Texts in Conversation
In the Greek text of Susanna, Daniel interrupts her unjust trial by declaring himself innocent of her blood, distancing himself from the crowd’s verdict. In Matthew, Pilate makes a similar declaration when he refuses responsibility for condemning Jesus.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Susanna 1:46
Deuterocanon
42 Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said, “O everlasting God, you know the secrets, and know all things before they happen. 43 You know that they have testified falsely against me. Behold, I must die, even though I never did such things as these men have maliciously invented against me.” 44 The Lord heard her voice. 45 Therefore when she was led away to be put to death, God raised up the holy spirit of a young lad, whose name was Daniel. 46 He cried with a loud voice, “I am clear from the blood of this woman!” 47 Then all the people turned toward him, and said, “What do these words that you have spoken mean?”
Date: 200–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 27:24
New Testament
22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” They all said, “Crucify him!” 23 He asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” 25 In reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas for them. But after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. 27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole cohort around him.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Matthew 27:24 – A judge declares himself innocent of this one’s blood. Finding the people insistent upon crucifixion, Pilate publicly declared his innocence: “I am innocent of the blood of this one”. Daniel had made the same declaration: “I am innocent of the blood of this one”. In the entire Bible only two persons, Daniel and Pilate, uttered this statement, and they did so publicly, immediately after a trial in which a falsely accused innocent had been condemned to death. It is the typological likeness between the persons being judged, Susanna and Christ, that made it fitting for Matthew to report Pilate’s words as echoing Daniel’s:
Daniel’s words: ᾽Αθῷός ἐγὼ ἀπὸ τoῦ αἵματoς ταύτης. (verse 46)
Pilate’s words: ᾽Αθῷός εἰμι ἀπὸ τoῦ αἵματoς τoύτoυ.
As far as I have seen, no modern vernacular translation of the Bible conveys Matthew’s quotation from Daniel: only in the Greek is this parallel made ..."
Catherine Brown Tkacz, Susanna as a Type of Christ Studies in Iconography 20 (Western Michigan University, 1999), 101–153.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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