Protocanonical books Protocanonical books The protocanonical books are those books of the Old Testament that are also included in the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) and that came to be considered canonical during the formational period of Christianity. The term "protocanonical" is often used to contrast these books to the deuterocanonical books or apocrypha, which "were sometimes doubted" by some in the early church, and are considered non-canonical by most Protestants. There are typically 39 protocanonical books in most Christian bibles, which correspond to the 24 books in the Jewish Tanakh. The list of protocanonical books is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua,
Leviticus Rabbah Leviticus Rabbah Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus ("Vayikrah" in Hebrew). It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel (c. 1035–1106) in his "Aruk" as well as by Rashi (1040–1105) in his commentaries on Genesis 46:26, Exodus 32:5, Leviticus 9:24, and elsewhere. According to Leopold Zunz, Hai Gaon (939-1038) and Nissim knew and made use of it. Zunz dates it to the middle of the 7th century, but "The Encyclopaedia Judaica" and Jacob Neusner date it to the 5th century. It originated in the Land of Israel, and is