Apocrypha, a-pok'ri-fa, a collection of fourteen books originally issued in the authorized version of the Old Testament, but now commonly omitted. These books are: The first and second books of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, a portion of the book of Esther, The Wisdom of Solomon, The Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, Baruch the Prophet, the Song of the Three Children, Susanna and the Elders, Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Manasses, The first and second books of the Maccabees. These books are usually recognized by the Church of Rome, but they are excluded by most Protestant churches. The word apocrypha means hidden, or obscure. By the earliest churches it was applied to any professedly sacred or inspired writings whose authorship was unknown, whose meaning was obscure or doubtful, or which were considered objectionable. The fourteen books named above were written in Greek, not in Hebrew. They were never included among the canonical books of the Jewish Bible. They have been the occasion of considerable disputation in the Greek, Roman, and Anglican churches. They are occasionally included, but in a group by themselves, in the King James version of the Scriptures.