The Biblical Canon of
the Synod of Hippo

The Synod of Hippo was hosted in Hippo Regius in northern Africa in October 393 A.D.  The acts of this council are no longer extant, but a summary of the Council’s decisions was prepared for the Council of Carthage in August of 397.  This summary referred to as the Breviarium Hipponense was reaffirmed at the Council of Carthage.

The canon list approved at Hippo included six books later classed by Catholics as deuterocanonical books and by Protestants as Apocrypha, including first and second Maccabbees. The list of Old Testament books appears in Canon XXXVI of the Brevarium Hipponense;

“That beyond the canonical Scriptures nothing should be read in church under the name of the Divine Scriptures.  The canonical Scriptures are; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua the son of Nun, The Judges, Ruth, Reigns four books, The Paralipomenon two books, Job, the Psalter, five books of Solomon, the Twelve Books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezechiel, Daniel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra two books, Maccabees two books.
Of the New Testament:
The Gospels four books, Acts of the Apostles one book, Epistles of Paul fourteen, Epistles of Peter, the Apostle two, Epistles of John the Apostle three, Epistles of James the Apostle one, one of Epistle of Jude the Apostle, Revelation of John.” (Brevarium Hipponense 36).

St Augustine would clarify that the “five books of Solomon” mentioned above were in fact; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus.  The New Testament canon matches that of Athanasius and thus the modern canon.

Sources: 

• Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity:  Texts and Analysis.  Oxford University Press. 2017