment in selecting extrabiblical material that served their doctrinal purposes. Augustine later observed that imitating a source does not require affirming its origin or authority in every respect [3].
This approach underscores the distinction between inspiration and citation. The biblical authors wrote under divine guidance, ensuring that their use of extrabiblical material advanced true doctrine. The Spirit's superintendence guaranteed that even culturally borrowed illustrations conveyed accurate theological content. The apostles' freedom to draw on diverse sources—Jewish pseudepigrapha, pagan poetry, oral tradition—demonstrates that revelation operates within historical and cultural contexts, using the intellectual resources available to communicate God's truth effectively. The canonical text remains the sole infallible standard, while the extrabiblical references function as illustrative tools subordinate to the inspired argument.
Sources
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 8, section 31: the apostles, or their amanuensis Clement, gave this reason for the necessity of the coming of Christ, that "men had formerly perverted both the positive law, and that of nature; and had cast out of their mind the memory of the Flood, the burning of Sodom, the plagues of the Egyptians, and the slaughter of the inhabitants of Palestine," as signs of the most amazing impenitence and insensibility, under the punishments of horrid wickedness.] 15 (return) [ Josephus here, in this one sentence, sums up his notion of Moses's very long”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Parable — (The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another.--McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49) sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expand”
- 1 John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 John 3:8: He that committeth sin is of the devil--in contrast to "He that doeth righteousness," Jo1 3:7. He is a son of the devil (Jo1 3:10; Joh 8:44). John does not, however, say, "born of the devil." as he does "born of God," for "the devil begets none, nor does he create any; but whoever imitates the devil becomes a child of the devil by imitating him, not by proper birth" [AUGUSTINE, Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Homily 4.10]. From the devil there is not generation, but corruption [BENGEL]. sinneth from the beginning--from the time that any beg”