One of the first Christian communities outside the Judea, Samaria, and Syria area was in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible contains 81 books, making it larger than the Protestant canon, which has 66 books. While the Ethiopian canon includes texts like 1 Enoch and Jubilees that reflect a broader Jewish tradition and might have been known in Jesus' time, it cannot be definitively stated that these were the exact scriptures used by Jesus. Nevertheless, the Ethiopian canon is closer to the wider range of texts that circulated among various Jewish communities of that era compared to the Protestant Bible, which consists of a more limited selection of 66 books. Familiarity with this more expansive set of scriptures, some of which are compiled today in the Cepher, can further enrich our understanding of Revelation, particularly regarding its apocalyptic themes and imagery. The broader collection provides additional context for understanding the apocalyptic imagery and themes found in texts like Revelation, which resonate with the ideas present in these additional writings.
