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Introductory Notes
There are three Additions to the Septuagint (LXX) of
Daniel that do not appear in the canonical Hebrew text. These three
are known as:
1) The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews
(pp. 121-123)
2) Susanna (pp. 124-125)
3) Bel and the Dragon (pp. 126-127)
There is a brief Introduction to these writings on pp. xxiii-xxiv of
Cambridge Annotated Study Apocrypha, ed. by Kee. In the LXX
the order of these stories is as follows: Susanna precedes chapter 1;
Azariah fits between Daniel 3.23 and 24; and Bel and the Dragon closes
the book in ch. 12. In the Latin Vulgate Susanna become ch. 13 and
Bel and the Dragon become ch.14.
One hundred years ago it was commonplace among scholars to
reject the Apocryphal writings on the presumption that they were
written in Greek and not Hebrew or Aramaic. Today that assumption has
been rejected outright. The Dead Sea Scrolls have caused most of the
reevaluation. The three texts we are studying were all written in
either Hebrew or Aramaic (if you would like more info on the languages
check Carey A. Moore, The Anchor Bible: Daniel, Esther, and
Jeremiah: The Additions, pp. 5f, 25-26, 81-84 & 119-120). The
dates for when these pieces were written is sometime in the second
century B.C.
Martin Luther called the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of
Three Jews “a little spice garden or flower bed since much that is
good, especially the hymn of praise, Benedicite is found among
them” (Luther’s Works, vol 35, p. 353). Indeed, in the
history of Christian worship the Prayer and the Song have been used
extensively through the centuries.
Prayer of Azariah & Song of Three
Jews
The Prayer and Song consist of 68 verses divided up into
three basic parts:
1) Prayer of Azariah (vv. 1-22); 2) narrative describing the
intervention of God (vv. 23-28); 3) Psalm of praise by the three young
men (vv. 29-68). An example of confession for the sin of the nation
can be found in Nehemiah 1.4-11. Theologically three themes can said
to be expressed through these Additions: 1) God works in human
history; 2) God is also at work in individuals, 3) God is Lord of all,
the Creator to be exalted and worshiped. The Song of the Three is a
beautiful hymn of praise that resembles Psalm 148 and is structured
like Psalm 136.
Here are a few choice verses from Prayer:
For your name’s sake do not give us up forever,
and do not annul your covenant.
Do not withdraw your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham your beloved . . .
Yet with a contrite heart and a humble spirit may we be
accepted,
as though it were with burnt offerings of rams and
bulls . . .
such may our sacrifice bin your sight today . . .
for no shame will come to those who trust in you. . . .
Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in your
patience
and in your abundant mercy . . .
Let them know that you alone are the Lord God glorious
over the whole
world. (vv. 11-12, 16-17, 19, 22).
Susanna
The story of Susanna is set in the Babylonian Exile, in
the house of Joakim, a wealthy and respected Jew. Two elders who had
been appointed to be judges secretly began to lust after the beautiful
and honorable Susanna. They present her with an ultimatum: indulge
their sinful desires or else be charged with being “caught in the act”
with a young man who somehow escaped. The chaste Susanna chooses to
be faithful to God and her husband and faces the court and is
sentenced to death. The Lord hears her cry for vindication and moves
Daniel to intervene. She is rescued and her honor restored, the
elders are executed and Daniel’s reputation as a wise man increases.
Here is a brief outline of the story:
I. Two Elders Falsely Accuse Sussanna (vv. 1-27)
II. Susanna Tried and Found Guilty (vv. 28-41)
III. Daniel, moved by God, intercedes on Susanna’s behalf
(vv. 42-64)
Here is the prayer of Susanna as she was in distress:
O eternal God, you know what is secret and are aware
of all things before they come to be; you know that
these
men have given false evidence against me. And now I am
to die, though I have done none of the wicked things
that they charged against me!” (Susanna, vv.
42b-43)
Susanna, the hero for God, was extremely popular among
early Christian artists. She is depicted in numerous catacombs and
sarcophagi and even glassware. Western artists have also delighted in
portraying the dilemma of Susanna (Rembrandt; Guernico; Gewntileschi;
Tintoretto; etc). Handel wrote an opera about her. Early Christians
held her up as a model of piety and modesty and in various homilies
(sermons). The legendary early preacher Chrysostom (A.D.
347-407) preached a great lesson on Susanna and elaborates on her
chastity.
“Susanna stood as a lamb between two wolves. She was left alone
between these two beasts, with no one to help her but God alone. He
looked down from heaven
and suffered the dispute to make clear both the chastity of Susanna
and the
wickedness of the elders; so that she might become a glorious women of
all
times. Susanna endured a severe fight, more severe than that of
Joseph. He,
a man, contended with one woman; but Susanna, a woman, had to contend
with
two men, and was a spectacle to men and to angels. The slander
against her
fidelity to her marriage-vow, the fear of death, her condemnation by
all the people, the abhorrence of her husband and relations, the tears
of her servants, the
grief of all her household – she foresaw all this, and yet nothing
could shake her
fortitude.”
A common reading of Susanna among the Fathers is that she is the
Church of God hemmed in by her antagonists the pagans and the Jews.
Some scholars believe there is an echo of Susanna in the NT through
the story of the woman “caught in the act” of adultery in John
7.53-8.11. There are some interesting parallels indeed and it is
possible that John used Susanna as a “model” of how to tell his story.
Bel and The Dragon
Bel and the Dragon are at times called the world’s “first
detective story.” Dorothy Sayers included both Susanna and Bel and
the Dragon in her anthology of “mystery stories” in her classic work
Omnibus of Crime (1929). The purpose of these two episodes in
Daniel are to pour ridicule on idolatry and to discredit pagan
priestcraft.
Bel, whose proper name was Marduk, was the most popular
god among the Babylonians being their patron deity. One of the “Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World” was the colossal temple to Bel in
Babylon.
The Babylonians also venerated a monstrous dragon, or
snake, as a god. Daniel this monster was no god by valiantly killing
it. In the ancient world the serpent was frequently seen as a
religious symbol. Even among the Hebrews it could at time function as
such (Numbers 21.8, cf. 2 Kings 18.4). In the mythology of the East
attributes of the snake were given to a huge sea monster called
Leviathan. Isaiah promised that in the future “the LORD with his
hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing
serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon
that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27.1, NRSV). Readers can encounter
Leviathan in Job, Psalm 74 and later in the Apocrypha in 2 Esdras
6.49-52. Of course this imagery of the dragon is taken up in the Book
of Revelation as well (ch. 12). In medieval legends Daniel
destroying the dragon without a sword or a club is transformed into
St. George who slays the dragon with his lance. And George became the
patron saint of English soldering, chivalry and of the Order of
Garter. Edmund Spencer wrote,
“For thou, emongst those Saints whom thou doest see,
Shalt be a Saint, and thine owne nations frend
And patrone; thou Saint George shalt called bee,
Saint George of mery England, the signe of
victoree”
(The Faerie Queene, I.x.61,
8-9)
Such is the long journey from the ancient story of Daniel and the
Dragon to the legend of St. George. Here are a few choice verses:
“Then the king was angry and called the priests of Bel
and said to them. ‘If you not tell me who is eating these provisions, you
shall die. But if you prove that Bel is eating them, Daniel shall die, because he has spoken
blasphemy against Bel.’ Daniel said to the king, ‘Let it be done as
you have said.” (vv. 8-9)
“Daniel said, ‘You have remembered me, O God, and have not forsaken
those who love you” (v. 38).
THREE QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON
1) What surprised you about these stories?
2) Did anything in these stories encourage your walk with God?
3) Did you “hear” anything that echoed with the New Testament or other
parts of
Scripture?
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