The Apocrypha and the Doctor

The "Apocryphal" Books, included in the Catholic Bible but excluded in the Protestant Canon, were originally those written in Greek.  The word "apocrypha" in Greek meant 'hidden' (things), and most of the books refer to important and secret wisdom-- sort of like the Kabbalah, the mysticism of Jewish writing.  Somehow, the secret wisdom eventually became "extra," excluded not because it was too good, but not good enough to be included as inspiration. 

Technically, the apocrypha are those books outside of the Jewish canon, the scriptures accepted as authoritative by the Jews.  All of the books were, however, included in the original Greek version of the Old Testament written for Greek-speaking Jews living in Egypt; this Bible was known as the Septuagint (70).  With the arrival of Christianity, Gentile converts eventually outnumbered Jewish ones, so the Greek version (the international language of the time) came to be adapted as the Bible of the early church, along with the "extra' books -- those written between 250 B.C.E. and 100 C.E. by Jewish authors.  Initially, these books were preserved as inspirational by the Jews, but since the book was used by the early church, and as Christianity and Judaism gradually separated, the Jewish community denied canonical status to anything not originally written in Hebrew.

The Protestant Reformation and the new discovery of classical languages in the 16th century both contributed to a return to the "pure" Hebrew canon of the Bible.  Whatever had been defined by the Jewish rabbis in the first century as "Scripture" was also defined by Protestant translators as inspired.
So even though the status of the Apocrypha remains disputed even today, many people find them to be a valuable link to Jewish thought between the Old and New Testaments (the last book in the Jewish canon was written around 400 B.C.E.).

Anyway...... all of that was supposed to introduce a reading not found in the Protestant canon, but which I find interesting because of a recent discussion about consulting doctors.  Whether or not we consider it "inspired," I think it is full of wisdom and certainly worth reading:

Value the services of a doctor,

for he has his place assigned him by the Lord.

His skill comes from the Most High,

and he is rewarded by kings.

The doctor's knowledge gives him high standing

and wins him the admiration of the great.

The Lord has created remedies from the earth,

and a sensible man will not disparage them....

The Lord has imparted knowledge to mortals,

that by their use of his marvels he may win praise;

by means of them the doctor relieves pain

and from them the pharmacist compounds his mixture.

There is no limit to the works of the Lord,

who spreads health over the whole world.

My son, in time of illness do not be remiss,

but pray to the Lord and he will heal you...

And the doctor should be called;

keep him by you, for you need him also.

A time may come when your recovery is in his hands;

then he too will pray to the Lord

to grant success in relieving pain

and finding a cure to save the patient's life.

He who sins before his Maker

shows himself arrogant before the doctor.

(Sirach 38)

How good would it be to find a doctor who would "pray to the Lord to grant success"?