Susanna

Susanna and the Elders

1 A man lived in Babylon, and his name was Joakim. 2 He took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, a very beautiful woman, and one who feared the Lord. 3 Her parents were also righteous, and taught their daughter according to the law of Moses. 4 Now Joakim was a very rich man, and had a beautiful garden next to his house. The Jews used to come to him, because he was more honorable than all others. 5 The same year, two of the elders of the people were appointed to be judges, such as the Lord spoke of, that wickedness came from Babylon from elders who were judges, who were supposed to govern the people. 6 These were often at Joakim’s house. All who had any lawsuits came to them.

The Elders Plot Against Susanna

7 When the people went away at noon, Susanna went into her husband’s garden to walk. 8 The two elders saw her going in every day and walking; and they were inflamed with lust for her. 9 They perverted their own mind and turned away their eyes, that they might not look to heaven, nor remember just judgments. 10 And although they both were wounded with lust for her, neither dared to tell the other his distress. 11 For they were ashamed to declare their lust, what they desired to do with her. 12 Yet they watched eagerly from day to day to see her. 13 The one said to the other, “Let’s go home, now; for it is dinner time.” So they went out and parted from each other. 14 Turning back again, they came to the same place. After they had asked one another the cause, they acknowledged their lust. Then together they appointed a time when they might find her alone.

Susanna Refuses the Elders

15 It happened, as they watched for an opportune day, that she went in as before with only two maids, and she desired to wash herself in the garden; for it was hot. 16 There was nobody there except the two elders who had hidden themselves and watched her. 17 Then she said to her maids, “Bring me olive oil and ointment, and shut the garden doors, that I may wash myself.” 18 They did as she asked them and shut the garden doors, and went out themselves at the side doors to fetch the things that she had commanded them. They didn’t see the elders, because they were hidden. 19 Now when the maids had gone out, the two elders rose up and ran to her, saying, 20 “Behold, the garden doors are shut, that no man can see us, and we are in love with you. Therefore consent to us, and lie with us. 21 If you will not, we will testify against you, that a young man was with you; therefore you sent your maids away from you.” 22 Then Susanna sighed, and said, “I am trapped; for if I do this thing, it is death to me. If I don’t do it, I can’t escape your hands. 23 It is better for me to fall into your hands, and not do it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.” 24 With that Susanna cried with a loud voice; and the two elders cried out against her. 25 Then one of them ran and opened the garden doors. 26 So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the garden, they rushed in at the side door to see what had happened to her. 27 But when the elders had told their tale, the servants were greatly ashamed; for there was never such a report made of Susanna.

Does Susanna Follow the Pattern of Naboth? Speculative

Susanna Is Accused and Condemned

28 It came to pass on the next day, when the people assembled to her husband Joakim, the two elders came full of their wicked intent against Susanna to put her to death, 29 and said before the people, “Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkiah, Joakim’s wife.” So they sent; 30 and she came with her father and mother, her children, and all her relatives. 31 Now Susanna was a very delicate woman, and beautiful to behold. 32 These wicked men commanded her to be unveiled, for she was veiled, that they might be filled with her beauty. 33 Therefore her friends and all who saw her wept. 34 Then the two elders stood up in the midst of the people and laid their hands upon her head. 35 She, weeping, looked up toward heaven; for her heart trusted in the Lord. 36 The elders said, “As we walked in the garden alone, this woman came in with two maids, shut the garden doors, and sent the maids away. 37 Then a young man who was hidden there came to her and lay with her. 38 And we, being in a corner of the garden, saw this wickedness and ran to them. 39 And when we saw them together, we couldn’t hold the man; for he was stronger than we, and opened the doors, and leaped out. 40 But having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, 41 but she would not tell us. We testify these things.” Then the assembly believed them, as those who were elders of the people and judges; so they condemned her to death. 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.”

Daniel Exposes the False Witnesses

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?” 48 So he, standing in the midst of them, said, “Are you all such fools, you sons of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth you have condemned a daughter of Israel? 49 Return again to the place of judgment; for these have testified falsely against her.” 50 Therefore all the people turned again in haste, and the elders said to him, “Come, sit down among us, and show it to us, seeing God has given you the honor of an elder.” 51 Then Daniel said to them, “Put them far apart from each other, and I will examine them.” 52 So when they were put apart one from another, he called one of them, and said to him, “O you who have become old in wickedness, now your sins which you committed before have come back, 53 in pronouncing unjust judgment, condemning the innocent, and letting the guilty go free; although the Lord says, ‘You shall not kill the innocent and righteous.’ 54 Now then, if you saw her, tell me, under which tree did you see them being intimate together?” He answered, “Under a mastic tree.” 55 And Daniel said, “You have certainly lied against your own head; for even now the angel of God has received the sentence of God and will cut you in two.” 56 So he put him aside, and commanded to bring the other, and said to him, “O you offspring of Canaan, and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you, and lust has perverted your heart.⁠ 57 Thus you have dealt with the daughters of Israel, and they were intimate with you out of fear; but the daughter of Judah would not tolerate your wickedness. 58 Now therefore tell me, under which tree did you catch them being intimate together?” He answered, “Under an evergreen oak tree.” 59 Then Daniel said to him, “You have also certainly lied against your own head; for the angel of God waits with the sword to cut you in two, that he may destroy you.” 60 With that, all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and blessed God, who saves those who hope in him. 61 Then they arose against the two elders, for Daniel had convicted them of false testimony out of their own mouth, and they did to them what they maliciously intended to do to their neighbor. 62 According to the law of Moses they put them to death, and the innocent blood was saved the same day.

Susanna's Family Gives Thanks

63 Therefore Hilkiah and his wife praised God for their daughter Susanna, with Joakim her husband, and all the relatives, because there was no dishonesty found in her. 64 And from that day on, Daniel had a great reputation in the sight of the people.

An Introduction to Susanna

3 min read

Tradition: Deuterocanon
Written: 200–1 BCE
Text: Based on the World English Bible · Public domain

Susanna is a short story preserved in two Greek versions of Daniel, absent from the Hebrew and Aramaic versions. Its Jewish author is unknown, and its sixth-century BCE Babylonian setting does not reflect its disputed date of composition. One estimate places it in the first century BCE; another places its incorporation into Greek Daniel in the late second century BCE, with Judea proposed as its place of origin.¹² Whether the story was composed in Greek or translated from a lost Hebrew or Aramaic text also remains disputed.³⁴

The story concerns a married woman whom two elders falsely accuse of adultery after she refuses their sexual demands, until the young Daniel exposes their contradictory testimony. Its purpose is to encourage faithfulness under threat and to expose the danger of trusting respected judges without examining their accusations.⁵⁶ Like the endangered faithful in Daniel 3 and Daniel 6, Susanna receives deliverance within the story's earthly setting; the distinction is that her persecutors belong to her own community, and Daniel uncovers their deceit by questioning them rather than explaining a royal dream.⁷

The accusations and trial depend on commandments about adultery and testimony. The threatened punishment recalls Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22, while the elders' joint accusation exploits the requirement for two witnesses in Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6, and Deuteronomy 19:15. Their agreement initially conceals their dishonesty, and the community accepts their testimony on the strength of their position.⁸ In Susanna 53, Daniel repeats the prohibition in Exodus 23:7 on killing the innocent, and the elders' execution in Susanna 62 applies Deuteronomy 19:16–21 by imposing the punishment they intended for their victim.⁹¹⁰

The attempted coercion and false accusation echo Joseph's encounter with Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39, with the sexes of the victim and aggressors reversed. The garden, concealment, temptation, and judgment also recall Genesis 2–3, but Susanna refuses to disobey, while the elders surrender to their desires.¹¹ Jeremiah 29:21–23 offers another possible source for the pair of corrupt leaders: Ahab and Zedekiah commit adultery with their neighbors' wives and speak falsely in God's name among the Babylonian exiles. Susanna's elders are guilty of both sexual misconduct and deceit in the same exilic setting.¹²

Susanna also resembles Greek narratives about beautiful women, accusations of adultery, and public trials, particularly Chariton's Callirhoe. These shared features permit comparison, but do not establish direct literary dependence, since Susanna is generally dated earlier than Callirhoe.¹³ Within Jewish storytelling, the reversal of expectations resembles Genesis 38: the woman whose conduct is questioned proves righteous, while men with social authority are exposed. In Susanna, the young Daniel also proves wiser than the elders who would ordinarily be trusted to judge.¹⁴

Transmission changed the emphasis of the story: the Old Greek ending commends virtuous young men, while the version attributed to Theodotion closes with Daniel's growing reputation. Theodotion's version also develops the bathing scene and became the principal form used in early Christianity.¹⁵¹⁶ In his Commentary on Daniel, Hippolytus connects Susanna's false accusation with Jesus' trial, interprets her bathing as baptism, and identifies her with the Christian community. In his anti-Jewish interpretation, the elders represent Jewish and gentile persecutors of Christians, and Susanna represents the Christian community they threaten.¹⁷

Notes

1
Joseph Scales, “Susanna and Callirhoe: Female Bodies, Law, and Novels,” lectio difficilior (2022): 7.
2
Lawrence Lahey, The Additions to Daniel, in The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint, edited by James K. Aitken (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015), 555–558.
3
Lahey, The Additions to Daniel, 559–561.
4
Lorenzo DiTommaso, The Additions to Daniel, in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha, edited by Gerbern S. Oegema (Oxford University Press, 2021), 368–369.
5
John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018), 597.
6
Scales, “Susanna and Callirhoe,” 10–12.
7
DiTommaso, The Additions to Daniel, 369–373.
8
Scales, “Susanna and Callirhoe,” 10–11.
9
Scales, “Susanna and Callirhoe,” 10.
10
DiTommaso, The Additions to Daniel, 370–372.
11
William Loader, “Sexuality in the Apocrypha,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha, ed. Gerbern S. Oegema (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 528–529.
12
Lahey, The Additions to Daniel, 560.
13
Scales, “Susanna and Callirhoe,” 1.
14
Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew, 597.
15
Lahey, The Additions to Daniel, 563.
16
Chris L. de Wet, The Reception of the Susanna Narrative (Dan. XIII; LXX) in Early Christianity, in Septuagint and Reception, edited by Johann Cook (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 230–231.
17
de Wet, The Reception, 232–233, 240–241.