The Ethiopian Biblical Canon: 81 Books Across 8 Divisions

Scope

Why does the Ethiopian Bible have 81 books?

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church maintains the most extensive biblical canon in all of Christianity. Where Protestant traditions recognize 66 books, the Roman Catholic Church 73, and the Eastern Orthodox churches roughly 76, the Ethiopian Church holds 81 books as canonical scripture.

The number 81 is not arbitrary. It is prescribed by the Feteha Negest (Law of the Kings), the legal code that governed Ethiopian civil and ecclesiastical life for centuries. The canonical authority behind this list draws from several early church councils and canons: the Apostolic Canons (ratified by the Council in Trullo in 692 AD), the Synod of Laodicea (363-364 AD), and the Synods of Carthage (397 and 419 AD). Each of these councils produced lists of recognized scripture. The Ethiopian Church, in its characteristic approach, took the most inclusive reading of these lists, preserving books that other traditions ultimately excluded.

Tradition	Books
Protestant	66
Roman Catholic	73
Eastern Orthodox	~76
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo	81

Canonical Arithmetic

How does the Ethiopian Church count its 81 books?

The official count is 46 Old Testament books plus 35 New Testament books (the standard 27 plus 8 books of Church Order). But those numbers do not map neatly to the number of physical volumes on a shelf, because the Ethiopian counting tradition groups certain books together as single units.

In the Old Testament, six canonical books are each represented by more than one separately printed volume. 1 and 2 Samuel are one book. 1 and 2 Kings are one book. Ezra and Nehemiah are one book, and the second Ezra with Ezra Sutuel another. 2 and 3 Meqabyan share one canonical number while 1 Meqabyan stands alone. The Jeremiah complex (Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, and the Rest of the Words of Baruch) is a single prophetic unit. Those six groupings remove nine numbers, which is how the 55 separately printed Old Testament volumes in this edition correspond to the 46 canonical Old Testament books.

Two things people expect to be grouped are not. 1 and 2 Chronicles are counted separately, and so are Proverbs and Tegsat, the Book of Correction. We follow the enumeration published by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church itself rather than any reconstruction of our own, and the full volume-by-volume mapping is set out below so you can check it.

The printed Amharic Bible used in Ethiopian churches today employs a different arithmetic: 54 Old Testament books plus 27 New Testament books, for a total of 81. This count omits the Church Order books from the printed volume entirely, not because they lack canonical status, but because they circulate in separate liturgical collections. The canonical number stays the same; only the method of arriving at it changes.

Traditional Count

46 OT + 35 NT = 81. The broader traditional enumeration, and the one this edition represents. Old Testament texts are grouped (Samuel as one, Kings as one, and others). The New Testament is the standard 27 plus the 8 Books of Church Order.

Printed Amharic Bible

54 OT + 27 NT = 81. The narrower enumeration used by printed Amharic Bibles. Old Testament texts are counted individually and the Church Order books are not printed in the volume, though they retain canonical standing in a separate collection. This 54 is a different list from our 55 printed Old Testament volumes and should not be read as describing this edition.

The arithmetic

Count to 90 and to 81 on the same page.

The left column counts every separately printed volume in this edition. The right column counts canonical books. They run side by side to the end, one reaching 90 and the other 81. Six times in the Old Testament a single canonical book is printed as more than one volume, and those six brackets are the entire difference between the two numbers.

one volume, one book several volumes, one book

Vol.	Printed volume	Book	Canonical book
Old Testament 55 volumes · 46 books
1	Genesis	1	Genesis
2	Exodus	2	Exodus
3	Leviticus	3	Leviticus
4	Numbers	4	Numbers
5	Deuteronomy	5	Deuteronomy
6	Joshua	6	Joshua
7	Judges	7	Judges
8	Ruth	8	Ruth
9	1 Samuel	9	Samuel
10	2 Samuel	9	Samuel
11	1 Kings	10	Kings
12	2 Kings	10	Kings
13	1 Chronicles	11	1 Chronicles
14	2 Chronicles	12	2 Chronicles
15	Kufale (Jubilees)	13	Kufale (Jubilees)
16	Henok (1 Enoch)	14	Henok (1 Enoch)
17	Ezra	15	Ezra and Nehemiah
18	Nehemiah	15	Ezra and Nehemiah
19	1 Esdras	16	Ezra (2nd) and Ezra Sutuel
20	Ezra Sutuel	16	Ezra (2nd) and Ezra Sutuel
21	Tobit	17	Tobit
22	Judith	18	Judith
23	Esther	19	Esther
24	1 Meqabyan	20	1 Meqabyan
25	2 Meqabyan	21	II and III Meqabyan
26	3 Meqabyan	21	II and III Meqabyan
27	Job	22	Job
28	Psalms	23	Psalms
29	Proverbs	24	Proverbs
30	Tegsat (Book of Correction)	25	Tegsat (Book of Correction)
31	Wisdom of Solomon	26	Wisdom of Solomon
32	Ecclesiastes	27	Ecclesiastes
33	Song of Solomon	28	Song of Solomon
34	Sirach	29	Sirach
35	Isaiah	30	Isaiah
36	Jeremiah	31	Jeremiah
37	Lamentations
38	Baruch
39	Letter of Jeremiah
40	Rest of the Words of Baruch
41	Ezekiel	32	Ezekiel
42	Daniel	33	Daniel
43	Hosea	34	Hosea
44	Amos	35	Amos
45	Micah	36	Micah
46	Joel	37	Joel
47	Obadiah	38	Obadiah
48	Jonah	39	Jonah
49	Nahum	40	Nahum
50	Habakkuk	41	Habakkuk
51	Zephaniah	42	Zephaniah
52	Haggai	43	Haggai
53	Zechariah	44	Zechariah
54	Malachi	45	Malachi
55	The Josippon (History of the Jews)	46	The Josippon (History of the Jews)
New Testament 27 volumes · 27 books
56	Matthew	47	Matthew
57	Mark	48	Mark
58	Luke	49	Luke
59	John	50	John
60	Acts	51	Acts
61	Romans	52	Romans
62	1 Corinthians	53	1 Corinthians
63	2 Corinthians	54	2 Corinthians
64	Galatians	55	Galatians
65	Ephesians	56	Ephesians
66	Philippians	57	Philippians
67	Colossians	58	Colossians
68	1 Thessalonians	59	1 Thessalonians
69	2 Thessalonians	60	2 Thessalonians
70	1 Timothy	61	1 Timothy
71	2 Timothy	62	2 Timothy
72	Titus	63	Titus
73	Philemon	64	Philemon
74	Hebrews	65	Hebrews
75	James	66	James
76	1 Peter	67	1 Peter
77	2 Peter	68	2 Peter
78	1 John	69	1 John
79	2 John	70	2 John
80	3 John	71	3 John
81	Jude	72	Jude
82	Revelation	73	Revelation
Books of Church Order 8 volumes · 8 books
83	Mashafa Kidan I (1st Book of the Covenant)	74	Mashafa Kidan I (1st Book of the Covenant)
84	Mashafa Kidan II (2nd Book of the Covenant)	75	Mashafa Kidan II (2nd Book of the Covenant)
85	Sirate Tsion	76	Sirate Tsion
86	Te'ezaz	77	Te'ezaz
87	Gitzew	78	Gitzew
88	Abtilis	79	Abtilis
89	Didascalia	80	Didascalia
90	Qalementos	81	Qalementos
90	printed volumes	81	canonical books

Six brackets, nine volumes absorbed: Samuel, Kings, Ezra with Nehemiah, the second Ezra with Ezra Sutuel, 2 with 3 Meqabyan, and the five-part Jeremiah complex. 1 and 2 Chronicles are counted separately, as are Proverbs and Tegsat. The Books of Church Order are shown as their own band because most English editions omit them, but canonically they belong to the New Testament, which is how the Church reaches 46 Old Testament and 35 New. Volumes are listed in printed order so the numbers match the book you can pick up and count. That means the running book number here parts company with the Church's own numbering after Sirach, which their list places at 45, near the end, while we print it among the wisdom books. Their numbering is set out on our sources page.

Structure

What are the canonical divisions?

The Ethiopian canon is organised into divisions, each with a distinct literary and theological function. The lists below show the separately printed volumes of this edition: 55 Old Testament volumes, the 27 familiar New Testament volumes, and 8 Books of Church Order, for 90 in total. Traditional canonical arithmetic groups some of these texts together, which is how 90 printed volumes represent 46 Old Testament plus 35 New Testament books, or 81 in all. Adding the titles below will give you 90, not 81, and that is the difference between a printed volume and a canonical book.

The Pentateuch

5 printed volumes

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Historical Books

9 printed volumes

Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles

Kufale and Henok

2 printed volumes

Jubilees (Kufale), 1 Enoch (Henok)

Post-Exilic & Deuterocanonical

7 printed volumes

Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Esdras, Ezra Sutuel, Tobit, Judith, Esther

The Books of Meqabyan

3 printed volumes

1 Meqabyan, 2 Meqabyan, 3 Meqabyan

Wisdom and Poetry

8 printed volumes

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Tegsat (Book of Correction), Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

The Prophets

20 printed volumes

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Rest of the Words of Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

The Josippon

1 printed volume

Josippon (Zena Ayhud / Joseph Ben Gurion), printed here as The History of the Jews

A history of the Jewish people from the Table of Nations to the fall of the Second Temple. It closes the Old Testament in the broader traditional enumeration and is printed here between Malachi and Matthew.

The New Testament

27 printed volumes

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation

Books of Church Order

8 printed volumes

Mashafa Kidan I, Mashafa Kidan II, Sirate Tsion, Te'ezaz, Gitzew, Abtilis (Apostolic Canons), Didascalia, Qalementos

Comparison

How does the Ethiopian canon differ from Western Bibles?

Several features set the Ethiopian canon apart from Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Bibles.

Jubilees and 1 Enoch as Scripture

Both books hold full canonical status in the Ethiopian Church. In Western traditions they are classified as pseudepigrapha or apocrypha. Ethiopia is the only Christian tradition that preserved the complete text of 1 Enoch, which survives nowhere else in its entirety.

Meqabyan, Not Maccabees

The three books of Meqabyan are unique to the Ethiopian tradition. Despite the similar name, they are completely different texts from the 1-4 Maccabees found in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. The Meqabyan exist only in Ge'ez and have no counterpart in any other canon.

The Church's own English list renders them as “Maccabees”, which is where the confusion starts and where most English editions end. Open their contents and you will find the Greek Maccabees reprinted from a Western Bible: the Hasmonean revolt, Judas Maccabeus, the elephants. That is not what the Ethiopian canon contains. Reaching for the nearest similarly named public-domain file, rather than checking what the book actually is, is the whole of the error. In the canonical count 1 Meqabyan stands alone as book 20 and 2 and 3 Meqabyan share book 21, three separate texts under two numbers.

Proverbs Split at Chapter 25

The Ethiopian tradition divides the Book of Proverbs at chapter 25. The second portion, chapters 25-31, is treated as a separate book called Tegsat, or the Book of Correction. Western Bibles print it as a single volume.

Daniel with Greek Additions

The Ethiopian Daniel is the longer Greek Daniel, and the additions sit inside the book rather than in an appendix. The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men fall within the fiery furnace scene in chapter 3, Susanna stands as chapter 13, and Bel and the Dragon as chapter 14. Protestant Bibles omit all four. Catholic Bibles place them exactly where the Ethiopian tradition does. Some Greek Orthodox editions follow the older Septuagint arrangement instead, printing Susanna before chapter 1 and Bel and the Dragon at the very end.

Minor Prophets in Septuagint Order

The twelve Minor Prophets follow the order of the Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Masoretic tradition used in most English Bibles. The sequence begins Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel rather than the Hebrew ordering of Hosea, Joel, Amos.

Jeremiah Cluster Kept Together

Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, and the Rest of the Words of Baruch (4 Baruch / Paralipomena of Jeremiah) are grouped as a single prophetic unit. In the traditional count, this entire cluster registers as one book.

Church Order

What are the eight Books of Church Order?

The Church Order texts are the books most people cannot find information about elsewhere. They govern liturgical practice, ecclesiastical discipline, and doctrinal teaching in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. All eight hold canonical status equal to any book in the Old or New Testament.

Mashafa Kidan (Book of the Covenant)

Two volumes of liturgical regulations and doctrinal teachings. Mashafa Kidan I and II cover the nature of God, righteousness, the conduct of worship, and the obligations of clergy and laity. The text circulates in Ge'ez and was first made available in a European language through a 1913 French translation from the Ge'ez by Guerrier and Grebaut.

Sirate Tsion (Statutes of Zion)

A liturgical manual governing worship, sacramental practice, and the Ethiopian church calendar. Sirate Tsion prescribes the conduct of the Eucharist, baptism, ordination, and the cycle of fasts and feasts that structure Ethiopian Orthodox religious life throughout the year.

Te'ezaz (The Commandments)

A collection of apostolic ordinances addressing spiritual gifts, church governance, and the responsibilities of bishops, priests, and deacons. Te'ezaz provides the regulatory framework for how the Ethiopian Church organizes its hierarchy and administers its affairs.

Gitzew (Apostolic Church Discipline)

A text of church discipline and penitential practice. Gitzew specifies penalties for various offenses, procedures for excommunication and reconciliation, and the standards of conduct expected of clergy and laity alike. It functions as the canonical foundation for Ethiopian ecclesiastical courts.

Abtilis (Apostolic Canons)

A collection of 81 or 85 canons (the number varies by manuscript tradition) attributed to the apostles. The Apostolic Canons are quoted directly in the Ethiopian Eucharistic liturgy, giving them a living presence in worship that goes beyond their textual authority. They regulate everything from the qualifications of clergy to the administration of church property.

Didascalia (Apostolic Teaching)

A manual of apostolic teaching covering church governance, moral instruction, the treatment of widows and orphans, and the conduct of judicial proceedings within the church. The Ethiopian Didascalia is a distinct recension of the broader Didascalia Apostolorum tradition, translated directly from multiple British Museum Ge'ez manuscripts by J.M. Harden in 1920.

Qalementos (Ethiopic Clement)

Unique to the Ethiopian tradition, with no direct parallel in any other Christian canon or literary tradition. Qalementos is attributed to Clement of Rome and contains apocalyptic visions, theological instruction, and cosmological material. It was first translated into a European language by Grebaut, published serially in the Revue de l'Orient Chretien between 1911 and 1920.

Bibliography

The Ethiopian Biblical Canon