Robert Boyle was aware that as far back as 1573, a group of scholars had started to translate parts of the Bible into Irish. In 1602, they published in Irish the part that is commonly known as the New Testament. Later, in 1640, the Irish translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, commonly called the Old Testament, was completed. This particular version was not printed until 1685, after Boyle gave his financial support to the project. Interestingly, the books of the Apocrypha had also been translated into Irish. The Apocrypha is a collection of non-Biblical writings often bound with the Bible and published with it as one book. However, Boyle, being a lover of truth, refused to publish those spurious books.