A book that is part of the Deuterocanonical works (books that only some Christian traditions consider Scripture). It consists of three additional sections to the book of Daniel. This additional material is only found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament book of Daniel. It was not included in ancient Hebrew-Aramaic copies of Daniel.
The first addition is The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men, which was placed between Daniel 3:23 and 3:24. These 68 verses describe what occurred to Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael in the fiery furnace.
The second addition is Susanna and the Elders, a story about a woman who Daniel saved from a wrongful execution. The location of this story in the text varies. In the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate (two early translations of the Bible), it follows Daniel 12. The Old Latin, Coptic, and Arabic versions place it before chapter 1. This is because of Daniel’s apparent youth within the story.
The third addition is Bel and the Dragon. It is a story of Daniel tricking pagan priests and killing a dragon “without sword or club.” The Roman Catholic Church includes the Additions to Daniel in its canon (the official list of books that are considered Scripture).
Preview
Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men
This chapter is a prayer for deliverance and a song of praise by the three young Jewish men thrown into King Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. These three youths and Daniel were taken to the court of the Babylonian king during the exile of the kingdom of Judah (Daniel 1:1–6). Azariah was renamed Abednego (verse 7).
He and his two friends refused to worship the king’s gold statue and were condemned to death (Daniel 3:1–23). However, they were saved by God and “there was no smell of fire on them” (verses 24–27). The king realized that their God saved them and commanded that no one should ever dishonor their God (verses 28–30).
As said above, the Prayer and Song are only found in early Greek and Latin versions of Daniel. The additions were written between the Old and New Testaments. It is unclear what language they were written in. These two sections were possibly written in Hebrew. Yet, they first appear in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament from the second or third century BC. These extra sections were placed after Daniel 3:23. Thus, Daniel contained 68 extra verses in the Septuagint between Daniel 3:23 and 3:24. The first 22 verses are the Prayer of Azariah.
When he translated the Bible into Latin in the fourth century AD, Jeremone kept the additions even though they were not in the original texts. Jerome’s "Vulgate" Bible included 14 or 15 books or portions of books that are not considered Scripture. These writings are known as the Old Testament Apocrypha. These sections are usually not included in Protestant Bibles. When Martin Luther translated the Bible into German in AD 1534, he separated these sections to the end of the Old Testament. He wrote that the Apocrypha (plural form of a Greek word meaning “hidden”) was “useful and good to read” but not equal to the rest of the Bible.
Azariah’s prayer is a “useful and good” example of prayer. It is similar to Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:3–19 and also to some biblical psalms (like Psalms 31 and 51). It contains confession, repentance, and a plea for help. Azariah admits that God’s people deserve justice “because of our sins” but asks God to remember his promise to bless the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He offers “a contrite heart and a humble spirit” as a sacrifice and promises himself and his companions to God.
After Azariah’s prayer, “the angel of the Lord” comes down and “made the midst of the furnace like a moist whistling wind.” The three young men praise God “as with one mouth.” Their song, like Psalm 148, asks all of creation to “bless the Lord.”
Susanna and the Elders
In the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, this story comes after the book of Daniel. The author was probably a Jewish person living in Palestine in the first century BC. However, the story occurs in Babylon.
Susanna was the daughter of Hilkiah. She was a very beautiful woman who was married to Joakim. Joakim was a rich and respected man. Joakim allowed the Jewish exiles to enter his beautiful garden, which made him more respected. The elders and judges would meet in the garden. Eventually, two elders who had been elected as judges became attracted to Susanna. They returned to Joakin's garden frequently because they were judges. On occasion, the two judges would stare at Susanna. They did not know each other felt the same way towards her. One day, they were forced to confess their lust for Susanna to each other. They made a plot to seduce Susanna.
Susanna would bathe in the garden pool to cool herself off when it was hot. One day, she came to the pool with her two maids to bathe. The three ladies did not know the two judges were there because they were hiding. When the two maids left to get soap and olive oil, the judges approached Susanna. They confessed their sexual desire for her and asked to sleep with her. The two judges had made a plan. If Susanna said no, they would lie and say that Susanna was committing adultery with a young man. Susanna believed that adultery was a sin punishable by death. So, she refused the judges, shouted for help, and hoped that her household would protect her. The judges then falsely accused Susanna to her servants.
Susanna was taken to court. The men were respected in the community, and they both testified against Susanna. She had no chance for a fair trial. The court judged her guilty of adultery and sentenced her to death. But a man named Daniel intervened. He asked for the trial to be reopened. He wanted to question the witnesses separately. When spoken to again, the men's testimonies were different. One claimed that he had seen Susanna with the young man under a clove tree. The other had seen them together under an oak tree. With these differences, the court realized the judges were lying, and Susanna was innocent. The two judges were put to death because of their deceit.
There are three purposes to this story.
It celebrates Susanna's piety and virtue. It also condemns the judge's corruption, as they “no longer prayed to God, but let their thoughts stray from him and forgot” their morality.
It rejects a legal method where two witnesses could falsely accuse somebody their testimony could be accepted as true. Naboth, Jesus, and others had been accused by false witnesses and found guilty without the accusers being questioned.
The story introduces Daniel, a young man who is wiser than the elders.
Bel and the Dragon
The book "Bel and the Dragon" is considered an apocryphal book by the Protestant churches (and is not included in the list of books considered Scripture). However, the Roman Catholic Church confirmed it as canonical (and included it in the list of books considered Scripture) at the Council of Trent (1545–63).
The book contains two stories about Daniel:
The book takes place in Babylon during the reign of King Cyrus. Daniel was respected by the king and lived as his companion. But he continued to worship God and to pray. Cyrus and the Babylonians worshiped Bel, also known as Marduk (Merodach in the Old Testament).
One day, the king ordered Daniel to worship Bel, claiming he was a powerful god because of his large appetite. The king explained that every day Bel ate 12 bushels (or 432 liters) of flour, 40 sheep, and 50 gallons (or 189 liters) of wine. To the locals, Bel was obviously a mighty god. Daniel argued that an idol is made of clay and bronze, and could not eat the food. Daniel claimed he could prove it. The king was angry and asked the priests to tell him what happened to the food. They responded that it was eaten by the god.
The next day, the food was placed in the temple. Unknown to the priests, Daniel had his servants sprinkle fine ashes on the floor. The temple was locked with the signet rings of the king and the priests. The next morning, the seals were not broken, and everyone entered the temple. The king saw that the table was empty, and he praised Bel. However, Daniel pointed to footprints in the ashes. The priests had been entering by a secret door and removing the food. Cyrus ordered the 70 priests and their families killed and allowed Daniel to destroy the temple.
The second tale is about the worship of a dragon (possibly a serpent). The Babylonians worshiped a dragon. The king argued to Daniel that it was alive because everyone had seen it eat and drink. Daniel refused the king’s request to worship an idol. Daniel even asked to kill the dragon without using either a sword or a staff. This seemed impossible to the king, so he permitted Daniel to try and kill the dragon. Daniel mixed pitch, fat, and hair, boiled it together, formed it into cakes, and fed it to the dragon. The dragon burst apart and died. The Babylonians were angry their dragon-god had died and confronted the king. They believed that he had converted to Judaism. To avoid their anger, the king gave Daniel to them to be put to death.
Every day, two criminals would be thrown into a pit of seven lions. When Daniel was thrown into the pit, the lions had not been fed. But, after six days, Daniel was still alive. In a later addition to the text, the Lord sent an angel to the prophet Habakkuk and ordered him to bring food to Daniel. Habakkuk argued that he had never been to Babylon. So, the angel took him by the hair and brought him to the lions’ den. Habakkuk told Daniel that the Lord had remembered him and gave him the food.
The next day, the king arrived to mourn Daniel. Instead, he found his friend alive. Daniel was released from the den, and his accusers were thrown in and eaten by the hungry lions.
Bel and the Dragon exists in Greek and Syriac but was probably written in Hebrew. We do not know who wrote the story or when it was written. The story of Bel could have been written as early as the fourth century BC. The story of the dragon was probably written later by a different author. It was probably written around 150–100 BC, in a time of great religious and political difficulty for the Jews.
Bel and the Dragon was written to argue that worshiping idols was pointless. It also argued that followers of the Lord need to stay strong in their faith, even when facing persecution and hard times. In both stories, the Babylonian gods are disrespected. The book may also have been a warning not to trust heathen friends, who might betray their friends in times of trouble. Even though Daniel was the king’s companion, the king handed Daniel over to a mob when facing pressure.
In the story of Bel, Daniel confronted a god who was worshiped in Babylon for over 2000 years. Bel is mentioned many times in cuneiform inscriptions (ancient clay tablets). For example, Nebuchadnezzar II built the temple of Bel to be one of the finest ziggurats. This temple was a tall, pyramid-shaped tower. The author of these stories would have known that the Persian king Xerxes I, who ruled from 486 to 464 BC, destroyed the temple. Xerxes I had then taken the seated golden image from the shrine. By the time of Alexander the Great around 330 BC, the temple was a ruin. The dragon was a well-known figure in Near Eastern religion and Sumerian legends.